You’ve recognised a great lead and identified the best person to talk to about their recruitment strategy. Everything's going well, but then the conversation stalls, your prospect just isn’t picking up the phone or answering your emails and it doesn’t look like you’re ever going to move things forward.
Never fear though, we’ve got 4 great suggestions to help you get things back on track...
1. Prioritise and park
It’s time for a reality check. Quickly establish how likely it is for you to turn this relationship around and turn the prospect into a client.
If the relationship is stuck and you can’t move it forward – park it!
But if there’s a chance you can move things foward, prioritise this relationship and focus on what you need to do to create a positive outcome for both you and the prospect.
2. Target, target, target!
Have you established enough points of contact with this prospect? Do you know who your decision maker is? Have you connected with all these contacts on social?
Always connect with your prospects on LinkedIn, Twitter, or whatever space they tend to spend their time online. This way, you get to see updates of what 'Bob' the hiring manager at company A is up to on a business and personal level which allows you to connect with them in a more memorable way.
Every day, you'll be getting bombarded with content your prospect will be interested in if you're covering your niche effectively. I wonder… how could we use all this information to develop our sales relationships? Here's how!
Read: How Healthy is your Sales Pipeline?
3. Engage
There are only so many “I’m just checking in” emails or phone calls we can send. How do you really engage your clients and prospects to create momentum in your sales pipeline?
First and foremost, you want to develop a genuine relationship that doesn't involve you asking the prospect for anything. Put your targets aside and focus on building a trusting relationship.
Why not congratulate Bob on landing that new contract - just mentioned on the company LinkedIn page or news section on their website?
Or perhaps you could like that tweet 'Bob' has just shared highlighting the struggle for STEM graduates this year – God forbid you re-tweet it! By doing so, you might just get into a tweet-a-thon with 'Bob' that could highlight your in-depth knowledge about the graduate market. Conversations like this can help you foster great relationships.
4. Add Value
We’re recruiters, so picking up the phone is often our first instinct move in any situation. But before you know it, you’ve called the same prospect 16 times and left 10 voicemails, desperate to get a response… and that’s before we’ve taken in to account the 5 emails we have sent in-between.
This is not adding value, it's not helping your relationship and it’s definitely not helping you get closer to making that placement. n fact, you're probably one call away from a restraining order! So, let’s take a step back and take advantage of the other ways we can reach out to our clients.
If you've already identified your client’s challenges – use them provide value and show the client that you're worth keeping in touch with. Send relevant content and mention why you're sending it (i.e. making reference to the challenge the prospect has told you they're experiencing). If it helps them, it might just spark conversation and get that momentum going again.
“Hi Bob,
I saw this blog/video/article, and thought of what we were talking about last time we spoke. I know you have been struggling with [problem] and I think this content could help you to overcome some of those challenges.”
And don't panic - you don’t have to be an award-winning writer or even share out your own content to nail this part. Just make sure it’s relevant to what your prospect is struggling with and there’s a good reason for you to send it to them. Always have a clear outcome in mind.
So, those are my four top tips for moving along a stuck client relationship. Stay focused, prioritise, and target key decision makers. Always look to add value but with clear goals in mind and try not to be a like every generic sales person – no one likes to be sold to!
If you're looking for some inspiration for engaging emails to send your prospects, look no further! We've got some great templates below to help you out...
