How does that initial “no” turn into your company’s next star hire? Lou Adler shares how you can overcome these common and not-so-common objections. Subscribe to the LinkedIn Talent Blog: http://linkd.in/18yp4Cg Follow the LinkedIn company page: http://linkd.in/1f39JyH Tweet with us: http://bit.ly/HireOnLinkedIn Learn more about LinkedIn Talent Solutions: http://linkd.in/1bgERGj

1. How To Handle Passive Candidate
Objections
Lou Adler
CEO
The Adler Group
@j2eecareers

2.
Lou Adler’s
The Basics of Passive
Candidate Recruiting

3. Passive Candidate Recruiting
Applicant Control
Applicant Control
Recruiting is getting the
Recruiting is getting the
candidate to sell you!
candidate to sell you!
Convert Job into
Convert Job into
Career
Career
Close on career growth,
Close on career growth,
not compensation
not compensation
Think Backwards
Think Backwards
Scarcity vs. Surplus
Scarcity vs. Surplus
Persist – No NOs!
Persist – No NOs!
High Touch plus High
High Touch plus High
Tech
Tech
#intalent

4. Scarcity vs. Surplus
Surplus – Weed Out the Weak – Active – Best Who Apply
Surplus – Weed Out the Weak – Active – Best Who Apply
HAVE
HAVE
GET
GET
DO
DO
BECOME
BECOME
Scarcity – Attract the Best – Passive – Raise the Talent Bar
Scarcity – Attract the Best – Passive – Raise the Talent Bar
#intalent

5. Where is Your Candidate?
Change in Growth, Impact, and Satisfaction Over Time
83%
40%
40%
17%
15%
15%
9%
9%
8%
8%
Explorers
Searchers
Networkers
Career Move
28%
28%
Tiptoers
Better Job
Good Job
Lateral
Hunters
Any Job
Super
Super
Passive
Passive
2011 LinkedIn Survey – 4,550
fully-employed professionals
#intalent

6. Getting the Right People on the Bus
 Driver – Passenger –
Backseat – Driver
 Craft the destination in the
10-minute call
 Overcome concerns and
objections
 Get the candidate to sell
you!
 No NOs!
 Applicant Control
#intalent

7. PCR Rule #1: Drive Slowly!
Sell the
next step,
not the
job!
No – Maybe – Yes
#intalent

8. The Basic Recruiting Call
Recruit 1st, Network 2nd
Vague title
Ask 99% question
Get candidate to talk 1st
Overcome objections
Engage 5-10 minutes
If not appropriate,
diplomatically switch &…
 Connect on LinkedIn and
search their connections!







“Let me ask you
candidly, would you
be open to explore
a new career
opportunity if it was
clearly superior to
what you’re doing
today?”
#intalent

9. Bridging the Gap
Criteria to Engage
Title – Company
Compensation
Location – Job
Day 1 vs. Year 1
& Beyond!
Criteria to Accept
Career Opportunity
Job & Impact
Hiring Manager – Team
Comp – Work/Life
Company/Culture/Mission
#intalent

10. Convert Job into Career
Impact
New
New
Seek Out Differences
Seek Out Differences
••Size, Scope, Scale
Size, Scope, Scale
••Role, Impact, Visibility
Role, Impact, Visibility
••Growth Rate
Growth Rate
••Company, Industry
Company, Industry
Growth
Growth
Current
Current
Stretch
Stretch
Present Potential
Present Potential
••Move slowly
Move slowly
••Not transactional
Not transactional
••Describe 30% Solution
Describe 30% Solution
••Gain concession
Gain concession
Time
The 30% Solution =
Stretch + Growth + Total $$ = >30%
#intalent

11. Show Me the Money
 Let’s be frank. If the job doesn’t
represent a career move, then it
doesn’t matter what the
compensation is, so…
 Let’s find out if the job is
potentially a career move, and
then we can figure out if the
compensation works.
 Worse case we can network, and
stay in touch for future
opportunities.
#intalent

12. Can’t Get No Satisfaction
 Before I get into the
comp, I’d like to ask
you a question…
 Consider the best job
you’ve ever had.
 Was satisfaction due
to job or comp?
 So let’s first see if ….
#intalent

13. That’s Exactly Why We Should Talk
 There’s a cost to not look. Time is your
most critical asset. There’s a trade-off
between security vs. growth.
 There’s a risk to stay put (discuss!)
 On the chance that the job I’m
representing offers a significant career
move, wouldn’t it make sense to talk 510 minutes?
 Worst case, we can stay in touch, and
network for future opportunities.
#intalent

14. Time is Your Most Critical Asset
Are you growing as fast as you’d like? What you do over the next few
years will impact your long-term career. The key is to use the next few
years to recover the lost past years to accelerate your career growth. If
our position offered this type of growth, wouldn’t it make sense to talk 5-10
minutes?
High Growth
Delayed Growth
#intalent

15. Dancing & Applicant Control
Step 1: The Push Away
Step 1: The Push Away
••Look for gaps between job &
Look for gaps between job &
person’s background
person’s background
••Suggest concern
Suggest concern
••The best push back
The best push back
Step 2: The Pull Toward
Step 2: The Pull Toward
••Tie job to company &
Tie job to company &
importance
importance
••Ask for best MSA
Ask for best MSA
••The best will sell you
The best will sell you
Get the candidate to sell you!
Gain concession for
agreeing to next step
#intalent

16. Getting to Yes – Find out the NOs
 Be direct – ask!
 What would prevent you from
moving to the next step?
 Close upon a concern
 Feel, felt, found
 Take away to determine interest
 Shorten the next step
 Don’t take “no” for an answer 
persist
#intalent

17. Passive Candidate Recruiting Basics
 Attract In vs. Weed Out
 Applicant Control – Get
Candidate to Sell You
 Persist – No NOs!
 Identify & Address Concerns
 Convert Jobs into Careers
#intalent