One of the biggest mistakes that new recruiters make is that they don\u2019t focus on building a predictable pipeline of leads. Most recruiters prospect until they receive a few job orders, then stop prospecting and work on filling those job orders. This is a problematic approach and a recipe for disaster. Once those open roles are filled, your leads will have dried up and you have to start prospecting all over again. You are back where you started – frantically talking to anyone and everyone because you have no active job orders to work on. The lack of options will drive you to make suboptimal decisions and pick jobs that are out of your area of expertise, put up with bad clients and resort to rolling out discounts to acquire new clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, imagine this scenario instead; you are neck-deep in job orders but continue to prospect and have 2-3 sales conversations every week. You are now in a position to reject the bad job orders, and bad clients and say no to discounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why?<\/em> Because in this scenario, you are negotiating from a position of strength. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reaching this position of strength can be achieved through building a strong and predictable sales pipeline for your recruiting agency or executive search business. That way, at any point in time, you will always know that you have other positive conversations in your pipeline and that assurance helps you reject bad clients, job orders, and discounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this blog post, we offer a step-by-step process to building a predictable pipeline of clients and getting to a position of strength. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating an ideal customer profile<\/a> should be the first stage in building your recruiting sales pipeline. Defining clear specific client profiles will ensure that you focus on bringing in deals with a high probability to close. Having the wrong types of accounts in your pipeline can put a strain on your resources and can negatively affect your conversion rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start by creating a list<\/a> of your 5 best clients, Look for a pattern related to any of the following data points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take note of the common denominators between them, and create a description of the ideal company that\u2019s a perfect fit for your recruiting niche. From here, you have the information you need to develop your messaging and start building your pipeline strategy. As time progresses, you may have to refine and rework your ICP a few times. In general, it\u2019s a good rule to revisit your ICP at least once each year and refine it based on your goals. This way, you can always stay on track and be more focused on your sales performance dashboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on your ICP, create a list of target accounts and prospects that might benefit from your services. Market mapping will allow you to make data-driven & informed decisions when it comes to prospecting new businesses. It is also a useful tool and is not a one-time process but rather a continuous process where you are constantly cleaning your database and adding to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Market mapping will give you answers to the following questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, check The Ultimate Guide to Drip Marketing for Recruiters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Equipped with your ICP, build a list of target accounts and prospects and start reaching out to your target prospects<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A common tendency among recruiters is to focus more on prospects who are further along in a pipeline over new ones! It’s natural and only right. However, that doesn’t mean you stop topping off your top of the funnel. Prospects that are further along in your pipeline can be more visible and more comfortable to deal with as you already have an established relationship with them. You tend to spend more time on them as they are the prospects that are \u201ccloser to the dollar\u201d while new prospects can seem vaguer and like less valuable. Dealing with them can seem less urgent. This is a common trap that recruiters fall into – Prospect until you have a deal or job order, fill those positions, and then have to start the prospecting process all over again. The best way to keep your pipeline full and healthy is to prospect regularly. Block time in your calendar solely for prospecting, find businesses that fit your profile and spend that time reaching out to them, either through cold calls or cold emails<\/a>. Prospect even if you\u2019re slammed with job orders because it not only keeps your pipeline full, it also allows you to earn a position of abundance and walk away from clients that are not a good fit for your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more about this in our interview with recruitment coach Jon Chintanaroad<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Build an effective Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Also, read Understanding The Buyers Journey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Map your market<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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3. Prioritize Your Prospecting: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Also check out our blog about complete guide to the recruiting funnel<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, check deal tracking in Recruiterflow<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n