Any recruiter will tell you that getting through to your potential client is a challenge, but how do you handle the objections you encounter when you get a living, breathing hiring manager on the other end of the line?
Here are three of the most common objections and how to overcome them:-
‘Send me some information on your company’
Getting the balance between becoming an irritating ‘sales rep’ and a recruitment partner who can add real value to the hiring manager’s business is a daily challenge. Assure the hiring manager that you won’t take up too much of their time, for example:-
‘Let me explain the services we offer within your niche to help you to decide if a follow-up call is appropriate for you’.
‘There’s a shortage of ‘x’ skills in your sector but we have access to candidates with that skillset? Is that your experience?’
‘6 in 10 people are planning to leave their jobs this year[1], are you prepared for a potential loss of key people in your business?’
‘We have a preferred supplier list/we’re happy with our current agency ‘
The good news in this case is that the hiring manager is used to working with recruiters. Don’t be tempted to ask when their PSL is up for renewal or how to become a preferred supplier. That’s admitting defeat and giving the hiring manager an instant get out clause. Instead, try the following:-
‘That’s great you have a preferred supplier list. We would like to complement what they already offer. What vacancies are you struggling to fill right now?’
‘Qualified candidates are getting harder to find. It’s important you have access to the people with the best available skills. I’ll send you the résumés of two candidates who would be a great fit for your job opportunity. There’s no obligation or cost unless you want to hire them and you’ll be confident you are seeing the best available candidates for your job’.
Every hiring manager wants to know they are recruiting the best people. As a final question, ask about the strengths and weaknesses of their current suppliers and what they would like to see more – or less – of.
‘We do our recruitment in-house’
You know this employer is hiring because you checked it when you revised your call plan this morning. In this case apply a similar approach to the PSL response by offering to forward candidates for comparison to their shortlist at no extra cost.
If the employer complains about cost, compare your recruitment fee to the actual cost of their in-house activity (advertising, candidate screening, interviewing and the cost if the hire doesn’t work out) to emphasise the benefits. Include additional questions about staff turnover to pinpoint the most problematic area of their hiring process.
A similar response is helpful if the employer tells you they are ‘too small’ to use an agency. For SMEs, recruiters offer a cost effective way of sourcing pre-qualified candidates and allow small business owners to focus on building their business.
Advice before your call
Cold calls become demoralising if you’re on your 12th call of the day and are met only with objections. Before you begin:-
- Research the company beforehand to identify their open jobs. 8LEGS monitors in excess of 13 million unique URLs to locate and index company job pages to find job postings from company job pages based on your search parameters.
- Prepare for your call with the 7 strategies outlined in our previous blog.
- Accept when ‘no’ really does mean ‘no’. You might be the fifth recruiter to call them that morning, they genuinely might be happy with their existing supplier or have no interest in recruitment agencies. If the objections keep on coming, it’s time to cut your losses and move on to your next call.
Discover the open jobs in your industry with 8LEGS. Contact us today.
[1] Investors in People 2017 Job Exodus Trends 2017
