ix years into my staffing career, I was at a crossroads. I had just left my first employer out of college to join a different staffing firm. I left a company where I was successful and established and had close friends to go to a new company where I had none of those things. Oh, and I had accepted a job doing new business development—a role I had never formally done at my previous employer.
Sure, I had gone on sales calls with the sales reps, did in-person cold calling with them, and grew existing clients. But I had no idea how to be a full-time business development professional, or really even where to start. My new boss, who would ultimately become one of the greatest influences on my career and a great friend, was unfortunately not much help in this area. He didn’t come from a sales background either, but had faith that I would figure it out and be successful.
Building a Plan From Scratch
While I greatly appreciated his confidence in me, what I really needed was a plan. I couldn’t rely on my new company, which had no formal sales training at the time. So, with my uncapped commission plan and my unwillingness to fail as motivation, I took my career into my own hands and set out to be at least a competent salesperson.
I started by buying and consuming sales books: Selling to VITO, Customer Centered Selling, Never Cold Call Again!, Spin Selling, Strategic Selling. I bought a subscription to Selling Power magazine and read every one from cover to cover. I took my sales rep friends out to lunch or for drinks and picked their brains. I bought a voice recorder that I would practice my voicemails with over and over.
But I knew that wasn’t enough. I, like most salespeople, am what is known as a “shiny object” personality. I have literally been distracted by a squirrel while on a Zoom call. So, I established my own metrics to measure my progress and success. How many phone calls would I make? How many mailings would I send out? How many networking events would I attend? How many appointments did I need a week? How many deals did I need in my pipeline?
Once I had determined the metrics I needed, I put them into a spreadsheet and took them to my manager:
“Here’s what I think I need to do to hit my quota.”
“Looks good to me,” he responded.
“Great! I need you to hold me accountable to these weekly,” I requested.
“I can do that,” he agreed.
And he did. And I executed the plan. And I didn’t sell a thing for the first five months. But I kept making my calls, booking my appointments, attending networking events, and building my pipeline. And in month six, the dam broke. I closed five large accounts—including two on-sites (one that ultimately grew into a huge national deal for the company). I went from being on the verge of losing my job to ending the year No. 2 in the country and qualifying for the company’s performance trip.
Realizing Success as a Recruiter
What does any of this have to do with recruiting? On the surface, nothing. I started out as a recruiter, but I’m not telling you to become a salesperson instead. What it has to do with is owning your own success in whatever job you are in—recruiting, sales, management. I didn’t have to read any books or magazines. I didn’t have to practice on my own. I certainly didn’t have to go to my boss with self-imposed metrics and ask him to hold me to them. But if I hadn’t, I guarantee I wouldn’t have had the success I experienced in that role and since. There is a pretty good chance I would have failed completely, which would have changed the whole trajectory of my career and my life.
Don’t wait for someone to tell you how to be successful. And don’t settle for others’ definitions of success. The best recruiters and salespeople I’ve seen in this industry don’t care about the company quota; they have their own goals that are much higher. If your company doesn’t have metrics for your role, create your own. Don’t just settle for the training your company does or doesn’t provide—continuously focus to get better on your own. This is your livelihood, your career, your life. Don’t leave it up to others to decide how it goes.
is president of Tallann Resources, a national consulting and training firm specializing in the staffing and recruiting industry. As a consultant, trainer, and speaker, Erb has helped hundreds of companies create and execute sales and recruiting strategies to grow their business. He is the author of Winning the Staffing Sales Game: The Definitive Game Plan for Sales Success in the Staffing Industry. Learn more at tallanresources.com. Follow him on X @TomErb_Tallann.
