BIG BILLER SECRETS Contents: Calling the Right Person at the Right Time and Saying the Right Thing ............................................................ 2

9 Strategies For Overcoming Cold Call Reluctance ............................................................................................ 4

A Fresh Perspective On Fees .............................................................................................................................. 6

A Little Help, Please ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Big Billers are Great Planners........................................................................................................................... 11

Big Billers have a "Reasons Why" philosophy .................................................................................................. 12

Big Billers identify what clients look for .......................................................................................................... 14

Big Billers Understand the Art of Negotiation ................................................................................................. 15

But Can your Deliver? ...................................................................................................................................... 16

Closing as an Obligation ................................................................................................................................... 18

Contingency or Retainer? ................................................................................................................................ 20

Creating the Predictable Placement ................................................................................................................ 22

Criteria for Doing Business ............................................................................................................................... 25

Market Tight? Don't Find New Clients, Make Them ........................................................................................ 26

Finding the Recruiting Script that Works ......................................................................................................... 29

Follow Up and Cash Flow ................................................................................................................................. 30

Four Steps to Negotiating Higher Fees ............................................................................................................ 32

How To Be a "Big Biller" in Executive Recruiting ............................................................................................. 35

How to Deal with HR (without getting a migraine) ......................................................................................... 38

How to Even Out Your Placement Activity ...................................................................................................... 40

How to Get Clients to Love to Pay Fees ........................................................................................................... 42

How to Identify Quality Search Assignments .................................................................................................. 44

How to Increase Your Productivity & Earn More With Less ............................................................................ 47

How You Can Get Past The Gatekeeper, Into The Executive Suites ................................................................ 51

How to Succeed in a S-L-O-W Job Market ....................................................................................................... 53

Maintaining Focus in a Strong Recruiting Market ........................................................................................... 54

Maintaining Focus in Turbulent Times ............................................................................................................ 56

Making the Most of Your Time ........................................................................................................................ 61

Marketing is a continuous process .................................................................................................................. 63

Marketing Through the Back Door .................................................................................................................. 65

Negotiate for Higher Recruiting Fees .............................................................................................................. 67

Negotiation Tactics for Recruiters ................................................................................................................... 69

Persistence Over Pressure ............................................................................................................................... 71

Playing Hide and Seek with Clients .................................................................................................................. 74

Power Recruiting .............................................................................................................................................. 76

Tell Me About Yourself .................................................................................................................................... 81

Calling the Right Person at the Right Time and Saying the Right Thing

Longing for the glory days?

You know, that golden time when clients were fighting for talent, and your earnings seemed to increase month by month.

Economists may be just starting to admit it, but we saw the economy move past "slow down" long ago. In a slow period the simple fact is there are, and will continue to be, fewer positions to fill. In light of this reality, what can we do to maintain earnings?

To thrive in today’s economy, consultants need to execute assignments with greater precision.

Every action taken – from client prospect call to candidate recruit call – becomes magnified for the very reason that there are fewer marketing opportunities available.

Quantity still counts, but now the quality of your calls will have significantly greater impact to your earnings.

It’s time for us to make a fundamental mental shift from salesperson to consultant.

Consultants ask the hard questions and listen carefully to answers.

Consultants find solutions and solve problems.

Consultants do their homework first.

Therefore, before you pick up the phone to make your next marketing or recruiting call, do a little research.

Make sure you’re ready to say the right thing to the right person.

Let’s take a closer look at new client acquisition -- the client cold call.

1. Calling the right person.

Who is the right person to call? Successful consultants know that the primary contact is the hiring manager to whom an open position reports. A second point of contact could be the manager’s manager. Only as a last solution, might you call the department’s human resources person (as least initially). As you’re aware, speaking with the wrong person will get you nowhere fast. Just think about the times you made a perfect presentation to a subordinate or a department assistant. Your cover is blown, decreasing your chances to get to talk with the hiring manager. To insure you’ll be speaking with the right person, obtain the hiring authority’s name and position title before making your marketing call.

2- At the right time.

When is the right time to call? A consultant recognizes that the best time to call is when there is a problem to be solved or need to be filled (i.e., an open position). The exact timing of your call should occur when the hiring manager is available to speak (i.e. break in his schedule). In fact, you can learn of the hiring manager’s availability by calling into the department and asking the manager’s assistant his/her schedule for the day.

In marketing to a new client for the first time, it’s imperative that you speak directly with the hiring manager first. Don’t leave a voice message. Although voice mail can be a very effective tool for many steps in the recruiting and placement process, be cautious here. Leaving the wrong message for a prospective client can be more detrimental than leaving no message at all.

3- Saying the right thing.

What to say and how to say it? This involves technique that is learned, practiced and perfected over time. Each of us has a unique presentation and delivery style that can be developed. Thinking as a consultant, you might want to position yourself up front as an industry specialist and/or field specialist (i.e. finance, HR, sales, etc.) As you introduce yourself to the decision maker, seek to "bond " by finding "common ground" and thereby making the first impression count. The best marketing calls are those that are prepared in advance (mentally or in writing) and individually tailored for each new client call. Do your homework.

In summary, winning new clients and search assignments now requires less selling and more consulting.

Research before you call prospective clients – it should not take long

Ask yourself

Who are you going to speak to

Why are you are calling them

What you are going to say.

Ensure that you’ll be speaking with the right person by learning of the hiring manager’s title first.

Control the timing of the call by identifying a need first and then by learning when the hiring manager will be available to speak.

Feel confident that you’ll be saying the right thing by preparing, practicing and tailoring your presentation before calling.

By using these techniques, you’ll be able to execute marketing calls with greater precision in today’s economy!

9 Strategies For Overcoming Cold Call Reluctance

It’s important to remember that call reluctance is an "inner roadblock" so the cure will be different for each person. Here are a few ideas that will help you or your staff to get out of procrastination and into action.

1. Relax, you’re not weird: Almost every successful recruiter experiences some degree of call reluctance so don’t get down on yourself. Realise that call reluctance is similar to self-confidence in that it fluctuates. No one is self-confident all of the time. Call reluctance may come and go in varying degrees and some of this is normal. Making sales calls takes pro-active effort on your part and forces you out of your comfort zone. Look at your situation objectively, admit where you are and make a commitment to improve.

2. Change Your Objective: If your objective on each marketing call is to secure a new assignment, then you are going to experience a high degree of perceived failure. In reality this rarely happens in one call. However, if your objective is to discover the truth as to whether there is an opportunity to be of service for this client, either now or in the future, then you will associate success to many more calls. So if you discover that the prospect has no need for your service at this time, you can consider this a successful call because you were able to get to the truth. Remember, success breeds confidence.

3. Have clear activity objectives with small rewards: The first call is always the hardest so you may want to set up small rewards to get going early. The best time to do marketing calls is first thing in the morning before you get distracted. Small rewards could include, "I get my morning coffee after my first 5 presentations." I read the paper after 10 connects." Make them addictive – e.g. that first cigarette break, the first cup of coffee, the first internet logon, first look at your personal email etc

4. Fully believe in what you are selling: In order to be effective you need to be 110% sold on what you are selling. You need to be very sure of your service’s quality and value before you begin to call your prospects. When you call or call on a prospect, he or she can immediately sense your level of confidence in yourself and your service. Trust is extremely essential in this step. You cannot expect others to trust you if you do not feel trustworthy. If you have a problem with a lack of pride in your service, try and build pride by becoming an industry and business expert. Be able to outline your search process in a set number of steps and articulate it from memory. Also KNOW YOUR APC – the candidate you are marketing to increase your confidence.

5. Choose prospects or companies that you feel good about calling: If you are experiencing call reluctance, be sure to follow this step in your attempt to improve your calling behaviour. Try to learn a little something about your prospect and his company before calling him, and then mention this knowledge when you make your sales call. Work in specialties that you feel passionate about so that you are excited about speaking to your prospects.

6. Expect some rejection: If you expect some rejection, you won’t be shocked and deflated when it occurs. If you are doing your job and making things happen you will experience a certain amount of rejection. So just accept it and don’t let it throw you.

7. Prospect in a style that fits with your values and personality: Don’t use a script that makes you feel like a used car salesman. Allow your quirks and sense of humour to come through. Don’t be a robot.

8. Have an "accountability partner" or buddy: Work with a colleague who can be your partner and who you will report your daily activity to. Work with a buddy doing the same thing as you who you can measure yourself against and who can help you to create some structure and accountability.

9. Create some competition internally – tell others what you intend to do or benchmark a top performer and try and hit their figures.

10. Review your primary goals daily: If you have a big enough "Why" then the "How" becomes much easier: What are your goals? How will they benefit you? Take a moment each day to feel the positive feelings of these goals coming to fruition.

A Fresh Perspective On Fees

Much has been written recently about the fees charged by recruiters. A recent issue of The Fordyce Letter provided readers with an explanation of several variations on the theme. Without covering the same material a second time, below is what many of you may consider a "fresh perspective" on the topic.

First and foremost, you need to establish relevance for whatever process you choose to utilise in determining your fee. This relevance can only be established when your fee is justified against the value your client receives from the performance outcomes produced by the placed candidate. In other words, the cost of your service (your fee) must be justified by the value your client receives after the candidate has actually been placed and has consistently met or exceeded the performance standards for the position.

Remember

Ultimately, the only way to retain a client is to consistently demonstrate a direct correlation between the people you place and the improved performance capacity of their organisation. The improvement in performance capacity must be great enough to justify the investment the client makes in paying your fees.

Therefore, keep your eye on the "end game". Certainly you have to locate qualified and interested candidates. Certainly you and your client need to establish and execute an interactive process for evaluating each candidate while building in them an interest in the position and company. Certainly, you need to deliver a properly motivated and qualified employee to your client’s organization. However, the "end game" that you must never lose site of is the post hire performance of the placed employee. Nothing else has real value, if the newly placed employee does not properly perform the essential functions of the position and deliver to your client performance outcomes that meet or exceed their expectations.

In the proper context, particularly when asked to discount the fee, your reply could be similar to the following:

"Obviously, you would not make an investment of this nature unless you were reasonably certain of receiving an appreciable return. Therefore, rather than asking me to discount my fee, it may be in your best interest to challenge me to deliver a value that more than justifies the investment. Since employees represent an organization’s primary source of competitive advantage, compromising in this area should be avoided."

"Both of our long term business interest may best be served through executing an interactive process that consistently delivers employees who impact, in a positive fashion, the performance capacity of your organization. Does that seem reasonable to you?"

Therein lies the justification for your fee.

However, there is a related topic. Have you ever had a client who was unwilling to disclose their compensation range at the time you wrote the job order/search assignment? Have you ever had a client say that the range of compensation is totally open and depends on the candidate? Have you ever had a client who was unwilling to disclose the top end of their compensation range? Have you ever had a client who was unwilling to seek your guidance at offer time? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, ask yourself a follow-up question. Why was my client unwilling to share this information or to seek my guidance at the time of the offer?

In many instances, the answer to this question lies in the fact that for the majority of recruiters, the level of offer accepted by the candidate determines their fee. Therefore, the thought has to at least cross the client’s mind that, in knowing the top range of compensation, you will restrict your search to the highest paid candidates. In like fashion, at offer time, the client may believe you are negotiating a higher compensation level than necessary, in order to increase the size of your fee.

An alternative approach would be to take yourself out of the equation. Here is a fresh perspective on how it can work.

At the time of taking the job order/search assignment, fix your fee (whatever your percentage may be) at the agreed upon mid-point of the compensation range.

Example: Compensation Range - $60,000 to $70,000

Fee set at mid-point - $65,000

Fee percentage 30% - Fee established at $19,500

The fee is now set at $19,500. Regardless at what level the candidate is hired, the fee never changes. They can hire someone at $60,000 or at $70,000, or at any number in between, above or below. The fee remains $19,500.

In using this approach to establishing the fee, you will accomplish at least two things:

1. The client knows exactly what their obligation is regarding the fee, thereby eliminating the possibility of "shock", when they receive your invoice. This also eliminates any mutual mystification as you proceed to secure the client’s signature on the fee agreement.

2. You take yourself out of the equation. The client now understands that your negotiations are not influenced by the size of the fee.

Obviously, in order to make this approach fair to both parties, an agreement must be reached on what constitutes a realistic compensation range. If you are uncertain about the numbers presented by the client, survey the market and adjust accordingly.

Most clients prefer this approach because it is clear and straightforward. This approach creates an aura of relief for all parties, and generates a working environment where the fee no longer interferes with the central focus of closing the deal.

Over the years, we’ve seen the results of those who properly follow this approach. Over time, everything tends to balance out. Some years they may "leave a little on the table" while other years, they may end up ahead. For most clients and recruiters, it represents a "fresh perspective" on the subject of fees.

A Little Help, Please

Sometimes you are so busy congratulating yourself that you don’t even remember how difficult the next step is. It won’t necessarily be difficult for you, but you aren’t the one who has to look your boss in the eye and tell him or her that you are leaving.

For candidates, giving notice is the one thing they fear most. Fear of giving notice alone can keep some candidates from making the career switch they have previously agreed to. Candidates fear giving notice that much. But they seldom admit this.

For recruiters, getting the offer and getting it accepted is often what we see as the final most difficult step in the search process. That negotiating period is certainly a most stressful part of the process, but it is not the end of the process for the best recruiters. The best recruiters know that coaching their candidates to give notice is the best insurance they have to make sure their candidates will actually begin their new jobs. It is also excellent insurance from keeping counteroffers from being delivered and accepted.

So how do we tell our candidates to give notice? In my initial interview and again in my preps and debriefs, I comfort my candidates by telling them that once they get an offer and have accepted it, I will provide them with a detailed email on how to give notice effectively. Telling them this information early in the process reduces their anxiety about giving notice and gets them to focus on interviewing. They can’t give notice until they have an offer to accept. Yet, often candidates have told me that giving notice was such a stressful notion for them that it held them back from interviewing their best. Early reassurance from you that this help is forthcoming often helps your candidates interview better.

What does my email say? Basically three things.

1. First it tells them when to give notice. Many candidates, and recruiters for that matter, think the best day to give notice is Friday afternoon. It is not. Especially not in the current corporate environment where counteroffers are considered a vital corporate tool. Giving notice on Friday gives the boss and his/her bosses all weekend to develop a counteroffer strategy. You don’t want that.

Instead, the best time to give notice is Monday or Tuesday in the afternoon at about 4 PM. Then notice can be given and your candidate won’t have to spend the rest of the day answering the boss’s or co-workers’ questions about why they are leaving and where they are going. Also, because notice was given early in the week, most bosses have a diary schedule that is demanding enough that they can’t find two empty days to strategize on how to counteroffer a resigning employee. They still may make that attempt, but the boss won’t have two full days with nothing else to think about or work on. That is why you, as the recruiter, want notice given on Monday or Tuesday in the latter part of the day.

2. Second, your candidate will also need to write a letter of resignation and give it to their boss to open the resignation meeting. I use a very simple four-sentence, two-paragraph letter of resignation that is direct and to the point. It is also filled with subtle subtext that helps make sure the counteroffer risk is reduced. The letter reads like this:

Dear Boss,

Please accept this letter as my official notice of resignation. I appreciate the work we have been able to accomplish together at (company name), but I have now made a commitment to another organization, and plan to begin with them in (two or xxx) weeks.

It is my intention to work diligently with you to wrap up as much as possible in the next (two or xxx) weeks to make my resignation as smooth as possible. If you have any suggestions on how we can best accomplish that goal, I hope you will share your thoughts with me, as I am eager to move forward on the most positive note possible.

Sincerely,

There is plenty of subtext involved in this letter which time and space do not allow us to explore here, but let me just mention that the words "commitment," "two weeks (or xxx a finite period)" "together," "smooth as possible," and "positive" are not accidentally used in this letter. It is also no accident that "thank you" does not appear in this letter. There is nothing to say thank you for. Yet, that is how many resignation letters inappropriately begin. Saying thank you or having a micro Oscar Acceptance speech in the letter gives the employer hooks to catch the candidates’ guilt on. Furthermore, candidates giving notice must understand it is unprofessional and inappropriate for them to use the resignation letter to tell the current boss where they are going, what they are doing in their next job, or how much they will be making. It is your responsibility to make sure the candidate understands this.

3. The final item on the “resignation prep” email to the candidate gives the resigning candidates the verbal icebreaker needed to open the "giving notice" meeting. It is merely a simple paraphrasing of the resignation letter. I suggest that with the above letter in hand they open their resignation meeting conversation by saying:

"Boss, I have made a commitment to join another organization and will begin working with them in (two or xxx) weeks. Please accept this, my letter of resignation. I would ask that you to take a minute to read my letter before we discuss together how we can make my transition as smooth as possible."

I remind the resigning employee that almost every boss in the world knows what is about to happen when their employee walks into their office with an envelope in their hand. The opening I provide them gets right to the point without unnecessary small talk. It also makes it clear that you are not planning to talk about your decision to leave. Instead, it is clear that what you plan to discuss is the transition now that you have made a commitment to leave. It makes the transition the most important item to discuss in the conversation that is about to occur.

The Next Step . . . After my candidate reads this email, I have them send me a fax or email a copy of their letter of resignation. Next, I ask them to call me so I can coach them through some of the more difficult aspects of this resignation meeting. My main goal is to remind them that the conversation need not be about where they are going and what they are doing next. Rather it should focus on their transition during the next two weeks. I tell them that every time the boss asks anything not related to ensuring a smooth transition, that they deflect the other questions simply by saying:

"I know you may be curious about that, but it is not my intention to discuss where I am going or why. My decision is made, I have made a commitment to another organization which I plan to keep. If it is really important for you to know where I am going and why, let’s talk about it when it is not an emotional issue for us, say a month from now. Today, my goal remains to discuss how to make the transition as smooth as possible."

To help my candidates feel comfortable about using the above deflector, I ask them why it is that on the day they give notice that suddenly their opinions are so important to their boss? That perspective usually reinforces that there is no purpose to the resignation meeting except to leave on as positive a note as possible through a carefully-planned, smooth transition. That is the resignation meeting’s sole purpose.

Drive that point home repeatedly. Once candidates understand this, they no longer feel the need to talk about anything else. That is certainly one of your primary goals. And because candidates really don’t know what to say when giving notice, they are glad to have your input. More importantly, we’ve found that they use all these suggestions, often word for word. Because they do, you will have the peace of mind you need in order to know that this deal is on the books. Even if a counteroffer is tendered, you’ll know that it won’t be accepted. That is just the peace of mind that makes getting to work on the next deal easier for you to do.

Big Billers are Great Planners

Common Traits of Big Billers

1. Big Billers are strategic planners. They utilize news alerts on keywords, competitor websites, business newspapers and informational sites such as Hoovers, Dun & Bradstreet, etc., to acquire as much information to have a knowledgeable phone conversation.

2. Big Billers never pick up the phone until they have built a strategic plan! 3. They have candidates and clients assist them in building a plan and always have them sign off and

date the "Initial Target List" as approval that both parties are in agreement before proceeding.

Do your planning skills need to be improved?

Answer the following questions. . .

Do I know who my first contact of the day is going to be? Do I know what accounts are "closest to money"? Do I have a set schedule throughout my day to market, interview, rouse, reference check, etc.? Do I have a set time each day to plan for the next day and do I know what resources I will utilise to

get the planning done accurately? Am I over-planned?

If the answer is "no" to any of these questions, than re-analyse your planning skills.

In summary, the GOLDEN RULES of planning are as follows:

1. Production will sky rocket when you become an effective planner! 2. Always know who your first call of the day will be and the first call after lunch. Your first contacts of

the day should be the deals that are "closest to money."

Here are a few examples of "closest to money":

o Debriefing a candidate who had their final face-to face interview, as well as debriefing the hiring authority.

o A call to finalise the contract. o Making the offer to the candidate.

3. Always over-plan. 4. Know the importance of working a balanced day. Plan at least ten marketing calls into every day to

keep the funnel full. A normal day should have 30 marketing calls 5. Never leave the office until you are planned for the following day. If that time is not convenient,

determine another time to plan, but not during client time. 6. Maximise all resources for planning. 7. Stay focused and never deviate from your plan.

