SourceCon 2010 Washington, D.C.

September 29, 2010, 1:00pm – 2:00pm

The International Spy Museum 800 F St NW

Washington, D.C. 20004

Telephone Sourcing The Fastest Path to Candidate Name Generation

Maureen Sharib Telephone Names Sourcer

When the phone rings what’s the first thing you usually think of? 

“I wonder who’s calling?” 

It’s one reason why, some0mes, when… 

Be honest, how many of you think the Gatekeeper on the other end of the phone 

looks like this? 

Raise your hands.  C’mon.  Raise your hands. 

For most of you the answer is “Yes”.   

Resoundingly, “Yes”. 

Let me ask you, what are the chances of your computer telling you this?

Anyone?

That’s right.

Let me say it another way.

Many of us cling to its sole use in sourcing, knowing that it won’t 

make us feel …

. The computer won’t tell us 

.

It rarely says,  “We don’t have -tles here at the 

front desk.” 

It may not always deliver exactly what you’re looking for,  

but it always offers 0me‐consuming ways to make you feel like you’re doing 

Some-mes we know what we’re doing. 

But it’s so much fun  it’s hard to turn away. 

There are many reasons the telephone appears much larger on your desk 

than it actually is. 

It appears menacing because for many of you ‐ now be honest  ‐ it’s the last thing in 

your day you want to do.   Really, it is.  I know. 

It doesn’t have to be like this.

Resolve yourself. 

again.

Uncomfortable, but not fatal. 

Stop thinking this.       Really, it’s nothing personal. 

In fact, in phone sourcing, there really is no such thing as rejecKon. 

Why? 

Can anyone tell me? 

one more Kme. 

There’s no such thing as rejecKon in phone sourcing because there’s always a way in! 

Look at it this way: One door shuts and a window opens. Or a door opens when a window shuts.

Or somethin’ like that.

Always.

You just have to understand there are many, many 

windows and doors into a target company. 

There are many 

openings. 

Your job is to find the open door. 

Find the opening. 

SomeKmes you fall into the opening and don’t even 

realize it. 

“Jane Mathews is no longer with us. Would you like to talk to her old assistant?”

“Mike’s on vacation – would you like to go to his Voice Mail?”

“Sandra is on maternity leave. Michelle Watkins is filling in for her.

Do you want to talk to her?”

“Tom Richardson has been gone for years.”

What’s the trick? 

“Jane Mathews is no longer with us. Would you like to talk to her old assistant?” “Yes, that would be wonderful – what’s her assistant’s name?” “In case I can’t reach her can you tell me who she supports now?” “Mike’s on vacation – would you like to go to his Voice Mail?” “Hi, this is Mike Masterson, Quality Manager. I’m on vacation ‘til the 19th. If this is a quality issue, call Jim Smith at x4356. If this is a delivery matter, call my admin Susan O’Neil at x4350. If it’s a test date you want to schedule - Sam Bartl can do that for you. Reach him at x4353. If it’s something else or you just can’t wait to tell me call my cell at…” “Sandra is on maternity leave. Michelle Watkins is filling in for her. Do you want to talk to her?” “Is Michelle another Product Manager there?” “Tom Richardson has been gone for two years.” “Oh! How stupid of me. Can you tell me who your Controller is now?” There’s so much the Gatekeeper offers that you can work with that’s really more

technique than trick but we’ve skipped the most important part. Can anyone tell me what that is?

Remember the very first answer to the very first quesKon asked in this presentaKon? “I wonder who’s calling?” 

When the phone rings on a Gatekeeper’s desk it’s usually the first thing she thinks too. She’s no different from you or me. 

She’s flesh, bone and blood too ‐ that’s all. If you answer the quesKon in her mind before she has to ask it  

you’ll go a long, long way toward removing any doubt hovering in her mind. 

It’s very easy.  I call it “removing the mystery”.   

Can anyone tell us how that’s accomplished on… 

?

They’re nice, aren’t they? And that’s all it takes usually. A small thing - something as

small as your name. It plants a seed of trust.

Aren’t these great? They immediately tell us a

little something about someone else.

They go no small way to put us a little more at ease in our

surroundings. Look.

