On the same day that ExecuNet’s June survey of 145 executive recruiters revealed a 7% drop in confidence (50% compared to 57% last month) over improvement in the executive employment market, along comes a competitor that might make you shudder.

An executive recruitment company has just announced its plans to undercut competitors by offering a flat fee of 10% per month of what the employee is paid for 24 months.

If the employee does not stay with the company — Schwelling Recruiting Services, which specializes in C-level executives as well as sales executives and new business development executives — the employer is only responsible for the months actually worked.

What does this say about the company overall? And what does this say about the economy and what it’s doing to our competition?

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Bid a fond farewell to Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby. And an adios to Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc.

The two companies are merging into a new, publicly listed company called Towers Watson & Co. in an all-stock transaction valued at $3.5 billion.

Watson Wyatt CEO John Haley will serve the combined company as Chief Executive Officer, while Towers Perrin CEO Mark Mactas will serve as President.

In a statement, Mactas said this is an “important transaction for our respective organizations that positions us well for a future of accelerated growth and higher levels of profitability.” He added that “our service lines and geographic strengths are also highly complementary, which creates great opportunities for growth. We couldn’t be more excited about this combination, which will change the landscape of our industry.”

In an interview with Reuters, Arlington, Virginia-based Watson and Stamford, Connecticut-based Towers said the combined companies’ headquarters will be in the Northeast, but not located at either of the current locations.

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RecruitingBlog.com’s Jason Davis and TFL writer and sales coach Dan Fisher have teamed up with Bullhorn to share tips on how to qualify real job orders, particularly during a turbulent economy.

“Often, I don’t think recruiters are being honest with themselves,” says Fisher.

“When recruiters get a job order, they want to start working on it. They’re afraid to ask the questions to qualify the order, because if they ask those questions, they may find out that the order isn’t qualified. Then, they are back to making more sales calls. So they trick themselves into working job orders that aren’t real,” he says.

Other advice that Davis and Fisher share in the Bullhorn report is to recognize that fee resistance might mean you are talking to the wrong person — it is vital to speak to the proper person when dealing with larger accounts because in this economy, it is not the time to work harder to make less money — and to set clear standards when qualifying a hiring manager for your CRM.

Download Part 1 here to read the entire report.

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It’s interesting to me how some things are tied together…or maybe professionals would find interesting how I tie them together. Either way, I wish I could claim this utterance from someone yesterday. He won’t even let me attribute it to him but it is just too beautiful to claim it as my own. The guy I was talking with said “Yeah, Twitter is just like CB radio.”

What a moment THAT was for me. I was 52 yesterday and just old enough to really appreciate that statement. CB radio was a fad. Lots of people who had no need or purpose were adopting ‘handles’ and “Hey,good buddying” each other for a few years there in the mid-70s. CB radio today remains a good tool for some very narrow purposes and is of limited use.  I think that’s where Twitter will end up too. No disrespect to my buddy Harry Joiner who may just be the CW McCall of his age.

Why the song reference?  On the same day my ‘good buddy’ made his CB reference it was announced that the King of Pop and Hero of (censored) was gone. Just as Twitter indeed does feel like a recycled CB Radio fad, Rockin’ Robin was a recycled hit from right around the same time as the CB craze. There is one big difference though… I believe Twitter will go much more quietly.

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For as long as I can remember, patience has never been my virtue.

One thing I have learned from my career in professional sales is that patience is a critical success factor. So I thought I would discuss the importance of patience and how it can play a key role in your success in the world of selling IT staffing and recruiting services.

From my experience, there are two core areas in which we as sales people don’t always demonstrate the patience we should in order to maximize our potential. The first area is simply with making sales calls to prospective customers. Most of us tend to just pick up the phone and dial away without any specific goal or strategy for the call. We just dial away until we get a decision maker on the phone. Heck, you can’t close a deal without talking to the customer, right?

Our thinking goes something like this: “We’ll figure out what to say when they pick up the phone and go from there.”

This is often a poor strategy, especially when you are selling staffing and recruiting services.

Why? We sound like every other sales person in the industry because they are all taking the same approach.

keep reading »

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Kris Dunn at Fistful of Talent raises an interesting point: How far would you go for a $3 million annual retainer?

Dunn is referring to a recent Wall Street Journal article that tells the story of “a whale client delivered by being on the inside.”

The whale, in this case, is Regions Financial Corp. Executive-recruitment firm Fiderion Group allegedly entertained Regions executives on luxury golf vacations annually from 2002 to 2008, with former Fiderion employees shelling out more than $100,000 on Regions officials at the outings.

The sticky matter is that federal law prohibits bank employees from accepting anything “intended to influence business decisions,” yet the retained search firm has billed Regions — its biggest customer for high-level executive searches — close to $3 million annually.

