Your Phone Script Sucks – Here’s How-To Change That

  So the big question is this, how do recruiting leaders like us who have 12 to 15 other job responsibilities win at this game of recruiting? How do we build a system that allows us to recruit effectively in a minimal amount of time while motivating recruits towards meaningful change? That is the question and this podcast will give you the answers.

My name is Richard Milligan and welcome to Recruiting Conversations. Hey everybody, this is Richard Milligan and welcome to a very special edition. Of recruiting conversations, the podcast excited to be back with you here today,

I had set a goal to record these on a weekly basis, I love doing these podcasts. I get a little amped up to do them.

My energy feels like I’m coming on stage. Our audience is growing around this. And so I’m excited to know that the message. That we have to share with the world for recruiting leaders is resonating I would ask look if you if I’m bringing value to you I would just ask one thing that you can do for me is you can share this podcast It’s pretty easy to do If you’re on an iPhone or a joy to click a couple of buttons and you share it with one person I would feel honored if you would do that in this moment.

We’re gonna talk about phone scripting today We’re going to talk about that, that one thing that most people aren’t really good at, which is getting on the phone in a cold call type situation. And what I found specific to the recruiting leader role, so let me, let’s identify that if you’re new to the podcast, this is someone who manages the team, but then is also responsible for growing, building, recruiting to that team.

This is not someone who is a true recruiter. But this is someone who has to wear that as one of the 12 to 15 hats that they navigate on a monthly ongoing basis. So your skillset is not necessarily in the sweet spot of a recruiter’s skillset. What I’ve found is that the recruiting leader is typically very relational, loves people, loves to help grow people, build people, mentor people, and for whatever reason, that personality, when it comes to having to pick up the phone and cold call someone has some hesitancy around that.

A lot of times does not have the skill set to actually do that. And for a number of reasons, I was blessed when I came into the recruiting leader role that I had actually as a, one of my first jobs spent two and a half years as a successful telemarketer. So I had picked up some great books like Steven Shiffman’s book, telemarketing one on one.

I understood some of the things that you needed to accomplish. Early on in, in establishing rapport and having good phone scripting to get to the next step. So I think my phone scripting was better than most recruiting leaders’ phone scripts were, and so I probably had better, I had better results from it than most people have.

But I think one of the reasons why people move away from the phone is that, one, it doesn’t fit their particular skillset, but then two, they just don’t have a good script and they definitely have it memorized. The script that they’re going to use to a place where they’re confident and comfortable with it and able to overcome objections.

So there’s an element to that, but we’re not here to talk about that part of it today. We’re going to talk specifically around the scripting piece of this and some of the things that you can do to maximize the results that you get from the script that you use. Okay, so let’s just establish this. The phone is dying right now.

And when I say the phone is dying, I may sound a little dramatic, but I remember back in 2007, reading a article in Entrepreneur Magazine that said that the phone would be dead, the phone prospecting would be dead in less than 10 years. Here we are 17 years removed from that. And what I know is that inside my consulting in the data and the surveys that we’ve done, and now we’ve got over a thousand people we’ve surveyed with this that have been through our consulting , what we know is that about one out of 11 actually answer the phone.

So for every dial that you make, approximately one out of 11 is going to answer the phone. So you, it’s hard to scale that type of behavior when you’re a recruiting leader. So understand that if I’m going to dial 11 times and one person’s going to answer and I’ve got 30 to 30 minutes to 45 minutes per day, which is about what we found, the average recruiting leader can carve out of their schedule for recruiting.

Like you aren’t going to be making hundreds of calls in a day. You’re making a handful of calls in a day. Okay. So understand that the phone is dying, right? Data says that people are coming to organizations specifically in that recruiting leader role. People are coming to that particular position because of things like strong leadership branding and social media.

Through non direct solicitation, right? Direct solicitation would be considered the phone. Non direct solicitation will be building a relationship on LinkedIn or Facebook or in some other social media platform, right? So Yes, the phone, I do believe the phone is dying today. I think some of the truth is in our own behaviors.