Big Billers have a "Reasons Why" philosophy

Big Billers understand the importance of why it is a good match between the client and the candidate. If you want to build relationships, you want to present candidates who are excited about the opportunity and are an exact fit for what your client is looking for.

The reasons why process will only prove that you do not have a reputation of fitting square pegs into round holes. You need to educate your candidate on the process of working retained and that you get paid regardless if the candidate accepts the position or no one takes the position. What is most important to you is making sure the candidate is a "right fit" for your client and your client is a "right fit" for your candidate.

To determine the reasons why your candidate is the "right fit" you need to qualify your candidate by asking these five questions.

1. When have you been the happiest in your career? 2. Has there been a time when you woke up and were really excited about going to work? 3. What made you feel that way? 4. Is there anything about your current position you are unhappy about? 5. What are the elements that would make up the ideal job for you?

Weigh the pros and cons of whether this candidate is a potential fit for the position. It is important that a candidate shares with you their compensation (last year’s total) before moving forward. Let them know that their earning history will be verified. Most people get an annual earnings statement. If compensation is in alignment with the position and the candidate is open-minded and qualified under the terms Assignment Profile, than you have a match!

Always ask your qualified candidates the following questions before moving to the next step:

1. What peaked your interest to return my call? 2. What aspects of the position I described seemed most exciting? Why? 3. What aspects of the position I described seemed least exciting? Why? 4. What information would you like to learn more about on the interview? 5. What are the key elements that interested you to interview for the position?

THE ABOVE QUESTIONS WILL MAKE UP YOUR REASONS WHY DOCUMENT. Listen for positives as well as negatives. Both are equally important in determining why the candidate is best suited for the opportunity.

It is important to continually review the reasons why with your candidate and your client.

Review the reasons why after each interview to determine if these reasons why still hold true for both the client and the candidate. Make sure you edit your reasons why as you move along in the process.

This document will mentally prepare both parties to get the deal completed.

In Summary:

1. Before a final interview the "Reasons Why" document should be typed and sent to both parties and reviewed with them.

2. Before placing a candidate, ask yourself "If this were me would I take the job?" Why or Why not?

Below is a sample of a Reasons Why document:

Reasons Why ABC Company is the right fit for Joe Doe

1. Upward mobility. 2. Limited travel. Better work/life balance. 3. Office in Xxxxxxxx but also can work from home. 4. Benefits – Total earnings match is higher. New Company improves basic salary. 5. Less cost on medical for family coverage. 6. Company culture is better. 7. Position reports to the EMEA Director / VP whose management style is in alignment with the

candidate, more so than current report. 8. Company has a strong marketing department to support the product. Has innovation, respects and

promotes people. 9. The Manager or the new team have the same focus and sales / accounting/ HR / IT beliefs as the

candidate.

Big Billers identify what clients look for

In a consultative sale the needs analysis is critical! Big Billers listen twice as much as they speak.

How to make the potential client feel comfortable:

1. Show empathy. 2. Convey confidence and conviction.

Credibility and expertise need to be conveyed to your potential client. Share with the client your discipline knowledge AND industry specialisation and what types of positions you fill. Make sure your client is comfortable with you and your firm before moving forward.

Ask the potential client, "Based on what I have shared with you today, do you feel comfortable working with me and my firm to fulfill your future assignments?"

3. Clients want to work with firms that have a proven process. Walk a potential client through your process to paint them a picture of how their search is going to get accomplished. Show them how it will work, when they need to be involved. Show them what you do for your money.

4. Clients want to feel comfortable that you can fill the search in a reasonable amount of time. Always under promise and over deliver. It is important to be realistic!

In Summary:

Identify the decision-maker. Build relationships and sell yourself. Establish credibility and expertise in the potential clients vertical market. Educate the client on the search process. Talk about delivery time. Know your statistics and ratios and be prepared to present them to

clients. Use the following two key questions when you are trying to capture a key client:

1. Have you made a decision to partner with a single recruitment firm? 2. What will be the criteria you will use to select one recruitment firm over another?

Big Billers Understand the Art of Negotiation

To be a big biller, you MUST perfect the art of negotiation! Big billers never talk about the fee or the service charge unless they understand what the potential client’s needs are.

Big billers never talk about the fee or the service charge unless they have made the decision to work the search.

The reference book on negotiation is The Negotiator by Frederick Forsyth. When a potential client asks, "What is your fee?" return with this question: "Is fee the only issue keeping us from doing business? If it is, I am sure we can make this work for both of us. Let us decide first if my firm meets your needs."

Discuss at that point how your firm can add value. Conduct a needs analysis on how their company will add value to attract a potential candidate. Incorporate value-added services instead of reducing your fee:

o Compensation consulting o Behavioral-based interviewing o Assessment and selection o External Profiling (where required) o Advertising management o Response Handling o Reference Checking o Rejection Handling o Shortlist management – future pool of talent o Offer and Counter offer control o Resignation walk and talk through with candidates

Never give a potential client the discount they are asking for. It makes them feel that they could have gotten you to accept even less! Know your bottom line and never alter. Stay consistent.

In Summary: #1—Make sure you want the search before talking about the fee. #2—Beware of potential clients that demand to know your fee before doing a complete needs analysis. These clients are only window-shopping. #3—Ask those critical questions. #4—Never give the client the fee they are asking for – without trying everything else first .e.g restructure to back end some more fee, containers, Advert and placement fee. #5—Always sell your process.

Remember, success is not determined by how hard you work, but by how intelligently your efforts are applied to your goals. Utilise the tools around you in the best manner possible and you will reach those goals and beyond.

But Can your Deliver? In the rush to take advantage of high-demand market conditions, a growing number of recruitment firms find themselves over-selling and under-delivering.

This is one reason why we ad chase ! But lets look at the client’s perspective.

Because recruiters increasingly oversell, consequently, clients are receiving inconsistent results and the quality of service standard for our industry is falling. In response potential clients are increasingly asking, "But can you deliver?"

You must carefully consider your response to this question. Companies are frustrated by sophisticated sales presentations that have little real relevance to the actual delivery of services. With minor modification, they have already heard most of these presentations from your competitors. Therefore, you must ask yourself, "can we deliver every time, on time, without exception?" If you adhere to a proper set of criteria for accepting business, the answer can be "yes."

Regardless of economic conditions, the ultimate competitive quality differentiation should be your process for quality service delivery. This quality differentiation can be achieved through the proper implementation of the following steps.

1. Understand that the real value of your service is not the provision of qualified employees or contractors. It is in whether or not these employees and contractors will have a positive impact on the performance capacity of the client’s organisation.

2. Only work with clients who meet your firm’s realistic criteria for accepting business. Properly presented, your criteria for accepting business can be your unique selling position.

3. In addition to what is normally covered when taking a job orders/assignments, concentrate on gaining a clear understanding of the performance outcomes the client is seeking (standards or measurement and how they will be communicated), the structure in which the employee will perform (management operating style, peer interface, as well as access to both internal and external resources), and the job related skills and experience required in order to perform at or above the identified standards.

4. Gain commitments from your client to work within the parameters of an adaptive and interactive process for delivering the agreed upon services. This includes recognising you as an essential participant in the process from beginning to end.

Remember Identifying talent is just the first step. The process is not complete until that talent makes a positive and measurable impact on the performance capacity of your client’s organization. Your process must reflect this reality.

5. Execute a program that results in the recruitment (attracting) of the required employees. Remember, there is no shortage of qualified employees; it just so happens that most of them are currently employed. For you and your teams to achieve consistent results you must use the proactive 4-way methodology and its component techniques for identifying, approaching, and attracting those individuals who are not actively seeking a new employment opportunity.

6. Properly evaluate those who have been recruited against the agreed upon selection criteria. This must include not only the evaluation and verification of appropriate skills, experience, and motivations, but also the match between the functional preferences of the potential employee and the management/operating style of the client. In no other area of service delivery is the staffing industry as a whole more lacking than in its’ ability to consistently and properly conduct

behaviorally based evaluation interviews. E.g. What would you do if ……a new product’s sales are faltering, HOW would you increase it ……Often these questions and the answers are given to you by the client because you asked for them when taking the Job Brief.

7. Give a full commitment and follow-through to the agreed upon process until the client’s needs are met to their satisfaction. This area presents the greatest opportunity for quality differentiation. We guarantee to replace free of charge or repeat the assignment. However, this can only be accomplished if you have successfully completed the steps listed previously and if the client respects your terms of business.

If you wish to increase both client share and market share, you must have the wherewithal, willingness, and courage to raise the performance standard for Antal International.

Do not let the least best practice of our industry define YOUR bottom line potential.

Carefully focus your and Antal’s resources only on those opportunities that meet your established criteria for doing business; gain agreement from each client to work within an adaptive and interactive process; and then and only then, give a full commitment to achieving results that meet or exceed your client’s expectations. By operating in this manner, when the question is asked, "but can you deliver", you can stand tall, look them straight in the eye, and without hesitation say, "absolutely, and let me tell you why."

Closing as an Obligation

Some recruiters have had trouble with closing reluctant candidates. Shockingly, in many instances, this is due not to lack of sales skills; rather, it is because they had this doubt about talking someone into something as serious as a job change when that person apparently does not want to!

To what extent should we feel free to close reluctant candidates? Let's explore that area here and see what our obligations are to both parties.

Our Job When I ask recruiters where our real worth is to our clients I generally get answers like finding candidates, screening candidates, and referring the top ones, etc. We seem to think of ourselves as an old aunt or a "dating agent" who is constantly trying to make the right match.

However, our worth to the client is not at the beginning of the search but at the end! Suppose we recruit 50 candidates for the position and screened them down to ten to present to our client. Three were interviewed, two offers were made, and none accepted. Of what real worth are we?

NONE?

No, worse than that! We just cost everyone a lot of time and money!!!

Our client loses money every day that job goes undone. Our value is not to initially find candidates; it is to eventually get the best one to go to work for our client.

In fact, some people say that your worth isn't that you could find good candidates for the client, but that you can help them hire them.

Think about it. If the top candidate says no to the offer, then your client is left with only two options:

1. Start the search all over again. 2. Hire second best, or maybe third.

Neither is good for the client, so for you to earn your money and uphold your duty to the client, you need to do everything within reason and ethics to ensure that the candidate says yes to the offer. Which is exactly why you should be involved in the salary negotiations, offer decision, offer structure, and delivery. When you help clients hire, you help them solve vital problems in their departments.

Do people need help in being able to accept a career opportunity? YES!

A job change is in the top five stress factors a person will ever face. No matter how good it is, the job will start to fade when the pressure and fear of a big decision faces the candidate. Changing jobs (and your life) is easy to dream and talk about, but tough to actually do!

A Knowledgeable Source Many people talk it over with others when faced with a big decision like a job change. The problem is that they talk to Uncle Tom and Aunt Lucy who haven’t the foggiest idea about career path and think that upward mobility is the elevator in your office. Or they talk to their friends who just tell them what they want to hear – because none of them are recruiters. So, the candidate hears things like;

"You're not going to take little Tom to another just so you can have a different job, are you?"

“You’re great – stay where you are. If I were you I would go in and ask for what you are worth – I think you do a great job (because you buy me beers), go and ask for a rise and tell them an ‘offer’ you were not looking for has come your way, and as a loyal employee (who is wanting a rise) you’d give them first option”.

This is just two examples of the conversations candidates have with others – outside your control.

If the candidate is going to talk to someone about why they would consider the change, then have it be an experienced recruiter who can accurately describe the benefits and/or difficulties associated with the position in question and enable the family to make an informed decision.

Remember, when under pressure and stress, the easiest way out is to just say NO! Then they do not have to face quitting, moving, and all the other areas of fear that they are facing.

Very few people are ready and willing to pay the price of success. Most must be helped along the climb up. They need you! That is why they work with you. Don’t fail them; stick with those candidates through to the end, answer their questions, and combat their fears for them because they are ill-equipped to do it for themselves – and their friends and family cant help like you can.

They want to make the change, but they just need someone to tell them it is OK! I don’t think anyone would want their Heart Surgeon to quit just before you got the anaesthetic, would you? Be a professional and see them through their doubts.

The Reasons for Turndowns Candidates essentially turn down an offer for three reasons:

1. First, the recruiter may have done an inadequate job of identifying total concerns at the initial recruit call. Without obtaining concerns, the recruiter lacks the hard ammunition to emphasise the weaknesses at the candidate’s current firm. Look at your interview notes. Have you written out the extensive concerns of the candidate? If not, you are doing a disservice to all involved.

2. Secondly, a natural "Fear of Change" is probably involved. Sir Isaac Newton’s first Law of Motion is that "an object at rest tends to remain at rest - - unless acted on by an outside force." You must be that outside force. Steve Finkel, in his classic video on closing for our industry - "Book More Business!", states that "Fear of Change" is a factor (and frequently a major factor) in 90% of the turndowns or counteroffers that afflict us. Correcting this problem means more fees, and the satisfaction of a job done well and ethically.

3. Finally, excess reliance on candidates obtained in the public domain of the Internet (e.g. job boards) leads inevitably to a high percentage of turndowns and counteroffers. When your client or offer is only one of many, how can frequent failure not be the result?

All of these factors are within your control!

Remember that no matter how bad a candidate’s present position, there is comfort in the known and fear in the unknown.

Most people seek comfort and avoid pain even in the face of sensible reasoning and logic that points their life forward.

You have a moral right to assist at this critical moment.

Closing is good! It is your duty to your client and your professional obligation to your candidate!

To do less is unworthy of us as professionals.

Contingency or Retainer? Many recruiters have asked me for my view on this subject. Therefore, I felt compelled to add a slightly different perspective.

First of all, let's consider the nature and scope of the four basic relationships that are available to Recruiters for working with their Clients.

Non-Exclusive Contingency In this relationship, the Client only receives a measured response from each Recruiter. Because there is no mutual commitment, each Recruiter has to work the job order on a "time/resource available" basis. Each order must be balanced against all the other orders currently available to the Recruiter. This type of relationship generally does not lend itself to a strong drill down approach to penetrating the talent pool. Also, because the relationship is non-exclusive, the Candidates surfaced can be and will be presented to more than one Client by some recruitment firms. They will also target publicly available and less exclusive candidates who will have other offers. In this relationship both the Client and the Recruiter must take a quantitative approach, ensuring that the numbers work in their favour. From the Client's perspective, this may be an acceptable approach if the open position(s) is of low priority to the organization and the timing for hiring is not important. The Client is basically taking a "commodity approach" to meeting their needs and will no doubt exert downward pressure on fees.

Exclusive Contingency This relationship is based on a signed exclusive agreement between the Recruiter and the Client. This agreement defines the exclusive nature of the relationship and ties both parties to a specific time frame. Results must be delivered by the Recruiter within a defined period of time. Penetration of the talent pool by the Recruiter is much greater. However, the Client does not own the product of the search, i.e., the Candidates. The Recruiter is free to present these Candidates to other Clients. As far as internal Candidates, walk-ins, referrals, or any other Candidates are concerned, they undergo the same process with the Recruiter as sourced Candidates. In this manner, the Client is properly positioned to compare "apples to apples." Since all Candidates are processed in the same manner, an unbiased decision can be reached without compromising the results through an alteration of the process. From the Client's perspective, this relationship is effective if they place a higher priority on the position, and if timing is important for filling the position.

Regarding the time frame reflected in this type of agreement, it generally ranges from 30 to 90 days. Perhaps the best comparison for this type of agreement is the standard real estate contract which gives the listing agent an exclusive period of time (generally 90 days) in which to sell the property. During that period of exclusivity, they are legally entitled to their commission regardless of who sells the property and regardless of the source of the buyer. It could have an end date on which it becomes non-exclusive and the rate drops – this makes clients more comfortable that you share the pain if it is delayed and gives you an incentive to deliver.

Container / Engagement Fee This relationship combines retainer with contingency. The Client signs an exclusive agreement with the Recruiter and pays a predetermined portion of the estimated fee up front, and once paid, it is non-refundable. Generally the initial container/engagement fee ranges from 10% to 20% of the anticipated total fee. The remainder of the fee is paid by the Client upon the successful completion of the search and the hiring of a suitable Candidate. Although the relationship is exclusive, the payment of the majority of the fee is still contingent on the Recruiter's performance.

The engagement fee relationship is designed to capture the Recruiter's attention and thereby secure for the Client a greater level of commitment and resource allocation. This is most appropriate when the Client places great priority on the position and where timing in filling the position is critical.

Standard Retainer In this relationship the Client pays the Recruiter's fee in three instalments or retainers. The assignment and search begins when the Client signs the exclusive retainer agreement and pays the initial retainer. The payment of the two remaining retainers is generally tied to specific time lines or performance outcomes. The Client must be convinced that the Recruiter can source and recruit qualified Candidates, properly orchestrate an effective process for delivering the Candidates, while helping to insure that the hiring decision is not compromised by extraneous variables. This relationship is characterized by a strong, mutual commitment between the Client and the Recruiter. The Client has greater control of the process and owns the product of the Recruiter's efforts, i.e. the Candidates. The Recruiter is not at liberty to present the Candidates to other companies until their Client either fills the position or releases the Candidates by stating "no interest".

In order to justify this level of relationship, the Client must place the highest priority on the position, while requiring no margin for error in their timing or evaluation processes.

Of course Advertising can be applied to almost all of these approaches – sometimes included in the fee, or Part Included or at total cost to client. Advertising gets more exclusive candidates, though after time they will become more public / active in the job market. Advertising accelerates timescales. Advertising provides often vital networking points for your search / headhunting for this assignment. Advert response candidates are often highly motivated to join the featured client / take up the described role than others.

It is not necessarily that one of these approaches is better than another. Rather, it is a question of which approach will best serve the Client's interest. This should be determined between the Client and the Recruiter. The decision must reflect the priority the Client places on filling the position.

The real art of positioning yourself as an effective Recruiter is to clearly identify with your Client the appropriate priority that must be placed on each opening. Ultimately, it comes down to a question of priority. The priority, once established, should determine the relationship that is required in order for you to achieve results for your Client.

Creating the Predictable Placement

Mentoring Training and life long learning are the heart and soul of our business. Successful consultants know that to achieve their financial goals they must continually learn and adopt new ways of doing business, watch others, employ new tactics. Let’s take a look at the seven stages of learning search ~ from science to art.

Stage One: The Science Those new to our business first learn the technique ~ what I call the science of recruitment. These are the time-tested methods (e.g., marketing, recruiting, sourcing, scripts) that can make well-trained rookies sound like they’ve been in the business for two plus years.

Stage Two: The Unknowing Then reality sets in. Economic cycles and company changes affect business. Key contacts move on. Clients are lost. Business seems to get harder and harder. Stuck in a rut with fifteen plus send outs in a row and no placements, it’s only human to question whether we have what it takes to go on.

Stage Three: Getting Through It If you can get past tough times (i.e., burn-out or a soft labour market), and motivate and focus yourself ~ really focus yourself ~ true learning begins to take root. Many simply work harder. Others work smarter by increasing activity levels of call times, cv’s out, interviews, meetings AND the following:

1) specialising in a high demand discipline as opposed to a falling sector 2) using the Antal network to establish trading partners, find more clients 3) going to networking events after hours or industry conferences 4) reading more industry news and creating agents to deliver targeted news to the

desktop 5) Calling old clients and placed candidates 6) Reviewing the Masses of Tools document in case anything was missed

Stage Four: Moving Through It Moving through tough times teaches us a lot about ourselves: 1) about our will power, 2) about how we handle pressure, 3) about our ability to adapt and change, and 4) about our passion for the business. Most of us prefer to learn through the paths of least resistance ~ through others who can guide us through tough times.

Though, accelerated learning comes from internalising and overcoming personal challenges. Think about all of those expensive five figure "lessons." Like losing a placement to a counter-offer. Or, not seeing the red flags up-front when taking a search assignment that ended up burning weeks, even months of our time for no result !

Stage Five: The Realisation The longer and longer we’re in the business, many of us come to the realisation that we know less and less. That’s when wisdom begins to set in. We look for new ideas and learning tools everywhere: 1) from industry colleagues and peers, 2) from publications both inside and outside the industry, 3) from the news, to historical events. Seeing trends helps us see the big picture and gives us perspective.

