Sales For Recruitment

Question 1

What’s the definition of sales?

Answer 1

The act of selling of a product or service in return for money, and it is the act of completion of a commercial activity

Question 2

Sales and business development are closely linked in recruitment. What 3 activities should a sales person focus on?

Answer 2

Marketing - gaining the customer
Sales - getting buy in and commitment
Business Development- keeping the customer loyal

Question 3

What purpose do sales activities serve?

Answer 3

Growing the business
Creating new relationships
Safeguarding the future
Adding value to customers
Creating brand awareness
Increasing customer flow
Improving market knowledge
Identifying sales opportunities

Question 4

Where can you find sales opportunities?

Answer 4

Social media
Company websites
Job boards
Local networking
Lapsed clients
Candidates
Trade associations
Newspapers
Niche market magazines
Referrals
Marketing databases
New sales channels

Question 5

Who is a lapsed client?

Answer 5

Client who has used your services in the past but no longer does so

Question 6

What are the stages of recruitment sales cycle?

Answer 6

Identifying sales opportunities
Questioning to identify needs
Showing capability
Managing objections
Asking for commitment
Creating loyalty

Question 7

What factors need to be taken into consideration while qualifying a sales opportunity?

Answer 7

Time - Resource - Money
The sales person needs to assess the need, budget and authority of the buyer they are dealing with
Is the buyer ready, willing and able to agree to the deal

Question 8

What questions should be asked when establishing the viability of progressing an opportunity/lead?

Answer 8

What are and how big are the opportunities?
Can we compete?
Is it worth winning?
Will we get paid?

Question 9

From what sources you can get information about viability of pursuing a sales opportunity?

Answer 9

Company brochures
Front line staff/gatekeepers
Clients themselves
Colleagues
Other departments

Question 10

What is the definition of research?

Answer 10

Gathering information from various sources to establish facts and detail.

Question 11

What is the importance of research?

Answer 11

Research provides a sales person with ideas, options, opportunities and leads to successful sales planning and proactivity.

Question 12

From what sources can research be gathered?

Answer 12

Decision makers
Front line staff
Organisation websites
Specialist press
Social media
Candidates
Networks
Colleagues
Existing clients

Question 13

What research information should be stored on the database?

Answer 13

What the organisation does
Market share
Recruitment needs, trends, challenges and budget
Competitors
Organisation structure
Contact details and decision makers
Company culture, vision, values

Question 14

What’s the importance of planning in recruitment sales?

Answer 14

Planning is a process of deciding in detail how do to something a fire doing it.
Planning provides a person with clear focus and structure. It leads to greater self-confidence.
A sales person can proactively plan for:
Daily sales tasks
Daily and client meetings
Follow up calls
Overcoming objections
Sales calls
Candidate marketing
Candidate resourcing

Question 15

What does SMART stand for?

Answer 15

SMART is a principle that can be applied to clearly define goals and expected outcomes
Goals should be:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound

Question 16

What does KSP stand for?

Answer 16

Key selling proposition

Question 17

What does USP stand for?

Answer 17

Unique selling proposition

Question 18

SWOT analysis - what does it stand for? Who and when developed this tool? What is it used for?

Answer 18

Strengths - internal, favourable
Weaknesses - internal, unfavourable
Opportunities - external, favourable
Threats - external, unfavourable

Alberty Humphrey in 1960s

It is used by businesses to identify their current situation and plan for future actions and goals.

Question 19

Wat needs to be taken into consideration for a successful SWOT analysis?

Answer 19

Strengths- unique service offering, competitive rates, niche sector recruitment, large market share
Weaknesses- competitors undercutting, lack of sales activity, candidate skills shortage, limited client conversions
Opportunities- large employer moving into area, improved economy, recruitment competitor with high staff turnover
Threats- increased competitor sales activity, contracting market, changes in legislation, reduction in client budgets

Question 20

What are advantages and disadvantages of SWOT analysis?

