This is a guest post written for us by Satnam Brar of Maximus.
The warm summer months are approaching and most of us in the recruitment industry are getting revved up for our annual summer holiday in the sun. But how do you cope with leaving behind your most important possession – your desk?!
Plan ahead
Get your summer holiday booked in advance and then make sure you do all your hard work beforehand. Book in important meetings before you go away, line up new business as hard as possible and ensure that you have a healthy pipeline of opportunities to maximise as soon as you return.
Work those relationships
Do not let your key clients forget about you while you are away. Other recruiters will take advantage of your absence and try to fill your shoes in this competitive business. Call all of your clients before you leave for your holiday, let them know you will be away and make sure you have completed any promised actions for them before you go. Ideally, schedule a meeting for your return. If you can schedule to take them out for a drink or a social immediately after your holiday break, then all the better.
Prioritise your most important clients
If time is running out before your break, work out a list of your most important clients in priority order and ensure that you have personal and valuable contact with them before you go. Do not risk forgetting about a key client and then coming home to find that your business has been poached.
Leave your desk ready for your return
Make sure you come back to perfect organisation. Tidy your desk and create comprehensive lists so that you can rapidly pick up where you left off on your first day back. Get your filing under control, tidy your emails and put on your out of office. Provide contact details to all clients and, if necessary, provide a direct line to your best clients just in case any emergency occurs.
Use your team
If your agency has junior members of staff available to support you whilst you are on holiday, set them vital tasks, such as gathering research, market data, or setting up appointments for you whilst you are away. This ensures that no work falls through the cracks and that your clients are still receiving regular contacts and progress from your agency as a whole for the duration.
Use your holiday as an opportunity to develop
If you have spare time on your holiday, why not network informally with people that you meet? Most natural salespeople will always be having conversations, whether at the airport departures lounge or around the pool. Of course, you are on holiday and will not be in sales mode, but it always helps to have a business card on hand just in case. Similarly, if there is an area of development that you have not had time to focus on, whether that is social media, time-keeping, relationship building or personal effectiveness, why not load up your e-reader and brush up on your skills during travel time, or when you get a spare moment during your holiday? You will absorb more information while relaxed and get plenty of new ideas to implement when you return.
