Bob Marshall
on Dec. 13, 2011
In the third and final installment of the “Closing and the Classic Closes,” we will cover the final five of the fifteen closes. They are: Tie Downs; What If…?; If I…Will You?; Reduce to the Ridiculous; and the Take Away. We hope you have enjoyed learning — or re-learning — these classic sales closes. Now employ them to increase your production.
Bob Marshall
on Dec. 8, 2011
In this, the second installment of the “Closing and the Classics Closes,” we will discuss five more Closes and how you can use them on your desk. They are: The Call Back Close; The Similar Situation Close; The Lost Sale Close; The Secondary Question Close; and The Sharp Angle, or ‘Porcupine’ Close. Enjoy…
The odds are not in your favor when you get this request, but there is a way to handle the call when you do call back. For those of you who know of the principle of “White Heat,” keep in mind that we are going to attempt to raise the interest level above the “Buy Line.” This is such a prevalent topic in recruiting that we even have an expression for it. We say, “Time kills all of our deals.” That’s why calling back after a period of time is not a good thing. So, when you do call back you never ask if they have thought about the situation in the intervening time span. If you do, you are going to get the famous “Yes-No” response—“Yes I have thought about it; No I am not interested.” Instead you:
Only when you do those three things, do you have a chance, remote though it might be, to raise the interest level above the “Buy Line” and close the deal in your favor.
Bob Marshall
on Nov. 28, 2011
The phone rang. When I answered, the caller was anxious. He was very close to putting a deal together, but was stuck in the hiring process. I suggested he go into a “Negative Yes” closing sequence. He didn’t know what that was. I said, “OK, then let’s try a ‘Ben Franklin Balance Sheet’ instead.” He didn’t know that one either. And finally I said that was OK as well, just to remember the “Reduce to the Ridiculous” if the salary objection came up again. He didn’t know that one either. And so, I ended the call by scheduling a time when I could teach him the traditional SALES CLOSES.
Bob Marshall
on Nov. 18, 2011
Editor’s note: Last week, we gave you part 3 of “The Phone Rang…” Robocruiter series. This week we continue this short series from Bob Marshall with part 4.
To recap, in Parts 1-3 we covered the definition of The Total Account Executive, the analogy between the A/E and the doctor, the ten manifestations of failure due to the lack of commitment, the six reasons why we market and how to market with a Feature-Accomplishment-Benefit format, and the “I have arranged…” technique. So, here we go with Part 4…
When we market we will uncover three distinct types of JOs: Search Assignment (SA), Matching and Can’t Help JOs. This is a ‘given;’ it is indisputable; and we must recognize that fact. If a superstar writes 15 JOs, 0-1 will be of SA quality and recruitable; 4-5 will be matching and semi-recruitable; and 10, or 2/3rds will be of the Can’t Help variety. So, the $64,000 question is: How do you determine which JOs are which? And which are recruitable?
Bob Marshall
on Nov. 11, 2011
Editor’s note: Last week, we gave you part 2 of “The Phone Rang…” Robocruiter series. This week we continue this short series from Bob Marshall with part 3.
For those of you who haven’t been exposed to Robocruiter before, buckle your seatbelts. I am going to take you on a brief flight through some of his more memorable (to me) recruitment technique snippets. By the end of our journey, you will be able to appreciate his complete mastery of our profession. 
This week, we will look at:
Bob Marshall
on Nov. 4, 2011
Editor’s note: Last week, we gave you part 1 of “The Phone Rang…” Robocruiter series, “The Total Account Executive.” This week we continue this short series from Bob Marshall with part 2.
For those of you who haven’t been exposed to Robocruiter before, buckle your seatbelts. I am going to take you on a brief flight through some of his more memorable (to me) recruitment technique snippets. In part 2 of our journey, we will look at:
Sprinkled within these major topics, I will discuss how Robocruiter qualifies his JOs and how he achieves a 100% matching to send out ratio.
