Recruiting Firm Owners: When was the Last Time You Weeded Your Garden?

Have you ever planted dandelions?  Do you have a special garden for them?  No?  Then why do they show up?  Why does any weed end up in your garden if it is not planted?

Weeds like negative thoughts spread.  The people we talk to, both clients and peers spread them to us.  We spread them to our team.  They are 'watered' every day by more negative thoughts.  Like invasive plants need to be pulled from a garden, negative thoughts need to be manually removed from your mind.

I was reminded about this during the past week as I had the priviledge of speaking with over 30 owners of recruiting firms in a thirty minute strategy session about their business.  With the exception of one person, the good news is they are all seeing nice increases in their businesses.  Some even saying they are getting a consistent flow of call-in job orders!

Despite this uptick in the business a few of the folks I spoke with were a bit "beat up" by the economy over the past year.  This is quite understandable.  However, I challenged them and I challenge you to "tend to your mind".

Let me explain with a real example from a client conversation last week.  He was weary of making calls to hiring managers because "almost no one is hiring".  I asked if it was in his head when the hiring manager picked up the phone to which he responded, "well, yeah.'  What he didn't realize is that he had set a negative expectation for the outcome of the call. 

Why is this bad?  Well, unless someone is desperate to hire, you will probably get what you expected, which is "no opening".  Additionally, with a negative expectation, your energy is probably low and you will probably ask weak follow-up questions.  You are likely to make even fewer calls because why bother if now one is hiring!

During past recessions I had a mindset that everyone was hiring when I called them until they proved to me beyond a shadow of doubt that they were not.  It worked for me.  I got more openings, I had better calls and I made more of them.  Incorporate mind shift and "weeding" of thoughts in your recruiter training.

What strategies have you used to motivate yourself as a recruiter?  Comment below.

Comments

[Bob Lee]

Mike -
Great observation about the self-fulfilling prophecy. As one of the 30 owners that spoke with you, I value your insight and expertise about our industry.