Show, Don’t Tell
I started a creative writing class recently. No business application, just some fiction for fun. (Translation: I love writing. But only doing recruiting rants…my God there’s gotta be more to life 😂.)
Coursera. Great curriculum. Atrocious feedback. I digress.
I’ve heard the phrase “show, don’t tell” a thousand times in my life. I never understood it though. Isn’t all writing “telling’ on some level?
The most straightforward explanation of difference (in fiction): telling is describing something, like an object or place. Showing is advancing the plot or writing dialogue that describe those things along the way.
“James’ computer is a 4 year old, oversized Thinkpad.”
Vs
“Why do I bother? No one is gonna read this crap,’’ James cursed himself as he hammered the keys of his dying Thinkpad.”
A vanilla info dump vs a story putting the same info into relatable context.
Naturally, it comes back to real world application.
There are less buyers of recruiting services right now. Tech products, too. The ones who remain have tighter budgets. More scrutiny from leadership. Higher expectations of an ROI.
No one can afford to light money on fire with a bad buy. It’s not just the company’s money. That individuals a$$ is on the line.
With that in mind, we’re seeing 2 trends in buying:
1. People buying from people they already know.
Existing relationships. And secondarily, referrals. People who have already proven to the buyer that they can do what they say. “Customer Led Growth” is the first chapter of everyone’s rewritten playbook. (If it’s not, you have some work to do.)
File this under: Duh. Onto the point of today’s rambling…
2. Buyers expect more data and specifics. Especially if you’re new.
Data Driven Storytelling™️, my favorite personally overused buzzword from 2021 (besides calling everything “garbage” – still great btw) is coming back in a big way.
Tell: We recruit for paid digital specialists.
Show: We recently filled 3 paid media specialists roles at a digital agency client. Metrics from that project:
Days to first submission: 4
Candidates to Fill Ratio: 5:1
Average Days to Offer & Acceptance: 9
Average Days to Start: 24
(Expect to see an annoying amount of metric driven client success stories from our team as we finalize our new BI reporting.)
But…are those metrics good? Great? Just ok?
It really comes down to what your clients have to say. (That one was extremely happy). How do you put that in front of your new potential buyers?
Case studies and client success stories. With not just metrics (easy to do with one sheet and slide decks), but with their participation (video.)
An example, our case study with Evive, where the client spoke about our work there themselves.
It means something if you say it. But a lot more if they do.
Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.