Stage Six: The Knowing Then we come to a point when we understand what truly matters for the long term ~ deepening our relationships. Business relationships transform into friendships (and vice versa). Trust and respect take

precedence over business. We look to give more than we take. We realise that by sharing with colleagues, clients, and candidates, we learn from one another and everyone wins. Life becomes richer.

Stage Seven: The Art In the end we arrive at a place where business seems to flow naturally in the direction we desire. This is the essence of what I call the art of recruitment. Based on our relationships, our experience and our insight, we become "tuned in" very early on in the placement process and are able to anticipate next steps before they occur. Our highly developed skills ~ similar to a doctor diagnosing an illness or a trial attorney questioning a witness ~ help us navigate to predictable outcomes. If you’ve ever had a "gut feel" that you know a placement was going to happen in the earliest stages of the process, then you know what I’m talking about.

The art of recruitment starts with asking the right questions up-front to both clients and candidates. The order and answers to those questions are key to placement predictability. Below are the most important questions to ask both prospective clients and candidates in your first conversation.

Client Questions Candidate Questions

Why is this position open? Why are you looking for a new position?

How long has the position been open? How long have you been looking?

Have you met any candidates to date? If so, have you met the right candidate? -If not, what has been missing? -What are you looking for in the right candidate?

Have you had any interviews to date? If so, have you been asked for a second meeting? -If not, what do you think the reasons have been? -What are you looking for in your next career move?

What are you seeking? -Experience level? Industry-specific skills? -Required education? Preferred credentials? -Your geographic preference? -Compensation range? -Personal style?

What are you seeking? -Position title and responsibilities? -Industry (and specific firms) would you like to work for? -Your geographic preference? -Current and expected compensation? -Culture fit?

What is most important for me to know to assist you in locating the right candidate?

What is most important for me to know to assist you in locating your next position?

Ideally, when would you like to have the right person start?

Ideally, when would you like to be in your new position?

What are the measurables this person must achieve in 3 months, 6 months, a year ?

How have you achieved X% in 3 months before? How would you go about doing it with this company? How would you achieve x in 3, x in 6 and x in a year ?

If X happened, what would you expect of the person If X happened, what would you do, how, why, when ?

Notice that the client and candidate questions are mirror images of one another.

They focus on:

1) the timing, 2) the motivation,

3) the qualifications, 4) the commitment.

The fact-finding Why, How and When questions lead to the open-ended, subjective What questions. Listen hard to the answers to the What questions. These are the keys to mastering search and creating predictable placements.

In summary, learning recruitment is a personal, never-ending journey. From science to art, we learn from others in the industry, while realising that accelerated learning comes from overcoming challenging times. The goal is to move toward leveraging well-established relationships with an in-depth understanding of the placement process. As in a game of chess, those who learn to anticipate future moves become most successful. Highly developed skills save precious time and enable us to predict placements.

"Making placements is like composing an orchestra with lots of subtle influences." I tend to agree. It’s also like painting or sculpting a work of art. The process is creative, demanding and extremely rewarding.

Criteria for Doing Business

What criteria must be met before you consider doing business with a client? In today's economy, accepting business that has not been properly measured against an established set of realistic criteria is inviting you to waste your time and resources for no result.

Remember Most firms do not suffer from an absence of resources, rather, they suffer from a lack of focus for those resources.

Every company, in order to be successful, must have in place a set of criteria against which they judge the business opportunities that are available to them.

Only in this manner can they properly focus their resources. Experienced business professionals understand this reality. As staffing industry professionals, we should as well.

Therefore, consider utilising the following criteria as a guide for doing business with your clients.

1. Measure the client's sense of urgency about receiving the staffing solutions you can provide. This is the most important criteria because typically, the higher the client's sense of urgency, the higher their level of cooperation and flexibility.

2. Measure the value the client places on your solutions. This has a direct impact on your fees and %age rates. The cost of your service is always linked in the client's mind to their estimation of the value received (whether perceived or real).

3. Determine whether or not you will be working with the client's key decision makers and measure the decision maker's attitude about receiving your services. While a positive attitude on the part of the decision maker can go a long way toward insuring positive results, correspondingly, a bad attitude may compromise the outcome.

4. Measure the nature and scope of the process that will be followed in providing your services, including the level of competition, both internal and external. Commitment from all parties to following an appropriate process can help insure a positive outcome that exceeds expectations.

By following these criteria for doing business, you will improve your quality ratios, increase client share, and when reviewed with other recruiters during the sales process, help position you as a business equal. However, these criteria must be properly quantified and qualified and you and your staff must understand them for maximum results.

Market Tight? Don't Find New Clients, Make Them

"We made 100 cold calls this week, had twelve really good face-to-face appointments, and still we closed no new business. What are we doing wrong?"

Sound familiar? An interesting part of visiting different Antal businesses and then hearing from new staff or PRC’s at interview how the competition operate is the frustrations, and the perceptions, of the sales professionals involved.

Sometimes listening to these people was like watching someone run up the down escalator. You know they may get where they're going, but what a waste of energy! For example, consider how these people are being told to deal with the current economy:

Since business is slow, consultants are under intense pressure to compensate for declining sales by making more cold calls. Sure, higher activity helps but think about what they are saying or who they say it to or they will just make more calls that end in no success.

HR managers, who are sick of the near constant onslaught of consultants, are becoming increasingly resistant to traditional sales tactics.

High volume accounts - major multinational clients, are using just a fraction of the recruitment services they did two years ago, yet many of these consultants are focusing on selling to the major accounts.

Pretty easy to see why these sales people feel frustrated. They're using transactional selling techniques (cold calling and order taking) in a market that isn't buying. And rather than changing their techniques to deal with market conditions, they're being told to simply do more. These poor people are fighting an uphill battle and relying on outdated tools.

Making New Clients

If you were in the staffing industry 25 years ago, you probably didn't do a lot of transactional selling. When you called on a new account, you couldn't ask them about their staffing needs; they didn't have any (or at least, they didn't know they had any). To close sales, you frequently had to teach people what a "temp" was and how to use one. Headhunting was something you read about happening in the jungle in South America, not an accepted service business. Recruitment Advertising – or Appointments Sections of newspapers were under Jobs Wanted or Jobs Offered in the classified section of a newspaper. Essentially, you made new clients through a process of education.

Today, many companies have become sophisticated users of staffing services, particularly those with large HR departments. You're not going to teach them about using temporaries. However, many other companies, particularly smaller ones, still don't really understand the value of staffing. Let me share a story I think you'll find interesting:

Many years ago, I participated in conference program for Entrepreneurial Leadership. My discussion Group consisted of 8 senior managers and business owners, and as part of the program, each owner gave a presentation on his or her company. One gentleman in my class ran a highly successful distribution firm. In his warehouse, they outsourced 100% of their labour to a recruitment firm, a managing agency. Now here comes the surprise….

During the Q&A period, 6 of 8 other managers objected to this owner for his use of "temps and contractors." They threw out all the typical stereotypes: "they're not reliable," "quality will suffer," "they're

expensive," etc. To my shock, these 6 business owners unanimously viewed temporary staffing as a bad thing…and certainly not as a means to running a more profitable business. As for a managing agency, they felt fear about putting all their eggs in one basket. They lost sight of the economic advantages. They also asked how an outsider could gauge the culture of the company in finding new Perm staff – how could they do better than word of mouth or an expert internal eye?

In today's market, educational selling can play a big role in growing sales. With smaller companies, you can use education as a means to sell value. In your sales process, show people how you can help them to control costs, improve productivity, manage risk, match culture and get more work done.

With larger companies, educational selling may be a bit more challenging. First, you have to find out what kinds of people-related challenges the business is having. Next, you have to determine if (and how) you could solve these challenges. And finally, you have to convince a fairly knowledgeable client that you can really solve the problem…and that the solution justifies the price.

While it may not be an easy sale, educational selling may be the only way to get beyond the pricing game with larger accounts.

Educational Selling "How To"

Step 1: Define the kinds of problems you can solve.

Step 2: Identify businesses likely to be having those kinds of problems right now.

Hint: If you can do it, skip the obvious big companies with sophisticated HR departments.

Step 3: Create an educational curriculum.

Break your educational message into a series of small pieces.

Be sure to repeat key learning points often.

Step 4: Deliver your curriculum.

Get your message to your prospects (and even your clients) through the most cost-effective methods. Consider using a series of direct mail, bulletins, e-mail, seminars, or a mix of all these techniques.

Step 5: Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up.

Integrate your education with your sales efforts.

Don't just sell, focus on helping potential clients to understand how your services can help their business to be more profitable.

Making It Work

Training

Unfortunately, many people do not fully understand how recruitment can be used to solve problems and what a powerful approach it can be. Some don't know how to sit down with higher level decision makers to determine the real problems a company has. Before sending

your “educational pitch” to the outside world, share the information inside your office – you will be surprised at the answers that are right here, today, in this room. Teach one another about the value of recruitment to clients. Share a list of the kinds of questions consultants can ask to uncover problems and hold masterclasses on objections, negotiations, presentations techniques etc.

Coaching / Mentoring / Masterclasses

To maximise the effectiveness of your sales staff, hold regular coaching sessions to review specific client challenges and brainstorm solutions. Through this process, everyone will come to better understand the value your services can offer and how to sell that value to their clients.

More training

Effective mentoring and training is not a one-time event. Make it a process you regularly repeat.

Think cost-effective

Find ways to reach the most people with the greatest impact for the lowest cost. Often, a mix of media is most effective (e.g., direct mail, e-mail, in person).

Be Persistent

Educational selling is not a quick fix. It takes time to get people to recognize and admit to their problems, understand the value you can deliver, and develop enough trust in you to test out the solutions you recommend. Stick to the process, and over time, people will come to see you as an expert, a problem solver, and someone to whom they want to give their business.

Finding the Recruiting Script that Works

We know that no two candidates are alike. And yet as recruiters we often get lazy and use the identical recruiting script for everyone, as if each candidate were a clone of another. To combat the cookie-cutter approach to recruiting, remember, there are three types of candidates, each with their own set of expectations as to what a recruiter's role should be. Since each type of candidate responds to a different recruiting approach, your job is to find the style that fits the need. For example, the relationship-driven candidate is like a free agent, and expects the recruiter to act as a career representative. This type of candidate responds best to the "Let me learn about you first, and then I'll call you when the right job appears" script. Relationship-driven candidates are typically those for whom a variety of jobs are readily available, such as IT professionals and mid-level accounting types. Due to the high demand in this milieu, a highly skilled candidate can often be sent - on short notice - to two or three companies at a time, once the person has been added to your inventory. By understanding the candidate's needs in advance, you'll be able to save time and increase rapport by making a more perfect match. By contrast, the situation-driven candidate sees himself as a problem-solver in search of a distinct position worthy of his expertise. These higher-level candidates are typically difficult to inventory and place, due to their unique skills and higher salary expectations. Usually, they're approached in response to an industry-specific search assignment in which generic candidates are inappropriate. They also expect you to find them that perfect role. Situation-driven candidates respond best to a storyboard approach, in which you describe a compelling staffing dilemma. The more detail you know about the needs of the client (and the consequences of the job remaining unfilled), the more you'll stimulate the interest of the candidate and excite them to the challenge the role offers. Play the Tune They Like to Hear Finally, there's the specification-driven candidate. He has little interest in "bonding" with the recruiter, and just wants to know the facts: Who's the company? What's the position? How much does it pay? Your relationship with this type of candidate will often be much like a vendor or supplier, and perhaps not very exclusive, but if you've got the right job at the right time, you'll stand a good chance of making a placement. When dealing with this type of candidate, it's best to use a classified ad script, in which you outline the job specifications and benefits clearly and quickly. Be careful not to beat around the bush, or your candidate will quickly lose interest and – whoosh – they evaporate in mid-sentence. Candidates, like the rest of us, have our own DNA, likes and dislikes. What's important is that you play the tune they like when you first make contact - or adjust your presentation to suit their preference. Otherwise, you'll make a lot of calls with little or no results.

Follow Up and Cash Flow

Most recruiters ignore the huge fee earning potential of Follow Up.

The concept of following up gives most recruiters the impression of low-level tasks that can be delegated to a paper questionnaire or an admin person. It is perceived to have no cash value because it does not contribute to cash in to the office and so its not their job……….

Consider this: following up with candidates and clients not only gives you credibility and helps to build your brand, but it can be an easy way to get easy business.

Think in terms of low hanging fruit. Make contact with those who you already know and have relationships with. Following up gives you an excuse to do just that. Following up has a prime spot on the selling tool belt.

Recently I was asked by someone who wanted to know what I’ve seen in the industry as far as standard follow-up forms and questionnaires, they wanted to use the information as a marketing tool and also as a way to gather real data on the success of their placements and ultimately to have a business discussion to get more information and possibly uncover a new position to work on.

I thought this was brilliant.

The concept of following up and using that information as a marketing tool makes not just good business sense, but can help build a brand as well.

By following up with placed candidates (and with clients) after the placement, you show your clients and prospective clients three things:

1) That you actually care about the long term success of the placement. 2) That you have a specific "system" integrated into your search process to preserve their fee investment. 3) That you client feels like he or she is getting their money's worth out of the deal: long-lasting value.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Develop a formula for following up after the search. Give it a name so you can refer to in sales pitches as part of the placement process you explain to clients – such as "Antal Follow Up Process."

Tell prospective clients that you will follow up with candidates on the following schedule:

a. on the day they started b. two weeks later c. on their one month anniversary d. every month for a quarter e. every quarter for a year f. and annually thereafter.

By having a specific system in place, it gives you credibility. Clients assume that you are a professional and that you have a system. KERRR-CHING ! That simple follow up system, and the fact

that it is associated with my brand by having a real name that successful consultants put in their marketing materials, AND ACTUALLY practiced it has won them considerable “NEW” business.

2. Compile a Client Service Review or Placed Candidate Review form that will be given to candidates and clients. This is probably better to be done over a telephone call so that you can make real contact, again helping to solidify your relationship and build your brand. Start with the following questions:

Who did you most appreciate during this process? Who were the other firms you talked with? What impressed you most about our firm? What impressed you the least about our firm? What steps of the search process were most effective? What steps were not? What parts of our process could have been improved? Was our feedback and response to your needs timely? Did we expose you to the right opportunities / candidates? Why did you choose to work with our firm? Why did you choose to hire on with our client / What was the most important factor that made you opt for the chosen candidate? How could we have served you better? And finally: On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, where would you rate our effectiveness in managing the search process / meeting your needs as the selected candidate in this process?

You can modify these questions for clients and customise them to the needs of a client.

3. Keep records. Put your comments on the Database. Keep the information in your files to tabulate and measure against your searches. Out of 100 placements, what percentage of satisfied candidates did you have? How many were happy they made the move? This will then become a critical marketing tool. This measured data of your outcomes will give third party credibility to your prospective clients on how effective you are at managing the search process. You will then be able to transition from a "selling" mode to a "telling" mode. "Let me tell you about what 98% of our placement candidates said about our search process." "Let me tell you why 99% of our clients said they would choose to work with us again."

Potential Clients will only believe 25% of what you tell them about yourself. They’ll believe almost 100% of what others tell them about you.

With this concrete irrefutable track record of data, you can develop a "triple win" to following up:

1. Your client is happy. They are happy that you are preserving their fee investment. 2. The candidate is happy. They perceive that you care about them. 3. You’re happy. You’re building relationships with warm contacts, having a business "excuse" to keep

in touch with people, and assembling data that could potentially bring you more business with other clients.

4. The client or the placed candidate could have other jobs to give to you

So the next time you grumble about "low-level activities" like following up, think in terms of how much it could potentially impact your immediate cash flow.

Four Steps to Negotiating Higher Fees

About six months ago, one of our staff (Consultant A) was marketing an EMEA Senior Business Development manager who was one of the top producers in his industry. He had personally brought in several hundred millions in business the year before, and was making a move because of some leadership issues in the boardroom. He was a hot prospect who would make millions in net profits for his next employer.

Consultant A found a possible company who was interested in him. A called the EMEA President of Sales in his client, explained the candidate’s background and motive to move, and the decision maker seemed very interested in meeting with the candidate.

Time for the fee. Inhale. Hold breath. Pause for four counts.

Exhale. Relax. Okay, now go. A said, "The way our fee structure works, John, is that if you hire this candidate, my fee is thirty percent of his first year guaranteed compensation. And if you’re okay with that, I’ll email his information to you and follow up with you tomorrow to set up a meeting between the two of you."

"Thirty percent? <long pause> ... Ouch!" he said with a sigh and a dramatic groan in his voice. "I can’t believe you’re charging thirty percent in this market!"

Inhale. Hold breath. Get a bit angry. Pause for four counts.

Feel anxiety. Blood Pressure and Temperature Rise Exhale. Relax.

Consultant A thought “Damn, I thought he was bluffing, or did he really have a problem with the fee?” At that point, A had two options. The consultant could give in to his response, or I could sell value.

A followed these four steps to diffuse his objection and get him to agree to the full fee:

1. Build the relationship and trust through rapport. First, A solidified the relationship between the two of them by creating rapport. A did this by using humor.

John, it sounds like you just gave me the famous old “sharp intake of breath” reaction. A responded (Sharpe Intake of Breath – that common technique used by everyone, especially when on holiday and buying a souvenir from a market stall in Cairo, when told the price)

A : Pause. Listen.

The client sort of chuckled. Yes, he had been caught. He was a very sophisticated and shrewd executive, and one whose sterling reputation in the community was legendary. He knew A had caught him in a gambit of negotiating. By calling him on it, A was building rapport. A diffused the tension and solidified the relationship.

2. Take your eyes off of your needs and focus on what you can give to the other person. A listened to his concern with the fee.

Client : "Consutlant A, honestly, why is it that you can charge me such a high fee when you and I both know there are recruiters charging half of that amount right now?"

A: "That’s a good question, John. I would be asking the same thing if I were in your shoes." Empathy. Listen and empathize from the heart.

3. Do not apologize for high fees. Be proud of them. A made my high fee the exact reason why he should do business with me. In other words, A did NOT apologize for the high fee. A did not give in to his request. Instead, A was proud of the fee. A was proud of the fact that A could give him so much value and A focused on his personal and professional benefit of the placement.

"John," A continued, "it’s very simple. You get what you pay for. I would be doing you a disservice if I charged you any less than a full fee, and that’s because of this very simple truth: you get what you pay for. You know it, your clients know it, and I know it. And instead of discounting my fee and bringing you discounted and substandard candidates, I would rather keep my fees high and bring you people that are actually worth a full fee. You and I both know that the difference between a twenty-five percent and a thirty percent fee is seventeen percent of the fee, which on a thirty thousand Euro fee would be just over Euro5,000. Is it worth jeopardizing the quality of your company to save a few bucks for an inferior candidate? Full fee candidates can bring you a value greater than that small delta between the two. Naturally I am prepared to be competitive, in regard to the quality of my talent pool and my fee, to an extent.”

4. Maintain fee integrity. A was willing to walk away from the deal.

If he said no, A was willing to lose the potential placement because A was looking at a list on my desk of thirty other companies who were next. A could afford to lose it. A’s cash flow and pipeline / deal flow was solid. And it came through in A’s voice to my client ……and the client agreed to the full fee and met with the candidate two days later. A then agreed a reduction from 30% to 27.5%.

Recently a consultant asked me if he should pursue retained only work on his desk right now. After seeing that he didn’t have enough potential deal flow, my advice was to continue doing mid-level contingency search, ad chasing with good matches and normal APC candidate marketing – in other words good search work that he could close quickly and get paid on quickly.

Cash flow is king. I’ve seen too many egocentric recruiters spew on about how great they are with high-level retained search in this market when the Rolexes on their wrists are fake and they live from one pay cheque to the next. (You know the type. The ‘masters of embellishment.’) Check your ego at the door when it comes to success in this business.

Deal Flow and Cash flow are more important than your model of search, and cash flow is also more important than fee integrity. Think of your desk and you as a business. If you can’t keep your doors open, then you can’t keep your doors open. Get enough deal flow going before you do anything close to raising your fees or changing your model or getting to the next level in recruitment. This business is intensely competitive, and you must compete with a full stomach…otherwise you seem hungry and you won’t be negotiating from a position of strength.

