Don’t Quit! Part 1 of 3
That’s the beginning of a poem given to me many years ago by a senior sales executive: “When things go wrong as they sometimes will. When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill …AND you want to smile , but you have to sigh. When care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must, but don’t you quit…” Perhaps you have never been through a downturn in the business climate. Perhaps you are feeling frustrated, disappointed or disillusioned? Well, welcome to the club.
To say that business conditions are challenging may be an understatement to you right now. Sorry, there is no magic bullet; BUT you can take charge and move forward each and every day. Let’s start that journey by taking a look at how the pros work in either good or bad times. I asked several Staffing Industry veterans to share some insights and anecdotes with me. WOW, did I get some gems to pass along to you!
The first person shared the following nuggets: A very successful recruiter that she knew has 6 variations of opening comments written out and taped to one of those photo cubes. While she dials away the cube is rotated so that she always has a fresh approach to use. This keeps her phone presentation fresh all day long. I hope that you have a few scripts that you developed or at the very least have high impact key words posted in front of you when you are on the phone. You work so hard to even connect with a live person, why risk winging it when you have a prospect on the line? She also shared this observation: It’s the person in the office who always seems to have that headset on talking to prospects that succeeds and excels. A gentleman that she once worked with came in each morning and started dialing. At mid-day he would take a two hour break to run, shower and have lunch. Then it was back on the phone until the end of the day. What a way to work on your professional and your personal objectives each day. Develop your very own disciplined and balanced work routine. That will serve you well.
Stay tuned for Part 2 in the series where I discuss how to engage with senior executives within your target accounts and how to truly understand your clients needs so that you can serve them better in any economy.
