How are recruiters landing the lolly?
There are a whole host of different techniques that people employ to generate new business, though some clearly more effective than others. A recent survey conducted by recruitment training & business consultancy, Innergy, highlighted that recruiters tend to gain most wins through referral, which, in an era where building networks is essential, should not necessarily come as a surprise.
Behind referrals comes cold-calling – you can’t knock the tried and tested – then marketing, with social media (a form of marketing) hanging on the coat tails.
Here are the full results for the best methods of generating new business:
If you aren’t winning new business through referral or feel your referral strategy could be improved, consider these pointers, as noted by Innergy director, James Osborne:
- Set a target. Set a clear goal, such as a 10% increase in referral business over the next 6 months.
- Create a top-20 list. Not all customers are referral candidates. Find the top 20% that are engaged by your service and ask them for referrals, ensuring that
their network includes the types of client you want. - Give and you’ll receive. Give your clients extra service and follow-up support before asking for referrals. When you give willingly to your customers, they will return the favour.
- Customer demographics. Inform your referring clients of the type of customers you can help. Provide a clear picture of the customer demographics will help your referral marketing.
- Build a rewards programme. Provide special rewards to your referring customers on a regular basis. If a customer provides you with three referrals that
turn into sales, offer them something special in return, such as a discount on their next order with you
Whatever approach you take to new business development, ensure you are exploiting a number of options at once and tying up your processes into one defined strategy so that you create greater consistency and effectiveness in what you do.