Follow these four steps to negotiating higher fees and higher margins. And by all means, quit watching television at night and start investing in your own success through reading – have a look at books by peoplke like Roger Dawson who has written about negotiating.

Here’s another idea: Call the TV company tomorrow to disconnect your cable service (yes, there is life without rolling 24/7 news) and put that fifty euros a month into books that can help you win more

business. Quit drinking Starbucks and put that habit into your training budget and start investing in yourself to help you get to the next level. Dig behind the sofa cushions for change and…..…well, you get the picture.

You can’t become a big biller if you don’t have the education to do it, so start acquiring the education. You owe it to yourself, and you owe it to our industry to win, and to win greatly. This industry needs sharp aggressive recruiters who can keep their margins high, their fees healthy, and do it with clients who eagerly see the value of the fees.

How To Be a "Big Biller" in Executive Recruiting

No matter if you’re new in the business or have tenure under your belt, our industry makes you start over every time you pick up the phone. The first thing that you must set in stone is your passion for this business. There is no other profession on earth that can help you reach your financial dreams like recruiting can do for you and your family. So to borrow from Nike - Just do it!

Steps to Success:

Step one: We all need to set some initial goals that will keep us on the phone. Even if you think this is silly at first, try it. Put pictures up in your office or on your PC that represent your dreams; a new car, a new boat, etc. This will be a constant reminder or why you need to keep you in the office longer and be more productive. Also, put a small mirror on your phone or on your desk. This way when you look into the mirror and you don’t see that phone connected to your ear then you know that you are not making money.

Step two: Every day you have the ability and option to start over. So do it. Start calling more true decision makers than before and start developing relationships with these top professionals. Working with decision makers is so much easier than with lower level technical people in any industry. You will find that they are senior level people and who actually do return phone calls unlike the lower managers or technical people. Maybe that is why they are senior execs and others are not? These people also seem to be a lot nicer and more willing to stay on the phone with you as long they feel you are a player and are not wasting their time. Even if you don’t have an exact opportunity for them or have never recruited this role before it will be your tone of voice and the confidence in your ability that will keep them listening and talking.

This business is a numbers game. Don’t leave the office till you have hit your goal for the day.

These calls can be a combination of cold calls, reference checks, cv’s received and returned phone calls. Your goal is to create "Buddies" while making these calls.

Not everyone is going to like you and you may not like them and that is ok.

Out of every 30-40 calls you will have 10-15 conversations in a day and out of those conversations you can make 3-4 "Buddies". I define "Buddies" as individuals that you like and that like you a lot. It is someone who you have an immediate connection with and who will remember you because of that affinity that was created so quickly over the phone. These "Buddies" will become either candidates or clients in the future.

Most recruiters do a lousy job of staying in touch with people. The point here is not to stay in touch with everyone, stay in touch with people you like a great deal and this strong relationship will produce fees. If you recruit a senior exec and like them a lot then stay in touch with them every month. How you may ask? Call them at least every 45-75 days after your first contact. Send a note in the mail about what is happening in their industry and how it affects them in their position. I call this an expert article. Send a magazine article that has information about recruiting or their industry in it. You can find these articles in all the major publications and online. Both the expert article and the magazine article lets your "Buddy" know that you are a player and that you are doing more than any other recruiter they know.

Even something as simple as “did you see that piece on investment in China in the FT at the weekend? I saw that and wondered how your firm’s plans were developing in that regard………... “

They will like you for this because you are developing a genuine relationship. After doing this for your "Buddy" he/she will want to help you in the future. They will either give you leads on other good people or will ask you to find a person for them in their department.

They may also ask you to market them to another company – they become candidates. All these things produce fees. The goal is to build a large "Buddy" network. You will constantly leverage your "Buddy" in meeting their "Buddies" for referrals. This way it is always a warm phone call rather than a straight cold call. This is how top recruiters get about 40% of their fees.

Step three: Stop wasting time! Many of us have dealt with clients and candidates that are a pain in the posterior.

Drop them now and kick them away.

Start separating your clients into different groupings. The good clients that are fun to deal with I will put first on my list.

The second tier group are those clients that are ok to deal with and give you orders. Their not fun, but they pay the rent.

Keep focused on these top two tiers and then figure out the companies who are draining every bit of effort from you to make a deal happen and boot them out your pipeline. Put them on the CJR where ad chases go.

Like Nike said, "Just Do It!" Start leveraging your top two tiers for their friends that work at other companies to get some new relationships. Begin making lots of cold calls to replace those third tier clients. It won’t take long, but it takes effort, attitude, and commitment. Make the decision and create a better practice for yourself. This is a numbers game so keep calling until you only deal with the first two tiers of business.

This business is fun, and you don’t have to deal with time wasters or window shoppers anymore. This goes for candidates as well. If a candidate is working with more than two or three recruiters at a time, wish them good luck and move on. Recruit candidates that are not comparing other options and get them focused on just one opportunity. This way they will either stay at their current job or they will go to your opportunity. With more exclusive candidates there are higher chances that they will leave and you will get paid.

If candidates sound "Flaky" in any conversation then put them on the spot and ask them why they sound so flaky. Use that phrase –because if they came across as flaky at interview, they will blow your chance of a fee.

Chances are there are some major obstacles that need to be taken care of before they can move forward. The bottom line is if something sounds fishy like a problem could occur, it is fishy and problems will happen. So, be a straight shooter with the candidate and they will respect you for your confidence and your professionalism.

Step four: Stop sounding so "cheesy" like you are reading off a script when you talk to people. I have found that some people change their whole tone of voice when they talk to clients or candidates on the phone.

Do you sound like a sales person?

Start sounding like yourself. Let your real voice tone come through and you will be much more successful on every call. People want to deal with real people not "salesy" types. If you potential client or candidate feels that you are genuine and that you truly care about their situation they will remember and respect you. They will also want to do nice things for you like; job orders, leads, and referrals. This will occur because you are not like the rest of those recruiters who are just interested in making fees. The more you focus on the relationships you build and less on the actual fees the more money you will earn. When you don’t focus on the money, the money comes in because you have made lots of genuine friendships out their in the market place and these "Buddies" will want you to prosper too because you are REAL and not like the rest. Your practice will change dramatically.

"Hi, my name is Joe Doe with a firm called Antal Intnernational and I just called to introduce myself and what our firm might be able to do for you, can we talk?"

Sound familiar?

First of all, everyone and their brother does this and this type of old marketing is not successful because of that reason.

Recruit everyone! You should try to recruit everyone to see if you can help them now or in the future.

Spend time finding out what is important to them and see if they are ready to leave for a new opportunity. If yes, market them and make a fee.

If they say not they are not ready to leave and if they are senior enough ask them if you could help them with anything in their company - more of a soft sell approach to get business. Many times they will give you a search assignment, because they know that you called about them first.

Presentation is everything and making them feel like you truly care about them first is why they will give you a deal over any other recruiter. Recruit everyone you talk to and you will find yourself as you build your "Buddy" network not competing with other recruiters.

Step five: Once you have made your first deal let everyone know about it. After your candidate has started with your client, get a letter of recommendation from them

See if you can link with their press people about a joint statement regarding the new appointment. They will usually have no problem with you creating some buzz concerning the recent success. Let you client know that you are doing this to show how proud you are that they’ve got the best on the market.

These top five steps will help you to move forward in your career. These steps are not the end all to recruiting, but hopefully you gained some insight to the patterns of a successful recruiter to get started.

How to Deal with HR (without getting a migraine)

"You have to go though 'Tamara’ in Human Resources.

If you contact our hiring manager directly we will terminate your agreement"- does this sound familiar?

It is a common scenario that often occurs and hurts all parties: HR, the candidate, the hiring manager and of course you, the recruiter.

The motivation level of a good recruiter will fall off the radar screen for this client when he hears this. Now he will only send marginal people who happen to come across his desk rather than taking the search seriously.

Generally speaking the bigger the company the greater chance that you will be dealing with increased red tape and bureaucracy. The exception to this is if you are working on very urgent, important or regional openings, which are almost always handled directly by the decision-maker and are often filled on a retainer.

Firstly – who thinks the phrase “Hiring Manager” is someone who works in HR ?

DM = Decision Maker = HM = Hiring Manager = authority and not HR

So, what do you do if you get funnelled to HR and are forbidden to talk to the hiring manager? Here's the short answer- don't spend much of your valuable time with a company like this. Are there exceptions- yes. And you can still send a resume here or there if you are working with a competent HR person who can get things done but generally you are better off finding a new client that will be more flexible.

Target small to medium size companies who don't have a brand name or huge internal recruiting machine and will value your expertise and advice. These smaller companies haven't grown to a size where they have enough internal human resources support and are used to having recruiters work directly with hiring authorities. Companies new to a market – e.g. new investors wont have local HR knowledge or the need for it just yet, so you become their knowledge. If you work with them when they are small and they do grow and create new bureaucracy, you will be in a better position to be "grandfathered" in as the recruiter who is allowed to work directly with hiring authorities based on your reputation and history with the company.

Another way around HR is to work on higher level assignments – not Board level by Mid to Senior level as opposed to admin and shop floor level. Much of the value that recruiters can provide is in assessing soft skills that do not appear on a resume and cannot be screened by an automated database. These skills include leadership, boardroom presence, ability to sell ideas, initiative and project completion skills. The likelihood of working directly with the hiring authority increases if you are working on positions requiring these skills.

If you want to make an effort to work things out with HR you do have some options. One thing to point out to them is the fact that candidates will not take the position seriously if they ask you to describe the managers personality and style and your response is, "I don’t know, I have no direct contact with him". This hurts your ability to attract happily employed, high calibre talent for the company.

Another approach would be to ask very specific, tough, technical questions of the HR person you are working with. If he or she cannot answer them and starts squirming you now have an excellent opportunity to say something like this:

"What we have found to be the most productive method of conducting a search is when we are able to work cooperatively with both HR and the hiring authority. If we only work through HR, our effectiveness drops considerably because we don't have 1st hand information as to why a particular candidate did well or bombed out that we can use to focus in on the best people. Also, our credibility with candidates we are recruiting drops considerably if we cannot answer any of their questions about the process and the personality of the players involved. This affects the quality of people that we are able to attract for you. As you know, a big part of finding the right match is the 'soft skills' like chemistry and personality and these are only gauged if we have contact with HR and the relevant departmental managers, team and reporting line."

Tell HR that you want to work with them as a partner with them and will not go behind their back, but that you do need access to the hiring manager in order to be effective. If HR is adamant that they do not want to have you talk to the hiring authority, I would not put much focus on the search.

How to Even Out Your Placement Activity

Summary: Being a recruiter can feel like being an addict at times because you experience the thrill of elation when you close a big deal and the agony of self-doubt when you lose one. This up and down cycle is not unique to recruiters- all salespeople can relate to the pattern. So, how do you increase your chances for more predictable results and fewer indigestion tablets?

Recruiters are notorious for going in bursts and slumps, highs and lows.

Over time this tends to even out but for many it is a repeating pattern that causes a lot of stress, agony and wasted energy. The thrill of elation when you close a big deal and the agony of self-doubt when you lose one or the empty pipeline afterwards.

Staying motivated after you close some big deals is also a problem for many in our business.

First, understand that a certain amount of variance is to be expected. Don't freak out if you are not making the progress that you think you should be. If you have been doing this for any length of time you will have had good periods and bad periods.

If you are in a slump at the moment don’t globalise it and make gloomy future predictions. Take the emotion out of it and stick to the activity that you know will lead to placements.

Ask yourself, "How did I get out of the last slump I was in? What activities and methods helped me to get back on track"?

Focus on doing money-generating activities without being attached to the placement results. Have a simple system that makes it easy for you to track and evaluate your key numbers and ratios. A consistent focus on generating quality activity (marketing calls, recruiting calls, new search assignments etc.) and constant refinement of your methods will help you to improve your performance with less stress.

In terms of daily discipline, if there is a part of your day that you tend to dread, such as marketing calls, then do this first.

Find several methods for introducing yourself to a company that feel authentic and that you will not dread executing. Then you can relax a bit and move on to less difficult tasks such as sourcing and recruiting. Another thing to keep in mind is having a balance in the activities that you focus on.

"To keep your commission and pay balanced, you must keep your desks' activity balanced. And, in order to keep your desks' activity balanced, you must to a little bit of each part of the business everyday".

When you have a hot deal in progress it is easy to go into a "placement coma" and not do the other activities that will keep your pipeline full after you make (or don't make) that hot deal. If you resist this urge and continue to market APC Candidates, CJR work, cold calls, and follow up during and after the placement process you will make business development easier on yourself.

Planning is essential when it comes to consistency.

When most recruiters hear about spending 30-45 minutes at the end of each day planning the next day's calls they generally hit the snooze button but it is one of the key defining differences between big billers and marginal ones.

It also helps to even out your emotions and to stay on course with the right activities when more urgent, but less important, items come up during the day (as they always will!!!).

If you can’t stand planning then see if you can plan your first 20 calls or plan from 8 AM to 12 PM. A little planning done consistently is better that a lot of planning done sporadically. It has been said that, "confusion is the chief cause of worry" and this is generally the case when a recruiter shoots from the hip and works reactively. Having a plan takes much of the stress out of the execution of your day. When recruiters look at evening out their placement activity it often has more to do with working smarter rather than harder and staying focused on the small steps that lead to their goals.

How to Get Clients to Love to Pay Fees

Clients love to pay fees, at least they do when they feel they are getting a value that is greater or equal than what they’re paying.

If you can show a client your value, then you’ll never have to lower your fees.

Why should you? But everyone else is, you might respond, and they can hire people cheaper through a competitor that works at a lower fee. Perhaps. But if they work through a competitor, then they don’t get YOU.

YOU are a very large part of the equation, more than you might even realise. YOU are the reason this business never has been and never will be a commodity. It is an intensely difficult profession and an intensely personal one.

The people placing business is indeed a people business.

And your clients are making a decision about working with you based on a certain hierarchy.

1. First, they are judging your competence. They want to know that you can do what you say you are going to do.

2. Secondly, they are judging your character. In their minds you might be able to bring them a great candidate, but are you going to stand behind your replacement if something happens to the candidate during the time of the guarantee period? They want to know that you’re not going to turn into a flake when you get called on.

3. And third, they want to know that they will enjoy working with you. Will they look forward to your call, or are they dreading hearing the sound of your voice?

By understanding this hierarchy, hopefully you can resist the urge to drop your fee every time a client hints at wanting to get a fee reduction.

Here is a six step process to give you a competitive advantage when a prospective client evaluates and compares your search proposal to others:

1. Demonstrate your competence in the initial sales phase. Talk to your prospective client with a high level of professionalism. When you say you are going to call back, call back. When you say you are going to send an email or a brochure, then send it out, and follow up to make sure they received it. From the very first time you make contact with a prospective client, you are being evaluated.

2. Show specifically how you have helped others. Mention companies, names, and satisfied client responses. If your prospective client has a concern, honour and respect that concern, and give him or her an example of another satisfied client that had the same concern.

3. Don’t just spout off how your company is known for integrity and other wonderful things in the market. Blah blah blah. Of course the client wants quality suppliers ADDITIONALLY your client is concerned with you personally and those people who are going to be involved in doing the assignment, equally with your company’s values. Tell the client what your personal values are as it relates to business, and why your values are important to you as a person and how they work with Antal’s values. Remember that the recruitment business is an intensely personal business, and you need to develop that sort of a strong rapport with your prospect.

4. Your client will either hire you or someone else. You have little control over the decision they make. All you can do is put the odds in your favour. Sometimes the best thing to do once you have presented your case is to say "Call me if I can help." Forget about selling and selling and selling it. If

you can show that you can meet their needs, and do it with a style that feels good to the client, then you don’t need to keep selling them on how wonderful you are.

By showing your core competency to the client as a way that can provide value, you are well on your way to winning more business, keeping your fees high, and your margins healthy.

How to Identify Quality Search Assignments

Does anyone remember what saw us through the recession of the early ‘90’s?

A passion for the business, a focus on maintaining client relationships and taking action to develop new business.

In the end it came down to outlasting the downturn and making it through to better times.

In the New Economy boom of the late ‘90’s, companies called us with open positions. Not any more. Now we must work harder using time-tested techniques to maintain earnings and survive in the ‘New’ New Economy.

Being able to determine the quality of a search assignment before you "work it" is more critical today than any time in the past decade. Since there’s more competition for fewer assignments, you might think the opposite; "I’ve got an assignment. Quality isn’t as important." Not true.

As many of us have learned the hard way, time is our most precious commodity.

Determining quality up-front equates to increased earnings in a good market. Today, it’s vital to maintaining earnings and survival.

What if you were to take on an assignment that wasn’t a quality one?

You could spend weeks, even months, before finding out that:

1) the position was put on hold, 2) an internal candidate filled the job, 3) the company found the choice candidate through another source, 4) you’re really looking for a "needle in a haystack," 5) the company isn’t financially stable and can’t pay your fee and 6) another reason spent your valuable time, which could have been used to work better assignments.

To identify the quality of a new search assignment:

1. Ask the right questions up-front.

Great. You’ve developed new business. Now it’s time to take on an assignment. Before you begin with learning the position details, think "WIIFIM" -- ask the "What’s-In-It-For-Me" questions to determine the quality of the assignment. Here are the most important questions to ask first:

Why is the position open? How long has the position been open? Are there any internal candidates? Have you advertised for the position? Are you working with any other recruiting firms? Have you met any candidates to date? Have you asked any candidates back for a second interview? Ideally when would you like to hire and have the right person on board?

The thinking behind the WIIFIM questions is to learn:

1) the true desire to hire, 2) the timing to hire, 3) your potential competition, 4) the client’s "selectivity," 5) where the client is in the hiring process, and 6) the priority qualities the client is seeking in the right candidate.

The answers to WIIFIM questions will greatly assist in resolving whether you have a workable assignment.

2. Monitor progress closely in the beginning.

OK. It looks as though you have a fillable assignment. Continue to watch how the hiring manager responds to you in the initial stages of your working together. Try the following:

Call the hiring manager with additional questions about the position. How long did it take to get back to you?

Send the fee agreement in writing for signature. How long did it take for you to receive? Send the resume of a "test balloon" candidate. As quickly as possible, refer a qualified candidate’s

resume and gauge the response time and quality of feedback for the referred resume.

Responses from your new client are telling signs of the need to hire and the speed to hire. The client’s actions will give you a strong indication of the priority to fill the position as well as what you may expect going forward throughout the hiring process.

3. Consider how you obtained the assignment.

In addition to the first two points, think about how you originally obtained the assignment. Is it from a past client, a current client or a new client? This will correlate with whether you have a quality, workable assignment.

If from a past client, when was the last time you did business with the company? How has the company and industry been performing? Is your fee agreement still valid? Can they pay the fee?

If with a current client, has the company been responsive and flexible to work with? Did another hiring manager recommend and/or refer you? Do you think the information you have of the open position is public knowledge? If not, you could have the making of a quality assignment.

If from a new client, how "easy" was it to get? Did it take one call? Where you referred internally? Was your contact "difficult" in giving details of the open position or in negotiating the fee? These could be red flags.

Ideally in today’s market, you’ll want to prefer working assignments with past and current clients who you know best and where you’ve had past success. But often you will find you need NEW clients – so this learning is vital.

Are you working with the hiring manager or human resources? Consultants usually prefer working directly with the hiring authority and are most effective when doing this.

The hiring manager has the best understanding of the right mix of experience, technical skills and interpersonal abilities to fill the position. The hiring manager has the need, not HR, and can also provide valuable feedback to assist in pinpointing the right background of the right candidate.

Working through a third party usually "waters down" our effectiveness and slows down the process. In today’s market, speed in referring the right fit candidates counts more than ever because of increased competition. There are more recruiters and more available candidates for fewer openings.

In summary, determining the quality of an assignment as quickly as possible is critical to ensuring you will be using your time wisely. Once the client is engaged and shows interest in working with you, ask "What’s-In-It-For-Me" questions up-front. Then monitor progress carefully to see how the hiring manager responds to working with you.