Good work if you can get it? Or is this a firm that doesn’t know where to draw the line on delivering perks to keep clients happy?

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“If I am more successful than you it is because I heard more NO’s than you.”

Before I get to my point, I need to say that having just missed my first Forum, I plan to be there in 2010. I really have been busy…and while I can use that as an excuse for not having bloviated here in a while, I don’t plan to use that one on myself next June when it is time to go to Las Vegas.

For those of you who have never gone to a Forum…ask yourself if a guy who thinks he has heard it all and said it all in the past 23 years regrets making time now that it is over is enough reason to go to the next one yourself. It should be.

Back to the subject… I have no issue with Barb Bruno’s quote and none with her over it because all sales trainers say similar things. I am also certain this is true for some people. But not for all people.

We all remember in school there were kids who looked and acted like Jeff Spicoli but still got As because they just took the test and the stuff was just there in his head. We also knew kids who did nothing but study all the time who also did well.

All you bosses come and shoot me now for telling the real truth. I absolutely agree that more nos=more yesses but I’ll also tell you that there are one heck of a lot of people who learn how to do a few elements better and since they do it better they can do it less. They also continually focus on improvement of those elements.

I find it demoralizing and debilitating to be told over and over and over that the path to success in this business is 4 hours a day of actual phone time. It may have been true in the past…but not in the 23 years I have been doing this. Maybe it is A way but it is not THE way.

I also average about 1 ‘marketing’ (sales) call a week. I can’t fill our jobs.

I just think more people should focus on finding the things that matter in our business and doing each of them better and better instead of doing them crappily over and over and over.

Since this theme may go on for a while, I’ll stop here for today with a statement I believe is a bit more empirically true.

“If you are more successful than I am it is because you are better than I am.”

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As an attendee of all three “forums,” I feel that I am a well-qualified candidate to comment on the goings-on of this year’s recent event at The M Resort in Las Vegas.

To begin with, who says there is nothing good about a “bad economy?” Hogwash!

The past year’s financial downturn is, in part, responsible for the renewed energy, collective spirit, return to the basics of our business and an overall invigorating camaraderie that clearly characterized this conference and for me, set it apart from the other two years.

The whole event was charged with a soulful vibe of WE are all in this together.

So here’s to better times, but more importantly, here’s to the throbbing, no make that pounding or how about thriving heartbeat that was the essence of this Fordyce Forum and is the indefatigable power of the recruiting professional.

From the incredibly driven (but somehow balanced) and brilliant Barb Bruno, to the uniquely charismatic and effervescent Jeff Skrentny, to the myriad of marvelous speakers who spewed invaluable headhunting info to the crowd, this “tradeshow” had real class. Plus, the M Resort was an appropriately fine host, resplendent with state-of-the-art facilities, exceptional cuisine and yes, beautiful hostesses throughout the casino.

But back to the real show.

As I was saying, this one “felt” different. Maybe it was because Mr. Skrentny emphasized with his opening remarks for all us to benefit not only from the “experts on stage” but also from all of the attendees who invested their time, energy, and money to be there to network and connect. Or maybe it’s because we are all now forced to pull together on our end of the tug-of-war-rope so tightly to survive and succeed.

Either way, all I know is that everywhere I went, in every venue I found meaningful conversation, genuine smiles, helpful anecdotes, positive attitudes, and truly practical advice.

We came in all shapes, colors, and sizes; literally. And I came home with a dozen or more business cards, a split-fee partner or three, and a “Candidate Profiling Test” to complement my search services that I have already encouraged one of my new clients to implement.

Most important, I came home with a clear recognition of the strength, seriousness, savvy, resilience, and vision of our industry. I can so easily say that I am truly proud, no make that honored and humbled, to be a part of such a fine collection of human beings that make up the core the Executive Search/Staffing/Recruitment Industry.

Whatever your niche, do not miss this event in 2010!!! Fordyce Forum 2010 will be held once again at the beautiful M Resort, so mark your calendars for June 9-11, 2010.

One more formal thank you to Mr. Jeff Allen, whom we all benefit from every month in The Fordyce Letter. Not only does Mr. Allen pour his heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into the industry through his written contribution to TFL each month, but he took the time to organize the last (and maybe best) breakout session of the entire conference.

This “hour of power” is what Jeff was really talking about. It was called the Fordyce Forum Council and this event had no preset agenda nor was it dominated by one speaker. This session was truly interactive and revealed how mutually beneficial a group of committed professionals can be to one another. It was the essence of what we do at times like the 3rd annual FF, and at times when we need it most, it was learning, growing, and benefiting from one another at its best!

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The people at ERE Media and The Fordyce Letter did another outstanding job of putting on the third-annual Fordyce Forum. Great speakers, a phenomenal location at the brand-new M Resort in Las Vegas, outstanding networking opportunities, and great people.