How many of you right now feel no tension when someone leaves you a voice message? I’m raising my hand because if someone calls me and leaves me a voice message and doesn’t follow up with a text, I probably am not that concerned about the voice message. It’s probably a robo call. I’m probably getting called by a robot and a voicemail being left by a robot, or at some degree a telemarketing call.

And so I’m just not that intrigued by my voicemail anymore. Now I know that’s not true of all people, but at a higher percentage of people today will say that voicemail is not a good way to communicate with them. Okay, so that’s an established fact. So what is what are our choices inside of that? We’ve got to develop a good phone script.

That’s what we’re going to talk about here today But in front of that we want to identify And research out the con the talent that we’re going to make contact with i’m not going to dial everybody i’m not going to go purchase a lead list with all the phone numbers of those specific people and just start smiling and dialing right?

There’s a old Some old terminology for telemarketers, smiling and dialing, right? I’m not, I’m going to be very specific in who I’m researching and who I’m making contact with before I dial, okay? So we’re going to do that. We’re going to talk about that. Now, here’s your choice. You do the research, you make the dial, or you go hire what I would call a dialer, a recruiting assistant of sorts.

Okay, you hire the dialer, you train the dialer, and you have them set appointments for you. Now, in truth, I spent ten, ten and a half years as a recruiting leader making all the dials myself. And then in a three and a half year window where I had enormous success, I started with the dialer and then had two dialers and then had three dialers that were just dialing, we’re doing the research for me, making the dials for me, and we’re setting the appointments for me.

Okay, so what I get in business is that each of us has a very narrow lane. That if we will get in that very narrow lane and maximize the time that we spend in that very narrow lane, which is our gifting. Okay, if I’m in this narrow lane where my gifting is, I’m the visioneer, right? Each of you should be developing your ability to meet with someone and present a vision very clearly.

Okay, so if you’re the visioneer, man, your narrow lane where you are going to win at scale is if you’re setting in that a lot. And I got to a place where three people were researching, making the phone calls, and using a short phone script representing me to get people into a conversation with Richard.

So that is the best formula, but I get I spent a long season in my career where I could, that was not an option for me. I didn’t have the financing or the freedom or the empowerment from an organization to go create that position. And when I got there and I created that, I was able to grow at scale very quickly.

So this was a key piece to me being able to grow at scale was getting in front of people. I think we all understand. The more bats that we have, at bat is a baseball term, okay? So the more swings that I have at the plate, the more likely I am to win. That’s just a, that’s just basic common sense, right? I’m not, that’s not like an epiphany moment for anybody.

If you made four visionary presentations a day to people versus making one per week, you’re going to win more. Am I right or am I right? That’s just truth. So the dialer is a great way to get there. and to just enable you to make more swings, more bats at the plate. And one of the things that comes from that is that the more you do it, the better you get.

The muscle memory, so to speak, comes into play.

If you and I went to the golf range, And I was going to hit a bucket of balls, and you were going to hit a bucket of balls. And you stood in that little tee box, and you would hit one, tee it back up, hit another, tee it back up, hit another. But, me on the other hand, had a requirement that every single time I teed up a ball and I hit it, I had to walk all the way back to the clubhouse.

To get a drink of water and then come back and hit another ball. My muscle memory would not be there. It’d be like starting over again and again. And your swing would improve because of the muscle memory you hit one, right? And it goes well. You’re like, yes, that’s it. I can do that again. The problem that you have is where you don’t get the swings at bats.

You, the tendency is that you don’t quite get to the level that you could get if you were constantly presenting it again and again. So that’s a side benefit of having someone setting these appointments for you, is that you’ve got more time available to take the appointments, you are going to get more of the appointments at scale, and when you present them, you inevitably get better and better at presenting.

Okay, so the dialer is an obvious choice if you have a chance to do that and we’ll talk a little bit about the phone Scripting and how it should differ between a dialer and how it should differ between you Okay, but understand the dialer could be a critical component to you being able to grow at scale Okay enough said let’s move on.

