I was doing a little early spring cleaning at work last week and found a postcard with Ross Clennett’s 8 Principles of Recruitment Success. I have no idea where this postcard came from or how long it’s been on my desk but I was happy to find it and thought it would make a great blog post for independent recruiters. Ross Clennett, The Recruiter’s Recruitment Expert, is a seasoned speaker, trainer, writer and coach and ‘has been an in-demand expert on recruitment in the Australian recruitment industry.’ I’ve outlined Ross’ 8 Principles of Recruitment Success for you below.
- Make quiet time from your work space to review your progress, set your goals and to plan your day, week and month to ensure you achieve your goals.
- Focus on high pay-off activities by being pro-active and controlling your day as much as possible.
- Read. Listen. Observe. Educate yourself constantly. Make your expertise valuable and sought after.
- The rule of sales is that it takes an average of 5 contacts with a prospective customer before they will give you a sales opportunity. If you forget to call a customer they will simply talk to your competitor.
- Ask your customers questions. Listen to the answers. Have a conversation with them. Get into their world.
- Be clear on your target market. Do not waste time with companies and people that are not prepared to value your services at the level that you do.
- Say ‘thank you’ often. Always create opportunities for timely and appropriate customer recognition and appreciation.
- When you don’t achieve the outcome you were seeking look for what you can learn. Accept accountability, don’t look to blame others or make excuses. Top performers focus on results not excuses. When you do achieve the outcome you were seeking – CELEBRATE!
I think these are some pretty valuable, and concise, principles that independent recruiters can incorporate to help achieve recruitment success.
Are there others you find valuable that are not included above?
Ross was a professional recruiter from 1989 to 2003 and worked in London, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne to successfully place over 1,500 people in work. Since 2003, Ross has been a recruitment expert in Australia with opinion pieces regularly featured in recruitment industry magazines and websites throughout Australia and the USA.