I was truly humbled when one participant, Gerald Bullock, told me he had been reading my articles for awhile and attended the conference specifically to see my breakout. No biggie you might think, but he came all the way from Japan. That’s a lot of pressure!

I wanted to leave you with a few “nuggets” I took back. You can also view my “tweet stream” by following me on Twitter (mikegionta).

First, here are some nuggets from Barb Bruno:

• “If I am more successful than you it is because I heard more NO’s than you.”
• “There are a number of reasons salespeople fail, the number one reason is attitude by 50% of all cases.”
• “Don’t allow the luxury of staying in a bad mood for more than 5 minutes. MOVE ON!”
• “Instead of reading or watching the news, invest one half-hour per day in training and self-development. This will add up to 24 days of training after one year.”
• “Get a coach. I have 3 coaches: a wealth coach, a business coach, and a life coach.”
• “Change is a necessity, NOT a luxury.”

Second, here are some great ideas from Jordan Rayboy:

• “Good judgment comes from experience, experience comes from from making mistakes, mistakes come from poor judgment.”
• “Great recruiters do things consistently that average recruiters only do occasionally.”
• “The average American loses 28% of productivity per day. The key culprit is multitasking.”

Finally, here are the key points from my presentation on Hiring and Retaining Great Recruiters:

1. Most advertising for recruiters does NOT sell the position, it describes what we need. Explain your firm’s vision in your advertising to be more attractive to great recruiters.
2. We are recruiters, yet we don’t recruit our own talent. There are some very attractive places to recruit out of right now like mortgage banking, retail, high end car dealers, and brokerage to name a few.
3. The key to a successful hire is to begin setting formal and specific expectations as early as the first interview, not just the first week of employment.

Bonus Tip: To enroll for FREE in my 7 part audio series, “The 7 Deadly Sins recruiting firm owners make and HOW to avoid them,” visit www.TheRecruiterU.com. This will give you more ideas on planning and running your recruiting firm, especially in a tight economy.

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Q: How long must I keep my placement files?

Three years has worked well, and conforms to the universally known IRS tax record retention period.

The federal, state, and local record retention periods range from one to five years. With so many legal and administrative rules, a three-year period should suffice for job orders, resumes, and any candidate background checks.

Of course, if you know an issue has arisen or is likely to arise, retain all documents for that year forward to the present.

There are serious, separate penalties for the failure to keep employment records and transactions.

If you don’t maintain accurate written records of all job orders backing up all Internet job postings, you’re asking for trouble. You also must keep files on all responses, sendouts, e-mail correspondence, and everything else relating to these transactions regardless of whether or not you place anyone.

Under the federal law, these records must be maintained for at least one year. (29 CFR 1602.14 and 29 CFR 1627.2, et seq.)

So our general suggestion is to maintain everything meticulously for three years. But check with your local law library or lawyer for specific record retention periods.

***

To participate in future Q&As, email jeff@placementlaw.com. Keep in mind you should always consult with your own attorney. Nothing contained herein should be construed as legal advice. It is for your information only.

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If you are like most sales and recruiting professionals in the staffing industry, you’re probably frustrated hearing your prospects and customers tell you, “We’re not hiring and we have no budget.”

How does one overcome such an objection?

Better yet, how does one even engage in a meaningful conversation when you know your prospect or customer is operating under those circumstances? Here is an idea that has worked for me, and hundreds of others.

As we all know, the employment market is currently very challenging and many or most organizations do not have the budget to hire consultants.

Rather than hoping our prospect or client doesn’t bring up the “no budget/not hiring” objection, we need to do the opposite. We need to bring it up.

Yes, you read that correctly.

keep reading »

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It’s tough enough to do business development in a growing economy. In a recession, knowing who to talk to with the right message is critical to your success or even survival. In our upcoming episode of “The Talent Game” with Jon Bartos, be prepared to learn all about the following:

• The 7 Levels of Business Development…from easiest to toughest, and why you need to go after the low-hanging fruit first.
• How to get more business from existing accounts.
• Developing a Business Development Plan that will provide you with synergies.
• Techniques to approach each new prospect based on which level of business development you go in at.
• Having your clients sell for you to make it easier to get new business.
• How and when to widen your markets.

In this fast-paced, information-packed, 30-minute Fordyce TV episode, Jon will share how he *really* prospers in this economy and what you can do for similar success.

The show starts promptly at 2pm ET on www.fordyceletter.com (right before the show you’ll see a small TV logo — click that box and enjoy the show — if you don’t see the box at 2, try refreshing the screen once or twice until you see it). There will be a live Q&A session via the chat box after the presentation, too, so come prepared with questions.

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A new report from ExecuNet says executive recruiters and search firms predict that executive hiring should pick up in the second half of 2009, after a tough first six months.

