Addressing potential clients’ key pain points early on in sales prospecting can be highly effective. It grabs their attention, positions you as someone who understands their business challenges, and allows the recruiter to offer their services as a much-needed solution.

Here are a few ways to address key pain points in sales prospecting:

• Research the prospect’s business and industry. What are their challenges? What are their goals? What are their pain points? Once you understand their needs, you can tailor your outreach message to address them.
• Use empathy in your outreach. Let the prospect know that you understand their challenges and that you’re genuinely interested in helping them solve them.
• Offer a solution that is tailored to the prospect’s needs. Don’t just talk about your services or products. Show the prospect how your offering can address their pain points and help them achieve their goals.

My favorite way to know how to approach potential clients is using the Voice of Customer technique (VOC)

The Voice of Customer (VOC) is a copywriting technique popularized by Laura Belgray. It involves writing marketing and sales copy from the customer’s perspective, using their language, tone, and pain points. The goal of VOC is to create copy that resonates deeply with the target audience and builds trust and credibility.

Here are the key elements of the Voice of Customer technique:

• Empathy: Put yourself in the shoes of your target customer and understand their needs, wants, and challenges.
• Research: Conduct thorough market research to gather insights into your customer’s demographics, psychographics, and buying behavior.
• Language: Use language that your target audience understands and relates to. Avoid jargon and technical terms that may alienate them.
• Tone: Adopt a tone that is consistent with your brand’s personality and values, but also aligns with the customer’s emotional state.
• Pain Points: Identify and address the customer’s pain points and challenges upfront. Show them you understand their struggles and offer solutions to alleviate their pain.
• Benefits: Highlight the benefits of your product or service from the customer’s perspective. Focus on how it will solve their problems and make their lives better.
• Proof: Include testimonials, case studies, and other forms of social proof to demonstrate the value of your offering and build trust.

By researching things your ideal clients are discussing, you can even use their own words to help you write messages. I keep a spreadsheet of questions people ask me, and I see people asking online in places like Facebook groups to create a bank of VOC writing prompts.  

By placing Voice of Customer into your copywriting, you can create marketing and sales materials that speak directly to your target audience, build stronger connections, and drive conversions.

Show the Benefits and Value of What You’re Offering

In any kind of outreach, it’s crucial to highlight the specific benefits and value of what you’re offering. This is especially important in sales prospecting, where you need to convince potential clients that your services can help them achieve their business goals.

That’s why MPC campaigns work so well (when done right). Showcasing your most placeable (and relevant) candidate to a prospective client who needs someone like them is one of the most effective client acquisition strategies in staffing and recruiting because it shows that you have the means to help a potential client with their hiring goals, and you can help them quickly. 

Use Social Proof to Back Up Your Claims

When you’re prospecting for sales, it’s essential to build trust and credibility with potential clients. One way to do this is to use social proof.

Social proof is when people are more likely to believe something if they know that others believe it too. This is why testimonials, case studies, and client logos are so effective in sales prospecting.

Here are a few ways to use social proof in your sales prospecting efforts:

• Include testimonials on your website and in your marketing materials. When potential clients see that others have had a positive experience with your business, they’re more likely to trust you.
• Share case studies of how you’ve helped other clients achieve their hiring goals. This shows potential clients that you have the expertise and experience to help them too.
• Display client logos on your website and in your marketing materials. This shows potential clients that you’re a trusted partner to other businesses in their industry.

By using social proof in your sales prospecting efforts, you can build trust and credibility with potential clients and increase your chances of closing deals. However, happy clients won’t always automatically offer testimonials, so you need to ask them. Make it as easy as possible for your clients to provide social proof by telling them what you want them to address specifically. One way to do this is to ask immediately after a client says something good about you. Ask “Can I use what you just said as a testimonial?” Most people are willing to give testimonials but are busy, and they forget, so remove all possible friction and don’t be afraid to ask!