Recruiters - what is your sales pitch?

I read an interesting article recently – it was talking about a sales pitch and how it missed the mark. It got me thinking…

We recently discussed What Sales Skills Recruiters MUST Have and it occurred to me that we didn’t discuss the whole idea of the ‘pitch’!

What is a sales pitch

If you want to attract business, you can’t avoid the fact that you will need a sales pitch. One of the biggest mistakes made however, is an ill-conceived sales pitch. Don’t get me wrong – it may well be that you have spent a lot of time and energy on it, but that doesn’t equate to a good pitch! Your sales pitch is the presentation of your service and its’ purpose is to garner business (see Wikipedia definition here). So what most people now do is they madly design a speech where they talk on and on about all the things they are wonderful at! They will try to tell you EVERY little thing they have ever achieved and how wonderful they are at it. Some people will even run down their competition (FYI: NEVER a good idea). In Australia the ‘traditional’ idea of a sales pitch is just not cricket!

What should a sales pitch be

Ok – there is no getting away with the fact that your sales pitch does have to spend a little time talking about you and what you do – but the important word here is LITTLE! Your sales pitch is your opportunity to connect with your prospects, it is your chance to build rapport and start on your way to your potential client knowing, liking and trusting you. You can’t achieve this by bashing someone over the head!!

How do you design your sales pitch

Start with knowing your BENEFIT!! What is it that you can do for people? And this is where you need to spend some time thinking – you are not just a recruiter. Perhaps you have a talent for understanding what personalities fit an office environment, perhaps you have a talent for finding people with just the right qualifications, perhaps you have an aptitude for getting to the bottom of what an employer is really looking for. These little things that make you GOOD at what you do, that is what people buy! They can got to any Recruitment company, but they will choose the one who displays the confidence to fill their most important need.

Once you know your unique points, keep them in your arsenal – don’t whip them out too soon! You need to know get to the bottom of what the employer wants (or what the candidate wants). And how do you do this??

QUESTIONS!!

Yes, questions my friends… Start by asking questions – once you know what is important to your prospect, THEN you can match your unique skills! Only when you know what is important to them do you launch into your sales pitch – give them examples of experiences that you have had before and how you have solved them. This will set in your prospects mind an understanding that you know how to meet their needs!

Good luck and drop us a line if you have any questions!!

If you would like any more sales tips, advice or assistance– feel free to pop along to StrategiCall Sales for lots of free tips and advice on our blog, or Sales Coaching for individuals or Sales Training for teams. Or contact me directly: mailto:Stephanieb@strategicall.com.au