Getting ahold of prospects today is one of the toughest things to do in business.   Without a business conversation – there is no chance you will earn their business, place people or cash commission checks.  It’s getting harder, not easier to get a hold of people due to changes in acceptable communications practices.  It’s ok to not return calls or emails today.  So, the question is - what do we do?  

Answer – focus on sound Direct Response Marketing techniques. 

Whether your emailing, leaving a voice mail or doing a marketing presentation live – there are things that work immediately and other things that don’t or can work but take a longer period to work.  The two types of Marketing are Direct Response Marketing and the other being Brand Awareness Marketing.

Brand Awareness Marketing is everywhere.  Most of the email services that are offered to recruiters and recruiting firms are simply Brand Awareness Marketing.   We make our clients aware of us.   A good example of those types of marketing are blogs, writing articles, value proposition presentations, introduction calls, etc.  Over an extended period – brand identity is established; business conversations can happen. Most services do this by sending value based articles – “How to hire a winning team”, “What you get from Job Board advertising”, etc.    This is sharing information to offer your target market some value.  Over time you bore them to death in doing business with you.  Joking – but no really.  Don’t get me wrong, Awareness or Brand Marketing is important too.  It just takes longer before response happens if it happens.  For long term success, a combination of Direct Response and Awareness Marketing is always a clever idea.

Our focus will be on Direct Response Marketing.  What we are wanting is a positive acted on response immediately following the end of the call, email or voice mail.  The goal of Direct Response Marketing is to earn the right to a Business Conversation to explore the possibilities of working together NOW.

For Direct Response Marketing to work – three rules need to be met:

Rule 1: 

There must Credibility/Trust established – and quickly

Rule2: 

There must be a Unique Selling Proposition.  The no brainer reason why this gives extreme value. 

Rule 3:

There must be reason to Act NOW – Sense of Urgency

TV Infomercials

Let’s look at the TV infomercials today.   And follow our rules.   Let’s look at the Sham Wow, My Favorite Pillow or even Flex Seal.

Rule 1 (Credibility/trust)– they show the product working, how its manufactured, comparing to competitive products, millions of delighted customers

Rule 2 (USP) – it does something no other product does, nothing out on the market like it.  Look at the results.  Saves time, money and evokes an emotional response.

Rule 3 (Sense of Urgency Call to Action) – at the end of the show – if you call in 10 minutes – you get two for the price of handling.

But how do we do this in Recruiting?

In Recruiting it’s no different.  Let’s start by exploring the recruiting definitions.

Credibility Statement-  Establish Credibility with your Value Proposition at beginning or end of your presentation.  

Value Proposition – why use you opposed to all other alternatives.

Unique Selling Proposition/Extreme Value – Usually this is key Success trait of your “A” player currently on the market.   It must be only one key feature – that shows how the individual is a top performer at what they do.   

Let’s jump in and look at how this would look like using an “A” player as your USP.  

PRESENTATION 1

Hi Fred (prospective client)

(Credibility Statement)

This is Jon Bartos with GPS, as you probably already know we are the leading provider of talent to the SAP ecosystem putting on board over 1000 professionals with SAP Partners like IBM, Accenture and KPMG just to name a few.

(Unique Selling Proposition and Extreme Value) 

The real reason I HAD to talk to you today, is I was confidentially approached by a 40-million-dollar SAP Services Provider – probably the top rainmaker in the industry – and I thought of you.   

(Sense of Urgency and Call to Action)

We have about two days before this individual will be off the market and she suggested chatting with you and your team. 

(Closing Statement)

How is your appetite for bringing on board Rainmakers like this? 

OR

How does Tuesday at 3:30pm look on your Calendar? 

OR 

How is my timing?

OR

Can you guys handle another 40 Million in Revenue?

This above script has all the mechanics of what we are looking for.  It will work.  There is one additional rule that helps the effectiveness of Recruiting Direct Response Marketing – and that is the Unique Selling Proposition must be articulated in the first 10 – 15 Seconds.   The attention span of our listeners is not getting longer.  So, by getting your main USP out sooner – your position Direct Response rate dramatically increases.  So how can we improve on that to ensure the USP or Extreme Value happens sooner?    There are two options.  

Shorten your Credibility Statement

Lead with your Unique Selling Proposition

Presentation 2

Hi Fred,

This is Jon Bartos with GPS.  The reason I reached out today, I was just approached by the top SAP Managed Services Sales Professional in the industry - a 40-million-dollar producer of SAP Implementation Services Sales working for one of your top competitors – looking to confidentially make a change.  Fred –  I immediately thought of you.

We have about two days before this individual will be off the market and they suggested potentially chatting with you and your team. 

As you probably already know GPS – is the leading provider of talent to the SAP ecosystem putting on board over 1000 professionals with Workday Implementation Partners like IBM, Accenture and KPMG just to name a few.

Fred, my question for you is How is your appetite for bringing on board a SAP Rainmaker like this? 

Experiment with your presentation to get the key Unique Selling Proposition – the no brainer reason why they need to chat with you and your candidate sooner in the presentation.  If you can get it in the first 10-15 seconds – watch out - miracles will happen.   Pay attention to your metrics on the RPM Dashboard and get the coaching you need if you need individual help to get to the next level.  Success is at your door step!  Good luck and good Recruiting!