Okay phone scripting. Let me tell you a quick story Two th into 2013, going into 2014. That was really, there’s a divider in my career where I had average results versus results on steroids. Okay. One of the key factors was getting the dialer, but a key factor prior to that was me actually developing a phone script that worked.

Okay, now I don’t remember my exact phone script leading up to 2013, but I can tell you it was a bit, the basic premise around it was this, are you open to a new opportunity? And if so, I’d love to meet with you. Now, when you think about that phone script, are you open to a new opportunity? And are you willing to meet with me?

I’m obviously setting expectations. I’m recruiting you. And I’m setting an expectation that if you’re open to an opportunity that we’re going to meet. And a lot of times what I was getting from that were people who were already discontent or unhappy. If you’re already looking for a new opportunity, then you’re probably unhappy where you’re at.

In most industries right now, when you look at data, people say they’re happy where they are. Okay, the environment is a good environment for most people where they work. Okay, the specific industry that I came from, the mortgage industry, that data today says that 94. 6 percent of people are content where they’re at.

That only leaves 5. 4 percent of people that are in that particular zone that I was studying the expectations around. Okay. If you’re open to an opportunity, meaning you’re on that, you’re looking to make a change, then you would say yes to that. So I was immediately cutting off the 94. 6 percent and only making myself available to the smaller 5.

4%. Would you agree with that? So if you can agree with that premise, then we know that immediately, if only one out of 11 is going to answer the phone and I’m only going to be able to position myself for the 5. 4%. Then I’m gonna make a lot of dials . And if you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy the dials, that’s a pretty painful way to build the team , right?

So your scripting has to change and it needs to go to 100 percent of the people that you’re going to call. Now here’s how I had this aha moment. In 2013 when I dissected my recruiting efforts, here’s one thing that I noticed. When I got people to a face to face, There was two distinct meetings that took place.

One was what I would consider the company value proposition meeting, where I was leading with the company value proposition. The other one was that meetings were happening and this was not intentional.

They were happening like this on their own because I did not have an agenda when I went into my face to face meeting. I didn’t have a set agenda for that other than trying to sell you on the company. But for whatever reason, a small percentage of those meetings ended up as relationship building meetings.

Now here was the aha moment. When I followed the people that came to the organization, that came to my team, almost all of them came through a meeting that took place as a relationship building meeting. Okay, so it was just an aha moment of oh, wow How do I create more of that because if I can get people to a meeting that’s relationship building Then i’m highly likely to get them to my team So as I began to dissect all this I went back to my phone script and I said, okay Why are people showing up at scale most of the people that showed up?

Were there and they were asking questions about my company and part of it was the expectation on the phone script are you open to a new opportunity that set the expectation that when you show up I’m going to talk about the company. That’s obvious, right? So I changed the phone scripting to solve the problem of that.

Okay. So there were two elements to my phone script that I added. Okay. One was this, if you’re willing to meet with me, I promise not, I promise to not talk about my company and I promise to not try and recruit you. I immediately said, look, I need to set precedence so that when, so that if people say yes, and they show up that meeting, I’ve now put guardrails around the meeting.

I put buffers around the meeting that say, look, we’re not going to talk about the company. We’re not going to talk about me trying to recruit you. Okay. So I added that element to my phone scripting. And when I added that element to my phone scripting, my efforts inside my specific meetings, Accelerate it.

The number of people that were willing to go to next steps with me accelerated. I want you to understand this, that first meeting that you have with someone should not be a recruiting meeting. It just shouldn’t. Okay. Think about this.

People come to an organization. Okay. Because of who you are as a leader, not because of the company. Now, company value proposition matters. Okay, it does matter. Yes, it matters. But truth be told, okay, your leadership value proposition matters more. No one gets to the organization until they come through a leader with the organization.

