Recently, many of the calls and emails I have received address the same subject: candidate marketing.

For example, here is part of the message I received from a strong regional client with multiple offices and specialties:

“In these challenging economic times, should our consultants be spending 50% of their time servicing existing clients and 50% of their time marketing candidates?”

As I pointed out in my response, these choices are not arbitrary or mutually exclusive. Rather, they should always be marketing MPCs (Most Placeable Candidates) to their new and existing clients. This is one of the benefits of having an ongoing relationship with their firm. The clients receive the benefit of “right of first refusal” on outstanding talent when it becomes available.

As an overall approach, marketing an MPC is generally a good methodology to use regardless of the vagaries of the economy because there is ALWAYS a shortage of good people — the “Difference Makers.”

It is particularly important because of the present state of the economy, where many clients are not actively seeking new employees. Therefore, our call affords them an opportunity to “topgrade” (see Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart – Prentice Hall, 1999), to take advantage of an opportunity to strengthen their team while providing us with a placement where a “no openings” situation may exist.

However, in order to be consistently successful in marketing MPCs, you must:

1. Properly select the right MPC and gain their buy-in and cooperation.
2. Select the right companies to contact and then target your approach to the appropriate hiring authority.
3. Develop and deliver an MPC presentation that, if your contact were to hire your MPC, demonstrates how they would impact, in a positive fashion, the performance capacity of the contact’s group, division, or company.

However, everything depends on your ability to recognize an MPC when you have one and then, very importantly, you need to know what to do with them once they are identified.