Best Strategy in Building Relationships; Establish Trust
By Rick Welling, USAREC
Aug. 18, 2014
We live in the information age, and bad news is everywhere, it trends quickly and seems to drive perceptions, regardless of facts. There are stories about recruiters having extramarital affairs, taking shortcuts that lead to processing unqualified applicants, and many other unethical and immoral behaviors.
Is there more scandal today? Not really, it just seems that way, because access to news is so much faster and more readily available. The TV, Internet, social media, magazines and direct emails all spew the doom and gloom.
So how does bad news affect the recruiting environment? For one thing, prospects are more skeptical. They wonder if you’re the real deal or just another professional promise maker. Are you like the person they just heard or read about who took advantage of someone?
Successful recruiters realize that building trust and credibility has always been important in establishing and building relationships. It’s even more important today in this cynical, information-loaded world.
Here are three ways top recruiters build trust and credibility with prospects, Very Important Persons, Centers Of Influence and peers.
Be the Real Deal
Most recruiters are genuine and authentic. The problem is they often don’t appear as such during the Army interview. They think they must say and do things that will impress the prospect. As a result, they look and sound like sales robots spewing out obvious sales techniques such as,“Wouldn’t you agree?” or “If we could, would you want to move forward?” or the famous, “Johnny, others have felt the same way too and found that after …” How about this one. “How does that make you feel?”
When was the last time you asked that in a non-sales conversation? These sales expressions cause the conversation to sound artificial, canned and disingenuous. Don’t get me wrong, each does have a purpose and time, and, if used correctly, can positively affect the outcome of an interview.
Show up and talk like your prospects. Get rid of the formal language and demeanor. Be the real deal and have real conversations. Use phrases like “Let’s see if this makes sense for you.”
Poor preparation for an Army interview also causes lack of authenticity. A recruiter who hasn’t done enough planning will be nervous at the meeting, and worried more about the questions they’ll be asked by the prospect than the ones they should be asking.
When a prospect asks a question or states an objection, the unprepared recruiter stumbles over the answer and appears uncomfortable. This type of response can create even more doubts in the mind of an already doubtful prospect. Don’t think you have more knowledge than the person you are interviewing. With all the information available online, the motivated buyer will have done his homework. You do the same when you’re making a substantial purchase; remember the salesman who didn’t know his product?
Real-deal recruiters follow a playbook. They’re diligent about pre-call planning. Because they have a process, they’re not sitting in a meeting wondering and planning their next step. An excellent play book each recruiter must read is Army Techniques Publication 6-22.1(July 2014), The Counseling Process. The processes outlined in this publication are proven and correspond directly to the Army interview each recruiter is taught at the Army Recruiter Course.
Armed with this knowledge, recruiters know exactly where they are in the process and thus are free to focus on their prospect, not themselves. Recruiters are present, real and authentic; they know the Army and they know what it has to offer. There is nothing worse than hearing a recruiter “approximately” explain to a prospect or applicant: You will earn approximately $900 a month, the GI-Bill is worth approximately $25,000, basic training is approximately nine weeks. You must be more professional than this. Know the facts.
Admit Mistakes
If you’ve been in recruiting long enough, you’re going to mess up. If you aren’t messing up, you’re probably playing it safe or not showing up. Neither approach helps you achieve the decisive effort.
Admitting mistakes means you get rid of the “but, but, but” language. You know what I’m talking about. The Army screws up and the recruiter is dealing with the problem. The excuse-driven recruiter says something like, “I am really sorry I’m late for our meeting, my boss had a last minute meeting. Or, “I apologize for the computer being slow, but we have this new software.”
Admit your shortcomings without excuses or blame. Your applicants don’t want or need to hear the sad story behind the mistake. Take responsibility and fix the problem. Own up to your mistakes. When you do, your credibility and a prospect’s trust in you goes up – way up.
How many times in your Army career have you heard the blame game being played? “It’s not our fault we didn’t hit the target, our site malfunctioned.” Or, “I can’t believe he couldn’t take the physical today, I told him not to drink the night before.” You are the professional, omit your mistakes and drive on.
Follow-up and Follow Through
Do what you say you are going to do.
Here’s a quick quiz: Review your calendar and think about promises made to family, colleagues, COIs/VIPs or prospects. Did you follow through on your commitments or did someone have to remind you to do so?
Top recruiters are reliable and responsible. Both qualities help build trust because people know they can count on you.
When you decided to be an Army recruiter, you made a commitment to perform consistent business development activities for our Army and the profession you represent. There are tools to help you manage all your activities. Your center leader will even help you design a proven road map for your success. Yet, in spite of all these resources, the center leader’s number one complaint is inconsistent business development activity.
Think about it. If you’re not willing to honor your word to your center leader, there’s a good chance you’re not honoring your word in your personal and professional lives.
Follow up and follow through. That builds trust and credibility.
Be the real deal, eliminate excuses, and honor your word. These three characteristics build trust in a doubtful operating environment. Remember, trust and credibility are the foundations of recruiting.
