Cold Calling for Recruiters and Entrepreneurs
Executive search, recruiting, headhunting – no matter what you call it, it is one of the most difficult and lucrative types of selling careers. The difficulty level of this type of selling increases dramatically when the recruiter or sales person decides to go into practice for themselves. I know this struggle personally because my first business was as a recruiter placing hospital directors and vice presidents.
I left a good job in a large executive search firm due to a long commute and decided to start my own business. What I hadn’t taken into account was how different it would feel to be an entrepreneur as opposed to an employee. For many making cold calls without the support of a manager or team can seem overwhelming. However making prospecting or cold calls is still a vital part of the sales process. In a sole practitioner situation it can be the most challenging aspect of sales performance.
When you become an entrepreneur you have a new set of concerns and this creates obstacles to peak performance.
- No salary- This one can bring up all kinds of obstacles and fears. When I started my business back in the 80’s I had a savings cushion which I ran through fairly quickly. When you have no salary or base income the worries can take over your mind and detract from your ability to make calls.
- Providing structure in your day. When you are used to working in a structured corporate environment, the loss of that structure will create problems. At first you will probably feel more freedom. Freedom is great but it comes with a fairly large price tag. It’s amazing how quickly you can lose track of time when doing busy work. With the use of the internet in executive search the possibilities for wasting time are endless. Setting aside specific time frames to make the calls is key.
- Developing motivation daily. Without the sales meetings and motivation of a boss looking over your shoulder. It’s easy to rationalize and excuse skipping calls to do other tasks.
- Overcoming fears. Fear of failure, success, and rejection are three of the most common types of fears for entrepreneurs.
- Moving between tasks when you don’t like certain types of tasks. For instance for many who are really good at connecting with people these types of people may be less than thrilled with doing administrative tasks.
I work on all of these issues and more with the recruiters and entrepreneurs who are my clients. hypnosis helped me and it is a very effective results oriented way to change habits, behaviors and overcome fears.