So who you are, especially at this level. Remember, this podcast is for the recruiting leader. Like the people you recruit, you also lead. Okay, and so who you are is As a leader matters most when I had that aha moment, it changed that face to face meeting completely. It was no longer a sales presentation of the organization.

It was talking, building relationship and talking about who I was as a leader. And that was the framework for it. And I protected that if people showed up and ask questions about the meeting, I would say, ha, when I talked to you over the phone, I promised not to try and recruit you and talk about the company value proposition.

And so I put boundaries around that. But if you’ve got some questions about the company at the end of this meeting, let’s discuss those or let’s set up another meeting so we can talk about the company. So I’m protecting that first meeting. The phone script is critical to that. You’re not going to be able to protect that first meeting unless you’re setting different expectations in the phone script.

Now, here’s what happened. I went from getting about one out of every 20 to 25 people that would say yes to meeting with me. So three out of four of 10, 30 to 40 percent would say yes to meeting with me. So I’m going from around a 5 percent or less appointment rate per individual. I’m talking to a 30 to 40 percent appointment rate because I simply changed my phone script.

Okay. And what I know, because I coached that to a phone script, what I know about that phone script is that’s true of anyone that uses that phone script. Okay. So I want you to get this. I’m going to give you some bullet points. Around the phone scripting so that you have an understanding. I’m not going to give you an exact script, but I’m going to give you some bullet points around the phone scripting that’s going to help you set the expectation.

That face to face meeting is now a relationship building meeting. It is not a recruiting presentation. We have to change our models. Okay, most industries today lead with company value proposition specific to this role that we’re talking about the recruiting leader role. Most recruiting leaders are leading with the value the company brings, the toolbox, as I call it, the widgets.

What’s in the toolbox? The things that are in the toolbox are maybe a CRM that you use, maybe a point of sale that you use, maybe the support that you have. It could be the compensation structure that you have, could be things like sign on bonuses that you’re offering. All of those things are inside the company toolbox.

Even to a large degree, a lot of people lead with company culture. Company culture does not matter as much as local culture, leadership culture. You can have great corporate culture, and when you get to the corporate offices, you can feel that, but in the field at the local office level, you have to have leadership culture.

Okay, so you’ve got to get this, and you’ve got to be able to describe what that leadership culture looks like when you’re meeting with someone face to face.

Let’s talk specific to the phone script now. Okay, what are the requirements for having success in the phone? there’s really four critical components here . You got to do necessary research prior to making the call. We’re never going to wing a call.

We’re never going to get a call list and just call. We’re always going to do the necessary research to be able to identify information about the individual before we make the call. The next part of that is, look, it’s obvious that we have to have a willingness to make the call, right? That seems very obvious to me, but truth be known, it’s a place that people struggle is just making that phone call, but you got to be willing to make the phone call.

The third part of this is you have to have an attractive leader phone script. Okay. If you’ve listened to any of my podcasts, the attractive leader is someone who has a clear vision, clear core values, can articulate around those extremely well, storytell around those, and then is living and acting in alignment with those.

Okay, so we want to be seen as an attractive leader. That means that you don’t get permission as a leader who fishes in the smaller pond, a smaller geography, a specific city, a specific state, a specific region, right? You’re in your career, you’re going to be in that area probably forever. Okay, so you at all costs, we have to represent ourselves as someone with a high core value system.

Then the fourth part of this is we’ve got to be able to handle objections. Okay. An ability to handle objections is a basic premise. You’ve got to be able to do this. Now, if you’re doing your research and you’ve got a good phone script and you’re making the phone calls and you can overcome objections, you’re going to set appointment rates at a very high percentage with a similar phone script that I’m using.

And I’m going to give you the bullet points for it. Okay. Let’s talk about this. The first part here, what are the tools for researching recruits? It may seem obvious that most people and their value system is available to you through places like LinkedIn, through Facebook, through Instagram, through social media, you can tell a lot about who people are.

And you can see what the customers are saying about them to get an idea what the value system is. Now, one of the things that I give to people is a core values list.