Also consider how you obtained the assignment in the first place. Is the open position public knowledge? In the end, if most of these parameters don’t fall in line, you may want to cut your losses and go onto the next. It’s much more efficient to spend your time developing new quality search assignments than spinning your wheels on sub-par, lower quality ones.

For this we have an excellent tool called the Central Jobs Register – CJR – any open role e.g. advertised in the press or from a competitor website goes on the CJR – if you have a good candidate today, this week,

next month, the CJR will show you where you can send them that may end up making you money but without you having to do a full search and start headhunting using your resources and time on something with no commitment. CJR successes and Ad Chasing successes form a crucial part of any Big Biller’s toolkit

- bringing in new companies as clients who used to sue the competition and can grow the be major accounts – use them wisely and consistently and allocate your new assignments into an order so you know

what to spend time on and what to capitalise on.

How to Increase Your Productivity & Earn More With Less

Successful consultants know that greater productivity has a direct impact on earning power.

The big question and bottom line:

How can we do more and earn more – in less time with less resources?

Webster’s Dictionary defines "productivity" as "the quality of producing results, benefits or profits especially in abundance."

More profits…in abundance? I like the sound of that.

First Consider Your Strategy

How can we be more productive?

A short-term strategy for many is to work harder by making more calls, working longer hours and by simply doing more. Certainly, no one would question good old-fashioned hard work. Though hard work needs to have smart work principles applied. If it did not work last month or last quarter, what are you going to do differently this month or this quarter to get more success ?

Often its not what you are doing in activity e.g. cold calls that is the problem, the solution is in what you do, say and HOW you do it when you do call / present / market an APC.

A medium-term strategy, many know well, is to create and work a plan -- daily, weekly and quarterly. We all know it. But do we do it? Those who plan earn on average 35%+ more than those who don’t. Planning increases our focus, guides us and empowers us.

A long-term strategy is using leverage in our daily actions to produce extraordinary long-term returns. At the heart of increased productivity is achieving multiple results from one action. We’ll get to specific examples later.

What if there were ways where we could work the same amount and yield significantly greater results? What Webster’s definition doesn’t mention is the element of time…that is, how can we produce more results in the same amount or less time. Think about what you do during your days to increase productivity and obtain the results you are after.

Watch How You Spend Your Time

First, let’s think about what we do during the course of a typical day. Each action yields a result which leads to profit.

Action (1) We get into the office, read a newspaper, get a cup of coffee and talk to colleagues (15 minutes). Result: Needed energy booster and good rapport building (maybe). Profit: Small, since no client/candidate contact. (Though, you may find a lead in the newspaper to call or you could talk to a co-worker about a shared deal or referral.)

Action (2) We get on the phone and begin marketing APC’s to potential clients (2 solid hours). How we organise our day and whom we speak with as well as the number of people we speak with are keys to productivity. The same is true about how we present ourselves and deliver our services. Are we speaking to decision-makers and candidates we’ve never spoken with before? If not, are we using our time

effectively to deepen relationships with worthwhile contacts? (More productivity ideas on this later.) Result: New client contact. Profit: Potentially very high.

Action (3) Lunchtime. (1 hour). Do we work through lunch with a sandwich in hand? Or, are we taking a long outside-the-office lunch? How about running errands, attending a client lunch or even working out at a nearby gym? How we spend our "downtime" can be as important to productivity gains as how we spend our time on the job. Exercise can have a great effect on clearing our mental hard drive. Result: No client contact, but mental break helps future focus. Profit: Medium to high, if client lunch or increases mental clarity.

Action (4) Candidate Sourcing. (1 ½ hours). As we know, candidate sourcing is one of the foundations of our business. The quality (i.e. accuracy) of the names, titles and phone numbers and eventual resumes we obtain are as important as how fast we can get them. Result: First step to new client/candidate contact. Profit: Very high, if accurate.

Action (5) Recruiting. (2 hours). How many people can we network with in the shortest amount of time? Slaying the voice mail demon is one of the keys to productivity. Quantity and quality count here. Result: New candidate contact, potential new client contacts. Profit: Potentially high.

Action (6) Planning. (1 hour). Whatever your role from associate consultant to client development to manager, setting and working a plan in writing, will focus you on your work at hand. It will increase both your confidence and your ability to achieve what you set out to accomplish. Set your sites high here – quality in, quality out. Result: The highest non-client contact. Profit: Very high, short, medium and long term.

Of course, there’s more specific actions we take during the course of the day that can increase our productivity. Let’s start by asking: Which action gives us the biggest bang for the buck?

We all remember from our introduction that “interviews make money." But what if you were to arrange an interview with your highest salaried candidate and your greatest fee client? And then do three, four…eight in a month? What would that do to your productivity and income? Or, what if your activity focus, rather than interviews, were resulting in more clients, candidate referrals, client referrals, cross border referrals. How would that change your daily activities? No doubt this would greatly enhance your productivity.

Measuring Productivity

The interview to placement ratio is an important productivity measure we all monitor. Still, this doesn’t take into account the "bang for the buck" or our time. Here’s a question: Would you rather have a 4:1 ratio placing candidates on a fee of Euro7.5k or a 16:1 ratio placing candidates on a fee of Euro15k? The answer might depend on the balance between your short-term tolerance for risk (and cash needs) and your long-term strategy.

4 Minimum Fee Interviews = 1 x E7.5k fee

16 Top Fee Interviews = 1 x E15k fee

4 x 4 “Min Fee Interviews” = 16 Interviews @ 4:1 = 4 x E7.5k = E30k

To increase productivity, we need to focus on any actions that increases our daily efficiency - where we get the greatest return on our actions.

Secrets of Leverage

Ways to Increase Productivity

How can we increase leverage and productivity in our daily actions? Try the following:

1- Call Decision Maker executives. Though more challenging to get on the phone, their names are easier to obtain and they’re usually easier to talk with once on the phone. The leverage here is that they have decision-making power, control budgets and have large staffs under their management. An internal referral from a senior executive aids internal leverage. So, if you’re not already doing it, "change" your actions by calling decision makers and create your "advantage."

2- Focus on what you do best (client development being the highest value. Savvy managers and big billers know this. Free up precious time and receive a big bang for your buck – share the assignment work with others so you can focus on what you do best. Teams achieve more.

3- Gain exclusivity -- from both clients and candidates. Draw up specific agreements or verbally get all parties to commit to your exclusive working relationship. Many recruiters know they spend precious time and spin many wheels competing against one another only to have clients change direction. On the client side, begin by asking for an up-front engagement fee – it is the principle of the downpayment or an advert that helps. When Advertising get is agreed that ALL responses go to you and state it on the advert – even internal candidates !

On the candidate side, the full 4 way methodology of advertising, database, networking and headhunting in addition to screening out candidate interview activity will be an important step toward gaining exclusivity and maximising results.

4- Maximize each call. A and APC marketing call can be flipped to a recruiting call (or vice versa) and then into a networking/referral call. Don’t get off the phone until you have the person’s e-mail address and/or referral. If you don’t do this religiously, try it. You’ll be surprised by how many referrals you’ll get by simply asking. How many offices or countries do we operate in – get the names and get referring.

5- Follow up is essential. Whether it be sending the cv and following up, posting your card with marketing material to a client or an email to a potential candidate, follow up is essential to distinguishing yourself from others. By writing a correspondence template, you can send the same -- personalised to all others.

6- Get references in writing. Great references and testimonials from both client and candidate, are worth gold. You can use them many times over (one action for the purposes of many uses) to gain credibility. If a potential client sees you’ve been successful within their industry, perhaps with a direct competitor, they are much more likely to use your services over others.

7- Exploit the web for research and exposure. The web is a timesaving godsend and a tremendous research tool. But don’t spend all day on it – Monster candidates are PUBLIC, so use ads as well. Write search agents on cv databases. Create News Alert agents on Yahoo or Hoovers or Google so you don’t have to go and find news, it comes to you. Use it to learn about potential clients before making your marketing call. Ongoing, well-timed, consistent messages will create results that will also distinguish you from others.

All seven ideas have a positive effect on leverage in our productivity ratio. All save time (multiple results from one action). All also increase the quality of our work, driving down interviews to placement ratios.

The big question now to give serious thought to: What do you do on a daily basis that increases leverage and has a multiplier effect? Whatever it is, do more of it.

In summary, working smart is the key to productivity. By focusing on specific actions that offer the greatest yield, we can effectively do more with less. Since time is our most precious resource, the ultimate goal is to use leverage in our daily actions to reduce time spent, increase quality and create multiplier effects.

How You Can Get Past The Gatekeeper, Into The Executive Suites

Put pencil to paper and list every single sales-stopping-objection that spews from the mouths of gatekeepers.

Know what you’ll find?

Literally, dozens of objections that subtly challenge the appropriateness of you scheduling an appointment in the executive’s office.

Ah, but here’s the good news ... Objections are Buyers Resisting your efforts.

When you’re greeted with a “buyer ‘s resistance" all you need to do is get rid of the "resistance" and you’re left with … a buyer!

Contrary to popular belief, objections are buying signals.

You’ve got to know that when your prospect’s gatekeeper throws out an objection to your request for a meeting with her Top Dog, she’s drawing the line with a double-dog-dare.

She wants you to convince her that her executive needs your product/service. That’s right, part of her job is to look for sales pros who have products/services that her executive needs.

Objections to scheduling sales calls are predictable. Yep, you can count on the same objections to greet you again and again and again. More good news … there are words to overturn these temporary obstacles to your sales calls. You just need to learn what they are and remember …

Your success hinges on your ability to give those overturns as needed.

What words will grease the hinges and open the gates for your Top Dog sales calls?

Don’t be deceived by the simplicity of the answers. I’m serious. To value the complex simplicity of these effective overturns be sure to write down the words you say when the gatekeeper gets in your face with these overturns.

Compare those words to the overturns that follow—then do an effectiveness test. That’s right, make a couple of calls, use your current overturns.

Make a couple of more calls and use the overturns below. I guarantee you’ll be surprised at the effectiveness of these overturns at getting you past the gatekeeper and into the executive suites. Here we go …

When you hear the words, "We have to cancel our appointment with you."

Don’t wimp out like a puppy and say, "Oh, OK."

Stay in the game, with these words …

"Great! What’s a good date to reschedule?"

When a "bulldog," gatekeeper says: "I’ll put you through to voice mail." Don’t even let yourself be banished to voice mail jail with a pathetic response of "OK."

Hold your ground and say, …

"He isn’t in? Great! What’s the best time for me to contact him by phone?"

When the executive assistant, relays, "The executive isn’t here right now. Do you want to leave a message?"

Don’t give an answer that’ll keep you chasing your tail and running in circles like, "No, I’ll just call back later". Level the playing field.

Posture yourself as one big dog talking to the office of another with these words …

"Great! Thanks for your help. My name is . . . my number is . . . I’m calling to schedule a twenty-minute meeting to explore some innovative savings and efficiencies in (name your contact )’s recruitment spend this year. What’s the best date for me to follow up with you?"

Then, when the Gatekeeper insists, "I’ll need to check this out with my executive first" be thankful she’s following through with your request. But don’t forfeit control by saying: "OK." Keep the ball in your yard with the words, ‘Great!’ I appreciate your help. What’s a good day for me to follow up?"

There’s appointment-scheduling power in these words.

You’ll move to the head of the pack with an outrageous number of executive-level, Top Dog sales calls as you commit to keeping effective overturns to predictable objections on the tip of your tongue.

And know you’ll be able to consistently trot on through open doors when you understand and act on the knowledge that the difference between getting into the executive suites and sitting on the outside panting and howling at the gatekeeper is the words you speak during your prospecting call.

This is one type of example – within your office each of you have overcome different objections – you have the solutions locked inside these doors. Lets write down your solutions – Who’s first !

How to Succeed in a S-L-O-W Job Market

A recent Wall Street Journal article described the plight of a recruiter who, for several years in a row had earned in excess of Euro200,000 per year. Faced with a downturn in the economy, the recruiter was forced to take a Euro35,000 a year construction job to keep up his cash flow.

While I empathise with anyone who's fallen on hard times, I can't help but wonder how a recruiter could be so poorly equipped as to lack the skill to make a few placements a year-the cash equivalent of a manual labourer's wages.

If you're shooting fish in a barrel, who needs marksmanship? Did the boom economy of the late 1990s produce a generation of recruiters so dependent on plentiful, ready-made placements that they would starve if the silver spoon were removed? I would hope not.

Even during fitful economic cycles, there's still business out there-if you know how to find and cultivate it. While others are struggling (or leaving the recruiting world altogether), here are some recessionary survival tips to remember:

1. Adjust your attitude. Recruiting is a noble profession, not an entitlement to make millions of dollars. If you work hard, provide valuable services and do good things for other people, the money will come.

2. Don't rely on freebies. The days of getting paid recruiter wages for performing clerical work are over. So you'll need to provide a greater level of value to your clients than mass emailing resumes you found on Monster-or posting jobs online and calling it "recruiting."

3. Get your hands dirty. I know dozens of boom-market recruiters who've never made a cold call. Well, times have changed, and in order to stay in business, you may need to bloody your nose by making a few marketing and recruiting calls to prospects you've never met.

4. Consider your strategic options. The underlying foundation that no longer supports your business may need to be replaced. For example, candidates that were hard to find a year or two ago (and made you rich) may now be unemployable as skills have moved on; or the start-up companies that financed your holiday may have evaporated, leaving you without any cash cows.

It is pointless to try to place candidates for whom there is no demand.

If you take a hard look at all each of the recruiting basics-from your desk specialty / discipline focus to your client profile to the way you market your services-you'll discover that you have lots of room to manoeuvre.

Maintaining Focus in a Strong Recruiting Market

Every market, strong or weak, creates problems.

The difficulties inherent in a good market are far preferable to those encountered in a poor one. Nevertheless, to proceed as though a booming market is totally free of problems is to reduce income in an excellent market and to develop habit patterns which will be very difficult to correct should the market turn sour.

The most obvious strategic trap is simply a reduction of effort.

Every long-tenured manager has seen this phenomenon. Transferring his observations to his staff, however, or even avoiding the trap themselves may be a different matter.

In a solid market of demand-for-talent-exceeding-supply, it is (relatively) easy to produce acceptable or more than acceptable billings. However, there is an appropriate banking saying that applies to our industry as well: "Don’t confuse brains with a Bull Market!"

While our industry actually contains its fair share of brains, there is an area where many of us do come up short – a strong work ethic in good times! Farmers work harder in good times and plant and sow more crops than they do in bad times.

It is part of a sales personality to be optimistic and confident. While this is clearly a positive in terms of tenacity during difficult times or situations, there is an accompanying negative to this trait. That negative is the belief that good times will last forever and a tendency to "coast" in a buoyant market. This is no time to "coast!" Rather, it is a time to work hard, stay focused, improve skills, and reap all INCREASED rewards that we deserve.

The following quiz will take less than five minutes to fill out. And it will provide a strong indicator as to whether you are maximizing your market – or letting the market carry you along!

"Work Ethic Daily Quiz" (To be filled out at end of every day)

1. Did you arrive on time in the office this morning (No later than 9:45 A.M.)? 2. Was your Daily Planner filled out thoroughly from the day before? 3. Did you make at least five business calls before 10:45 A.M.? 4. Do you have a slightly addictive "reward program" set up for five early presentations? Did you earn

the reward early today? 5. Did you receive or make no more than 3 non-business call during office hours? (Calls under 30

seconds do not count.) 6. If business (your market) is good, did you make Marketing Calls / APC presentations to at least 6

new prospective clients today? If the market is only fair, did you make APC calls / presentations to at least twelve new potential clients today?

7. Did you achieve at least 15 fairly extensive business conversations today? 8. Did you set up at least one first interview (including phone interview) today? 9. Did you arrange at least one face to face client meeting today ? 10. Did you generate at least one referral for the network / colleagues ? 11. Do you have a sign/note on your phone that is less than a week old to remind you to improve habit

patterns? 12. Is your Daily Planner thoroughly and logically filled out for tomorrow?

13. What time are you leaving the office to go home? Is it at least 6:15 P.M.? 14. Do you have plans to improve skills at least slightly this evening? Examples: Reading business book,

critiquing previous call, watching part of a training video / reading the training manual/ checking out a company website. (Should be done at least twice a week for an hour each time.)

Deductions

1. Did you do general reading (such as newspaper) or industry reading (such as magazines in your area of specialisation, or industry books or newsletters) in the office during working hours 9-1 and 2-6 ?

2. Did you participate in non-business discussions in the office during prime working hours ? Be honest – more than 10 mins in prime time answer yes.

3. Did you allow yourself to be distracted by pointless "business" conversations? More than five minutes is too much!

Scoring 10 points for each "yes" answer. If you answered yes to either of the "deduction questions," deduct 10 points each.

Results

110 or more points Terrific! Combined with good skills, you are doing what you must to be successful

90 points Signs of problems ahead. Long-term, this will affect your productivity.

80 points Not good. This will lead to sporadic performance and more-than occasional slumps.

70 points Poor! How serious are you about succeeding anyway?

60 points or less Quit fooling around! This is not acceptable!

If this test seems difficult to you, or unrealistic in some ways, note that a "no" answer to any of the main questions, or a "yes" to either of the deductions, will absolutely reduce your concentration and production. Moreover, this test is more flexible than it seems. 14 correct answers would give you 140 points. You could effectively miss four questions and still score 110 points!

How long should this quiz be taken? 30 days will be more than enough to identify long-term areas of concern. Anyone can have an occasional unproductive day. But if you find yourself missing the same questions, your productivity reduced by the same problems for an entire month, then it’s time to realise that you are skating on thin ice.

Success in our business in not measured solely by annual production. Rather, it is measured by billings as it relates to the general state of your market. Good production combined with poor focus is an eventual recipe for disaster! You will find it very difficult to suddenly change habit patterns in a deteriorating market.

The above test will identify areas where you may have drifted away from a serious concentration on business. When combined with solid industry specific selling skills, a consistently good score will enable you to maximize your income – in any market!

Maintaining Focus in Turbulent Times

What does it take to do well in a slow market?

With companies hiring less, downward fee pressure, classified ads yielding better results, and internet candidates readily available to your clients, can a recruiter maintain or even increase production?

Heck, yes! If the nine Post World War II Recessions have shown us one thing, it is that industry practitioners can prosper even in a down market-if they are willing to make some changes.

What alterations must be made? Changes in methodology and the manner in which consultants work a desk, are primary. The same emphasis, the same skills, the same techniques which yield good results in a boom market will no longer result in solid production in a downturn. It is self-evident that skill improvement is mandatory.

All the improved technique and methodology in the world, however, will not serve if enhanced focus does not accompany.

In a strong market, it is easy to drift, getting good results from less and less time, concentration, and effort. In a slow market, however, things change. Enhanced focus will yield more substantive impactful time on the phone…and that, combined with improved methodolgy, is the only way to survive and prosper in a down market.

Let's look at some ways to achieve that.

Eliminate Time Theft Wal-Mart, perhaps the most successful retailer in history, warns their employees of "Time Theft"; this refers to time taken during the working day which reduces accomplishment of the results for which they are paid. Wal-Mart equates "Time Theft" with stealing from the company… and there is much to be said for this attitude. Wasting time in the office on totally non-productive activities is thus the equivalent of stealing from your own income, your own family, and your own future. In a slow market, such inefficiencies cannot be tolerated.

Personal Calls For many, a major impediment to success is personal phone calls. The real cost of such calls goes well beyond the quantative expenditure of time. Rather, it is the reduction of critical intensity that hurts. Just as an athlete must remain focused and alert throughout the entire competition, so too must a recruiter remain concentrated throughout the entire working day. If Babe Ruth had to step out of the batter's box to take a call from his mother, friend, or wife, he might find it difficult to get "psyched up" again! You might, too.

Surprisingly, it is relatively easy to greatly reduce such calls. Presuming that no emergency requires instant action, just say, " Bob/Mom/Honey, you've caught me at a bad time. I do want to talk to you, but I'm right on the verge of an important meeting. May I get back to you this evening?" Repeat as needed. If utilized every time you get a non-urgent personal call, this will stop this particular "Time Theft" without offending the caller.