Answer 20

ADVANTAGES:
Limited to no cost,
Allows organisations to have better understanding of their business, improve strategic planning, identify weaknesses and eliminate threats, maximise gain, develop strategies for achieving business goals
DISADVANTAGES:
Potential over-simplification of complex issues
Some factors cannot be limited to only one quadrant
Relies on subjective considerations
May not give specific solutions
May generate information of which some can be irrelevant

Question 21

What is PESTLE Analysis? What are its benefits and weaknesses?

Answer 21

Commonly used diagnostic tool used to help understand the environment in which an organisation operates. It can produce evidence to determine the position, potential and direction of a business.

PESTLE stands for:
Political events
Economic situation
Sociological or social change
Technological advancements
Legislative or legal frameworks
Environmental considerations

BENEFITS:
Simple, easy to use framework for analysis
Helps reduce potential effects and impact threats to the organisation
Provides mechanism that enables identification of new opportunities
Allows assessment of implications when entering new territories and markets
Encourages application of strategic thinking

WEAKNESSES:
Huge amounts of dynamic data
Results may be out of date quickly as it looks at daily evolving factors
Results based on unfounded assumptions
May require a large group of contributors
May oversimplify the information

Question 22

Porter’s 5 forces model

Answer 22

Developed by Michael Porter in 1980s.
Looks at implications of the external competitive business environment.

Key categories:
Threat from/rivalry amongst established competitors
Threat of new entrants
Threat of substitute products or services
Bargaining power of customers
Bargaining power of suppliers

Question 23

What is ‘paralysis by analysis’?

Answer 23

Danger of gathering too much information and forgetting about the main objective of why the analysis is concluded

Question 24

What actions can negatively affect person’s behaviour towards sales?

Answer 24

Lack of research, planning, goal setting
Lack of knowledge about the buyer
Lack of organisation in sales activity
Missing sales opportunities
Poor time management
Fear of rejection
Increased competition
Competitors undercutting rates
Focussing on quantity over quality of activity

Question 25

What actions have positive impact on sales outlook?

Answer 25

Planning for sales activity
Diarising calls/ follow ups/ meetings
Market research on clients/ competitors/ candidates
Setting clear and defined goals
Genuine desire to learn and develop

Question 26

Betari Box Model

Answer 26

My attitude —> my behaviour—> your attitude—> your behaviour

It’s a cycle in which one persons attitude and behaviour influence other person’s attitude and behaviour

Question 27

What are the empathy categories?

Answer 27

Cognitive empathy - knowing what and how the other party is feeling. Useful when negotiating and motivating. Can be considered under-emotional

Emotional empathy - feeling with the other person as if their feelings were contagious. Plus factor in selling. Can be considered over-emotional

Compassionate empathy - understanding of someone’s feelings and feeling compelled to help if needed. Balance between cognitive and emotional

Question 28

What does strategic selling mean?

Answer 28

Looking at the situation from the client’s viewpoint. Understanding of the market need and providing the product accordingly

Question 29

Define push sales style, its characteristic, advantages and disadvantages

Answer 29

Definition: Seller is giving more information than is gathering

Characteristics: limited listening, lots of talking about the service, scripted sales focus, assuming the buyer will buy, uses emotional language to influence the buyer, pressurising tactic, not targeted approach, lacking research

Seller can be perceived as: pushy, aggressive, pestering, desperate, not valued

Advantages: high volume of calls done in short time, buyer may buy after negotiation, quick to gain commitment

Disadvantages: higher rejection rate, potential lack of repeat business, reduced gain, buyer likely to reject further contact

Question 30

Define pull sales style, its characteristic, advantages and disadvantages

Answer 30

Definition: seller is gathering more information than is giving

Characteristics: active listening, prepared research, targeted approach, uses open and probing questions, focus on problems/issues and finding solutions, empathetic approach, involves buyer in making decisions

Seller can be perceived as: consultative, trusted and respected, seeking mutually beneficial relationship

Advantages: likely long term relationship and repeat business, higher margins, higher levels of commitment, action plans involving both parties

Disadvantages: likely to be more time consuming and slower developing, patience is required to ask the right questions

Question 31

What structure should telephone sales call and f2f sales meeting have?

