(light music)
- Many recruiters when they get objections,
they view them as a barrier to success.
In fact, hiring authorities have shared
with me over and over again
that they know the two or three objections
to give to recruiters to just get them to hang up.
And so you got to understand
that when they're giving you an objection,
they really want to know how much you believe
in what you're doing.
An objection is a buying sign.
It's a request for more information.
And as a recruiter, you have to understand something.
You can't just be good at overcoming objections.
This is a skillset that you must become great at
because overcoming objections is really critical
to your success.
What I want to do is give you some ideas today
that you can easily implement
that basically are going to have you welcome objections
versus dread them.
Now, in order to overcome objections effectively,
it makes it much easier when you realize
there are only four kinds of objections,
and those are service, postponement, price, and personal.
And what I want to do now is I want to give you examples
of all these objections
and I'm going to give you an example
for each objection for the hiring authority,
as well as the candidate.
So let's start out with a service objection example.
A hiring authority could easily say,
"I don't need your help.
I can fill this job on my own.
I don't want to take the time
of seeing all the candidates you have.
I can just do a better job."
The way to effectively overcome that is,
"But what I can do is save you time and money.
And understand something, we'll interview many candidates.
We're not going to waste your time interviewing anybody.
That's my job.
Let me interview all the people
that have the skills and stability
and experience you're looking for.
I'm only going to present the finalist.
When I call you and present somebody to you,
they can do the job.
Now we have to see if the two of you click
and if they fit in with the company culture of our company,
as well as your department."
Now, a candidate objection could be,
"I'd rather submit my resume directly to the person
who would be my boss.
Why do I need you to submit my resume?
I want to work with the boss."
Now, a response to the candidate could be,
"We have many different positions available
in our company right now.
I need to determine what is most important to you.
You may send your resume to the wrong person.
They could look at it and say, 'This person is not a fit.'
I have the knowledge of every position
that our company has posted right now,
as well as some jobs that are not posted.
And so once I know what is most important to you,
then I will only present you with the best positions,
and I'll make sure that your resume gets in the hand
of the right hiring authority."
The second type of objection
I want to give you an example of are postponement objections.
So what type of postponement objection might you get
from a hiring authority?
The most common is, "I don't have time to interview.
I'm too busy.
I just don't have time for this.
I don't even know if I'm going to fill the job.
I just am too busy."
And your response can be,
"Well, the initial interviews will be done by HR.
We're only going to send you people
when it's most convenient for you.
And what I have to ask you
is what is your target date to fill?"
Because see, remember in recruiting, timing is everything.
And if they truly are too busy,
if they're traveling and don't have time to interview,
you have to know that.
But in order to get a target date,
ask them an additional question.
"What problem is this opening causing you
or your department?"
See, if there is no problem, if there is no challenge,
if they've got another employee covering the job,
they're going to save that salary for awhile.
But if I'm a hiring authority
and I have somebody doing two jobs,
and now they're threatening to quit."
"I'm doing the jobs of two people,
I'm not going to do that much longer."
Now that target date is going to get much more valid
because I know I've got somebody on the verge of quitting.
So when they're trying to postpone,
you've got to know what is that target day to fill in?
What problem exists as a result of the job being open?
No problem, no urgency.
If there is a problem,
this is where you want to put your time
and show the hiring authority
why they need to use you now.
Now let's go to the candidate side
of this postponement objection.
Often they'll just say, "Send me the specs.
Send me the job that you're representing,
and I'll decide if it's something I want to look at or not."
Your response has to be,
"We have numerous positions.
I'm not sure what's most important to you.
I'm not going to assume for a minute
that what your resume shows me is what you've done
and what you're currently doing.
It doesn't show me what you want to do next.
See, I'd like to become your lifetime talent agent.
I'd love to help you get
to where you want to be in five years,
but I don't know what position
is going to lead you up to that.
So once I find out what's most important to you,
then we'll know what job to key in on,
rather than just sending you specs."
Now let's go to price objection examples,
which is a third type of objection.
A hiring authority could say, "You know what?
I'm not going to use you
because every candidate you present to me
is at the top of our salary range.
And quite frankly, I can do better on my own.
I can find people that aren't making as much money."
Your response to this hiring authority could be,
"You know what I need to determine?
I need to determine what you prefer to offer."
Often hiring authorities will give a recruiter a range,
like, "I want to pay 80 to 110."
