The Secret to Thriving in Competitive Markets | Confessions of a Recruiter #102

What if you could secure a seat at the table with top-tier executives and unlock untapped business opportunities? Join us as we uncover the secrets to connecting with the key decision-makers in large enterprises. During this episode, we promise you'll learn how to recognize critical trigger events and implement effective strategies to forge meaningful relationships with C-suite leaders, such as CEOs and CFOs. We navigate the intricate dynamics of HR, line management, and talent acquisition, emphasizing the power of a top-down, bottom-up approach. Additionally, we explain how understanding procurement and agency spend is essential for snagging those lucrative Preferred Supplier Agreements (PSAs).

Explore the art of persona mapping with us, as we discuss the significance of understanding the diverse roles within an organization, from project management offices to program directors. Our conversation delves into practical examples of when breaking conventional rules can lead to groundbreaking partnerships and exceptional outcomes. Whether you're in finance, tech, or any other industry, these insights will help you speak the language of your potential clients and seamlessly enter new markets. If you're eager to elevate your business relationships and thrive in competitive enterprise environments, this episode is your go-to guide.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Knowing these trigger events and knowing the way to engage, knowing the way to get in the door, is really really, really powerful and knowing who these people are. So for me, if I was looking through just to give you guys where you would go, so I would always be targeting the C-suite ahead of a GM in your particular space. So both the CEO, if you're in finance, your CFO you want to get as high up the food chain as you can. Talent acquisition has a place and I can see we've spelled that wrong, but we'll solve that another day. Hr has a place, your line managers definitely. So your top down, bottom up super important.

Speaker 1: 0:36

I would always be talking to someone in procurement, because procurement, you know, often own the contract in a larger and larger enterprisecurement has a place. You can get an insight into who is on that supplier panel when they're going to market, what's the way in and you can openly talk to procurement around. What do I need to do to be seen in the right light there? Most people don't realise if you don't have agency spend, it's very hard to win a PSA. So if it's a large enterprise customer, what often happens is they'll go to market and they'll put people in that we've spent money with these customers, let's read their tender, or we haven't spent money with them, let's not even bother.

Speaker 1: 1:15

So procurement can be handy because you can find out when that PSA is up and then you can start to strategize how am I going to get spend. So procurement is another really good way in and from a project perspective, your program director, your head of pmo whether that's the business side, whether that's the tech side, depending what space you play in but anyone who's around that project management office, the epmo, they are really good ways to get into a customer and they're certainly personas that you need to have mapped and understand what's really, really important to them and know the difference between good to great. So I could give you, you know, kind of multiple examples in the, in this space and certainly in this space where people will break the rules, they will overspend. I'll bring in new suppliers if you can speak their language.