Recruiters participating in the annual ExecuNet Job Market Intelligence Report predict a 14 percent decline in searches through June, after which a boomlet is expected that will erase most of the decline, ending 2009 down 4 percent over 2008.

The optimism is also reflected in the latest ExecuNet’s Recruiter Confidence Index. In decline since the beginning of 2007, the index rebounded from a low of 26 percent to 38 percent between February and March.

“We’ve been tracking their confidence level since the last recession, and their confidence has always been a leading indicator of the economy and executive employment,” ExecuNet President and Chief Economist Mark Anderson. “During the last recession, we saw recruiter confidence quickly strengthen six months ahead of the recovery.”

The report is the product of a survey of some 5,000 executives, search consultants, and corporate HR professionals. It’s an annual snapshot of the executive job market that spots trends and offers guidance for executives and recruiters.

keep reading »

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Q: Can I cash a partial-payment check and still collect the full fee?

Usually, but not always.

Welcome to the little-known area of first-year contract law called accord and satisfaction. There is usually only one case covering accord and satisfaction in the casebook, so most law students don’t study it in detail.

A legal accord is the compromise of a disputed claim. This can be expressed or implied.

keep reading »

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Yesterday in part 1 of this article, I discussed the best ways recruiters can immerse themselves in Twitter — from what to say, to how often, to what not to say, and beyond.

Today, I’ll discuss the second way to find value with Twitter. As a recruiter, Twitter is a must-have tool to find clients and candidates.

How, you ask? This isn’t easy, but if you’re the kind of recruiter who prides yourself on delivering distinct candidates to your client base, I would highly recommend taking the time and figuring it out.

Now that job boards have proved themselves virtually worthless and LinkedIn is well on its way to becoming the job board of a new generation, recruiters need to stay ahead of the curve. Twitter is actually a goldmine of information that can absolutely be tapped to find clients and candidates.

The Art

As far as finding candidates, they’re all on Twitter (or they will be). It’s just a matter of finding them.

I employ a researcher who I asked to spend an entire day on Twitter looking for candidates. As I expected, he came back to me 15 minutes later passionately confirming that Twitter sucks and that it’s worthless for finding candidates.

I responded by saying:

“I totally hear what you are saying and I don’t care. You have the entire day, so get comfortable and figure it out.”

I told him to imagine every single candidate and client to be on Twitter. They’re just masking their candidacy in the form of 140-character thoughts. Just like I don’t use the word recruiter in my thoughts, even though I’m clearly a recruiter, a software engineer might not use the word software engineer in her tweets. But she might tweet about her employer, upcoming conferences, and useful technologies.

The goal is to figure out what they’re tweeting and to search accordingly. That’s the art!!

The Science

The science is to use the appropriate Boolean search strings to conduct the search. For that, I recommend going to Shally or one of the other Internet sourcing gurus. They have tips and ideas for days!!

Once you find a candidate you are interested in, here is what to do:

• Follow them, of course.
• Read their Tweetstream and you’ll very quickly get a sense of their passions and interests.
• If you can figure out where they work, you can proceed to traditional headhunting methods and contact them. In the meantime, engage them in conversation on Twitter; do not be as direct as you might be on LinkedIn, but give time for the relationship to develop.
• Retweet one of their posts (people like that).
• Comment on some of their posts (they’ll definitely get read).

The goal here would be to get followed back. That way, the next time you send out a note about a hot job or an MPC, this person will be sure to hear about it. And so the ball begins to roll.

In my year or so using Twitter, I have found it to be one of the most profound services in existence. The best way I’ve found to explain Twitter is to compare it to that Mel Gibson movie, “What Women Want,” where he gets to hear the thoughts of all women around him.

Of course, nobody wants to hear everybody’s thoughts about everything, but if you could figure out a way to slice-and-dice those thoughts and take advantage of the streams relevant to you and your marketplace, I think you will find Twitter to have a positive influence on your recruiting practice and life in general.

Good luck, and “May the Tworce be with you!!”

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I was having a conversation the other day with a recruiter colleague of mine and he was asking me about Twitter. He hasn’t used the service yet, but after hearing all the recent hype from Oprah, Larry King, and Ashton Kutcher, he felt like it was time to jump on the Twitter bandwagon.

I spent some time on the phone with him and basically explained that in my year or so using Twitter, I have found two distinct avenues in which a recruiter can benefit. Neither offers a quick fix, but following both can net significant value.

Immerse Yourself

The first way to gain value from Twitter is to literally immerse yourself in the service and do exactly what the service asks of you. Tell Twitter what you are doing in 140 characters or less. This needs to be done often. You can’t allow yourself to stop no matter how little immediate impact you are getting out of it.

Robert Scoble, a major Twitter user, once tweeted that it takes a solid three to four months of Twitter use to finally see the light and actually get it. In hindsight, I 100% agree, because building up your profile by following others and having them follow you allows you to:

• Grow your personal and professional brand.
• Firmly plant yourself in the hearts and minds of your customer base.
• Keep a pulse on the daily happenings of your marketplace.

