These are two of my favorite movies. I have also read, "The wolf of Wall Street" by Jordan Balford, who the main character of Boiler Room is based after. He lives an amazingly incredible life on his rise to the top, and experiences a monumental freefall to loose it all. Wall Street teaches some brutal life lessons when it comes to high stakes sales, and business negotiations. Charlie Sheen's character also experience a swift rise followed by a terrible fall. The lesson here; you can be a Recruiter who is focused on selling, as long as you keep your integrity you can avoid the fall from grace.
The main hat I wear is as a recruiter, but I often find myself being more of a salesman when I really think about it. Working for a smaller consulting company my initial phone call always consists of selling my expertise and my companies reputation and brand. I am basically selling the candidate on my company first and the opportunity second. I use many techniques I have picked up regarding the art of selling i.e. learn the candidates expectations, obstacles, rate and hot buttons very early on and use them in my pitch later in the process. That is what sets my opportunity apart from any other recruiter calling with an opportunity, is the experience a candidate gets for working with myself and my company.
Another area I find myself acting the part of salesman more than recruiter is in the networking department. One specific example being reference checks. I ask all my candidates to provide 3 references of people they either reported to directly or their manager's manager. I call every single reference and use it as an opportunity to develop business. I begin my reference checks explaining why I am calling, and what company I work for. I spend a few minutes explaining our reputation and some of the high profile projects we have and are currently working on. Then I usually ask "are you happy with your current vendors? Does my company sound like an improvement in what you currently work with?" The answer is almost always positive and leads down the path of making arrangements for a formal sales meeting down the road. Sometimes the sales opportunity might not be for months down the line or even a year or two. This is where being a friendly and good person comes in hand. The Boiler Room and Wall Street approach will not work here in developing long term relationships.
As a recruiter it is important to understand the entire scope of your companies business and how you can help it grow in all aspects; its core competencies, stretch capabilities and its goal. Us recruiters talk to a lot of people on the phone and online, each interaction is an opportunity to generate; 1. a good candidate 2. a quality referral or 3. new business opportunities. Keep your mind focused that you should always be selling, but do not make the same mistake as in Boiler Room and Wall Street, be a good person as you sell and you will be more valuable to your company than just a recruiter, you will be a multi-talented indispensable asset.
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