Because when I’m researching somebody I want to be able to see the things that are true about the individual. And by having a core value list that I’m actually identifying what things are true about you, I, in my phone scripting, I can use some of that. So as an example, if I’m looking at a customer’s review and a lot of your customers are saying that you over communicate, that you were over available, that you took phone calls after hours, like there’s a core value system that I can identify there.

Okay. Like communication is critical to you. Right. Excellence is critical to you. Professionalism is important to you. Okay. Dedication Is important to you. There’s a lot of core values there that represent your character that I can pull out I can look at facebook and see are you family minded family oriented?

Is your value system family first? Okay, I can look at how innovative you are in representing yourself.

Okay from time to time you’ll see an individual that will go get their own website Okay. That’s innovative.

Okay. It’s outside the box. Again, I can look at a core value sheet and core value list, and I can begin to identify that. Someone that’s always talking about them reading books or listening to podcasts are always showing leadership quotes or motivational quotes. It’s easy for me to say that personal is that person has a core value of personal growth of leadership development.

Okay, so I could go on and on in this space, but you can identify the core value system of the people that you’re recruiting if you have the eyes to see it. You’ve got to have the eyes to see it.

Okay? So we’ve done the research, now we’re ready to make the call, we have to have a good phone script. As a recruiting leader, you need to be straightforward. Who are you? I have a good friend that uses the word tricky a lot, okay?

A tricky phone script is the quickest way to identify yourself as a non attractive leader in your market, okay? No tricky phone scripts allowed. Straightforward. Like, who are you? Okay, yes, you may get an immediate objection. Okay, we’re going to overcome that. Yes, you may get an immediate objection. That’s okay Straightforward in who you are.

Okay. I have seen there’s a gentleman that I know of that calls Escalating leaving voice messages and we’ll and I’m not a fan of voice messages number one But leaves escalating voice messages if you don’t take Patrick’s call Patrick then calls again And if you don’t get him, if he doesn’t get you the second time, he escalates the voicemail.

And eventually you get to a place where either you’re calling him back or you’re taking the call because you think it’s a 911 emergency at home. Okay. That’s a tricky phone script. Okay. None of that for you. Straightforward. Who are you? Okay. Voicemail does not work today, gang. We’ve tested this at a very high level.

Okay. I brought up voicemail. You had to, I, you had to assume phone scripting, voicemail is going to come up. Okay. We’ve tested this at a very high level, 0. 04 percent of people will respond to your voicemail, but yet you’ve done several things. Okay, you have given them a breadcrumb that leads back to you, which is your cell phone number.

And now they can plug you in and they cannot take your phone call. And we don’t want that. We do want them on the phone. I think a lot of people’s minds goes to, I can leave voicemail at scale and by planting more seeds, I’ll have a larger harvest. And that makes, I get that, but voicemail is dying.

Voicemail just doesn’t work. When we tested this with a large company. In an industry that was a top 15 company. We tested this point zero four percent was the response rate that we got The and so that’s four out of a thousand that would actually return the voice message And out of that four out of a thousand that returned the voice message.

They were not the people that we wanted to recruit These were transitional people. These are people that were working at a new location looking for a sign on bonus or a draw We’re we’re typically recruiting in this position for sales people, you know The recruiting leader wants people that aren’t looking for the next sign on bonus the next 90 day guarantee Simply so they can move on again.

So voicemail does not work. Okay. There are some things that you can do to improve voicemail But the truth be told is that voicemail does not work that way today. So I’m going to encourage you to not leave a voice message.

Okay, so now we’ve established that. We’ve done our research. We’re calling people. We’re straightforward who we are. The part of that I’m going to bring into this is, I’m going to say, I’ve done a lot of research on you. And in my research, I see some similarities between your core values and my core values.

I want to be prepared to discuss those similarities. So you’ve got to have those lined up. Your research will not take you any more than three to five minutes to do. That’s the truth. Three to five minutes of research will get you a 30 to 40 percent appointment rate. I’ve done research on you. I see similarities between your core values and my core values.