Intra-Office Chat As the economy slows, there will be a clear separation in the response of consultants to that situation.

Some recruiters will tighten up, become more focused, work both smarter and harder, and will ultimately succeed. Others will slow down, complain, become unwilling to make calls, and engage in pointless time-

wasting conversation to avoid getting on the phone. Look around your office, and see these two camps begin to form.

The difficulty is that the latter group-those who will not adapt to a changing market-will make a definite effort to interfere with their tough-minded co-workers. Conversation about personal matters, complaints about management and the market, irrevelant erroneous "questions,""suggestions" and "ideas" will all increase dramatically. While it is indeed the job of the manager to weed out these bad apples early, it is your job to ignore them and go to work with a renewed dedication. And that is not always easy.

The best way to avoid these impediments to your success is simply to be busy. When they walk into your office/work area and attempt to engage you in pointless conversation, just say "_____, I'd love to talk with you, but I've got an assignment I've got to find people for. Let's talk after work." Then pick up the phone and make a call. Repeat a modified version of the same thing when they try to side-track you away from your desk.

These people may be nice, but in a slow market, your primary function other than improving skills is staying on the phone-regardless of well-meaning distractions.

The High-Tech Time Waster Once upon a time, the internet as a means of identifying potential candidates and clients may have had some merit. That, of course, was before net growth slowed dramatically, before unemployed candidates started flooding the for-free and for-fee job sites, and before job boards realised that your corporate clients would pay better than you, and started focusing on helping your clients avoid paying your fees.

"The internet honeymoon is over. The internet cv database is now known to yield second-rate candidates – However it still remains, like press advertising, a useful advertising medium but with mass market reach leading to more unsuitable applicants than would apply if they had to write a letter, address an envelope, buy a stamp, lick the stamp, walk to the post box and mail it to you. With more corporates buying access to cv databases, the talent there is either thick or deserves to be unemployed.

So FIRE up that phone!!!”

The problem is that the once-trendy but now-faded concept of internet hustling has left us with a major handicap in achieving our financial goals, especially in a slow market-that – That handicap is often that mechanical box on or under your desk – Your PC !!

Even if you have avoided getting involved in playing computer games like solitare, there is a real probability that you have not escaped other addictions relative to the internet. Consider the following:

70% of all internet porn traffic takes place during business hours. 70% of all stock trading occurs from 9 to 5. A Nielsen Survey found that the majority of on-line shopping, auctions, and news reading take place

during working hours. 47% of email that you receive is junk, personal or non business related You are only cc’d on (and don’t need to react to) over 60% of emails in your inbox – e.g. Cake in the

kitchen. 99% of your emails don’t require you to reply within 30 seconds !

A recent survey found that 60% of executives said that time spent accessing the web for non-business purposes was undermining their employees' effectiveness on the job.

It is noteworthy that the Recruiter Message Boards which infest our industry have seen a drastic reduction in messages and traffic since the start of the last downturn because those who once had the time to peruse and add to the chat boards are, perhaps as a consequence, out of business.

So what's the answer to this modern high-tech time waster?

Easy; get off it! Turn it off.

First, change your computer so it does not automatically hook up to the internet. Then… don't access it until after 5 PM. What do you think would happen without the internet during working hours?

Log out of your email or disable the “New Mail” alert and then only visit your email once every 90 minutes. How much time can you save ?

Chances are, with all that extra time and reduced distraction on your hands, you'd pick up the phone and make phone calls-Lots of phone calls… Maybe you should try it and see.

Outwork the Market Among experienced consultants, it is not true that the hardest-working are the most successful in our business. To the contrary, most people (though not all) who work extremely long hours in our business have to do so, because their lack of intensity during normal office hours and unwillingness to improve their skills force them to compensate.

Sure some big billers stay later or arrive earlier but the thing is they never slack – if they wanted to they could go earlier. If you effectively plan and stay focused during business hours, keep proper numbers and analyse them, and strive to take full advantage of proper initial and continuing improvement areas, you don't need to be a workaholic.

But there are two exceptions to the "focus, planning and discipline plus continual improvement equals going home on time" formula.

The first exception is when you're new (say, under a year’s experience) or when you're changing areas of focus. You have to break your neck through extra effort and hours then.

The second exception is in a recession. Consider that an additional five hours per week of concentrated effort, besides doing everything else as well as possible, may be necessary to do well, or probably even to get by in a poor market.

Can you out-work the market? In a good market, an experienced consultant or manager shouldn't have to, if he's willing to continually upgrade his skills. But in a bad market, it will certainly help. In Turbulent Times, "going the extra mile" is sometimes the best way to get by until the market comes back. And it will.

Maximising your Commute If you must commute to work, you already know that it is not the most exciting time of the day. Yet there are benefits to doing so.

Rather than listen to some daft breakfast or drive time DJ or top-40 music, take this opportunity to start / roll out and roll up the day with the right attitude or to improve your skills. Take your planner with you and take your business press and industry magazines like Personnel Today, Accountancy Age, FT, Computer Weekly etc.

A 30-minute morning commute amounts to a solid ten hours a month of time spent driving or being driven to work. A 15-minute commute equals five hours a month. If driving, you may wish to take the time going home to "de-compress" from a hectic day and mentally plan the next day, writing it up when you get home. The drive to work, however, is a different story. Especially in a slow market, it will be critical to "hit the ground running." Listening to business news or rehearsing your role plays and calls will allow the morning drive to contribute to your maximising the time spent in the office.

Measuring "if you can't measure it, you can't improve it!"

This applies to a recruiter’s desk in all economies. Keeping track of and analysing your "numbers" is critical to success in our industry, and this subject has been addressed throughly in the training manual. However, in a slow market with results declining on a per-call basis, the tendency is simply to make fewer and fewer calls. This cannot be allowed to happen. Without a daily quantitative summary of the number of calls made, there is simply no objective way of maintaining call volume.

So what sort of summary is needed? First of all, keeping track of the old SOD's ( spins of the dial) i.e., the number of times you push the buttons on the phone, is pointless. What counts is not button-pushing, but solid business conversations. So not number of calls made but quality – i.e. duration – of those calls (business calls only).

How many Business Conversations? Minimally, 30 per-day. Short one-minute calls or messages left do not count. And there should be at least six presentations of either your services or a specific candidate to new prospective clients.

It may be necessary to plan and make 60 calls per-day to get in your 30 substantive conversations. But on an accumulative basis-when combined with improving skills-this number will yield the results needed to excel.

Early Start Multiple sales surveys have shown that the majority of sales are made before noon. This applies to us as well.

If you're in the habit of arriving a few minutes late in the morning, reviewing and adding to your Daily Planner (which wasn't quite completed the night before), organizing your desk, greeting your co-workers one by one with comments to each, having several cups of coffee and then picking up the phone-you're missing out on the best selling time of the day. In a slow market, you just can't afford to do so.

Look around your office at the formal starting times, and see who is at their desk and on the phone-and who is still wandering around. Which one are you?

If you're not on the phone-or at least pushing buttons to get through-early, you'd better make some changes. Especially in today's market.

The Two-Front War It is no exaggeration to view dealing with a tough market or a Recession as a (bloodless) war. And if you are to prevail, this war must be fought on two fronts.

First, of course, is changing and improving skills, techniques, methodology.

To do so, however, is only half the job. The other half is to work equally hard at improving your focus, your concentration, and your work ethic. The reality is that to survive in a tough market or survive a recession, you must endure some pain by pushing yourself beyond the boundaries of what is comfortable for you.

While there will be no injuries in this war, there will very definitely be a fight.

And the fight will be with your own motivation and discipline.

By establishing the needed habit patterns, you will maximise your results from the other improvements that must be the foundation of your “tough market defence strategy”. Combined with this, your increased call volume will allow you to get through any market.

Markets, however, follow predictable patterns. After the darkness comes the dawn. It always has…and it always will. The two-pronged approach of skill improvement plus increased focus will guarantee you conspicuous success in the roaring boom market that is sure to follow!

Making the Most of Your Time

Time cannot be managed. It ticks on regardless of any effort we try to exert on it. We do have a choice about how we spend the minutes and hours allotted to us during our life. Here are ten ideas for making the most of the gift of time you are given each day.

1. Take extra good care of yourself Just like a car that is tuned up, taken care of and given quality fuel, you will operate more efficiently the better you take care of yourself. Time spent on healthy eating, quality sleep, exercise and other personal care activities will help you get more out of each hour.

2. Do activities in chunks When a runner works out, they do so in one chunk of time, without stopping. Even when they come to a street corner and wait for a light, they will run on the spot. Stop and start, stop and start, stop and start in our activities keeps us in a constant state of warm-up. By "chunking," we warm-up once and then get into a groove that makes us more efficient.

3. Eliminate distractions Distractions often rob us of the time we need to get work done in a efficient manner. Having someone hold your non-client incoming calls during calling sessions (or take a message) or going to a place where you will not be interrupted will help you maximum your efforts.

4. Less is more Another way to say this is quality versus quantity. By putting less on your calendar each day you give yourself more quality time on each activity and allow yourself some space to deal with those "unexpected" activities that tend to pop up.

5. Use a daily planner There are many different paper and paperless planning tools available today. You may even want to create your own! Morning 9-12 Clients, 12-1pm Follow up 2-3pm call backs, start sourcing, 3-6pm Candidate sourcing

6. Say "No" as a means of simplification Oftentimes, maybe really means no. By saying no more often, you automatically cut your workload.

7. Create more time Find at least one activity in your schedule that is not giving you the pay-off you want. Remove it and enjoy the time you get in return.

8. Automate Benefit from technology. From telephone systems to computer software, there are many choices of ways to automate tasks in your day that can take up time. Keyword News Alerts, Job Vacancy Alerts from job boards / competitors. Especially those activities that you may not enjoy. Calendar scheduling and alarm alerts.

9. Delegate There are often activities that need to be done, but you do not necessarily need to be the one to do them.

10. Integrate This is especially helpful when you combine an activity you enjoy with one you do not. An example is playing music in the background while making cold calls.

11. Refer Don’t waste time doing something someone else can do faster, quicker better. Refer to a colleague or another office work not in your core focus area. This has added benefits of bringing work back to you!

Marketing is a continuous process

One of the most critical facets of being a Big Biller is candidate marketing. Big Billers continually expose their services to new potential clients. They never rely on one successful account. They continually market to keep their funnel full! ABM – Always Be Marketing APC candidates to clients.

In order to ensure the success of all of our marketing efforts, we developed and supported what we termed the 4-PRONG MARKETING APPROACH. This approach entails 4 marketing methodologies, that, in conjunction with each other, will ensure that you will expose yourself to clients you never would have reached just by smiling and dialing. The four prongs include Marketing an APC Candidate, developing and accessing a Portfolio Network, maximizing in-house CDMM capabilities, and Strategic Key Account Planning.

Marketing a Star Candidate This is the fastest way to uncover alternative needs. This is a very targeted, high-activity approach, and probably the best way to initially build a desk. It is critical that you develop credibility with your APC candidates in order to market them. Otherwise, you probably will not be able to deliver when you reach the interview stage. You must have the star candidate in agreement before proceeding. This ensures that expectations are understood from both perspectives.

Portfolio Networking Surveys show that it is five times harder to capture a new client than to do business with an existing client, so take advantage of all of your efforts, time on the telephone, and technology at your disposal and maximise every relationship you currently have in place! A Portfolio Network is a list of candidates and clients that you have established a relationship with and keep active. Utilise this list to maximise communications efforts and keep candidates and (potential) clients alike aware of possible business opportunities. Make contact monthly or bi-monthly, depending on how large your network is. You can stagger the list to hit different geographic or categorical areas at different times. This will keep your name in front of those people consistently. You will expose yourself to referrals and opportunities you may not have heard of if you did not ask at the right time.

CDMM – Direct Mail via Printed Bulletins, Sector Shots and E-Mail shots The objective here is to maximise exposure with clients – existing and potential new ones.

Bulletins reflect your opinion within your discipline and sector matrix. They show you as a knowledge worker in your market and offer a solution to a problem or an opinion on a trend / market. Once every 3 to 4 weeks, send bulletins to the discipline decision makers in your market – circa 2000 plus.

Every 3 weeks Sector shot via letter or e-mail a targeted group of contacts within your market and share with them your best talent that you have available that suits their sector / industry.

This will help you to maintain continuous name recognition, gain credibility, and create future opportunities. Another benefit is that they may know someone else who is recruiting and refer you on. They may realise that you are the firm of choice for an assignment they are about to launch. Timing and exposure are everything. Always Be Marketing.

Strategic Key Account Planning You need to identify large firms within your market (20-30 to start) that have multiple needs and develop a strategic plan to penetrate those accounts. This is a long-term, ongoing process and should include the three previous methodologies combined with face-to-face visits.

Remember, success is not determined by how hard you work, but how intelligently your efforts are applied to your goals. Utilise the tools around you in the best manner possible and you will reach those goals and beyond.

Marketing Through the Back Door

Many recruiters have felt beaten up over the last two years and are wondering how to keep motivated in the current economy. Between the rise of monster boards, the increasing entrenchment of HR bureaucrats, the dotcom implosion and …you know the rest, the recruitment industry has been going through some tough growing pains, and many recruiters are still trying to get their bearings.

Many recruiters are making the same marketing calls that they have made for years, and often the calls have very little life left in them.

Generally speaking, the marketing of services is not as successful as it was in a candidate short market. If everyone calls and says, "We will find you the best candidates," the phrase starts to lose relevance in the client's mind because they have heard it so many times. Put yourself in your client's shoes; they are getting loads of calls from your peers, who are saying very similar things, and they have fewer positions that require outside help. So, the question for the smart recruiter becomes, "How can I engage this hiring authority in a conversation where they see me as a human being and a solution provider rather than just another sales person?"

Many firms diligently work to position themselves well in the mind of their potential clients before they ever make a sales call. This is a relationship building method as opposed to a transactional sales method. It takes more time, but it builds more loyalty and profitable referrals over the long haul. Referrals are the very best marketing method that a consultant can develop, and these come only through a relationship built on trust.

The survey as a marketing call: One way to build trust with high level people is to ask for their participation in a survey or interview for an article that you are writing. What are the trade journals and publications that your target market reads? Contact those publications and tell them that you are thinking of writing an article on a topic of interest (current hiring trends, management's perceptions of recruiters, etc.) and ask if they would be interested. Most will say yes as you are an expert in your specialty area, and they are usually eager to get outside material. If you cannot get a response from your industry publications, try writing for a recruiting publication on a topic such as "What our clients really think of us." Between print, online publications, newsletters and e-zines, finding a place to accept your article will not be difficult.

Once you have decided on a venue for your article, you then want to construct a brief presentation and questions for your target contacts. Your contacts should be high level hiring authorities that you want to do business with. The call needs to be sincere in that you are actually doing research for your article, but on the other hand, you are also engaging in a business conversation (rather than a sales conversation) with somebody that you want to build a relationship with. Start the conversation by introducing yourself and saying, "I'm not calling to do business with you but rather to see if you would be able to share some knowledge about ____ for an article that I am writing. We would probably need about 10 minutes." This way, you take the pressure off of him (and you) and also set an expectation for how long it will take. You can ask if he is available now or if he would prefer to schedule another time.

At this point, many hiring authorities would ask, "Who are you writing the article for and when does it come out?" It is important that you have done your homework and can answer this question. Once you have permission to go ahead with the call, you are then able to demonstrate your professionalism to this potential client in a non-threatening environment. If you don’t have a publisher, be honest, and say it is for a bulletin your are sending out about the market - a free service you provide to clients.

The best selling takes place by asking excellent questions. You are judged by the quality of your questions. If you ask an intelligent question you are perceived to be intelligent, if you ask a mediocre question you are seen as mediocre. Be sure to stay within the time frame that you stated initially, or if you are going to run over, to acknowledge it and ask if he has time to continue. This demonstrates, in a subtle way, that you can be trusted to deliver on what you promise.

Here is a sample script that you could use with a potential client:

"The reason for my call today is that I'm going to be writing an article for______ on ________ and I'm conducting a brief survey with a select group of people who I thought may be able to shed some light on the subject. If you could grant me about 10 minutes of your focus to answer a couple of questions it would be very helpful. Are you able to do that now?

1. What methods do you typically use to locate exceptional staff? 2. What have been your toughest challenges with either finding or retaining employees? 3. What % of your searches do you use retained vs. contingent? 4. How would you describe your level of satisfaction with each? 5. How has the current economic climate affected your business? 6. What innovative ways have you found to reward your staff or inspire greater loyalty? 7. How do you define excellence in your team's performance?"

Other areas to think about are:

Salary Surveys are always a hit – speak to 250 people and you have a representative sample. Forecast hiring activity ? Do they envisage hiring, yes, no. If so how many ? When, next 3 months, 6 months, year ? Where in the company, in sales, admin, finance, production, marketing, HR, IT ? What level ? Grads, 2-3 years experience, 3 to 5 yrs, 6 to 8 years, board level ? where do they expect to find difficulties ? What disciplines/ skillsets , functional areas ?

When you finish the interview, be sure to thank them, and engage in any business-related discussion that he seems receptive to. Offer to be a resource by stating something like the following: "Feel free to call if you need to keep a pulse on what the market looks like for certain skill sets or if you would like us to research salary comparisons for your current staff. I provide this for my clients at no charge and would be happy to do this for you as well. I will contact you when the article comes out and will get a copy to you". This builds rapport and trust and opens the door for future conversations.

Follow Up: You now have the perfect follow up method, which is to contact him when the article comes out and to send him a copy. You may even quote him in the article if it makes sense (people LOVE this). Pre-meditated follow up is the most important part of this method. During the follow up call you can move toward more of a sales question by asking, "What does the rest of your quarter look like with regards to adding staff?" Send the client other articles that you have come across that may be of interest to him, and stay in touch regularly. There are many other back door methods that you can use besides a survey, and the point is to give yourself as many options as possible to position yourself well in the mind of your potential client. When there is an opening, you want to be seen as a trusted ally that he will call on first to offer an exclusive contract.

Negotiate for Higher Recruiting Fees

The term “negotiating” usually conjures up images of tense hostage situations, striking workers or sports agents representing highly-paid athletes.

But in reality, all recruiters participate in varying forms of negotiation a hundred times a day; in our family and social lives, among our co-workers, and in our business relationships. Negotiating is simply the process of helping people get what they want. And a skillful negotiator is someone who achieves a settlement in which everyone is happy.

An effective negotiator (or selling professional) can improve the quality of his life through using common sense and a little ingenuity.

The Recruiter as Negotiator In our business, it’s surprising to learn how many of us make needless concessions on a regular basis. These concessions can appear as discounted fees, low-quality job orders, or the unwillingness to preclose (or disqualify) reluctant or counteroffer-prone applicants. Such unnecessary sacrifices are usually made in the spirit of “negotiating.”

But making others happy at our own expense isn’t negotiating; it’s simply a way of avoiding the discomfort that comes from a potential disagreement, or the fear of “turning away business.” Not surprisingly, we all have a very strong tendency to “go along,” even if the result is counter-productive. And sadly, the cost to us in terms of lost billings, increased anxiety, and weakened business credibility is enormous.

We have so much to gain and so little to lose by improving our negotiating skills. And the good news is that negotiating is neither painful nor difficult, once a few simple techniques have been mastered.

“We Have Met the Enemy” – by Bill Radin My high school history teacher fought in the South Pacific during World War II. He explained that during his basic military training, the U.S. soldiers were told countless stories of the savagery and courage of their Japanese opponents. The type of combat our troops were to expect would be fierce, relentless, and suicidal.

“Evidently, the Japanese were given the exact same speech by their drill sergeants,” my teacher said. “Because the first time I came face to face with a Japanese soldier, we both practically jumped out of our skins!”

I like to relate this story to negotiating, because the “savagery” or “courage” of the other side is usually either overestimated or irrelevant. The important issues are your factual preparations, your mental attitude, and the way in which you deal with new information. Walt Kelly’s cartoon character Pogo probably describes most negotiators when he says, “We have met the enemy, and it is us!”

So before you pull up a chair at the bargaining table, get a grip on your own needs, and what you think is at stake. In terms of fees, a good way to begin a discussion is to examine the arithmetic behind your own fee structure, and how unseen nuances allow many of us to “negotiate” away chunks of money we’re not even aware of.

