Business is Failing...Help!!!!

Some time back, an email from one of the managing directors of a recruitment firm in the UK landed in my INBOX and asked me how to solve her problem of not being able to get enough clients for her recruitment business.

After reading through her problems, I sincerely wrote back to her and showed her the ways to handle her problems and how to change the situation for the better. In fact, she had been in the industry for over 20 years and had weathered many crises before in her recruitment career. Well, this could be the problem…the 20 years of SOLID experience…

I explained to her how the industry had changed and further explained that whatever she had done before will not work for this generation. No matter how many calls you are making, how many people you are meeting, or how extended your network or circle of friends, it is not going to make much difference. In fact, that is not the focus she should be going with. The problem was that she did not seem to agree with what I shared with her. Anyhow, the last news I heard was that she folded her business. God bless her.

Many recruitment agency owners are going through the process of sourcing for clients, getting them onboard, and after some time, they lose the clients due to various reasons….and they are having a hard time finding new clients to replace the lost ones, which leads to fewer clients, less sales, and the company profit shrinking; they will eventually become negative in their books.

They panic and seek help from the Internet and search for ways to generate clients. After intensive research and reading, they discover the “ULTIMATE FORMULA” for success because someone on the Internet said so. They use the same FORMULA, and after investing their time and money into it, the return seems to be not that interesting at all. In fact, they are that much poorer, simply because they DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO…….

The fact is that many people believe and think that they know what to do because they use other people’s experiences, articles, and testimonials to believe that it is going to work; but when they apply the SAME technique or strategies, all hell breaks loose, and they end up doing the same thing over again: going to Internet or asking someone who may have an answer for it.

And the cycle goes on and on. AND IT FAILS ONCE AGAIN. And again…And again…until the resources are TOTALLY drained…. Does that sound familiar? It does not just happen in the recruitment industry, it is happening EVERYWHERE.

People simply DO NOT KNOW what to do, but they THINK that they know. This boils down to the problem of EGO. If you have 20 years in the same business, are you going to listen to what another party advises? Most likely not. If you have 20 years in the business and you are facing a problem, very likely you will find a solution YOURSELF because you trust YOURSELF more than anyone else, and your 20 years of experience are so GREAT that they will be able to overshadow ANY problem.

Well, here is the PROBLEM: if what you are doing is NOT working and you still continue to use the same method, will it help? No, it will not. And if someone were to show you a great way and you do not use it because you believe you will do it BETTER yourself, will it help? No, it will not. And if you were to do the research YOURSELF and land into something you are totally not familiar with, will you be successful? No, you will not!

You see, my point is this—having many years of experience is GREAT, but you must understand that that is already PAST. It is gone; people change, environments change, industries change, and the market changes. Hence, whatever worked LAST TIME will not work now. You simply have to be innovative enough and BOLD enough to do EXACTLY the OPPOSITE of what other people are doing, and you might stand a chance of making it!

The OLD ways are gone. No way are you going to use the same method and survive very long. It just does not work in this era. Remember Friendsters? They were once VERY popular, and how about ICQ? It was very popular…look at both of them now…they were SLOW to react to market changes, and apparently, they are way behind. It is the same everywhere—if you are ONE step behind, you will be kicked out eventually. Mark my words…it will happen; it is only a matter of time.

Here’s the solution: don’t follow what the crowds are doing: BE DIFFERENT. Then you can differentiate yourself out of the NORMAL. People like things to be different and if you are different, you will be noticed and you will get their business for a long time….

Enjoy the changes! The only CONSTANT about change is that it is CONSTANTLY changing.