I am fairly confident in saying that on a weekly basis, as sure as the sunrises, I will receive a marketing/cold call, a random sales pitch via email or just a mass of junk mail. Most of the time, these come from companies and people I have never spoken to or heard of. If I receive a call, I am usually asked “How are you?” Unfortunately, I very rarely get an opportunity to answer.

As someone responsible for Client Engagement, I wear my sales and business development badge with honor. I have learned through training but mostly through being the customer, what works and what does not. What I’ve learned over my years is that you can make a million calls, send two million emails, but if you are not prepared to listen and understand your audience, you’ll never gain their business.

Success in the recruitment industry does not come easy. There will always be stigmas developed by under-performing firms that we have to counter. Service is the key. However, before there is an opportunity to demonstrate our service, it is the individual making the call/pitch that needs to be different! It is this individual who is responsible for our first impression. They are the ones who have to qualify the relationship. What I mean by this, is the client has a need and that need falls within the scope of our product/service offering.

So often, people fail to qualify the call or email. They ask “how are you?” but never let me respond. They pitch without understanding why such pitch might or might not be relevant. From the Founder of Russell Tobin to our Managing Partner, the one attribute always stated internally and reiterated about our organization is having the ability to put all our stakeholders first. These stakeholders include our clients, our candidates, our internal personnel, and anyone else who is directly affected by our choices and actions. When we connect with any of our stakeholders it’s not to sell an individual something right then and there, but instead to understand how we can be of assistance either now or in the future. The one thing about recruitment is that it’s not going anywhere as there will always be a need for talent. Being authentic is the differentiator. Being authentic, caring about the interest of the other person, and having the mentality that you are looking to better either that person individually or their organization is what matters.

I don’t consider myself a professional sales person, but I do sell. Before I sell, I care. Plainly and simply, I take interest in who I am about to speak with. If you are not doing that, my recommendation is slide your script to the side and be yourself. You would be surprised how many folks appreciate the authenticity of just being you.