Some of us are wearing them right this minute.

Maureen

Sharib Maureen

Sharib

“Hi Rachel, this is Maureen Sharib. Can you tell me who the Director of Critical Care is there at your hospital? ”

With that one short sentence, said easily and directly, about 90% of those I ask will give me the name.   

Yes, 90%! 

But not every Kme. 

Sometimes 50% of the Gatekeepers will give me the name. For instance, if I’m sourcing HVAC design engineers about half of the Gatekeepers I call will tell me who they are.

Sales Operations Managers (not a common theme in companies) – about 60% will tell me (if they do indeed have one – most won’t know what I’m talking about though and that’s a whole other discussion). HR Managers – 80-90%. Once again,  

Software engineers? Depends on the type and depends on the size of the office you’re calling into but 20 – 30% of the Gatekeepers I meet with will spill on my first call.

Definition of “spill” (or “spilling”): Spilling: The act of someone "giving up" or "offering up" information. Sometimes accomplished with the knowledge of the one doing the spilling, for reasons known only to them. Usually follows prompting.

From the MagicMethod Sourcing Glossary: www.techtrak.com/sourcing-glossary.html

Don’t get me wrong. On some calls those two short sentences that ask a direct question will evoke the answer. But not always.

Sometimes I have to talk with someone else on the inside to get the information I seek.

Someone like an Administrative Assistant in a department.

For her, I’ll tweek it just a bit: “Hi Justine, this is Maureen. Suzanne (the Gatekeeper) suggested you might be able to help. Can you tell me who the Technical Product Manager there is for the iAd Platform?”

Sometimes I have to go

It demonstrates how I removed the mystery of who I am with just a hint of familiarity about her company (knowing the receptionist’s name) and having a purposeful mission (asking for the TPM for a specific product).

It might take a little padding around on my keyboard before the call and that’s the tooling the Internet holds best for a phone sourcer: the opportunity to use it to phone garner the 90% of the names that are not listed on the Internet in a manner that identifies them as potential candidates for our searches.

Let me say it one more time:

Again, it depends on the company and the acuity of the Gatekeeper/Admin

but I’d give the above about a 50-50

chance of succeeding.

This is the picture I think says it best. 

Some0mes an Administra0ve Assistant  or someone in a related department can help  

with less concern on their part for your mo0va0on:  marke0ng, for instance when you’re seeking sales,  

or engineering when you’re seeking process  or the mail room (or loading dock or security gate)  

when you’re seeking anyone, anywhere! 

Some0mes you goGa’ think (and act) low tech. 

In this short time we’ve spent together, if there’s one thing I want you to go away with is the idea that phone sourcing, though not easy, is simple.  

An earnest greeting and exchange of names combined with a direct question will, in a respectable percentage of your calls, reward you with the information you seek.

You may have to take it one step further and get inside the company to learn what you need.

There’s a variety of ways to do this but in the instance when you’re “stabbing in” - that’s calling directly inside the company to employee direct dial phone lines - usually by the third to fifth person you’ve talked with you’ll have the name you want.

Notice I said talk with and not talk to. There’s a difference and being able to communicate verbally is becoming an ever rarer and more valuable skill. Learn the difference.

We haven’t talked about this but it goes without saying: 

Telephone names sourcing is 0me consuming but most (wildly produc0ve) search is.   But it’s not THAT 0me consuming!   

You all have in your possession a list of HR Managers out of Industrial Manufacturers most with gross sales over $100 million in Wisconsin and Illinois gathered by me on Tuesday, August 17, 

2010 between 3 and 5 o’clock (ET) in the aWernoon.   There are about forty on the list to demonstrate produc0vity on a job like this.   

I get paid $45 per name to generate lists like these and some take more 0me than others but in almost every effort the reward is handsome. 

Some people think that’s too much money to make in too liGle 0me.  

Is it? 

Given that the average placement fee today ranges between $15,000 and $20,000;

the 9-12% pittance that $1800 invested in research likely to result in a hire is laughable.

Thank you, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the session.

I know you have questions. I’ll take them now.

Maureen Sharib TechTrak.com, Inc. www.techtrak.com

513 899 9628 maureen at techtrak.com