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Today, we’re talking about BD, Why it’s not working the way it was, and, of course, logically, some of the things you could be doing about it now.
Before I get into that, if you’re new here, welcome; this is episode 416 of our podcast and blog post, so there are another 415 you can search through to find what you are looking for.
You can search for any topic related to recruitment marketing, which will help you because it will bring up all the different posts and podcasts we have created.
If lead gen is at the top of your mind, watch one of our on-demand trainings. There is one particular training around lead generation you can watch that is about an hour long.
If you go to superfastrecruitment.co.uk/lgt, which stands for lead generation triad, you will be taken to a web page. Enter your name and email address, and it will be sent to you.
Today, let’s talk about BD and why it’s possibly feeling harder than it has been for some time.
You Have Lost Momentum
The first thing to consider is that you’ve probably lost a lot of momentum over the last few years. I have mentioned this several times, and it’s well worth saying it again.
Remember, the start of this decade has been a bit weird. As I’m recording this, we’re about to move to the anniversary of Lockdown day in the UK when everything stopped.
If you think about it, many of you were doing BD in 2019, and then the market went a bit crazy, and then later in 2020, the market exploded. Recruiters had some of the best years ever, and consequently, many smaller companies stopped their BD process if they had one.
Then 2023 arrived, and suddenly, things started to change as the UK moved into a ‘soft’ recession, as our PM likes to call it 🤷♀️
You’ll notice that you probably have not done much BD for some people for years.
As we all know, you lose momentum if you aren’t doing something consistently.
You start to forget what is involved and what level of input is needed, and therefore, you need to rebuild that momentum if you want anything to happen.
Momentum comes through action.
You Need to Do More Than You Used To
The more you do, the better you get, and the more you build up your skills. That is a factor to remember that the reason your BD probably isn’t working is you need to do more of it.
Many recruitment startups have entered the market; they are fired up, active and doing BD as well.
They are tech-savvy and get the power of marketing, content, and reaching out to people.
They appreciate that the market has changed and that you must do much more.
There’s a critical mass in doing more and building momentum.
Making four or five LinkedIn connection requests daily doesn’t help; You need to do more.
To start building momentum, go to the maximum LinkedIn will allow. For instance, you need to do more reachouts because if you don’t, momentum won’t build, and you won’t be able to have the conversations you want.
You Can’t Fish In The Same Pond Forever
The other thing that’s happened and why BD probably isn’t working quite the same way is that many people are still fishing in the same pond they have had for years.
Yet the pond and the market have changed, and the people you want to work with differ.
If you keep fishing in the same drier pond than ever, it will not work.
If you’re doing BD, and all your current connections are not recruiting, you need to find some new ones.
This is a mental shift to get your head around.
The good news is you need to build a system around it, and it is a simple process; go and watch our lead gen triad system, which gives the basic steps here.
Build Your BD System
Many of you listening to this are probably experienced business owners. You’re used to picking up the phone, and you may have a team of consultants that only want to email people; They don’t want to use different approaches.
Fact: Using multiple approaches is what you need to do now.
It’s important to ensure you create your daily outreach process and practice and use a multimedia and multichannel approach.
You are picking up the phone and speaking to people. You are sending texts. You are sending messages on LinkedIn, Messenger, or WhatsApp that you’re doing all these different things.
You’re sending video, you’re sending voice notes, you’re doing all of this different approach to people to get people’s attention.
Map this into a process you and your team consistently implement that will work for you.
Sharpen Your Saw: Skill Building
The next thing that follows this is that your skills will be rusty if you haven’t done something for a while.
Especially if you haven’t done any selling for a while, go in and do the sales-heavy pitch, which doesn’t work in the same way.
We’re much more connected now. People want to get that you understand what’s going on for them.
It may be that your skills, in the words of Stephen Covey, you need to sharpen the saw.
- Are your sales skills on point?
- Are they really what they should be?
- Do we need to start doing some more roleplay practice?
I know people might scream at the thought of that, and over the years, whenever I’ve done roleplay practice, I always get better.
Carry out your skill audit; are you as good as I used to be?
Do I need more practice?
What could you do differently?
Demonstrate Your Authority Online
I want to mention some critical things in today’s market.
Suppose you send an email or a message through LinkedIn. The first thing the recipient is going to do is check you out.
They will look at your LinkedIn profile to see if it’s that particular medium, Google you and see what they can find, or visit your website.
Many people have forgotten that this happens; you only need to check your profile views to see that what I am saying is true.
And they judge who you are and how you can help them.
If you are one of the recruiters who doesn’t use content marketing, you’re not posting consistently and regularly on LinkedIn with value-added content.
If your website looks like a ghost town, there’s nothing on there and no blogs.
Then, you won’t make the impact you hope to make in front of your market.
If somebody comes across you on LinkedIn, they come across you on your website. You look outdated, and you’ve not got anything there that communicates your value or your level of expertise; people will then move to the next person because there are plenty of people out there with content with a website that communicates value.
Though that’s hard to swallow, it’s true because we judge people by what we see and hear about them.
That could be happening to you.
The good news is, of course, that you can alter that quite easily.
Do The Work Daily and Don’t Give Up
The final thing is people give up too easily.
It is a tough market.
It’s at times like these that you need to do more, and you need not give up.
And please don’t join the pity party with everyone else saying, “Oh, it’s a terrible time. I haven’t had a new job in weeks.”
Well, maybe you are having it rough.
This means you need to have a word with yourself.
If you are having a terrible time, what can you do about it?
How can you take control of this yourself?
BD isn’t hard, though it does take work.
In today’s market, with all the software we have and all the people available, you can even buy a database of people cost-effectively, which is easier than it used to be.
You’ve got tools like Sales Navigator; you can reach out to people.
You need to do more of it more consistently; It’s not all doom and gloom.
Yes, it’s a bit of a tough market, but dial in your BD process because it works and will build your pipeline.
The more you sit and complain about it, it’s not going to help you.
You’ll stay where you are and end up further away from where you want to be. You must accept the situation, move on, and start doing things differently.
I hope I’ve given you a few ideas here.
Maybe it has made you realise why things aren’t working as they were and that now is the time to change.
Thanks
Denise
How We Can Help You?
As a member of Superfast Circle, we support you in getting your lead generation on point so it works for you. We provide all the training and content you need; if you want to find out more, book a call with us here.
