Over the past few years we’ve had a number of recruiters and staffing firms visit oPASS as sponsors, and we always give them a few minutes to make their pitch. I don’t envy them the task, they get 5-10 minutes to talk to a crowd that is mildly receptive, sitting through the presentation to get to the good stuff – pizza and tech talk. Few stay for the entire meeting because to a non-technical person (and most recruiters are) it’s just not very exciting – we’d be no more excited about sitting through a sales meeting!

Their first goal is a good one, put their name in the heads of the audience so the next time (maybe right then) they need a recruiter…bam! Easy enough to do, and supplement with some pens and business cards. Where I think they struggle is in two related areas; their sales pitch and their presentation skills.

Starting with the latter, talking to a crowd just isn’t easy. Talking to a crowd while sort of delivering a sales pitch is, I would say, harder. But it’s 10 minutes or less, and I’m usually not surprised to hear a rambling and not really compelling presentation. Not all their fault, they are doing what they’ve been asked to do, or what seems like is the right thing to do as far as marketing, but it’s not the most reassuring thing to a potential customer to see someone struggle through 10 minutes about their business. The lesson for them – and us, is that if we’re selling something, or giving any type of presentation, it’s worth practicing. I wish that was some brand new idea!

The sales pitch usually focuses on the idea that they are better than their competitors. Now I like someone that believes in their products and services and is proud of their company, anything less…well, that’s not going to drive me to them for business. But, the hard part is, they all say they are the best. Again, I get that, it’s pride of company, but to a somewhat cynical crowd (us), show us the money!

I’m not exactly the king of marketing myself, and really all companies have the same dilemma. It’s rare that one company is light years better than another, more often it’s the little things that drive sales and brand loyalty. But…it’s not bad to give your potential customers some real reasons to keep you in mind. I think if I were in the staffing business speaking to a SQL group, I’d want to tailor my pitch:

• Tell you how many SQL DBA’s I’d placed in the past 3 months, past year, and totals for the company
• Offer some insight into the local job market, skills that are hot within SQL Server, salary ranges
• Make clear where I specialized (most do this); contract, contract to hire, etc
• Lessons learned from placing SQL DBA’s; what matters to clients, what matters to DBA’s

The hint: The first bullet point is the key, it shows specific market knowledge and competency. I think not all are those good points to tell potential candidates, I think they are all questions potential candidates should be asking their recruiter. Just because someone hasn’t placed any SQL Server positions doesn’t mean they (and their company) aren’t good, but it’s not what we’d hope to hear either.