I was inspired to write this piece due to another flimsy email I received from a green-horn recruiter from one of my former shops.  The note was nice enough, but it was a Spam attempt at business development.  It was not personalized, researched, or remotely captivating.   With two minutes of Google work, this recruiter would have known I formerly was a leader at the company and specific office of which they are a part.  They also would have known that Starwood was just purchased by Marriott and is likely not going to be utilizing any agencies any time soon (or ever again).  Instead of being immediately deleted, a little extra effort on that e-mail and it would have received my attention.  Likely not my business at this time unfortunately, but I would have responded with something of value to that person like passing some referrals on of people whom I know are looking for new positions.

Since my transition from the world of agency recruiting to that of in-house recruiting, I have received countless e-mails, calls and solicitations from agency recruiters vying for business with me and Starwood.  For the most part, I receive e-mails, sadly.  I receive thoughtless spam e-mails that will never, never ever, never ever ever EVER receive a response from anyone…..EVER.  And it baffles me so.   It wracks my brain as to how there is leadership at these agencies allowing such futility to happen at their company repeatedly and on a daily basis.   No creativity, no differentiation, no effort really.  Some of the voice-mails I receive are even more troubling.  Voice-mails of a scripted, or so overly rehearsed and repeated spiel that it sounds like a recording, devoid of any enthusiasm or market research are rampant.  However, there is so much business out there that by sheer numbers, most diligent recruiters will make money just by playing statistics and working hard.  That’s the beauty and the beast of recruiting.

But what about the next level ?  What about the next level of recruiter who is creative, enthusiastic, genuine, informed, passionate, knowledgeable, educated AND works their butt off?  They are out there, some of them are my friends, but why aren’t these traits being sought, taught or encouraged more?   In the world of agency recruiting, none of these traits I mention will ever replace the requisite hard-work and persistence, but they are a compliment and will help make you a top-biller, quickly.

So with that in mind, I offer some tips to agency recruiters out there who work hard, make tons of calls every day, but want to have a higher conversion rate on all that effort.

1. Do research on who you are prospecting.
   Had the recruiter in the story above done some research, they would know that I used to work for their same company for a number of years.  This would be a great way to approach me in an email.  “Hello, I hear you used to work for ***** and I would love to speak with you about…, etc. etc….”  Instant relationship builder.  Also, with research they would know that Starwood was purchased by Marriott and is in the middle of the biggest M&A transaction in hospitality history.  Another great thing to lead with in an email or phone call:  “I know that Starwood was recently purchased by Marriott, so I am sure it is difficult to hire permanent staff at the moment.  However, I’m sure you have a need for staff, and consultants are probably the only option at the moment.  I specialize in Temporary staff……..etc….here are some blind resumes for you take a look at so you can see who I am partnered with at this time.
2. Pick up the phone.
   Call me first, leave a voicemail, then send an email.   I get a lot of recruiting emails and I delete them without reading them, mainly because the person never called me.  Cold calling is NOT dead, and it never will be.  Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and cold call someone.  Do your research, know the message you want to get across, and know what you want to get out of each call.  The worst that can happen is you get a “No”.  Big deal.  Make your notes, set up a follow up call for 3 months from now in the system, and make your next call immediately.  Do that for 2 hours every day for clients and 2 hours for candidates and that KPI sheet they throw in your face every week won’t be so scary.  You’ll be killing everyone around you and throwing fees up like a champ.   Seriously though, get on the phone.  A lot.  Stop reading this and make a call right now.  GO!

   How’d that call go?   Good.

3. Send ACTUAL resumes in business development e-mails.
   Don’t send those write up sheets describing candidates with no resume to look at, or an e-mail with nothing at all.  No one wants to read descriptions about great candidates or have you asking to schedule time to speak.  People want to SEE great candidates.  Take your BEST, active candidate at any given time, strip off any identifying factors on their resume:  name, contact information, address, university, and change the name of the company they work for to a description of the company:  i.e  “Fortune 500 Hospitality Company”    or  “10 Billion Dollar Hedge Fund”.  Then send that resume to a bunch of relevant clients you want to do business with to whom that resume would be highly interesting regardless of a current opening, or whom you know has a job opening suiting that resume.  But it’s all about research.  You need to know that the company has an opening or is in hiring mode.  You will know that by talking to candidates and asking them: “Where are you interviewing?”.   Or you would also know this by simply jumping on a prospect’s website, going to the career’s page, and see what they have open.  A LinkedIn Jobs page search or any other search engine will give you great intel as well.
4. Do these things consistently.
   Send out a great resume to the same, small group of targeted clients on a regular basis, almost like a newsletter.  Eventually someone will show interest.  Guess what happens then?  Client visit, possible new senior level candidate, possibly even a fee.  You will make placements like this.  Just find a reasonable, pleasantly persistent cadence and send great, targeted CV’s.   There are a number of ways to approach this tactic.  Talk to a candidate you have a good rapport with and tell them a list of companies you want to prospect their resume to.  If they give you permission, strip their contact details and name off.   If you haven’t asked for permission (which you should, but if you don’t), be sure to safely strip it down so it is basically a template  and so there are no identifying factors on it.  You don’t want to get candidates in trouble with their current employer and you don’t want unsigned clients stealing candidates, which they are in their legal right to do.   Be smart.   This shouldn’t be your primary weapon but it will put a few extra fees on the board every year.  And a few extra fees is a new car.
5. Candidates are the key to all the market research you really need. 
   Candidates become clients so build strong relationships with your  candidates.  Meet them, treat them well, follow up, give them advice even if the advice doesn’t benefit you.   Give a candidate something, and they will give you something.  But you must give first and build trust and rapport.  Most recruiters stink.  Differentiate yourself and you’ll stick out in a candidate’s and client’s mind and the referrals will roll in.  Ask yourself every day: “What can I do differently than every other recruiter in the market?”
6. Who do you know?
   Don’t forget to ask EVERY candidate you ever speak to:  “Who do you know for this other job I am working on?” – then describe the job quickly .  People are good-natured and want to help people they know.  If you have a great role for a friend of theirs, they will likely give you a name or at least connect you….IF they like you, trust you and feel like you have helped them and done right by them.   That doesn’t happen by cranking out generic e-mails and generic calls all day every day friends.
7. Get informed
   This is an easy one. Read the news folks.  If you’re new to the business and know little about the recruiting game, but want to sound mature, intelligent and informed, know current events, your clients’ competitors, news, and the markets.  It’s a quick win while you are learning and will help deflect the attention away from your developing skills.  Even for an experienced recruiter, market knowledge and the ability to hold a real conversation about something other than “Do you want to offer my candidate?” builds rapport and makes you more than just another agency person your client is talking to at the moment.  You as a recruiter have “access” to any company in the world (hypothetically).  At the very least, know whats happening with the companies in your vertical, know what’s happening in the world of the professionals you are specializing in placing and have a sense of what’s happening in the world today as a whole.  You still have to deliver consistently, but if the difference between your competitor or you making a fee is that you spend 30 minutes reading the news every day, isn’t that time well spent?

   Happy hunting, and remember, don’t be a drone.  You are a human doing business with humans.  Just be human. Drones get deleted.