In the first blog post in this series, we explored a few of the things that recruiters should be doing to prepare for 2011. Those things included marketing, celebrating (and promoting) your success, and visiting your clients. In this blog post, we’ll explore a few more, courtesy of industry trainer Dave Knutson of The Knutson Group, LLC.
#1—Networking Events
“I get invitations each and every day for networking events,” said Knutson. “I can’t attend them all, but it’s nice to be on the invitation list. It’s good to be out there and be visual, and it’s also good to be able to pick and choose which events you want to attend. I know that a competitor of mine got a search that I could have had, but they were at that networking event and I wasn’t. Attending these events pays off.”
#2—Holiday parties
“Clients have holiday parties, and you can invite them to yours, if you have one,” said Knutson. “You can go heavy with the food, or just have $200 in hors d’ oeuvres. You could also invite clients to your office for holiday wine tasting. That’s always popular.”
#3—Client gifts
“There’s a slew of stuff that you can send through the mail,” said Knutson. “You can send personalized gifts—calendars and chocolates or stuff like that.”
#4—Holiday cards (but not just for the end of the year)
“When you send holiday cards when everybody else is sending out cards, you get lost in the shuffle,” said Knutson. “But if you send out cards for other holidays, as well, you stand out from the crowd. You can send St. Patrick’s Day cards, Thanksgiving cards, Fourth of July cards, etc. You’ll pretty much be the only ones sending those kind of cards out. When that happens, the companies you send them to will know who you are, and they’ll be looking forward to getting your cards on those holidays.”
Be sure to check out the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Blog for further installments in this series.
(Dave Knutson has 25 years of recruiting experience that are reflected in The Knutson Group, LLC’s high standards of professionalism throughout the recruiting process. He is a nationally sought after speaker, trainer, and business coach. Visit the Knutson Group’s website.)