Bob Marshall
on Oct. 28, 2011
The phone rang. I answered and boy was I surprised. At the other end of the line was someone I hadn’t spoken to in quite a long time and yet someone who had such a dramatic influence on my recruiting life. It was, in my opinion, the best recruiter who has ever lived, bar none. So good at our craft, in fact, that years ago I nicknamed him ‘Robocruiter’ (half man; half recruiter) after the 1987 futuristic movie Robocop. I also wanted to give him a nickname so that I could teach his techniques without disclosing his identity. I didn’t want him to be bothered by curious recruiters and I knew that would happen if I divulged his name. After all, we recruiters are not a shy lot.
Robocruiter called because he had committed to a speaking engagement and, since he knows that I do an awful lot of training and standup presentations, wanted to ask me some technical public speaking questions. We talked about speaking and then our conversation moved into the recruitment training arena. I told him that his concept of The Total Account Executive (AE) was one of my favorite topics. I also said that over the years, I have taught so much of what I learned from him that I couldn’t tell where he left off and I began. He thanked me and we went our separate ways.
For those of you who haven’t been exposed to Robocruiter before, buckle your seatbelts. I am going to take you on a brief flight through some of his more memorable (to me) recruitment technique snippets. By the end of our journey, you will be able to appreciate his complete mastery of our profession.
Bob Marshall
on Oct. 21, 2011
The phone rang. It was Craig, a recruitment firm owner from Westwood, California—home of my alma mater, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). I often think of UCLA…
One of the reasons I went to UCLA was that I wanted to be proud when I was asked where I received my college degree. And it worked. I am proud when asked that question. But, in addition to my diploma, I gained something else along the way. I became aware of the teachings of our legendary basketball coach, John Wooden – The Wizard of Westwood. I still remember watching him from the student section at Pauley Pavilion as the Bruins were warming up before a game; his calm professionalism; his rolled-up program; how he looked up into the stands behind the Bruin bench right before the tip-off to find his beloved wife Nellie and give her a wink and a wave.
During my college years, I learned about the Wooden Pyramid of Success that Coach spent fourteen years developing. It requires a lot for those who follow it, but it is a proven foundation to build upon.
In this article, I am going to discuss Coach Wooden’s pyramid and how the central blocks and the external casings relate to our world of executive recruitment.
Bob Marshall
on Oct. 14, 2011
My phone is ringing off the hook. More calls than I can remember receiving in a long time. Good news. The recruitment marketplace is heating up again. The callers are expressing a desire to re-attack their niches. This means they are getting ready to market again — an activity many of my students haven’t really concentrated on in months. And with marketing will inevitably come those pesky Hiring Manager (HM) objections, so now it’s time to remind everyone how to respond to them.
But first things first: why do we make marketing calls? We make marketing calls to find companies that fall into three general categories:
It is generally accepted by top producing recruiters that these three types of companies, which we will ultimately place with, make up 4% of our marketplace. So, if our marketplace contains 1500 contacts (which I recommend), then 4% of that marketplace equals 60 companies with which we will place. Multiply those 60 placements times an average fee of $10,000 and we have a $600,000 per year desk. Multiply those 60 placements by an average fee of $20,000 and we have our basic $1,200,000 annual operation. That, my friends, is how recruiters, by themselves, bill over $1,000,000 per year. They understand the math.
So now we have been reminded of why we need to make marketing calls. However, when we make them, we are invariably going to hear HM objections and there will be a tendency to give up way too early.
Bob Marshall
on Oct. 7, 2011
I caught myself staring out the window at the front pasture so icy and desolate in the late winter afternoon. It had been cold lately…unseasonably cold for Atlanta. And, with the vanishing warmth, I started having negative daydreams. Was this economy ever going to recover? Did our political leaders really know what they were doing? Was recruitment, as I had known it, a thing of the past, like typewriters and Polaroids? Sad thoughts. And then, as always, the phone rang.
I returned to the present and answered the phone. Another like soul was full of some of the same doubts I had just been having. But it was his question that shook me out of the doldrums. He asked, “What is the difference between success and failure in recruitment?”
This took me back to a meeting I had in Atlanta with one of the greatest sales trainers who ever lived. His name was Steve Brown and he was the Chairman of the Board of The Fortune Group. I told the caller to sit back and relax and listen to what I remembered from that memorable meeting — the meeting where Steve explained to me how salespeople acquire the Right Attitude.
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