Recruitment is a social profession, so it’s likely that working from home has never been top your wish list. But like it or not, many of us are now working from home for the first time in our careers and we’ve got to keep billing.
So, how do you continue winning business and making placements when you’re away from the office? Here are some practical ways to keep billing when you’re working from home…
Psych yourself up for a successful day
When you’re working from home, it’s tempting to just roll out of bed and head straight for your computer in pyjamas, but this won’t put you in the right frame of mind to smash your targets.
In sales, you have to be confident, self-assured and ready to handle whatever a prospect throws at you, so you need to start your day right to put yourself in that positive head space.
To get yourself into billing mode, get ready for your day of home working in the same way you’d get ready for a day at the office. Dress to impress, do some exercise, have a healthy breakfast or plan your day - the key is to set a morning routine that gets you pumped to make some sales. Otherwise, you risk falling into some sloppy routines that could genuinely affect your billings.
Crack out the power posing
Ever heard of power posing? The idea is that if you strike strong poses with your body before a meeting, job interview or sales calls, you will feel (and look) more confident and increase your chances of success.
Power posing was legitimised in a popular Ted Talk by Psychologist Amy Cuddy, who’s scientific study backed up what many successful businesspeople have suspected for years: Power posing really does work.
The only reason we’re not already power posing in the office before every call is that it can look a little ridiculous, so it’s understandable if you’re too embarrassed to strike a pose in front of your colleagues.
But now that you’re home based, what’s to stop you? You can even crack out a power pose when you’re in the middle of a phone call too!
Respect your BD golden hour
To keep your pipeline moving when you’re recruiting from home, it’s absolutely essential that you maintain a solid routine. And the most important part of that routine is your BD golden hour.
Your BD golden hour is the time your prospects are most receptive to your sales calls and when you’re likely to win the most business. Everyone’s BD golden hour is different - so use this blog to work out when yours is.
If the decision makers in your niche have also started working remotely recently, track your data and see if this has affected your golden hour – you may have to change it if their schedule has changed.
Once you’ve worked out your golden hour, be selfish with it. Block it out in your calendar every day and let your manager know that you’ll be in ‘Do not disturb’ mode so you can focus on billing.
Perfect your video skills
Video is going to be essential when you’re recruiting from home, whether you’re using it to personalise your sales outreach or boost your personal branding.
If video hasn’t been a significant part of your sales strategy so far, don’t worry. Most people are a bit nervous when they first start using video, but after a bit of practice you can easily get over your fears and become a video pro.
Once you’re used to using video for the basics like sales outreach and holding meetings, you can start to innovate your entire recruitment strategy using video. And you might get even better results than when you were working from the office!
Use this eBook for tips on how to use video in your recruitment strategy: Video in Recruitment: How to Make it Part of Your Strategy
Keep your competitive drive
Often in recruitment, competing against our colleagues is what motivates us to achieve our best results. But when you’re working at home without the buzz of the sales floor, how do you keep these friendly rivalries alive?
Using online messaging tools (like WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams or Skype) to stay in regular contact with your colleagues will ensure you maintain the office banter and stay motivated to become the top biller in your team. Set up group chats where you can all show off any big wins you’ve had - you can even organise online sales power hours to ensure that you keep smashing your KPIs.
To boost your competitive drive even more, compete with your past-self and see if you can beat your personal bests now that you’re home based. Take some time each day for self-development so you have the tools you need to beat yourself. This doesn’t need to be a lot of work - you can learn loads of sales tactics just from watching YouTube.
It can be tough to stay productive working from home as it’s the place you usually relax. This eBook has some simple hacks that’ll keep you productive, motivated and (most importantly!) billing while you’re working from home.
