Socialising to win new business
Socialising with clients is a particularly misunderstood part of business development in recruitment.
It can sometimes feel like a chore – especially when you’re doing it one or two nights a week, for years on end. But I generated a huge amount of business from those evenings, and I know many others have too.
The problem isn’t the grunt work of the socialising itself. The key mistake is going home without any form of commitment.
Most recruiters who socialise treat it as a bit of a ‘jolly’ – a nice evening out, paid for by the boss.
Returning to the office the next morning, they usually claim that they have ‘built a good relationship’ i.e. no close.
The shift for me was treating every social catch‑up as an opportunity to add value and close for a concrete forward move.
Whilst at the same time having a nice evening. It’s subtle and professional.
Yes, you’ve got to be a good conversationalist and manage the flow of the evening.
But asking questions that uncover problems they’ve had with their current suppliers (many of these will be issues they haven’t considered before) is critical if you want to close for commitment to the next hire.
For example, one of a number of questions you might ask is: "When you are recruiting, out of every say 10 CVs, you receive how many of them are not suitable for your needs?"
Then give them practical suggestions that genuinely save them time and hassle when they next hire.
Towards the end of the evening, simply ask how your solutions to their multiple problems sound in comparison to the current supplier.
Your solutions will ALWAYS sound better when you’ve done it skilfully.
Which means it’s falling off a log to confidently close for commitment to their next role.
So if you’re already investing your evenings in client dinners, drinks, golf, or events, my suggestion is this:
Don’t just be good company. Be good value – and then ask for a commitment that gives you first crack at the next role.
Book a time in Mike Walmsley’s diary using the link below if you’d like to improve business development in your recruitment company.