From a long-term perspective, I can’t think of another single service that can deliver this caliber of value.

Tweet, Tweet – What to Say

Ok, onto the actual content — nothing is out of bounds, although the world is listening. Anything posted can and might be used against you at some point in the future. With that said, I talk about all sorts of things on Twitter.

Personal Perspective

• What I’m eating.
• What I’m thinking.
• I like to talk about my Crossfit and other such workouts.
• What I’m watching.
• What I’m reading.
• What I just noticed about the world and anything else that might pop into my head.

Business Perspective

• Hot candidates (abbreviated MPC pitch).
• Hot jobs.
• Interesting happenings in my marketplace.
• Funny candidate and client situations.
• Sometimes, I use it as a place to vent and rant.

Other Things to Include

• If at all possible, I like to include links in my tweets. Somebody once said that links are the currency of the web and respecting that philosophy I want to make sure my tweets serve as much value as possible.
• I like to not only write original tweets, but reply to others and engage in the general flow of conversations. They say that the biggest difference between Facebook and Twitter is that Facebook lets you stay in touch with those you FOUND interesting; whereas Twitter helps you stay connected with those you FIND interesting. I buy that!!

For those of you who are looking for some kind of method to this madness, the following formula could be a good one to follow for your first few months of use:

Twitter Diet – Just What the Doctor Ordered

• 10 tweets a day.
• Make half personal, half professional.
• Out of those 10, make half original and half responses to other tweeters.
• Include links in as many tweets as possible

If you follow this prescribed formula, in no time you will be able to blast out an MPC or send out a hot job to thousands of directly related prospects. Within seconds you will get responses and referrals, be able to have your finger on the pulse of your market, and more important, your market will have a pulse on you.

Imagine candidates and clients coming to you for a change. Over the long-term, I can’t think of anything more valuable. Word of warning: this prescription is highly addictive and there is the possibility of becoming a “Twittaholic.”

Editor’s note: In Part 2 tomorrow, discover the art & science in finding value with Twitter as a tool to find clients and candidates.

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What if you could have the most knowledgeable people possible answer your recruiting and placement business questions?

No hidden agendas, no ego trips, no sales pitches. Nothing off limits.  For the first time, you can, during the Fordyce Family Council. This unique meeting will meet on Friday, June 12 at 3:30 PM during the 2009 Fordyce Forum.

The Council members include:

• Jeff Allen (Moderator). Jeff’s name has been synonymous with placement law since 1975. Jeff is the world’s leading placement lawyer. He’s worked a desk, been an HR manager, has collected more placement fees, prosecuted more trade secrets cases, and assisted more placement practitioners than anyone else. Questions for Jeff might include: Does sending the resume mean I am entitled to the placement fee? Should I sign a client’s PSA (placement service agreement)? How do I word a referral period so that it works?
• Jordan Greenberg. Starting out working a desk almost 30 years ago, Jordan founded The Pinnacle Source, Inc. in 1986. Since then, his solo practice has become a major IT sales placement business. Jordan is a recruiter’s recruiter — he knows that his success is based on a commitment to the quality of his service and the “community” he helps to create day in and day out. In short, Jordan is exactly the generous, candid, high biller you would ask if you could. Now you can. Questions for Jordan might include: What high-tech tools are your greatest asset in this market? What are the most important things to manage in a solo search practice? How did you choose and develop your search niche?
• Jenifer Lambert. Jenifer is Vice President of TERRA Staffing Group, a major placement business. She is a “working manager” who makes placements while she trains others to do so. Jenifer also has an independent training business, and is a member of the prestigious Pinnacle Society. Jenifer brings her unique experience, talent and systematic approach to the Council, and we are delighted to have her with us. Questions for Jenifer might include: What specific techniques do you use to develop search superstars? How can average recruiters turn themselves into high billers? How can a rookie to start out the right way?
• Mel Zwirn. A successful owner of a chain of 24 staffing businesses with $50 million in billings? Half of a renowned husband-and-wife team (Mel and Mary) — absolutely people you should know! Mel will share his management and business secrets of success with you. You just have to ask. Questions for Mel might include: How do you maintain big margins? What are you doing differently in this recession? How did you grow such a large business?

Our objective is to have you leave the Council meeting with all you ever wanted to know.

Don’t miss it!

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I’m excited about my third-annual appearance at Fordyce Forum next month, and I really look forward to it each year. My topic for Fordyce 2009 in Las Vegas is Sales & Marketing Skills for Recruiters.

After all, recruiting is selling!

Everyone is always looking for the silver bullet that can take them to the next level. What we really need to focus on are the basics of selling skills. It doesn’t matter what your niche market focus is or what type of a recruiter you are, as I plan to focus my presentation on some of the most critical skill areas that impact your bottom line results.