For example, I was in the recruiting business for over two years before I realized that a reduction in fee from 30 percent to 25 percent represented a discount of nearly seventeen percent, not five percent. Translated into real money, on a placement of a $50,000 position, the difference is $2,500. In retrospect, I

probably could have bought a brand new car with all the money I gave away to employers as little “five percent” discounts early in my career.

A firm grasp of the numbers is fundamental to any successful settlement. Remember, too, that the “funny money” syndrome -- giving away bits and pieces of money -- can cost us dearly over the long haul. After all, a thousand dollars here and a thousand dollars there can really start to add up.

Negotiation Tactics for Recruiters

Everything is not negotiable! I recently tried to leverage one bank against the other when applying for a loan, arguing that if I couldn’t get the interest rate I wanted, I was willing to walk away.

“Go ahead,” the loan officer chuckled. “I’ve got eight other applications on my desk, waiting for approval. If you can get a better deal somewhere else, be my guest.”

He’s got a lot of nerve, I thought. But I sure respect the way he held the line.

Later, I found out that his bank had one of the highest ratings in the industry, and was one of the most profitable institutions in the country. And eventually, because of other value-added services they could provide me, his bank became my lender, even though they had a somewhat higher rate.

Negotiating: A Way to Satisfy Needs Price, of course, is only one aspect of any sale. If the transaction involves a commodity (such as rice, or soybeans, or crude oil, for example), then price may very well be the predominant issue.

Recruiters often find themselves in a position of trying to negotiate for a standard fee when others are discounting. The most successful recruiters know that the only way to offset a concern surrounding price is to build value. Otherwise, the service provided is viewed as a commodity, with the recruiter assuming the role of a vendor, or supplier.

The way to distinguish your service and its value-added dimension is to probe for the needs of the employer, and the urgency in filling a position. Once the need has been identified (and qualified), you’ll be in a position to hold the line, or at least reach an agreement in which both parties feel satisfied. (If you are unable to discover a compelling reason why your service warrants the full price you charge, then unfortunately, you may have to settle for whatever you can get.)

The loan officer at my bank was able to secure my business, even though he charged a higher rate of interest than a competitor. The reason? There were other important considerations which I considered to be of value that led to our settlement.

Achieving a Successful Settlement You can sharpen your negotiating skills by following these four steps.

First, measure what the other side wants. Before you begin a fee negotiation, for example, find out exactly what the employer is asking for. I know this sounds rather obvious, but you’d be surprised how often a recruiter will give away the store after hearing the employer ask for a concession that’s totally vague.

Second, qualify the negotiation. If the employer isn’t sincere, isn’t in a position to buy, or has completely unrealistic expectations, you shouldn’t be negotiating at all.

What good does it do to settle for a reduced fee with a prospective client in the first five minutes of taking a job order only to find out twenty minutes later that he won’t be hiring for another six weeks and that he’s currently interviewing five dozen candidates from the ads he’s been running for three weeks?

Third, probe for pertinent information. After you know what your employer is proposing (and he’s qualified to negotiate with you), try and gather every bit of information you possibly can.

What has been his previous experience with search firms? With whom has he worked? How did they operate? What did they charge? Has he been happy with the results? Why is he now talking to you? What are his expectations? What value-added services are important? Is price an issue? Are terms an issue? Is time an issue? What hidden forces, such as ego, pride or fear are at play?

In other words, take a careful look at what the employer’s actual benefit needs are. Very often, there exists a critical hidden agenda, which will prove to be the pivotal point of a negotiation.

Finally, assess the situation. How much do you need this employer’s business? What are your chances of filling his job orders? What will you gain from making concessions? What will you lose? How much anger or disappointment will result from making concessions? Do you actually need to make any concessions? If you do make concessions, what will they be?

You are now ready to reach an agreement, but remember that you can always delay if you feel you have to. It’s better to put off a bad or uncomfortable deal than agree to something you’ll later regret.

Persistence Over Pressure

When do your salespeople give up on a prospect? Recent studies indicate that 50% stop trying after the first call. That percentage increases to 65% after the second call and to 80% after the third call. A whopping 90% of all salespeople throw in the towel after four calls.

Now here is the real difficulty with these percentages: professional relationships don't normally begin to grow until you've communicated at least six times with a potential customer. In many instances, prospects decide to talk to you only after 10 or even 12 contacts have taken place.

So what can you do? Forcing sales people to make more calls isn't the answer. And for staffing firms, increasing call volumes may actually be counter-productive-by irritating potential customers and frustrating sales reps.

For staffing firms, sales success results from carefully nurturing prospect relationships, which takes a well-crafted blend of persistence and gentle persuasion.

Pressure Won't Work

As we begin the 21st century, stress has become a dominant attribute of most corporate cultures. People are busier than ever-constantly being asked to do more with fewer resources. Time has become our most precious commodity. And for sales professionals, this represents a significant challenge.

Despite the explosion of new communications products, people are harder to reach, especially prospects. And even when you manage to get hold of a prospective customer, he or she rarely has the time for a meaningful conversation.

So what happens instead? Sales people spend their time leaving voice mail messages. Sales cycles lengthen. And prospective customers settle for current suppliers rather than investing the time to find new ones.

For staffing firms, the implications are obvious. Increasing the "numbers" won't work. Aggressive sales tactics may even back-fire, causing prospects to raise their defenses and discredit the salesperson's message. There's an old saying that people love to buy, but they hate to be sold.

Staffing firms must discover new ways to break through the clutter and get the attention and interest of prospective clients. The tactics you use must create the perception that you're an ally-a resource to help get things done and make life easier. You must make people want to do business with you. You have to take the pressure off!

Persistence Wins the Race

Who are your best customers? The ones who demand the lowest price? Of course not. Your best customers are the ones who view you as a valued and dependable partner. They don't haggle about price; they rely on you to deliver great results. Your best customers are also most likely the ones with whom you've built the strongest relationships.

Your challenge is to create more relationships with more customers. It's not about selling, it's about nurturing. It's about gently and persistently demonstrating the value you can offer. It's about developing trust.

To develop trust, say little, but do a lot. In today's overly stressed and overly competitive market, staffing buyers are being overwhelmed. Every day they're bombarded by calls from staffing sales reps. They're hearing unending claims of service excellence. It's getting to the point where buyers won't believe anything you say.

But they will still believe what you do. Only your actions can demonstrate that you are worthy of someone's respect and trust. By consistently doing the right things, you will build relationships.

Characteristics of a Persistent Effort

There's a difference between being professionally persistent and irritatingly pesky. That line becomes especially difficult to walk when you have to communicate 10 or 12 times with a typical prospect just to begin a relationship.

To avoid being pushy, keep the following guidelines in mind:

Show Respect

Treat people the way you would like to be treated. Respect people's time. Forget the unannounced drop-ins and time-wasting cold calls. Instead, focus on communicating in a more professional and courteous manner. Personal letters, e-mail, and even voice mail can all be powerful ways to grab attention and position your business while demonstrating respect for someone's time.

Deliver Value

Every time you communicate with someone, you're interrupting his or her day. Make the interruptions worthwhile by sharing information the recipient will value. People want to be more successful. They want their lives to be easier. Show them how you can help accomplish these goals.

The best information to share may have little to do with your services. But it should have a great deal to do with the problems, challenges, and interests of your prospective customers. For example, you know that recruiting and retention are significant challenges in today's market, so share ideas to help people retain their employees. While this type of information doesn't directly sell staffing, it does illustrate your caring, your concern, and your understanding of the issues that are most relevant to employers.

When you talk about your services, focus on the problems you can solve and the benefits you can deliver. For example, describing your temporary employee training capabilities probably means little to a prospect (no matter how terrific that training is). On the other hand, explaining how trained temporary employees can decrease the learning curve and increase productivity will almost certainly pique a company's interest. Selling results keeps the focus of your conversation on the customer-right where it should be!

Make it Personal

People do business with people. Make your communications appear personal. Address people by name. Provide information that is relevant. Sign your letters. Get to know your prospects and their businesses, and use that knowledge in your communications.

The more you know about your prospects, the more common ground you'll discover, and the easier it will become to develop relationships. By building rapport, you build bridges to new customers.

Nurture Over the Long Term

Staffing will never be a business of one-call closes. Relationships get developed through continuous effort. Communicate with prospects and clients on a regular basis (but remember to do it in a way that adds value and shows respect). Your communications can have many goals, such as:

o Positioning your company o Teaching people how to use staffing o Building credibility (proving your ability to deliver) o Adding value o Obtaining feedback

Ideally, you should develop a program of regular contact-one that adds value, differentiates you, and keeps you top-of-mind. Over 90% of all companies use staffing services. And while many companies may be satisfied with their current vendors, you know that at some point, those suppliers will make a mistake. It's at that moment when you want to ensure your organization is the first one that comes to mind.

When 5% Equals 25%

A CEO once challenged his marketing manager to be just 5% more persistent in her dealings with potential clients. At the end of the year, that increase in persistence translated into a 25% increase in the company's bottom line. Not every business sees such dramatic results, but it is nonetheless clear that persistence is a vital component in the sales and marketing process. Consistently trying to prove to prospects that you are helpful and trustworthy builds credibility. And over time, communication channels with many of those prospects will open, opportunities will arise, and your sales will increase.

Playing Hide and Seek with Clients

If they don’t play by the rules, play with someone else

The staffing game can become a real struggle when clients do not provide you with prompt feedback or take too long to make important decisions. Yet, many professionals in our business continually tolerate this and, thus, send the message that this is okay. The justification I often hear is that "with market conditions like we are currently experiencing, we have no choice but to grin and bear it."

You do have a choice! Every minute spent on an unresponsive, uncooperative client is time that could be focused on one that treats you like the professional you are. Instead of continuing to struggle, use your time to strengthen relationships with your top clients and position yourself for the upturn in business. The staffing industry has been through several economic downturns before. And in the last 30 years, the industry has experienced the most significant growth during the first stages of recovery. Now is the time to reinforce and deepen your bond with your very best clients.

Another use for your time is to prospect for new clients. A number of staffing and recruiting firms have closed during the past six months, so as business picks up, clients may be open to letting your firm take their place. Once you find what looks like a strong prospect, ask for what you need and deserve. One way you can do this is by giving and getting a commitment up front when taking a job order. Tell all of your clients that you know their time is valuable and you will contact them for only one of three reasons. First, to present an outstanding candidate. Second, to get necessary feedback after an interview. Or third, to ask a mission-critical question. In return, let them know that in order for you to do your job effectively, you will need a return call or email within 24 hours if you are unable to reach them directly. Ask for a commitment that they will do this. If they are unwilling or unable to give you what you need, this may be an indication of what you can expect when they are faced with the really big commitments, such as making a decision on which temp or candidate to bring on board.

Create a clear and simple strategy

I remember watching a friend who was very good at the game of hide-and-seek. He was very methodical in the way he went about searching and covered a complete area before moving on to the next. A systematic approach to our business also produces better results and allows you to cover more ground more efficiently.

If you currently are in the habit of planning, take this opportunity to make your plan even better. Get creative and find a way to add one or two more appointments each week to visit clients in person. Upgrade your activities by carefully picking and choosing what you spend your time on. Protect and respect every minute of your time.

If you are not currently planning on a consistent basis, start by writing a detailed plan for tomorrow at the end of each day. As part of the plan, make a list of the prospects you want to contact and their telephone numbers (if contacting by phone) so you can easily and efficiently make one call after another. Remain flexible with your schedule, but don't let distractions keep you from getting done what you know must be done.

Spend some extra time to find where they are hiding

Just like looking behind a few extra bushes, making at least a few extra calls each day could uncover a very responsive client. Five to ten more calls a day quickly turns into 100 to 200 extra calls in a month's time. If

your first response to this idea is "I just don't have enough time," the truth is you can't afford not to in a tight market.

To create space, remove something from your schedule that is no longer paying off. This could include activities such as groups you participate in or tasks that can be delegated to someone else. Then, schedule all of your calls in one chunk of time and do not allow any interruptions, unless they are truly urgent matters that need your immediate attention.

When you find where they are hiding, ask for their help to find others

A variation on the game of hide-and-seek is when you find someone, they help you find the others who are still hiding. And just like in that game, clients often know where others clients are "hidden."

A great book by Joe Girard, "How to Sell Anything to Anybody," illustrates why this works. In the book, Girard shows that each and every person knows at least 250 people (he came up with this number by looking at attendance at weddings and funerals). So, in essence, when you talk with one manager, you are actually connecting to 251 or more people. Since work is such an important of our lives, chances are that at least a few of these contacts are potential prospects. Ask for help from every person you speak with by asking a question like "who do you know that could benefit from my services?" If they tell you no one, you know that's probably not the case because of the Law of 250. Help them search their mental Rolodex by giving specific information such as industry, job title, or geographic location of the type of company you would like to service. Also, remind them that helping you now increases the odds that someone will do the same for them when they need it the most (what goes around, comes around).

Power Recruiting

"Top billing search consultants or recruiters are always in the rght place at the right time."

Is this an accurate statement? Sometimes it seems so. However, the most successful and powerful people in the history of the world are always in the right place at the right time with the insight necessary to succeed. The most successful and powerful search consultants seem to share in that same advantage of "being in the right place at the right time."

Does this all depend on being lucky? In a word–– NO! Successful search consultants make their own "luck." To gain the necessary insight in a situation, a search consultant must do several things. First, ask the right questions. Second, have the judgment to effectively discern the answers or "read the green" as duffers say.

If you distill everything we have to sell in the placement business down to its essential elements, you only have time and information to sell. Given that time is a static reality providing all of us the same 168 hours each week–– the obvious variable in success or failure must be the element of insight. Insight is simply INFORMATION, in the possession of the individual at a certain time that enables that individual to proceed--- and make their OWN LUCK by exploiting the INFORMATION appropriately. Those are the ingredients required making a success of a circumstance and an event in time. Therein lies the power!

Nearly every placement that failed can trace the cause of its demise to a critical piece of information of which we were not aware, should have asked for, or worse, glossed over in our efforts to "hustle." Hustle is very critical in a time sensitive business like ours. Hustle for the sake of speed without direction reminds me of a speedboat without a rudder. Knowing how to evaluate and use the information we gain is the insight that brings success.

The sources of information are many and vary from deal to deal. No one answer is correct for every situation we encounter. The information we require IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE. The basic information given by our client in the form of a job description always falls short of what we need to help them solve critical talent requirements. Suppose, for the sake of argument, we take the best qualified candidate and we simply read the "job description" to him or her. Gauge their reaction! Do they fall all over themselves to leave work for an interview? Put their home up for sale? Leave the political inner-circle at their employer (they have sweat blood to be accepted into)? Relocate their children? Convince their working spouse to do the same? Completely change their lifestyle just because you and your client want it? Obviously, they need to know a lot of information to accept the offer.

Serious candidates need to know why the job your client wants to fill is an opportunity for their career and family. That is right… I said family. Face it, the eighties are over. In this new millennium, quality of life rules the hearts and minds of our candidates, not greed. Some one grumbles, "Well, it used to be that way." And it was! This adage is getting enough age on it to be called an "old adage." Nine out of ten candidates turn down offers for reasons other than money." Candidates will accept an offer of employment if the "money is right," but only after personal, career and family issues are satisfied. They also lean very hard on the excuse of inadequate compensation when rejecting an offer. The truth, in many cases, is that hidden issues left unsatisfied or ignored often causes the "turn-down." In other words, a lack of INSIGHTFUL INFORMATION killed the deal.

How do you find this golden information? Start with the search assignment. Probe your client contacts thoroughly to learn every single advantage of the position. Know what the recent history of the position reveals. Did your client promote the predecessor? Is the manager on an upward track and about to leave an opportunity for advancement in his or her wake? What side roads exist to other technical or professional advancement opportunities in the

company or its divisions? The insights as to why the job is an opportunity must be discovered when you take the search. What must the successful candidate do in the first thirty days, sixty, ninety days, six months or first year to succeed? These nuggets lead to the main vein of gold.

You need to understand why a candidate would leave their current situation. Determine everything they would love to see in the right position, employer, community and manager. Once your candidate feels you understand these things, you then align the specific advantages of the "opportunity" to the needs and desires of the candidate. Do not fall back on the weak tactic of using clichés. Do not tell them it is a "great" opportunity with a "really good" company. Tell them why the opportunity is great and why the company is a good employer. Demonstrating your knowledge as an extension of the client’s company will aid you in gaining control over the decisions and actions of the candidate.

Candidates rarely do what we tell them to do because we want them to do so. They will do far more for us if we first make them feel understood. Many minor candidate concerns vaporize once they fully understand how a position can address their perceived needs and value system. Learn it! Once we have clearly aligned the advantages of the position to the needs of the candidate, the candidate will start demonstrating emotional attachment to the opportunity. Candidates must show this level of desire or they cannot be closed!

Why go to all this trouble? The majority of our candidates have families or significantly positioned people in their lives when we call. This reality poses a challenge to search consultants. This challenge lies in the fact that our candidates rarely make totally autonomous decisions in considering an offer of employment. A partnership-based decision is typically the norm. We need to find out, from the "other partner" what is most important to them as well. Beware of the candidate that puffs up their chest and says "Don’t worry, I make the decisions in this situation." That is the one who comes to us, tail between their legs (usually on the Friday before the start date) and says" I have been doing some thinking…. and well… I don’t think I can accept this offer… there are some things my ‘partner’ doesn’t like about this whole thing." Be the caring professional that shows honest interest in the needs and wants of the "other" person in this decision process. Stay in touch with all parties involved. Find out whatever they need to know and care about having. Information overload is an essential practice of the best billers. The "other" person, once sold on the opportunity and its advantages, becomes your advocate not your nemesis.

Search consultants do not employ the services of fortune-tellers or mediums to succeed. Therefore, we must learn everything possible in advance of the cold call to our prospective candidate. We first establish an awareness of the client’s opportunity, the advantages of the company as an employer and the community as a place to relocate to and live. We then "mine" out the additional facts as our probing efforts reveal the candidate’s specific areas of concern and interest. The power and advantage of knowledge is indisputable in our business. The top billing search consultants learn what they can in advance. They cultivate further sources of information as required. They probe clients and candidates early in the process. They have the required insights and information as objections arise or questions arise. They are proactive, not reactive.

When we pick up that phone to call a prospective candidate and possess an in-depth understanding of why this really is a "great opportunity," we are infinitely more effective at recruiting the best-qualified people.

Our knowledge becomes belief and belief is very compelling to the listener. Real power lies in knowing what we need and settling for nothing less than professionalism. Do not be led astray by the heat of battle, the infatuation of a search or the pressures of commissioned income. To become a top billing consultant, find the GOLD in the information you acquire and the insights it provides you to be in the right place at the right time.

Stand Out from the Crowd: Techniques for Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage What differentiates you from the competition? Quality? Service? Price?

Over the past 5 years, I've asked that question of hundreds of staffing company owners. Want to know the response I most often get? It goes something like this: 'We're not like everyone else. We out service other staffing firms.'

Please don't take offense to this, but your service does not differentiate you.

Here's why: When it comes to service, anything you can do, your competitors can copy. And anything they do well, you're going to copy. As a result, all the best staffing companies tend to do things in a very similar manner, making it nearly impossible to differentiate service quality among the top performers. While exceptional service will distinguish you from the average staffing companies, it won't separate you from the top 10 or 20 percent of staffing firms in your market.

So what can you do? Oh, the possibilities...

How can you make your company stand out from the competition? Consider these 17 potential areas of differentiation:

- Speed - response time/time to fill

- Accuracy - quality of fill

- Price

- Specialty - niche services

- Reliability - consistent service

- Unique service processes

- Payment terms

- Guarantees

- Location - convenience

- Sales methods

- Technology

- Recruiting capability

- Innovation

- Problem solving capability

- Persistence

- Size

- Range of services

The challenge is to pick the one thing you can do better than anyone else--all the time. And, of course, whatever you pick must also be highly important to your customers!

