From Outbound to Inbound: How to Flip Your Recruitment Sales Process

Do you find yourself continually reinventing the wheel when it comes to lead generation, hoping something clicks and yields better results? There’s no question that increasing inbound leads takes a great deal of patience and persistence among your team, as well as having the right recruitment software to manage the contacts. However, with the right approach, any staffing firm can make the switch from outbound lead generation to predominately inbound lead generation.

As the first of this three-part blog series, we recap insights from our new JourneyUP podcast episode with Joe Mullings, CEO The Mullings Group based in Florida. As a well-known veteran in the staffing industry, Joe has pushed his business to unprecedented heights, growing a search firm that’s experienced top-line revenue explosion. With maximizing lead generation, he prides himself on specializing in the medical device staffing industry. Because The Mulling Group focuses on one type of specialty, the team can quickly filter through calls and efficiently fill requests due to a more targeted volume of leads coming through the pipeline.

When it comes to traditional forms of lead generation, here’s Joe’s theory in a nutshell:

“If you think historically, the search business is a very analog business, one phone call, one conversation, one potential point of influence, 90 seconds later, if you’re lucky, that phone call is over. And that means maybe 50 phone calls a day, and you’re not working 24/7.”

Sound familiar? Keep reading for Joe’s two-step process for how to flip your sales process:

Build your firm’s online presence.

With more than 90 percent of The Mulling Group’s business being inbound, Joe explains his team very seldom has to do cold calls anymore. “When they [my reps] call up, they’ll say, ‘Hey, I’m with The Mullings Group’ with the response typically being ‘Oh yeah, you guys put out great content. I love what you do. You really understand my industry.’ In other words, educating your target audience through strategic branding and content development paves the with a way for inbound lead generation in which your prospects already know who you are. This instantly breaks down barriers, as the person on the other end of the line is already familiar with your mission, services, and overall brand. This is done through the development of regular, sustained content in which you strategically position your staffing firm as a thought leader in the industry.

Don’t dismiss traditional marketing.

Now, you may be wondering how to put a content development plan into action. Joe is a firm believer in the power of writing in the form of blogs and articles on LinkedIn and other online channels. Having a team that actively curates engaging content will set the stage for broader brand recognition for your firm, and ultimately, less cold calling. With many staffing firm’s jumping on the video marketing bandwagon, Joe says writing is still the name of the game when it comes to effective brand-building. “Before doing any video, I think the road to success is becoming committed to writing on that LinkedIn 1,300-character platform,” he explains. Sticking with traditional writing methods to articulate your firm’s expertise will allow your team members to focus on what specifically needs to get across to your audience. Joe says, “When you’re able to write and re-write within the constraints of a 1,300-word capsule [on LinkedIn], it forces your spoken communication skills to process more quickly and be more succinct in delivering your message.”

How to Flip Your Sales Process

With the strategy tactics outlined above, you can gradually flip your sales process from outbound to inbound – all while building your name in the industry. Organically driving inbound leads requires a delicate balance between entertaining and educating your target audience, engaging prospects so well that they’ll feel as though they already have a personal connection to your brand! While there’s no way of altogether avoiding the cold call process, being proactive with your firm’s messaging strategy – and promoting your knowledge and expertise in the most full-force manner – will activate your prospects to reach out and take notice. While this may sound like a lot of groundwork, it will pay off in dividends when generating better sales outcomes.

Take Joe’s advice.

“When you build out a really strong brand reputation on a platform, and you offer tremendous value to the market, suddenly now you start to get a lot more inbound traffic on the business development side.”

About TrackerRMS

TrackerRMS is a leading applicant tracking software designed for the SMB Staffing company. Our industry-leading recruitment software technology will help you recruit faster and more efficiently. With over 20 years of experience, the best applicant tracking system is built with you, the staffing professional in mind.

-Taylor Dorton; Head of Implementation

CEO of Tracker for over 12 years with an overall 25+ years in business process, IT strategy, and management

More from Andy Jones