Answer 31

TELEPHONE:
Planning
Introducing (self introduction, link to research, value statement, gaining commitment)
Questioning
Showing
Asking
Following up

F2F:
Planning
Introducing (pre client, with client)
Questioning
Showing
Asking
Following up

Question 32

What is the aim of open questions? Give an example

Answer 32

To gain more than one piece of information, encourage open discussion about the business, recruitment needs and processes.
“Tell me what recruitment plans do you have for the next quarter?”

Question 33

What is the aim of closed questions? Give an example

Answer 33

To gain one piece of information. To confirm/summarise/clarify details.
“Are you happy for us to advertise the role on your behalf”

Question 34

What is the aim of probing questions? Give an example

Answer 34

To gain follow up/additional information.
“Please clarify the main responsibilities for this role?”

Question 35

What is the aim of hypothetical questions? Give an example

Answer 35

To gain an agreement to a hypothetical scenario.
“If I present you a candidate CV with the skills you mentioned, would you invite them to the interview?”

Question 36

What situations are typical for organisational imbalance?

Answer 36

Relocation
Mergers/acquisition/restructuring
Changes in legislation
Economic changes
Fluctuating workloads
Skill shortage
New projects
Planned/unplanned absence

Question 37

What features can a salesperson choose from while demonstrating capability in the sales cycle?

Answer 37

Database of clients
REC membership
Job board advertising
Training candidates
Skills validation
Success only fee
Interview facilities
International coverage
Qualification checks
Qualified consultants
Database of candidates
In-depth interview
Candidate marketing
Eligibility to work checks
WTR opt out
Rebate
Temp to perm
Reference checks

Question 38

What is SPIN selling?

Answer 38

Selling method based on sale being made as result of client talking and salesperson only asking appropriate questions such as:

Situation - what’s the buyer’s situation?
Problem - what are the specific problems being faced?
Implication - what are the consequences of problems identified?
Need - how do we solve identified issues?

Question 39

What are the most common reasons for not wanting to engage with recruitment services provider?

Answer 39

Call made at a wrong time
Seeing no need for external recruitment
Too big cost
Previous bad experience
Contact not involved in decision making
Already working with a supplier
Contractual agreements
Use of job boards/networking sites

Question 40

What are the objection groups?

Answer 40

Price - concern over cost
Capability - concern over ability to deliver
Vague - non specific comment
Irrelevant - an attempt to block the conversation

Question 41

What is a positive behaviour toolbox?

Answer 41

Model assisting with overcoming objections.
Empathy - expressing understanding
Probe - get to underlying objection
Hypothetical question - to gain commitment and move forward
Future plan - agreement on how to move forward

Question 42

What does APAC stand for?

Answer 42

Acknowledge - recognise the objection
Probe - understand the issue and ask probing question to move forward
Answer - address the objection and propose solutions
Close - confirm objections have been dealt with

Question 43

What is FEEL FELT FOUND method?

Answer 43

A method of overcoming objections.
Feel - understand what the buyer feels
Felt - relate to the issue, others have felt the same way
Found - present what others found and did to overcome the issue

Question 44

What closing agreements will be classed as low level and high level commitment?

Answer 44

Low level:
Send CVs/ terms
Future phone call
Pop in
Referral
Sales lead
Connecting on LinkedIn

High level:
Meeting
Arranged interviews
Diarised interview availability
Exclusivity
Opportunity to tender for PSL
Temp to perm placement

Question 45

What factors should be taken into consideration when deciding on fees/rates?

Answer 45

Economic climate
Desire to gain business
Availability of candidates
Availability of skills required
Cost of hire
Legal constraints
Additional costs such as ppe
Rebate terms
Worker training costs
Desired margin
Responsibilities and expertise involved
Pay equality

Question 46

What’s the difference between margin and mark-up?

Answer 46

MARGIN - calculated from the selling price
MARK-UP - added to the cost of sales

Question 47

What are the sales closing techniques?

Answer 47

Trial close - a test to determine if the buyer is ready to buy
Action plan close - consultative approach, involving buyer in making decisions
Direct close - to clarify/summarise a level of commitment
Alternative close - when timescales are involved