By Rick Welling, USAREC
Aug. 18, 2014
We live in the information age, and bad news is everywhere, it trends quickly and seems to drive perceptions, regardless of facts. There are stories about recruiters having extramarital affairs, taking shortcuts that lead to processing unqualified applicants, and many other unethical and immoral behaviors.
Is there more scandal today? Not really, it just seems that way, because access to news is so much faster and more readily available. The TV, Internet, social media, magazines and direct emails all spew the doom and gloom.
So how does bad news affect the recruiting environment? For one thing, prospects are more skeptical. They wonder if you’re the real deal or just another professional promise maker. Are you like the person they just heard or read about who took advantage of someone?
Successful recruiters realize that building trust and credibility has always been important in establishing and building relationships. It’s even more important today in this cynical, information-loaded world.
Here are three ways top recruiters build trust and credibility with prospects, Very Important Persons, Centers Of Influence and peers.
Be the Real Deal
Most recruiters are genuine and authentic. The problem is they often don’t appear as such during the Army interview. They think they must say and do things that will impress the prospect. As a result, they look and sound like sales robots spewing out obvious sales techniques such as,“Wouldn’t you agree?” or “If we could, would you want to move forward?” or the famous, “Johnny, others have felt the same way too and found that after …” How about this one. “How does that make you feel?”
When was the last time you asked that in a non-sales conversation? These sales expressions cause the conversation to sound artificial, canned and disingenuous. Don’t get me wrong, each does have a purpose and time, and, if used correctly, can positively affect the outcome of an interview.
Show up and talk like your prospects. Get rid of the formal language and demeanor. Be the real deal and have real conversations. Use phrases like “Let’s see if this makes sense for you.”
Poor preparation for an Army interview also causes lack of authenticity. A recruiter who hasn’t done enough planning will be nervous at the meeting, and worried more about the questions they’ll be asked by the prospect than the ones they should be asking.
When a prospect asks a question or states an objection, the unprepared recruiter stumbles over the answer and appears uncomfortable. This type of response can create even more doubts in the mind of an already doubtful prospect. Don’t think you have more knowledge than the person you are interviewing. With all the information available online, the motivated buyer will have done his homework. You do the same when you’re making a substantial purchase; remember the salesman who didn’t know his product?
Real-deal recruiters follow a playbook. They’re diligent about pre-call planning. Because they have a process, they’re not sitting in a meeting wondering and planning their next step. An excellent play book each recruiter must read is Army Techniques Publication 6-22.1(July 2014), The Counseling Process. The processes outlined in this publication are proven and correspond directly to the Army interview each recruiter is taught at the Army Recruiter Course.
Armed with this knowledge, recruiters know exactly where they are in the process and thus are free to focus on their prospect, not themselves. Recruiters are present, real and authentic; they know the Army and they know what it has to offer. There is nothing worse than hearing a recruiter “approximately” explain to a prospect or applicant: You will earn approximately $900 a month, the GI-Bill is worth approximately $25,000, basic training is approximately nine weeks. You must be more professional than this. Know the facts.
Admit Mistakes
If you’ve been in recruiting long enough, you’re going to mess up. If you aren’t messing up, you’re probably playing it safe or not showing up. Neither approach helps you achieve the decisive effort.
Admitting mistakes means you get rid of the “but, but, but” language. You know what I’m talking about. The Army screws up and the recruiter is dealing with the problem. The excuse-driven recruiter says something like, “I am really sorry I’m late for our meeting, my boss had a last minute meeting. Or, “I apologize for the computer being slow, but we have this new software.”
Admit your shortcomings without excuses or blame. Your applicants don’t want or need to hear the sad story behind the mistake. Take responsibility and fix the problem. Own up to your mistakes. When you do, your credibility and a prospect’s trust in you goes up – way up.
How many times in your Army career have you heard the blame game being played? “It’s not our fault we didn’t hit the target, our site malfunctioned.” Or, “I can’t believe he couldn’t take the physical today, I told him not to drink the night before.” You are the professional, omit your mistakes and drive on.
Follow-up and Follow Through
Do what you say you are going to do.
Here’s a quick quiz: Review your calendar and think about promises made to family, colleagues, COIs/VIPs or prospects. Did you follow through on your commitments or did someone have to remind you to do so?
Top recruiters are reliable and responsible. Both qualities help build trust because people know they can count on you.
When you decided to be an Army recruiter, you made a commitment to perform consistent business development activities for our Army and the profession you represent. There are tools to help you manage all your activities. Your center leader will even help you design a proven road map for your success. Yet, in spite of all these resources, the center leader’s number one complaint is inconsistent business development activity.
Think about it. If you’re not willing to honor your word to your center leader, there’s a good chance you’re not honoring your word in your personal and professional lives.
Follow up and follow through. That builds trust and credibility.
Be the real deal, eliminate excuses, and honor your word. These three characteristics build trust in a doubtful operating environment. Remember, trust and credibility are the foundations of recruiting.