I’m going to be prepared to discuss those similarities. Okay, I am calling to establish, I’m calling to build a relationship with you, understanding that people transition. And depending on your industry, I was talking about the mortgage industry where I spent 15 years, the typical transition window is two and a half years.

Now that number’s gone up recently to 3. 1 years in that industry, but truth be told people transition consistently. Okay, and I’m calling to establish, build a relationship so that when you transition one day, That we have an established relationship, one that you trust me. And you’d be willing to pick up the phone and say, Hey, Richard, things have changed over here.

Can we talk? And if you’re willing to meet, I promise not to use a recruiting pitch on you. Try to sell you on my company value proposition. And so if you’re willing to meet with me, I promise that I won’t talk about my company or try to recruit you. What does your schedule look like on Thursday afternoon to meet?

Okay, it’s a very simple phone script. It can be, it’s slightly shifted for the dialer. The dialer can say, Richard’s asked me to do a bunch of research on you, and we see similarities between your core values. And all of that is true. Okay, I’m asking the dialer, the recruiting assistant, to do research on people in my market, and when they find people that have a core value system similar ours, that they’re calling them.

And I’m going to have, I’m going to teach that dialer the core value system so they have the eyes to see it and they’re going to be prepared to discuss it and they’re going to then set the appointment using a similar script. Okay, so we’re going to use the research that we’ve done and the similarities that we’re going to identify as our core value system as the reasons to set the appointment and we are going to say that I’m not going to actually recruit you.

I simply want to meet and build a relationship with you. I won’t talk about my company. Okay, now with that scripting set, you are going to get objections. You’re just going to get them. I don’t have time to talk. I’m not interested. I’m happy where I’m at. Those are some of the typical objections that you’re going to get.

Understand this. Objections have to be an expectation. Remember, you’re calling with your agenda, and they know this. You know this. You’re calling with your agenda, and you’re inserting your agenda into the middle of their agenda. In the middle of their day, they’re on point. They’re getting the things done they need to get done.

You have to expect objections. I don’t have time to talk is a very reasonable objection, but also understand this. It’s a smokescreen. What do you say if a telemarketer accidentally gets you on the phone? I don’t have time to talk. I’m not interested. Those are the things that we say. So we’ve got to understand that it’s nothing against what, why you’re calling and what you have to say.

It’s simply a smokescreen. And specifically the first one is a major smokescreen. So I want you to have a shift. Most people think they have to acknowledge that objection. No, we’re not going, I’m sorry, most people think they have to address that objection. Okay, no, we’re not going to address it. We will simply acknowledge it.

Okay, a very easy way for me to acknowledge that I don’t have time to talk is to say look I want to respect your time with you being busy. So let me be real direct. I just overcame that. I can use that similar scripting whenever someone says I’m not interested. Look, I respect the fact that you’re happy that you’re where you’re at.

So let me be real direct. Okay, so I respect and let me be real direct. I respect that you are, so let me be real direct. That initial objection, this is a phenomenal way to just move right on past that. Remember, our, we’re going to get objections when we simply introduce ourselves. I’m Richard Milligan, the regional manager with ABC company.

Look, I don’t have time to talk. You’re going to get that a lot initially right then and there, because they know that you’re a recruiting leader. Look, I’m not interested. Look, I’m happy where I’m at. You’re going to get those things immediately. Okay. Look, I understand you’re happy where you’re at. I want to respect that.

So let me be real direct. And now I’m going to move into my phone script. Look, I’ve done a bunch of research on you in my research. I found that we’ve got similar core values And because of that i’m reaching out to connect with you understanding that most people transition multiple times in their career And because of that I would love to meet with you and establish a relationship And if you’re willing to say yes to that, I promise That i’m not going to try and recruit you and i’m not going to talk about my company value proposition Now pause here.

Think about this. The problem that I was trying to solve when people came into a face to face meeting with me was that I needed to protect that meeting so that they weren’t asking questions about the company and one that I wasn’t jumping into a situation where I was leading with the company toolbox, the company value prop.

