If I asked ”What are your clients struggling with most?”
Would your list look a little like this?
– They can’t find great candidates
– Hiring is slow
– Retention issues
– Cost of recruitment
– Hiring freezes
– Indecisive candidates
– Salary pressures
Now… imagine I asked a cybersecurity consultant working with the same clients the same question.
Their answers might be more like:
– Feeling vulnerable to hacks
– Risk of compliance fines
– Outdated security systems
– Inadequate security policies
Same company.
🔎 Totally different lens.
When you only look through the lens of recruitment, you might miss opportunities to better understand your client.
If you listen to as many podcasts as me you’ll see a pattern with interviewers.
Those who take the time to research their guests and really step beyond the predictable conversation create amazing content.
This is the same…
To truly understand your client’s business, try zooming out. Ask broader, business level questions and you’ll uncover significant challenges.
Examples might include:
– Competitor threats
– Changing market conditions
– Changing client needs
– Poor lines of communication with senior management
– Legacy clients dominating revenue
– Poor use of internal data/customer insights
– Changing tax laws
– Weak channel partnerships
– Outdated tech systems
– etc
👠 My point… sometimes we think we’re standing in our client’s shoes; but really, we don’t even know their size.
Uncovering broader challenges will help:
👉 Build trust.
And therefore partnerships.
👉 Provide context.
This helps you position your solution with more relevance.
👉 Lead to better conversations.
Opening up more strategic solutions.
Be the one who stands out as being interesting and interested; someone who goes beyond the job brief to REALLY understand your client and win more business.
🤷♂️Where do you start?
The good news… it’s pretty easy. Simply ask broader questions and do your homework first.
-Belinda Kerr
