There are three areas to overcoming resistance – knowing when an objection has been raised, knowing how to deliver your response, and knowing what specifically to say in your response. Remember that your audience is hip to the game – they can sometimes predict your rebuttal even before you have a chance to deliver it. […]
Obviously, as recruiters we know that passive candidates versus active candidates are two completely different candidate pools. Most reports show that about 15% of candidates read ads as a means of finding new career opportunities. If you are a market master and know your industry, you could very easily explain the metrics to your hiring authority.
The ‘Send me a resume’ concern is often incorrectly viewed as an expression of interest on the client’s part by new, inexperienced recruiters. More often than not, the request for a resume is simply a client’s way of saying “no” without having to handle rebuttals to his or her other concerns. At the very least, clients have found it to be an effective method of postponing a decision.
The great news is that you’ve found a company that recognizes the value of using a recruiter! The bad news is that it’s just not you – YET. This is an opportunity for you to get an understanding of how they found that firm and why they are using them. No firm is perfect – so there’s a good chance that you can probe to find some areas of pain – and those areas could be ones that you are able to alleviate.
“Don’t” in the first statement is a very strong term – and it behooves you to clarify what the actual objection is. It is possible that the company cannot afford to pay a fee, however, more often than not, the company has not fully considered the benefits of using a search firm. This presents an opportunity to capture the account by overcoming the concern through selling the benefits of partnering with a firm like yours.