Now I’ve created a beautiful set of boundaries around that meeting so that when we get there, it’s all relational. Okay? And if that meeting goes relationship building, guess what? If you’ve got the correct formula for that, then you’re going to get next steps out of that in minimally. Okay? Minimally.

People will say this, I would work for that person. If you’re leading with your company value proposition in the face to face meeting, then you are throwing everything that you have at them. You’re loading basically every bullet in the gun, your sales gun, so to speak, and you’re firing it. And if something sticks great, but when it doesn’t because it won’t the majority of the time Then guess what?

You’re done. People, they will say forever. I know that company. I know what they have to offer. I met with that leader one time. Now what we’ve done is when that face to face meeting transpires, when it comes, when it, when we have it, then I’ve protected it and I will then follow a specific agenda so that they get to see who I am as an attractive leader.

Look, here was a larger aha moment for me, mid 2014 to end 2014, I had been following this methodology for less than a year, but I began to get phone calls from external and internal recruiters. And they would say this, I was recruiting in your market and I came across this person and this person said this, and this happened to me probably half a dozen times.

Okay. It was always the same thing. Okay. It was, it was, I talked to this person said the only person they would ever go to work for if they left their current company was Richard Milligan. They didn’t say the name of my company. They said my name personally. And truth be told, I worked for more than four companies in my career.

So it wasn’t the company that mattered. It was my leadership value proposition that mattered most. So now we’ve set the stage incredibly well for your career. To plant these seeds with people, that if you follow up with them and stay in front of them consistently, that you will win at scale. The challenge in this is, look, I know most of you are leading with your company value proposition, you have to stop that.

The only way to stop that is to clearly understand your own leadership value proposition. This has set the stage extremely well for you. You are going to get three or four people out of 10 that you get on the phone that are going to say yes to meeting with you with this scripting.

Okay, so let’s just talk about this, right? If on the objection piece. We’ve given you the first, the ability to overcome the initial smokescreen. I’m happy. I’m not interested. I don’t have time. Okay, we don’t address. We acknowledge. Right? The second part of this is you are not going to overcome those objections for maybe 60 to 70 percent of the people that you speak with.

So the objective beyond that is we’ve got to get a yes. So what am I going to do? I’m going to ask yes questions. Okay. Okay, so this is how we’re going to handle this. We’re going to ask guest questions. So as an example, if I got to the end of my phone scripting, look, I’ve already told you I’m happy where I’m at.

I’m, I love my leader. I’m going to stay put right now. Things are going extremely well. Right. As I get that objection again, I have to respect that. Okay. Remember you’re the recruiting leader. You’re going to be in this geography at forever. You’re not the corporate sales person. Okay. They can get, they have the entire United States or the larger pond to fish that you don’t have.

Right? So I’ve got to leave this meeting with some momentum and with a crack in that door. I got to see light in the door. So I’m going to ask a yes question. Look, I told you I’m happy where I’m at. I really am happy where I’m at. I love my leader. That would be something that would be typical to be said.

So then what I’m going to follow up with is a yes question. A yes question could be, I’d love to just connect with you on LinkedIn. Would you be open to that? You’re going to get a yes from that. I’d love to send you my favorite book. What’s a good address to send that to? I want to respect that you’re happy where you’re at.

That’s a yes question. If someone said, look, I don’t feel comfortable giving you an address. I’d say, no problems. I’ve got your cell phone number here. I’ll just send it to you through audible. com to the cell phone number. Are you, would you allow me to send you my favorite book via text? I’m just trying to get a yes question.

There are probably thousands and thousands of yes questions, but something as simple as saying, I would love to connect with you on LinkedIn. Would you be open to that? That’s a yes question. And when I get that, yes, guess what? I’ll go do that. And now I’ve got to have a next step system built around what’s next.