First, we will cover some marketing topics, because you have to generate activity to be able to close deals. Recently, I joined Albin Engineering in the Silicon Valley as VP Sales & Marketing and I’ve been hiring and training recruiters for the last 13 years. During this time, my teams have placed over 15,000 candidates into perm (direct-hire) positions and thousands of temp/contractors as well.

In today’s market, leads are harder to come by, so being able to generate new clients and candidates is a valuable skill. Sure, you can wait for the phone to ring or scour the database, but new clients are out there and need you. So YOU have to figure out how to find THEM!

What is your brand image? How can you improve it? Where can you go to find top talent for you open job orders? How can you meet more hiring managers?

Let’s face it, hiring has slowed and there are fewer orders to fill today. This means that every job order needs to be taken more seriously. Recruiters are a wonderful breed of professionals and we love to ride the boom waves when hiring is going hot and heavy.

How can we expect to increase sales given current market conditions? Recently, I was talking with a recruiter and she was sharing her activity data on submittals.

I asked her what a submittal was, and she replied:

“Every time I email a resume to a hiring manager or to HR it counts as a candidate submittal.”

I stood there with a concerned look on my face, and she was wondering what I was thinking.

The reality is that anyone can send a resume and most resumes don’t sell the candidate very well. My belief is that we have to “Call & Present” candidates to hiring managers so that we have a chance to use our sales skills.

This concept alone can create a drastic increase in production when done well and consistently.

I don’t want to get on my soapbox here, but I can’t wait to be in front of the room in Vegas to share some of my ideas on how we can create more placements from fewer job orders.

Learning to be a better salesperson is a never-ending process. Throughout my career, I have continued to learn new tricks and develop new skills. What I have learned by hiring and training over 1,000 recruiters is that successful recruiters have certain habits that help them to stand out from the crowd.

Here is a list of five habits that I have witnessed in top-performing recruiters:

1. Top recruiters spend more time asking questions and listening than they do talking.
2. Top recruiters tend to probe deeper for more information, rather than jumping to conclusions.
3. Top recruiters know how to sell by turning their candidates into solutions that will solve their hiring managers’ problems.
4. Top recruiters have positive attitudes and deal directly and quickly with their clients and candidates on any issues that arise during the placement process.
5. Top recruiters work hard, they are deal-makers but not deal-breakers, they know how to close, and they know how to qualify all opportunities.

Wishing you great success in 2009 and hoping to meet you at Fordyce Forum!

Until then, feel free to contact me directly at craig@aesi.com.

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When asked to contribute a post to share my excitement about the Fordyce Forum, while spending a working vacation on the family farm in the middle of the Smokies, I wondered what this ole “country boy” could contribute. This (working vacation) is an escape from the reality of finding good job orders in this economy, or trying to find some evidence of a recovery in this economy.

I can look out any window and see more trees than I will see in Las Vegas in 100 years, but somehow I will try to find a new spin, or put a new coating on selling impact players in a downsizing industry (take your pick of just about any industry, except for chocolate, pasta, pharmaceuticals, and liquid libation).

I find it’s no longer sufficient for recruiters to keep up with sports or the latest scandal, and one must now be able to hold an intelligent conversation on the economic outlook and the latest “Trillion Dollar Idea” to put lipstick on the pig — and a mighty big one at that. When Billions turned into Trillions, I remember something Bunker Hunt, who cornered the Silver market in 1980, said when asked his net worth in subsequent public hearings:

“If you know what you got, you ain’t got much.”

Well, a trillion bucks would fill two football fields in pallets of tightly bundled $100s 6′ high with no aisles, and if you are country folk, 200 acres 3′ high in ones. It’s a lot of money while $14 trillions has been spent, budgeted, earmarked in tax cuts, and planned over 10 years, mostly in the next two, in the United States alone. That’s 28 football fields of $100s or 4 square miles of $1s if you are keeping track.

Simply said, it’s scary for the hiring authority, too, as to how the economy will impact (or quit impacting) his company. Or will it get worse from what too many are calling the “not so Great Depression” or worse.

And whether we will repay the largess long before our grandchildren, in higher inflation and taxes. Oh, the economy will recover before 2013, the Budget Office projects at only a 2.5% (real growth), and I for one would have done fine not reading that.

There are a lot of ideas to make more placements in this environment, as most companies have quit laying off, cutting wages,
and cutting days, and will need our services quickly at the first sign of a new order or project. A keen ear on the slowing of the bad indications, the prospect of 2nd Quarter (Q2) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) coming in a lot stronger than Q1, plus a level or possibly positive GDP by Q3-4 needs to be emphasized to counteract the media emphasis on bad news.

Companies are bound to lose employees critical to their operation in this environment, which can translate into an easy job order.