And so you're going to present candidates
in that whole range,
but often the best candidates for the job are the ones
that are higher paid.
So that's the reason that often you're going to present people
at the top of the salary level.
It's important to research
and find out what the past employee in that job was earning,
because it's very rare
that a hiring authority is going to want to offer a new person
more than the person that left the job,
unless there's added responsibility,
or maybe that person's been in the job for 15 or 20 years
so they're not making a competitive salary.
When you stay with the company longer than 10 years,
15 years, you're making less money
than if you would change your job every 2 or 3 years,
because with every change, your money escalates.
So if they gave you that range,
what you have to say to your hiring authorities,
"Just tell me what you prefer to offer.
Rather than giving me a range of 80 to 110,
where do you really want us to focus?"
And they might say 90.
See, that's a much different recruit on your part
than if you think the salary goes up to 110.
And you and I both know
that money causes many offers to be denied,
and that's why we have to know upfront,
what does this hiring authority really want to offer?
Now, a candidate can say to you,
"I'm a great negotiator,
and I want to negotiate my own salary.
In fact, I think I can negotiate a higher salary
for myself than you can."
Your response has to be, "I know the salary ranges.
I can get you the best offer.
I know what they're willing to pay.
And once I know what's most important to you,
I'm not going to walk away from an opportunity
for a few cents an hour if I know it answers everything else
that's important to you.
So I'm going to get you the best offer possible.
And understand something, I know these hiring authorities.
I work with them all the time.
I'm an in-house recruiter.
These are people that I know.
I also know what they want to pay.
And so I'm not going to waste your time.
You might have a higher salary level
and they could disqualify you from even being considered
to a job that answers everything you're looking for
in your next career move."
Let's move lastly to personal objections,
and these are the toughest, because again,
these are directed at you or what you've done.
A hiring authority can say,
"You didn't fill my last two requisitions.
Why should I use you? You're not giving me results.
I feel you're a waste of my time."
Your response could be,
"Well, the last time we worked on requisitions,
you were very close to a hire.
We got into the end of the recruit.
Now we're in at the beginning.
And once I know exactly what's most important to you,
we will provide you with results.
We're going to focus on this.
Your requisitions are going to become a priority.
And if I run into any problems at all surfacing talent,
I'm going to give you an update every Friday
on everybody we've interviewed,
what we're finding in the marketplace
so that you've got feedback
that can help me fine tune my search efforts.
You got to show them...
Remember, all hiring authorities
and candidates care about is, "What's in it for me?
How does what you do benefit me?
'Cause if I think I can do it better myself, I'm going to."
So you've got to let them know
that I'm committing to you,
that I'm going to provide you with results.
On the candidate side, and this is a tough one,
because there's many good candidates
who'd applied to your company,
and they ended up in this deep, dark hole,
especially if they apply it on a job board.
They just never heard from anybody.
So one objection could be,
"You know what, I applied before
and I didn't even get the courtesy of a phone call.
I mean, nobody responded to me.
Why in the world should I apply again
after the way I was treated?"
Your response should be, "But I have opportunities
that match exactly what your resume is telling me
you're looking for next.
I want to clarify what's most important to you.
I want to make sure
that I totally understand what you're doing.
I won't waste your call.
And I hope that the experience
that you have working with me right now
is really going to change your opinion
of how we interact with people
that are looking for their next career move.
I apologize that you didn't get a phone call.
I'd love to be the person that changes your opinion of us."
You have to apologize,
but then you have to show them what's in it for them.
"I have opportunities that match your credentials.
Let's find out what's most important to you."
The first time you get an objection,
it's a learning experience.
And you're going to get many different objections
throughout your recruiting career.
Some are seasonal, like in the summertime,
an individual might say,
"I don't want to make a change
because I have a vacation planned."
Toward the end of the year,
people don't want to change
because they're waiting on a holiday bonus.
Or in many instances,
if they work one day into the New Year,
they qualify for that year's vacation,
so they don't want to make a change
until they qualify for the vacation.
They may have a pension fund that's vested in 10 years
and they're in year 9 1/2.
So you have to really listen to these objections.
When you treat objections as buying signs
and request for more information, you're going to realize
that this is going to make you more successful
because your conversations are going to continue
with both the hiring authorities and the candidates.
So you're going to welcome and not dread them
when you realize that this is going to help you succeed.
This is going to make you a better recruiter.
This is going to help you fill more opportunities
with qualified candidates.
(upbeat music)