QUESTION: Mike, I would like some ideas for a script for marketing MPCs or general marketing approaches, i.e. email, LinkedIn, telephone. – Jeff
ANSWER: I hate the word script. It means there is something I can say at you that will sell you.
Now, MPC marketing does open a door because prospects have told us in a tight market they want to be kept aware of good talent, so it is not an intrusion. It is a great approach.
My philosophy is all about diagnosing. I do not like scripting. The beauty in this market is almost every company is really, really challenged finding great talent. Then we go in with the same “script” and I am putting that word in quotes. We prescribe. Here is our process. Here is our service. Here is our niche. Here is our specialty. I have been around since 1927 doing this. I am really, really good. We say that in much more sophisticated ways. Most of those presentations fall flat. I am not saying they all do. Most of them fall.
Psychologically, I have been most successful and my clients have been most successful when they can turn that around a little bit. Those types of scripts and presentations that sound like everybody else’s are going to lead to conversations that are – we only pay 20%. We have a 90-day money back guarantee. We do not believe in exclusives. That is a whole other battle.
One of the strategies that I go into great detail in our programs and at our live events, is using basically a high level search as a flip marketing campaign to demonstrate your ability via questions because you are basically trying to recruit a VP or a C level executive. You are going to ask them great questions about themselves, their accomplishments, the vision they have for their career, what the gaps are in their career, and then if they are not in alignment with that opening you have, which a lot of them will not be or the timing will not be right, flip that into a marketing call with more questions to uncover pain of what is going on with their current ability to track talent.
If someone says to you, which is not going to be true 95% of the time in this market, you know what Jeff, we have absolutely no trouble finding people in the roles of X, Y, and Z. As a matter of fact, we have 1 or 2 great recruiters. They know exactly what we are looking for and every time we have an opening we give it to them and they fill it lovingly for 18%. If you are hearing that more than 5% of the time, it is not true. Then you go, then why are we talking? Why are we talking about your opening? It sounds like you have got it solved and you have given this person an exclusive.
I always use words like “you are thrilled with their process” and “you are thrilled with the quality of the talent” and you are “thrilled with the timing.” Notice I used that word “thrilled.” What you will hear is “I did not say thrilled.” Now there is a gap. Now there is a crack, and it is digging deeper there and having the patience to say no to more people than you say yes to.
You only need a handful of clients that work with you on a trusted advisor basis to bill $500,000 to a $1 million a year as a solo operator, with a little bit of leverage and some people doing recruiting for you. A lot of people do not believe me when I say that, but it takes the patience of being a little bit selective. One of the things that means is doing more marketing so you can say no to more people. The more you say yes, the more yeses you will have that are quality, the more openings you are going to fill. But most recruiters tend to be lazy on the marketing side.
Those are a couple ideas. Like I said on the script side, I do not like scripting. I like engaging with questions and uncovering challenges. Jeff, if you just start getting people on the phone and start asking them about looking back over the last 3 to 6 months, what would you say your biggest challenges, – not did you have challenges, not yes or no questions – is in acquiring people with this similar profile have been for you? What did you do to fill it? What worked? What did not work? What would you alter or improve?
Those are really the basis of my presentation. If everything is swimmingly wonderful, I am going, wow, it is great to hear you are thrilled, you are thrilled, you are thrilled, and then they will say, I did not say I was thrilled.
Hopefully that helps.
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