The “last mile” of sales and recruiting…the “pins and needles” we experience when getting close to a transaction…

I’ll start by saying that this still happens to me to this day. I work diligently to find candidates, interview them, process them, submit to jobs/clients, follow up with clients about the status of one’s candidacy, move things along with a good cadence, remind candidates of their next steps, solicit feedback from both parties, and eventually issue an offer to a candidate…..THEN….I freeze up because I’m desperately waiting on an answer. Whether you are in recruiting or sales, the process is the same.

Why do we allow this part of the process paralyze us? A few ideas: 1) We are invested. We’ve invested time, brain power, and we are emotionally involved. 2) We begin to see the fruits of our labor unfold right in front of us, i.e., MONEY in our pockets. And, 3) We usually want the project to end, which makes time stand still in some instances.

It’s normal to feel unsure about how much or how little to insert oneself into the decisioning process, but we naturally want to help, right? I don’t think we would be in this business if we didn’t want to help people or have a service mindset. However, the one piece that often gets lost is taking care our ourselves. We need to be aware of the “pins and needles” moments that keep us from taking care of what’s important for today and for our own larger goals. While we get emotionally involved in a deal, we need to make sure that we counter that paralysis or stress with productive activity. Staying focused on daily activity can serve as a distraction as well as support the needs of other team members, candidates, clients and our own emotional well-being. That could be setting a goal of 5 new candidates/sales leads before lunch or it could mean stepping away and going for a jog.

Easier said than done, but it works both ways. When we have deals at the finish line or when we are fighting through a dry spell, a good day’s activity will set you up for better days ahead. When you boil it down, waiting on a candidate to accept an offer or a company to sign off on a sales proposal should require very little time on your part, but we allow it to distract us. My challenge to myself and to all of you is to stay in the center of the road and your foot on the gas during your day. Consistency is key to a great week, month, quarter and year.