In our experience, it comes down to a misconception of what marketing can actually do for your business. Many recruiters are traditionally sales people, so when it comes to communicating with clients and candidates, they usually reach for the phone. Of course this approach does work, but it’s becoming a lot less effective with so much competition and getting past the inevitable gatekeeper.
The sales function within any B2B company is driven by individual relationships, which recruiters are traditionally great at building, but this can be very time consuming and often inefficient. The success of any agency often comes down to hiring the right sales people with the right skills, to build the right relationships as this can make or break your business.
Marketing on the other hand, can reach thousands of prospective clients and candidates in your target market far more effectively, and it will cost less longer term. This marketing led, ‘longer term’ approach to lead generation, is where we believe recruiters struggle.
So, let’s take a look at the traditional ‘sales’ approach. We have identified the two key downsides:
1. What if that top biller with those key relationships decides to leave?
2. Each sales person only has a finite amount of time to dedicate to each client/candidate.
Also, unlike other B2B industries, your key ingredient to closing a sale is not a tangible product such as a vacuum cleaner or a laptop – you are selling a skill set that belongs to a real person, and these individuals need to be sourced uniquely every time.
So, how do you ensure you have the right candidates, at the right time, to service your client’s needs?
The answer is (dare we say)…
Marketing!