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In order to win new business, you need to find it first. Surfacing promising business development opportunities can be a challenge in today’s competitive market. How can you uncover and convert more leads, optimize your strategy, and help your organization flourish, regardless of market conditions?
For Bullhorn’s Ben Carter, Senior Director of Automation and AI, and Joe McGuire, Sales and Strategy Director of Analytics, it’s all about a shift in mindset – and leveraging data and technology to help you drive a return on effort. To discover their insights on identifying the best opportunities, navigating economic uncertainty, and more, check out a recording of their conversation or read our recap below.
Navigating economic challenges
In this year’s GRID Industry Trends Report, staffing professionals reported that winning new clients was their top priority. However, the staffing industry is closely tied to the ebbs and flows of economic cycles. While candidate acquisition remains top of mind, in the current market, where jobs have become increasingly elusive, the pursuit of new clients has now taken center stage.
“When markets have been really good, the focus has been on candidates, candidates, candidates. When markets contract and tighten, we tend to see the focus swing entirely to the other end of the spectrum,” McGuire explained. “We should be considering both of these things all the time. Regardless of the time in the economic cycle, we should be looking at how winning new business and candidate acquisition live harmoniously together.”
Charting the course to success
As client acquisition becomes a critical focus point, firms need to be willing to test new strategies in order to win business and secure continued growth. Carter and McGuire stressed the importance of investing in both technology and your people to increase return on effort and unlock hidden opportunities.
1. Reimagine your target market
Think beyond traditional parameters and set your sights on unexplored territories, Carter said. Complacency can be damaging, and that one small shift in perspective could be the catalyst for discovering new markets and potential customers waiting to be won over. “There’s a finite amount of time in every day, and making sure people are using it in the most efficient places is how you get that return,” McGuire added.
2. Leverage your data
In an increasingly digital world, collecting data is only half the battle. Using your data to inform your strategy can help you spot where to focus your attention and give you a competitive edge. “Data should be guiding decision-making and behavioral change across the business to make sure that all opportunities are capitalized on,” McGuire explained. Through data, firms can discover which clients drive the most revenue and return on effort, key factors that can help your team prioritize which jobs to work.
3. Collaborate and conquer
Building relationships with strategic clients – like, for example, companies you’ve worked with before – is another key component of the winning formula. By developing these partnerships, you can increase speed to revenue and decrease barriers to entry. Technology can help teams build stronger client relationships, enabling communication at scale and showing recruiters where to focus their time. “As an example,” Carter shared, “The system can tell me the clients that are now becoming dormant in your system. This is great to know which relationships we need to refocus our efforts on.”
4. Redeploy your top talent
“My opinion is that redeployment is one of the biggest missed opportunities in the global staffing market,” McGuire said. Candidates are often forgotten about as they are coming off of assignments. By prioritizing the redeployment of top candidates you’ve already worked with – and built a relationship with – you can increase speed to market and submit a continuous flow of the best talent to new clients.
Ultimately, Carter and McGuire added, it’s critical for firms to be agile, adaptable, and keep a finger on the pulse of market trends. Winning new business and driving revenue involves building relationships with new clients and submitting top talent, but also nurturing existing relationships with clients and candidates. The strength of these relationships can help support your firm through the inevitable shifts and changes of the industry.
With the help of technology, your team can leverage key insights to best focus their time, work at scale, and ultimately succeed in a competitive market.
Download our Smarter way to win new business guide to help your team build a successful business development process.