Layoffs in HR can open up opportunities for recruiters where a skeleton staff is busy with general HR matters, with no time to cull through the many-fold increase in responses to any ad.

Recently, a large subcontractor hired an operations manager from a smaller general contractor (my field) at a $30k raise (to $130K) and an estimator ($70 to $100k) from the same firm. Impact players where previously they relied on an in-house (but laid off) recruiter.

A recent post described the some 150k people a day who are getting jobs, presumably fewer than usual from recruiters, yet balanced by fewer recruiters. So much for the “no one is hiring” excuse.

I like to use the “economy is 88.8% healthy” example. Q4 and Q1 were -6.2% annualized, and a booming economy is +5%, thus 5 + 6.2 = 11.2 off of 100.

There is enough business out there to keep the strong, surviving recruiters busy.

So here’s the deal. We are all attending Fordyce Forum next month to pick up some tips, hone our skills, and bone up on technology and find out how to Twitter (or is it Tweet?). I have a few that will work for you in this environment without changing industries, working harder, or forcing your first-born to find work to help support the family.

It is certainly well worth it to bolster your income until the recovery comes by the end of the year. Yes, it will.

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Popular trainer Jeff Kaye, of Next Level Recruiting Training fame, is hosting another episode of Fordyce TV on Tuesday, May 19.

This time, he’ll chat about the Top 5 E-Marketing Tips and marketing strategies with Darren McDougal, Partner and Director of Marketing with Next Level Recruiting Training.

Jeff and Darren will share ideas and techniques that have propelled their company to a leader in recruiting training industry in less than two years.

If you’re looking for new ways to manage your website presence, while building better search engine results and connect with audiences in new ways, you need to watch this.

In this challenging economy, we’re all trying to do more with less — and find new ways to reach clients and candidates.

It’s all based on solid branding and building on that foundation.

You will also find out about a “digital briefcase” and what’s should be inside. Then, you’ll learn new techniques, different approaches, and touch the surface of an emerging communication that will prove to be the new “killer” application.

In this fast-paced, information-packed, 30-minute Fordyce TV episode, Jeff and Darren will share what marketing communications tools are available and which ones will have the most impact in 2009…and beyond.

The show starts promptly at 2pm ET on www.fordyceletter.com (right before the show you’ll see a small TV logo — click that box and enjoy the show — if you don’t see the box at 2, try refreshing the screen once or twice until you see it). There will be a live Q&A session via the chat box after the presentation, too, so come prepared with questions.

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Q: Should I sign a client’s PSA (Placement Service Agreement)?

There’s some good news here. There is a common law rule that states: Any ambiguities in a contract will be construed against the maker. Common law rules are the common-sense, judge-made laws applied before we had statutes in America. They are the basic rules that have been codified into statutes by the legislatures in many states.

Some PSAs are so draconian that I advise clients to sign them without objection, since they can’t be enforced.

keep reading »

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Amanda Picton doesn’t like disillusioning nursing students about their first job out of school, “but I want to be honest with them.”

So when she tells the students who call her for career advice to look in Texas and expect $50,000 a year, rather than in Missouri for $100,000, she’s not surprised that some of them tell her she’s wrong. “In nursing school they are mislead to believe they are going to be making $50 an hour and are in demand everywhere,” says Picton. “We do this (recruit and place nurses) everyday. We know what the market is like.”

Now, Picton and her recruiting colleages at InHouse Assist are sharing their knowledge of healthcare careers with anyone for free. keep reading »

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Everyone is buzzing about social media these days. Is it a waste of time? Is it helpful from a business standpoint? Can other industries besides the PR/marketing folks, the political talking heads, and the tech geeks benefit from being involved? Or is it just a major time suck?

I would venture to guess that your personal feelings on any of these questions are directly tied to the level of involvement you currently have in social media. Those of you who have put time and effort — TRUE time and effort — into understanding how social media tools work, are seeing the positive results. And those of you who have merely dabbled in it here and there aren’t seeing what you thought you would.

Keep in mind — social media is, quite simply, social. You get out of it what you put in. And you have to contribute first before you can expect to get anything in return.

This may not be the answer you were looking for, but truly, there are some things in life that you can’t shortcut and be truly successful at. Diets, marriage, and building fulfilling and lasting relationships all take time and lots of effort to find true success. Just ask anyone who’s had to shed a few pounds or who has been happily married for a long time.

I am looking forward to addressing some of these items during my discussion at The Fordyce Forum coming up this June.

It is important to first understand what social media is, because understanding is the first and most important step of mastering anything in life. I’ve been having conversations with some folks in the HR and recruiting world who have embraced social media tools and have seen some great results in their recruitment efforts, so I’ll discuss that as well.

