When you receive a cold call at your office from someone you’ve never met, are you ready to pull out your credit card after a five minute conversation? Are you ready to sign a contract and commit to this stranger? If you’re like most people the answer is “no way!†If this is the case, why would you expect someone getting your cold call to commit to a relationship with you after only a few minutes?
The truth is that our prospects usually need to come toward us in baby steps. They want an easy, low risk, first step to find out if we’re as good as we say we are. There are many ways you can do this; complimentary special reports, newsletters, follow up calls etc.
One of my favorites is to offer an informational service to a small group of prospects whereby you will act as a talent scout for them. What this means is that you’ll keep your ear to the ground for them regarding the most important type of talent that they would want to see, regardless of whether they have an opening or not.
You’re not going to engage in a full search for this prospect but you will track their request and make them aware of the profile they are looking for when you come across a top candidate. This approach is a door opener and is not appropriate for every situation but can be very effective depending on your niche.
I first heard about this concept from Peter Leffkowitz and have borrowed some of his language in my own version. Here’s a script that you can use as a template:
INTRO:
Hi, _________, this is ________. We haven’t spoken before, but I came across your name recently and wanted to give you a phone call. Do you have a free moment?
I work for a company that is hired by a selective group of consulting firms to help them in locating talented accounting professionals.
BREAK THE TENSION/EMPATHIZE:
I want to let you know that I’m not calling to see if you’d like to have us work on any of your current openings. My guess is that you probably already have a group of recruiting firms that you’re happy with. Is that an accurate assumption?
INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT:
The reason for my call is that I wanted to make you aware of a complimentary service that we offer to a select group of clients that I thought may be of interest to you.
Some of our clients use us as talent scouts whereby we keep them informed of the best accountants that surface in the market as they become available.
The benefit for them is that they get a first look at our top tier of candidates before we send them out to their competitors. They have the option to pass or ask for more information if they have an interest.
ASK QUESTIONS:
Would you like to be kept informed of the best accountants that come across our desk?
Can you give me a thumb nail sketch of the types of people that you have the most difficulty in locating?
Are there any other types of people you’d like for me to keep an eye out for in the next 90 days?
Gary Stauble is the principal consultant for The Recruiting Lab, a coaching company that assists Firm Owners and Solo Recruiters in generating more profit in less time. Gary offers a FREE special report, “The Search Process Checklist: a 17 step recruiting toolâ€, on his website. Get your copy now at http://www.therecruitinglab.com/.