Pitching to enthusiastic amateurs
Sell what your clients can't do
Here’s a list of things clients think they can do:
Write a job ad (“I can write!”)
Interview applicants (“We do good cop, bad cop…”)
Present offers to candidates (“I go in low, and meet in the middle if I have to”)
Now your clients might be wrong, but they believe they can. And belief is a difficult thing to sell against.
To be clear, your clients don’t think they are experts at any of these things. They just think they’re good enough to get the job done, and don’t value the help of an expert.
On the other hand, here’s a list of things clients think they can’t do:
Get HR on their side (“They’re always blocking me”)
Get other managers in a room (“They never agree with me”)
Put together a competitive package (“How could I know what everyone else is doing?”)
The belief is gone in these tasks, usually through repeated experience of complex deal-making, difficult questions, and uncertain trade-offs.
If you can solve these things, clients will want to work with you… and they’ll happily recognise you as an expert with skills worth paying a premium for.
Time well spent
I often see recruiters present themselves as a time-saver: “Why write the job ad when I can write it for you while you get on with your job?”
The problem with this approach is that some clients enjoy doing the tasks on the first list. In fact, it’s probably a welcome distraction from the big, difficult work they have to face in the second list.
The opportunities for recruiters are increasingly in the consulting space, and that means tackling the challenges on the second list. The value isn’t that you can do something your client can do, only better or faster; it’s that you are willing and able to solve their big, ugly, complicated issues that your client can’t and won’t deal with.
Focus on what your clients can’t do, and you’ll be rewarded as an expert.
If you’re looking to offer more high-value, consultative services for your clients (and get paid more for your work), drop me a line and I’ll explain how I can help.
Jon
P.S. I’m not suggesting you let your clients write the job ads while you fix the big problems. You want to control the full recruitment process, but the best way to achieve that is to win your clients’ trust and attention - and that means showing them how you can solve their biggest challenges, not just saving them time on something they were happy to do themselves.
If you’re looking to offer more high-value, consultative services for your clients (and get paid more for your work), drop me a line and I’ll explain how I can help.