October 22, 2023
Generating sales leads is one of the most challenging tasks for Recruiters. The decline in both temp and perm vacancies across most of the industries only means one thing; cut-throat competition among recruiters and sales professionals to find new vacancies/positions to work on.
However, with market conditions so tight, how does one identify new vacancies; i.e. warm sales leads? Finding new jobs to work on is one of the most pertinent challenges faced by several recruitment businesses.
Here are some quick tips which can help you to be a step ahead of the competition.
EXISTING CLIENTS AND PROSPECTS
Having an existing relationship in place means we don’t have to make an extra effort to build rapport. Reaching out to existing clients is much easier than the new ones to generate sales leads.
We are over five weeks in the lockdown. Many business owners will have invested this time planning the next steps; i.e. strategising the action plan post lockdown.
Discussing the current situation helps and asking the following questions assists for clarity.
These questions and many more can be used to discuss with existing clients.
These questions are equally applicable for any prospects that’d have put recruiting plans on hold due to the crisis.
Remember the saying “If you don’t ask, you don’t get”. An approach like this is always better than asking “Do you have any vacancies”. This is one of the best ways to ask and generate sales leads. There is no harm in trying.
REMEMBER, NOT ALL VACANCIES ARE ADVERTISED
Relying on advertisements and job postings is not always full-proof. There are several vacancies which are not advertised. It always makes sense to reach out to the Talent Acquisition Head, HR Director, Line Manager, etc. to find out if they are recruiting.
Old school approach, like talking to the candidates, always helps. Candidates are aware of the internal happenings more often.
Many successful business development professionals and recruiters globally have been using this approach to gather market intelligence, helping them generate new business/sales leads and stay ahead of the competition.
RESEARCH
Internet is the Pandora box with a wealth of information when used constructively. There are tons of jobs advertised across various sources. The key is to focus on your niche and execute the research. It needs both patience and persistence.
Here is how to implement the vacancy monitoring process. Vacancy monitoring is essentially a sales lead generating process.
List down the target job titles to recruit.
Conduct a search on Google, LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.
A host of job listings will be published as a result of the search.
Cut the clutter; i.e. several jobs advertised by other recruiters.
You don’t need them unless you’re going to ring the recruiter pretending to be a candidate to gather client info. I wouldn’t recommend doing this.
Now you’ve narrowed down on the list of vacancies posted by target companies for target titles.
Conduct a market mapping exercise to find out who is the decision-maker or contact person responsible for filling this vacancy, their contact information (phone, email, mobile, DDI), title, etc.
Don’t jump the gun by trying to spec a candidate straight away without discussing the vacancy/position.
Reach out to them via phone call, email, etc. Whatever mode best suits your approach. Have a chat about the job(s) advertised; i.e. the current status of this vacancy, reason, etc.
Vacancy monitoring is one of the techniques to help generate new vacancies. Yes, they might have other recruiters working for them; however, there is nothing to lose here. Especially when you’re trying to sustain and grow your business.
You might end up building a relationship with the decision-maker for future jobs to work on.
“Desperate time’s desperate measures”, don’t just rely on one possible channel. Try and evaluate various modes, define what works for you and follow the approach by giving in your 100%.
There are no shortcuts to new business development, it is hard work.
