Recruiter, raconteur and entrepreneur Greg Savage brought his show of recruitment expertise on the road to the UK this autumn, enlightening and entertaining recruiter audiences with his guidance to achieving recruitment success.

In his two-and-a-half hour session, Savage debunked the notion that UK recruiters are currently experiencing hard times and challenged them to up their games.

“We are not in a ‘bust’,” he said. “This is not tough. Now is still good” – especially when compared to the global financial crisis period of 2007-09, he noted.

While clients are taking longer to hire, he acknowledged, it’s up to recruiters to “change tactics” to succeed in the current climate: “You’ve got to get your mindset right.” In his 45-year recruitment career, he said he had seen “thousands of good and not-so-good shooting stars that petered out” in an industry that is “extraordinarily difficult… It’s the only industry where the product can say no”.

Hosted by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), Savage’s stops included Birmingham, Bristol and London.

Among his teachings, a theme throughout was urging his ‘students’ to recognise the value of their profession. “Don’t say ‘recruitment is not rocket science’,” he said. “That’s easy to express and hard to do. It means you don’t believe in what we do.

“And in our business, everybody wins when it’s done right!”

Recruiters must achieve ‘equity’ in relationships with clients, who actually want the recruiter to control the recruitment process, Savage said. “You’ve got to believe that you have value. Don’t say, ‘We won’t take up much of your time’, don’t say ‘the fee usually is’. Don’t use tentative language! It’s not a master-servant relationship.

“Equity – it’s a journey,” he said. “The only future for us is moving from transactional to consultative.”

He also emphasised the need to build trust with candidates and clients, and always aim to improve communication skills as they are at the core of selling. “Selling is questioning. It is understanding. It is listening. When the client is talking, you are selling. You want the client talking 70% of the time.

“To sell, you must be able to articulate your differentials, what your wow factor is. Think about differentiators that reflect your ability to deliver quality candidates.”

Recruiting in the Covid pandemic era was affected by depersonalisation through never meeting clients or candidates face-to-face, he lamented. However, he reminded audiences: “People judge you by how you make them feel.”

Greg Savage’s latest book is Recruit the Savage Way: Skills, attitudes and tactics to be an outstanding recruiter.

Savage sayings

“The cold call is not dead – but I’d rather convert it to a warm call.”

“Never fear the ‘C’ word… competition!”

“The ‘C’ word will kill your career… complacency!”

“Don’t talk fees – talk value.”

“It’s better to work on eight jobs and fill six than slave away on 20 messy orders and fill two.”