The problem that most people have. Is that when they get through their phone scripting, they get a no, right? They’re not getting a yes, that’s a big problem, but then beyond the yes, they definitively do not have a system of next steps and recruiting is not that hard. Like you to some degree, you gotta look at yourself and your career and say, how long have I been a recruiting leader?

And if I had a next step system of building relationships with people, wouldn’t I be wi able to win at scale? And the truth is, yes, you would be able to win at scale if you had a had a system. But most people are stuck in the three ideas that I should just be identifying talent. Making phone calls to talent or making contact with them in some way, shape, or form and then in the end following up, right?

And so there’s no real system of next steps built around that. So they spontaneously combust into recruiting behaviors and recruiting efforts and because of that they don’t ever win at scale. Look, you’re gonna be in your geography in a similar role for a long time in that career as a recruiting leader, especially if you’re having success.

Okay, and so you have to have a next step system beyond this. Okay, so let’s go back through this again. Phone scripting is critical. We are not going to leave voice messages. Okay, dialer. Yes, if you are able to hire a dialer. Then I would encourage you to hire a dialer. Yes. We actually as a organization train dialers for individual recruiting leaders because we do think there’s a specific methodology they should follow.

And you’ve got some great tools now in your toolbox that you can go at the phone.

I have had so many questions around this particular piece of the phone scripting piece We’re just excited to be able to deliver some framework for you around this the goal now for you is script it out What is the script?

Okay scripting? It’s just stage one You’ve got to memorize it at such a level that it sounds authentic That it sounds real, that it sounds like you’re conversational in it. Most people will never get that in their career because they will simply wing everything around their recruiting efforts. And because of that, they will never win at scale.

So if you’re going to win at scale, it’s got to sound authentic. It’s got to sound like it’s you. It can’t sound scripted. And the only way you’re going to get there is if you practice it thousands and thousands of times. Write it. Record it, listen to it, say it. So you’ve got to write it out first. Okay.

Then you’ve got to record it. Just read it, right? Your phone has a recording app on. If you’ve got an iPhone, there’s a recording app on. If you’ve got a Joy, you’ve got one as well. So record it. Now listen to it and then try to say it. And then again and again, listen to it and say it, listen to it and say it until it comes to a place where it sounds natural.

And it sounds like it’s coming from your heart. If you get to that place where you’re able to do that and you’re able to overcome objections extremely well Through acknowledging them not addressing them Then your appointment rate is going to be extremely high with people and you’re going to plant some phenomenal seeds Right because there’s two different seasons in recruiting.

The first season is where we actually plant the seed. We’re farmers So we plant the seed, we cultivate that seed, the second season of that is going to be where we make the harvest. Can you make a harvest in a short window of time? Absolutely. My data, my own personal data where I changed my phone scripting in my face to face meetings, I went from 2.

6 years recruiting someone to 62 days recruiting somebody. Okay, so yes, this methodology we’re talking about actually condenses relationship building trust, creating empathy, bonding with people, and because of that now we can go win at scale. So there you have it. There’s the phone scripting and some great ideas around all of that.

I’m hopeful this brought value to you, but more than that. I’m hopeful that you will go activate at an extreme level with this information now that you have it, and that you’ll go win. And when you win, you let me know that you’re winning because you’ve been, because you’ve taken the steps and done this.

That’s the value for me. I spent ten and a half years struggling to recruit with no resources. So the end game, the reward for me today. Is actually finding out that i’m helping people With by doing the podcast and helping them grow in their recruiting skills because there is no training around this. I know it Because I was there and i’m in the landscape today.

I see it. There’s a big hole Around training our recruiting leaders to become better recruiters and that’s why we love doing this So if this works for you and you’re excited about this content drop me a line and let me know And until we talk to you again on the next Recruiting conversations. Have a great week, everybody.

And don’t forget, have fun recruiting. We’ll talk to you soon. Want more recruiting conversations? You can register for my weekly email at 4crecruiting. com. If you need help creating your own unique recruiting system, you can book a time with me at bookrichardnow. com.