*The #1 Source of Competitive Advantage

The problem with the above list is that it's almost impossible to outperform every competitor, all the time, on any of the items on the list. However, there is one sure-fire way to truly separate yourself from the competition. You possess an invaluable asset that no competitor can copy...

What's your unique asset? It's your people. And, more importantly, the ability your people have to build relationships with prospects, customers, and candidates. Strong customer relationships are an unbeatable source of competitive advantage. As I'm sure you recognize, strong customer relationships allow you to close more business, charge higher prices, gain first access to new opportunities, retain customers longer, and even recover from those occasional mistakes that occur in

providing staffing services. But, here's the question I have for you:

Are the people in your company doing everything possible to build irresistible relationships with customers and prospects?

*Creating Irresistible Customer Relationships

Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for creating irresistible relationships with your customers. However, maybe we can learn a few secrets by studying the reasons why companies lose customers.

To create irresistible customer relationships, we must eradicate indifference. How? Here are 17 ideas:

1. Communicate, frequently - strong relationships are built on trust, which develops through regular dialog.

2. Remember to say 'thank you' often. 3. Solicit feedback - ask for candid appraisals of your service and suggestions for improvement. 4. Proactively seek problems and propose solutions - don't wait for problems to come to you. 5. Emphasize continuous improvement - and tell customers what you've done to improve your

services. 6. Look for ways to save your clients money. 7. Look for opportunities to help your clients improve their productivity. 8. Give something away for free once in a while - saying 'this one's on us' makes customers feel

special. 9. Support the causes that are important to your customers. 10. Encourage social interaction with customers. 11. Keep accurate profiles of top customers - so you know what's going on in their business and their

industry. 12. Get service people into the field - meet with customers to gain a better understanding of the

customer's needs. 13. Invite customers to visit your offices to learn more about your capabilities. 14. Train sales and service reps how to solve business problems with staffing services. 15. Keep score - document the tangible benefits you've delivered for your clients. 16. Follow a program of 'planned spontaneous recognition - develop a process to systematically remind

clients how important they are to you. 17. Nurture relationships with multiple forms of communication - include sales calls, phone, mail, and

e- mail.

Want another idea for creating irresistible customer relationships? Expand your network of contacts. If your business hinges on a relationship with one or two decision makers, you're likely to lose the customer at some point.

Strive to nurture relationships with as many different people as you can--and on as many different levels as you can.

Relationships = Success

Service has and will continue to be the most critical element of every successful staffing organization. However, great service must be viewed as a basic necessity: a building block of success.

To truly stand out from the crowd and ensure your long-term success, leverage great service into great customer relationships. Enhance your current servicing process to include more relationship building activities. Develop a deliberate program to continuously nurture irresistible customer relationships. And through effective implementation, you will create an unbeatable source of competitive advantage!

Tell Me About Yourself

IMPORTANT NOTE: This article should NOT be shared with your candidates. It has been written and designed for RECRUITERS EYES ONLY.

Please feel free to share the companion article, , "Answering the 'Tell Me About Yourself' Question” with your candidates.

After years of trying I finally gave up.

Why is it that interviewers still need this crutch question to begin their interviews? Some use it from habit, some because they didn't have time to prepare, and some because they don't know any better. But despite trying to prep my clients away from the dreaded opening interview question "Tell me about yourself?" I have never been successful in getting them to stop using this question. They use it, and I have resigned myself to this recruiting truth: A vast majority of interviewers still start their interviews with some version of this insipid opening question.

Fine, if they won’t stop using this irrelevant opening question, then let’s make sure our candidates are ready with a loaded gun to answer it. If we prep candidates to answer this question properly, we can make our candidates look prepared, confident, and focused right from the start of their interview. Furthermore, they will make a great verbal first impression. No longer will we have to suffer through client debriefs where they tell us our candidate rambled on and on after being asked this question, nor will we learn that our candidate countered this question with a question of their own like "What would you like to know?"

Don't think this is a big deal? Let me share just one story about this opening interview question that cost a recruiter I know a mighty big fee. It is a perfect illustration as to why you must add the following information to your interview or prep process, or both. The scenario was this: A recruiter had a Financial Services client that was looking for a 125k base + 25k bonus for a VP position. The recruiter located an ideal candidate whose initial impression was that the job was perfect for her. The client joked that when she came to the interview the recruiter should send her with an invoice for the fee because they, too, thought she was the perfect fit. Good thing the recruiter didn't spend the $50k fee before closing the deal.

You can more or less guess how the story ended. The recruiter didn't get the fee, but please pay attention to why, because that is the part of the story that matters most. To start the interview the candidate was asked the dreaded "Tell me about yourself?" question. Thinking that it was an inconsequential icebreaker question, she retorted, simply intending to cause an opening chuckle, "Well as you can obviously see, I am 15-20 pounds overweight."

Scream loudly here.

The candidate was only joking! Yet, due to the impact her answer had on the client, for all practical purposes the interview was over. That "amusing" answer to what the candidate viewed as a seemingly innocuous question convinced the client that this $150k VP had an image or low self-esteem problem. Despite the recruiter’s insistence that it was just a joke, the client declined to make the candidate an offer. Her retort was just a joke! But not really. It was no joke to the recruiter who lost the $50k fee. And it sure wasn't funny to the candidate who didn't get her dream job. This candidate attempted to humorously break the ice, but the interviewer misinterpreted her intentions and became convinced she was not their VP.

Scream loudly here, too, because the whole fiasco could have been avoided if the candidate had just been taught a very simple formula for answering this question. Sure, we know this question is a stupid

and unnecessary question with which to begin an interview. But because interviewers open interviews with this question, we as recruiters need to know how to have our candidates respond to it intelligently. The formula I’ve learned has worked wonders for me and for hundreds of other recruiters I have shared it with over the last few years.

Recruiters know that most of their clients will open with some form of the "Tell me about yourself?" question. The answer we’d ideally like our candidates to give would be a prepared and well thought-out initial marketing statement of themselves and their skills, which are applicable for the open search. This sounds pretty straightforward, but if you have ever asked this question of your candidates, no doubt your experience matches mine. It doesn't matter if the candidate makes $25k or $200k per year, the very best candidates will typically respond to this question by answering with "What would you like to know?" Let’s get one thing straight: It is extremely poor form to answer the opening interview question with another question. But that is how your BEST candidates will likely answer this question due to its ambiguous nature. We can prepare them to do better.

We need to teach them to answer this question with a three-part pre-planned marketing statement that can more or less be reused from interview to interview. And even if they are not asked the dreaded question, preparing for it usually sets the candidate up to open the interview confidently, intelligently and impressively. Part one of that three-part marketing statement is always a one-sentence summary of the candidate’s career history. For example, let me share with you a former candidate’s opening sentence:

"I am a five-year veteran of LAN/WAN Admin and Systems Engineering with substantial experience using Novell, NT, Cisco, and Lotus Notes/Domino."

You get the picture; their whole career needs to be condensed into one pithy sentence that encapsulates the most important aspects of their career, which they want to leverage in order to make their next career step. Good recruiters are accomplished at doing this, but very few candidates are. Our coaching can be of tremendous help here for our candidates.

Part two of the pre-planned marketing statement will be a one, maybe two-sentence summary of a single accomplishment that the candidate is proud of that will also capture the client’s attention. It immediately follows the candidate’s initial career summary sentence from above. This accomplishment should be one that the client will be interested in hearing, one that is easily explained or illustrated, and one that clearly highlights the candidate's bottom line impact. When done correctly this will build interviewer intrigue about the accomplishment so that they inquire further, giving the candidate an opportunity to further discuss their career success. The above candidate’s accomplishment sentences were:

"Recently, as a long-term contract employee at a local regional bank, I learned they were about to install Lotus Notes/Domino and were planning to use outside consultants for the project. I let them know I had done a similar installation at my last assignment, outlined how we could get the job done with in-house staff, and successfully completed the install for $55-65k less than it would have cost with outside consultants."

Part three, the final piece of the marketing statement is probably the most fluid piece. It needs to be a one-sentence summary of specifically what the candidate wants to do next in their career. The reason this third part is difficult is that it needs to specifically address what the candidate wants to do next, AND it needs to change from interview to interview to make sure it matches exactly what the client will be interviewing the candidate for. Continuing with the above example of one of my past candidates, two of his final sentences, which were used for two different clients, follow:

"For the next step in my career, I would like to move away from contract work and find myself as a direct employee of a large firm where I could join a substantial IT team and be involved with a group that focuses on email and network security applications, while having access to the knowledgebase that would come with a large, diverse, IT group."

But for a second client this ending was significantly altered because of the candidate’s multiple interests in differing opportunities, to:

"For the next step in my career, I would like to find myself as a direct employee of a small to medium sized firm that was looking to hire an in-house IT generalist so I could continue growing my career by getting exposure to multiple IT areas, such as networking, help desk, security, and application issues for the users of the organization. As the firm’s IT needs grew, I would love to apply my past team project management skills to managing the second or third members of a small growing IT team."

These were two very different endings that perfectly matched two very different client needs. Clearly you can see why the first ending wouldn’t have worked for the second client or vice versa. With some simple revising, we made sure that each client heard from my candidate that he was interested in doing exactly what they were interested in hiring him for. That revising is what makes the third piece fluid and sometimes challenging, as candidates don’t always see the need for being as specific as we want them to be. With your coaching, they will soon see the benefit to targeted third sentences in these pre-planned opening statements.

If prepared properly, with your expert guidance, it will be apparent that your candidate is a prepared and serious player right at the beginning of the interview when they answer the "Tell me about yourself?" question with this memorized, brief marketing statement, which combines their career summary, an exceptional accomplishment, and client-specific career goals as in this example:

"I am a five-year veteran of LAN/WAN Admin and Systems Engineering with substantial experience using Novell, NT, Cisco, and Lotus Notes/Domino. Recently, as a long-term contract employee at a local regional bank, I learned they were about to install Lotus Notes/Domino and were planning to use outside consultants for the project. I let them know I had done a similar installation at my last assignment, outlined how we could get the job done with in-house staff, and successfully completed the install for $55-65k less that it would have cost with outside consultants. For the next step in my career, I would like to move away from contract work and find myself as an direct employee of a large firm where I could join a substantial IT team and be involved with a group that focused on email and network security applications, while having access to the knowledgebase that would come with a large, diverse, IT group."

Clearly you can understand how a candidate who opens with this type of prepared response to the "Tell me about yourself?" question will make a significantly better first impression than a candidate who responds to this question by answering, "What would you like to know?" or worse yet, "Well as you can obviously see, I am 15-20 pounds overweight." A candidate you prepare in this manner is confident at the interview’s start, makes a substantial and positive first verbal impression, gives a clear indication of their interest in making a career move, and forces the interviewer to get past the icebreaker questions to the parts of the interview that will help both parties begin the process of seriously determining if this is a solid match.

As recruiters, these three simple steps of summarizing what a candidate is, sharing an impressive career accomplishment, and summarizing what would be an ideal next career step, is second hand. We do this daily, often extemporaneously, as we verbally or electronically present candidates to our clients. But for

candidates who don’t have our career experience and expertise, this is a challenging and sometimes difficult preparation. With our expert advice and input on their pre-planned three-part marketing statements, we can significantly improve a candidate’s initial verbal impression, and allow them to get their interview off to a confident and focused beginning. It’s a beginning that often results in just the ending we want, a good match that successfully concludes yet another search for a fee.

REMEMBER: This article should NOT be shared with your candidates. It has been written and designed for RECRUITERS EYES ONLY. Please feel free to share the companion article Answering the "Tell Me About Yourself" Question which follows, with your candidates.

Answering the "Tell Me About Yourself" Question

Your Guarantee for Making an Impressive Interview First Impression

Lets face it, interviewing is stressful enough without having to answer stupid interview questions. But unfortunately, many interviewers, because of habit, lack of preparation time, poor training, or yes, even laziness, often ask stupid interview questions. Of those, one of the most challenging is the oft used "Tell me about yourself?" interview opener.

What most candidates ask me about this insipid interview question is "What do they want to know?" They want to know about you the candidate as a potential employee. They don’t want to know about your family, your last vacation, your hobbies, your religious beliefs, that you like the Cubs, or that you are a proud member of AA. Yes, I have had candidates give each of those responses to the infamous "Tell me about yourself?" question. I don’t recall any of them ever getting hired by the employers who interviewed them.

Interviewers also think it is improper, a sign of your lack of preparedness, or even rude, for you to answer their "Tell me about yourself?" question with a question like, "What would you like to know?" If you are prepared, and seriously thinking about making a career change, you will have a prepared and thoughtful answer to this question BEFORE you begin interviewing.

Why? I am glad you asked, and I think one example should convince you I am right.

Let me share just one story about this opening interview question that cost a candidate a job they REALLY wanted. It is a perfect illustration to make you understand why you must plan a response for this question whether you are asked it or not. The scenario was this: The candidate was a financial services professional, a recruiter had a financial services client that was looking to fill a VP position for a 125k base + 25k bonus. The candidate had an ideal background and skills set, and the client thought they were a perfect fit. The candidate knew the client and was thrilled to interview with them. The client joked that when the candidate came to the interview the recruiter should send the candidate with an invoice for the fee, because they thought they might make an offer on the spot.

You can more or less guess how the story ended. The candidate didn't get the job, but please pay attention as to why, because that is the part of the story that matters most. To start the interview the candidate was asked the dreaded "Tell me about yourself?" question. Thinking that it was an inconsequential icebreaker question, they retorted, simply intending to cause an opening chuckle, "Well as you can obviously see, I am 15-20 pounds overweight."

They were only joking! Yet, due to the impact this answer had on the client, for all practical purposes the interview was over as soon as they said this. That "amusing" answer to what the candidate viewed as a seemingly innocuous question, convinced the employer that this $150k VP had an image or low self-

esteem problem. Despite the recruiter’s insistence that it was just a joke, the employer declined to make the candidate an offer. The retort was just a joke! But not really. It was no joke to the candidate who lost the $150k dream job. It was no joke to the recruiter who had invested so much time in finding the employer this ideal candidate. This candidate attempted to humorously break the ice, but the interviewer misinterpreted the response to a stupid question, and became convinced the candidate was not VP material.

This whole fiasco could have been avoided if the candidate had just been taught a very simple formula for answering this question. Sure, we know this question is a stupid and unnecessary question with which to begin an interview. But because interviewers open interviews with this question, candidates need to know how to respond to this question intelligently. The formula I’ve learned has worked wonders for hundreds of my candidates, and those of thousands of recruiters I have shared it with over the last half dozen years.

Many, in fact a sad majority, of interviewers open with some form of the "Tell me about yourself?" question. It would be an easy question to answer if candidates answered with a prepared and well thought-out initial marketing statement of themselves and their skills, which are applicable for the open job. This sounds pretty straightforward, but few of the thousands of candidates I have interviewed in the last 15 years have EVER been able to answer this question in this intelligent manner. The best candidates typically respond with a narrowing question like: "What would you like to know?" But let’s get one thing straight: It is extremely poor form to answer the opening interview question with another question. Yet, that is how the BEST candidates do typically answer this question, due to its ambiguous nature. Though it seems to be a logical approach, you must prepare to do better.

Candidates must teach themselves to answer this question with a three-part pre-planned marketing statement that can more or less be reused from interview to interview. Part one of that three-part marketing statement is always a one-sentence summary of the candidate’s career history. For example, let me share with you a former candidate’s opening sentence:

"I am a five-year veteran of LAN/WAN Admin and Systems Engineering with substantial experience using Novell, NT, Cisco, and Lotus Notes/Domino."

You get the picture; your whole career needs to be condensed into one pithy sentence that encapsulates the most important aspects of your career, the aspects that you want to leverage in order to make your next career step. Few candidates seem to be able to condense a career into one sentence, but it must, and can be done. Ask any recruiter for help here, this is what we do.

Part two of the pre-planned marketing statement will be a one, maybe two-sentence summary, of a single accomplishment that you are proud of that will also capture the potential employers attention. It immediately follows your initial career summary sentence from above. This accomplishment should be one that the employer will be interested in hearing, one that is easily explained or illustrated, and one that clearly highlights a bottom line impact. When done correctly this will build interviewer intrigue about the accomplishment so that they inquire further, giving you an opportunity to further discuss a significant career success. The above candidate’s accomplishment statement was:

"Recently, as a long-term contract employee at a local regional bank, I learned they were about to install Lotus Notes/Domino and were planning to use outside consultants for the project. I let them know I had done a similar installation at my last assignment, outlined how we could get the job done with in-house staff, and successfully completed the install for $55-65k less than it would have cost with outside consultants."

Part three, the final piece of the marketing statement, is probably the most fluid piece. It needs to be a one-sentence summary of specifically what you want to do next in your career. The reason this third part is difficult is that it needs to specifically address what you want to do next, AND it needs to change from interview to interview to make sure it matches exactly what the INDIVIDUAL employers will be interviewing you for. Continuing with the above example of one of my past candidates, two of his final sentences, which were used for two different employers, follow:

"For the next step in my career, I would like to move away from contract work and find myself as a direct employee of a large firm where I could join a substantial IT team and be involved with a group that focuses on email and network security applications, while having access to the knowledgebase that would come with a large, diverse, IT group."

But for a second employer, this ending was significantly altered because of the candidate’s multiple interests in differing opportunities, to:

"For the next step in my career, I would like to find myself as a direct employee of a small to medium sized firm that was looking to hire an in-house IT generalist so I could continue growing my career by getting exposure to multiple IT areas, such as networking, help desk, security, and application issues for the users of the organization. As the firm’s IT needs grew, I would love to apply my past team project management skills to managing the second or third members of a small growing IT team."

These were two very different endings that perfectly matched two very different employer needs. Clearly you can see why the first ending wouldn’t have worked for the second employer or vice versa. With some simple revising, the candidate made sure that each employer heard that they were interested in doing exactly what the employer was interested in hiring them for. That revising is what makes the third piece fluid and sometimes challenging, as candidates don’t always see the need for being this specific from job interview to job interview. Most tend to be generalized, hoping that a shotgun approach will work. But it is the rifle sharp shooters, those who get specific in what they want from interview to interview, who get the best results. With some simple planning BEFORE an interview, you, the candidate, will quickly realize the benefit of a targeted third sentence in these pre-planned opening statements, as employers feel you are perfectly suited to do just the job they are interviewing you for.

If you take the time to prepare this way as a candidate, it will be apparent to an interviewer that you are a prepared and serious candidate right at the beginning of the interview when you answer the "Tell me about yourself?f" question with this memorized, brief marketing statement, which combines a career summary, an exceptional accomplishment, and employer-specific career goal as in this example:

"I am a five-year veteran of LAN/WAN Admin and Systems Engineering with substantial experience using Novell, NT, Cisco, and Lotus Notes/Domino. Recently, as a long-term contract employee at a local regional bank, I learned they were about to install Lotus Notes/Domino and were planning to use outside consultants for the project. I let them know I had done a similar installation at my last assignment, outlined how we could get the job done with in-house staff, and successfully completed the install for $55-65k less that it would have cost with outside consultants. For the next step in my career, I would like to move away from contract work and find myself as an direct employee of a large firm where I could join a substantial IT team and be involved with a group that focused on email and network security applications, while having access to the knowledgebase that would come with a large, diverse, IT group."

Clearly you can understand how the candidate who opens with this type of prepared response to the "Tell me about yourself?" question will make a significantly better first impression than a candidate who

responds to this question by answering, "What would you like to know?" or worse yet, "Well as you can obviously see, I am 15-20 pounds overweight." Plus candidates who prepare in this manner are typically more confident at the interview’s start, make a substantial and positive verbal first impression, give a clear indication of their interest in making a career move, and force the interviewer to get past the icebreaker questions to the parts of the interview that will help both parties begin the process of seriously determining if this is a solid match. As you can see, there is a great deal of bang for your preparation buck.

Clearly these three simple steps of, summarizing what your experience is as candidate, sharing an impressive career accomplishment, and then summarizing what would be an ideal next career step for you, one that matches what the employer is looking to hire, is the key to beginning your interview with a competitive advantage. Candidates who take the time to do this, significantly improve a their initial verbal impression, get their interview off to a confident and focused beginning, and more often than not get called back for second interviews, or better yet, for offers of employment with employers who are impressed.