And I’m looking forward to some lively crowd interaction as well as a few surprises I’ve got planned. Even if you can’t attend, make sure to check out my hashtag, #VegasRG, to keep up with — and maybe participate in — what’s going on in the training session.

For those of you who will be attending, I want you to start thinking about what social media tools you’ve already begun using, and what you’ve learned from those experiences. Have you had positive or negative results? What have you observed others doing? Have you engaged a professional consultant or have you been learning on your own?

My only request? Come with an open mind and a clean slate. Proper thought process about the use of social media tools, in my opinion, is more important than understanding all of the technical “ins and outs” of them. I am excited to see you in Vegas in just a few short weeks!

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Editor’s note: The following article by Kathleen Kurke delves into how to understand your clients’ business reality and how to speak their language when making marketing calls. To learn even more, join Kathleen at The Fordyce Forum on Friday, June 12 at 3:30 p.m.

In today’s marketplace, the thought that hiring executives are sitting around waiting and wanting to receive marketing calls from recruiters can seem too good to be true. Because it is too good to be true.

It can be easy for us to stop making marketing calls because we believe no one wants to answer our calls. And it’s easy to believe that when the media besieges us with reports about huge automotive companies declaring bankruptcy and banks closing their doors.

But the truth is that companies are still hiring, and they still need us as recruiters to access the top talent that will help them survive and thrive through these challenging economic times. So, we need to call them so they know we’re here and we’re here to help.

The answer is to make calls that connect with hiring managers’ real pain points and real needs. This means we need to make calls that are REAL (Relevant, Evidence based, Action oriented, and Leading to money). It means we need to make calls with a purpose that goes beyond “who do you need to hire?” or “I’ve got a guy . . .”

We need to understand, and then approach, our clients based on their reality , on what’s most important to them. And while our managers might be banging on us for sendouts and placements, that is NOT what’s in the forefront of our clients’ mind. If we want the work we do to be relevant in our clients’ minds, we need to do our work within the context of their reality.

That means we need to understand their business from their point of view. We need to rethink how we approach our clients, how we make marketing calls, and how we do every aspect of our job. We need to re-script every aspect of our conversations with clients to focus on the business issues and trends they’re facing, and the corresponding problems and opportunities — for them. (Problems and opportunities for us will follow, but that’s another issue!)

What does that look like? Consider structuring your marketing calls to prospects and clients to follow the REAL model:

• Part 1: Relevant (to them): “Client/Prospect, I know the craziness in the marketplace is causing lots of upheaval in your organization”

To ignore or deny what’s whirling around them (and us) is to keep our heads in the sand, or implies that their heads in the sand. I’m not recommending that we buy in to ways that the media escalates even the smallest hiccup, but I think we lose credibility if we pretend to be doing our work in an environment of pure pollyana.

• Part 2: Evidence based: “With the recent announcement that you’re laying off 3000 folks, I suspect it’s hard to imagine that it makes sense to bring more, or bring other people in to your organization.”

Referencing a point of information that is specific and fact based about their organization or their industry reinforces your credibility. Sources for the specifics and facts might be industry newsletters, specialized blogs or general media.

• Part 3: Action oriented: “I’ve got a suggestion to move you past your current pain point.”

I’ve always believed that the most successful recruiters are the ones that clients look to as a resource in getting something done, so you’ll always find me advocating an action orientation.

• Part 4: Leading to money: “I’ve identified a candidate with a history of increasing profits/reducing costs in a marketplace with challenges similar to the one you’re in now.

When reduced to its simplest form, every company cares about making money. And there are two ways to do that: increase profits or reduce costs. By connecting every candidate we present to one of those two outcomes, we attach the work we’re doing to what’s most basic, yet most important, to our client organizations.

By making marketing calls that are REAL, you’ll be making calls that are more closely tied to your clients’ reality. You’ll be making calls that are more closely tied to helping them improve the current condition of their business reality. And those are the calls that clients WANT to receive.

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“Hiring in this economy? Are you crazy?”

That is what many recruiting firm owners say when I suggest that NOW may be one of the best opportunities in YEARS to find and onboard your next superstar biller.

That’s right. Most economic indicators are showing a bottoming to the economy and are predicting economic growth late this year and early next. The individuals you are looking for are more plentiful now than they will be next year. Additionally, some of the industry’s biggest billers were “recession children,” having started in times of economic duress.

The people hired in difficult times, with a proper system and mentoring, develop great discipline early on for survival. Once the economy turns, their billings explode as the same effort gets phenomenal results.

If this makes sense and you wish to learn a proven system to increase the likelihood of hiring a great recruiter by upwards of 350%, consider attending this year’s Fordyce Forum in Las Vegas on June 10, where I will be presenting a 3-hour workshop with my step-by-step system.

I will pull back the curtain and reveal the process that increased my ability to attract great talent, get them up and running quicker, and retain them longer.

Check it out at www.FordyceForum.com!

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