QUESTION: Hey Mike. When you get a request for company information after a marketing call, what do you send? – Darren
ANSWER: Honestly, nothing. I rarely send anything. When I was new and first got into the business in my mid 20s, I was a 4-year marketing major and designed these wonderful brochures. When I first got into the business, there was no email. There was not an easy way to send stuff, so I would mail these thick stock wonderful brochures with professional pictures and search and selection process, blah, blah, blah.
I would mail several out per day and could count on less than one finger how many return calls I got later on where someone said – I pulled out your file of the stuff you sent me and because of that fancy brochure I am ready to do business with you. Even when you fell the conversation went well, but somebody says – Hey, you know what, I really appreciate it and think we can use you in the future. We do not have anything. Can you send me something?
More that likely it is going to be digital now, more than likely it is going to be at best lost and at worst deleted. What I would say to the person that asks – Can you send me something? . . . is to say – Sure, I have no problem with that, but Mr. Prospect or Ms. Prospect, what I am sensing is this is just a polite way to get me off the phone, and I understand you do not need anyone now.
Call it for what it is. It is a polite way to get you off the phone. That is all 90%+ of that is.
Then I would ask – What specifically will you be looking for in the information to make sure I convey that? Do you get a lot of brochures from search firms and recruiting companies? And they might say they do.
Then ask – Honestly, does it look the same? Well, yeah. You can reply – Let me do this, I am going to send you something that will be more helpful than a brochure. Until you choose to work with me and I earn the right to your business, I am not sure how a brochure is going to help that since this is such a huge relationship business.
What that gives you, Darren, is in the moment the opportunity to differentiate . . . and say – I am not trying to do anything to convince you now because I think you have been pretty clear with me you do not need anything . . . but it is a differentiation strategy.
I had a brief Word document that we dressed up a little bit with our background and a 25-Step Search and Selection Process that I send once in a while when I felt that the conversation went so well that they need a reference point. If you want to send something, send something only to those where you really felt like they were on the edge and they need something to put it in a memory.
My main fear when I had recruiters in my office and they all wanted me sending stuff was I do not want to make my office a mailroom or an email room. We had a rule in our firm you did not send anything out until the end of the day. You could put a list of people together that you wanted to send information. For the people that really doubted me, I would say – Let us just track how much of this comes back as an opening, without you calling them.
You can send something to someone now and then follow up with them 3 months from now in a phone call and you might get an assignment with them if they have an opening. Did the bundle you sent them have anything to do with it? Probably not.
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