Recruiting and Candidate Dev

THE CONSIDERATIONS

Ø  The location and concentration of an industry

Ø  High demand professional and technical discipline(s)

Ø  Vertical market/horizontal market possibilities

Ø  Industry performance and future potential (the U.S. Industrial Outlook published by the U.S. government printing office in Washington, DC is an excellent and thorough research resource)

Ø  Optimum size of company for highest level of activity (typically the monolithic top twenty are not excellent choices for client development. Remember the old motto, Avis tries harder.)

Ø  Education requirements

Ø  Employee level in greatest demand, i.e., executives, managers, and individual performers.

MARKET DEVELOPMENT STEPS

Ø  Identify the total base of potential clients in your specialty via industrial or service directories and the FRB Beige Book mentioned previously.

Ø  Develop a marketing plan

Ø  Determine a strategy for the execution the marketing plan including daily action plans and desired contacts.

Ø  Conduct a market study as previously described.  Questions to ask:

·         What the company does

·         Areas of employee turnover and greatest demands for talent today

·         Growth potential

·         Decision-makers

·         Specific needs

·         Procedures, philosophy and corporate culture

·         Connectivity; one call should lead to the next

·         Determines whether or not the company utilizes recruiting services

Ø  Construct a daily action plan for client contact with decision-makers.

Ø  Be aware of trends that develop in your marketplace by talking with professionals in technical and professional societies. Stay abreast of trends by reading articles and promotion notices in newspapers, trade, professional and technical publications. Watch for positions frequently recruited and size of hiring companies.

Ø  Track the high profile and growing companies in your desired niche and develop a file or database record on each of them. (This is a great duty for a search consultant and a non-productive use of a consultant’s prime time.)

Ø  Contact the associations, societies, groups, and publications relevant to your specialty.

Ø  Build your client possibilities by completing of at least of five cold client contacts each business day.

Get on the telephone and track of your daily, weekly and monthly success numbers in order to measure the effectiveness of your efforts and potential of your chosen niche
Research Resource:
Federal Reserve Bank

You need to investigate every piece of information available to determine to true potential of your desired niche.  The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank system provides an added source of information.  Some techniques to gain information from the Federal Reserve Bank System are:

1.      Call a Federal Reserve branch office from the attached list to receive economic trends on all or specific industries in their geographic region.

2.      Call the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington DC for national scope insights on any specific industry.

3.      Place yourself on the Federal Reserve Bank regional and/or national mailing list.

Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, DC has eleven branches that will provide details and up to date insights on specific industries and regional areas. Exploit this tax dollar funded resource base to become well versed on a market's potential.  Once a final decision is made to develop a niche or specific industrial market, research resources continue to provide additional support. You should also acquire, as a business investment, national, state and industry specific directories.  Many can be found on the Internet and in many public libraries. This eliminates the need to invest a lot of start up capital into a research resource library. The Federal Reserve Banks can be contacted as follows: (some of these numbers may change as new administrations arise)

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
404/521-8934, fax 404/521-8391

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
617/973-3000, fax 617/973-5903

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
312/322-5110, fax 312/322-5770

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
216/579-2175, fax 216/579-2477

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
214/922-5252, fax 214/922-6500

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
816/881-2697, fax 816/881-2846

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
612/340-2373, fax 612/344-2796

Federal Reserve Bank of New York
212/720-5000, fax 212/720-5780

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
215/574-6482, fax 215/574-3980

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
804/697-8000, fax 804/697-8044

Federal Reserve Band of St. Louis
314/444-8444, fax 314/444-8452

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
415/974-2000, fax 415/974-2318

The Federal Reserve Board
202/452-2631, fax 202/452-6481
Market Study

DEFINITION

A market study is an organized and planned effort to determine if a desired industry specialization can provide sufficient opportunity to meet or exceed your billing goals. This non-threatening approach is an effective way to start the marketing process, using an indirect, professional and comfortable process. Each person you contact in a decision making position is asked questions to determine how many openings they are forecasting and how cooperatively they might work with us. The secondary, but essential benefit is that this approach establishes a great understanding of the company.  When a client contact feels understood, they are then best positioned and prepared to listen to how we work.

BENEFITS

Ø  Increased potential for success when executing relationship-selling calls while minimizing rejection.

Ø  Helps to make better decisions regarding client and source companies.

Ø  Adds valuable contacts and resources to your competency network.

THE PLAN

Ø  Identify industry and SIC codes. When identifying industry to be developed, consider the following:

·         Previous work experiences and technical knowledge

·         Personal preference

·         Personal ability to relate to the market

Ø  Do your homework to identify high potential companies to call. Use the following guidelines:

·         Geographic concentration of an industry and the location of your firm

·         Function and professional technical discipline(s)

·         Vertical market/horizontal market potential

·         Industry history and performance forecast

·         Size of company for high potential client(s)

·         Education requirements in demand

·         Companies that employ between 200 and 3,000 employees at one location are higher potential companies.

·         Companies that employ fewer than 200 or more than 3,000 employees at one facility are lower potential companies.

Ø  Do your research to develop specific company contact information and names when available. Your plan should include 75 planned calls per day. Include SIC code, company name, contact name and title, number of employees and city/state in your call plan notes.

Ø  Plan five business days, in a concerted effort, or plan an integrated effort to complete enough calls to make a reasonable decision on the feasibil­ity of your chosen.

Ø  Lead the conversation from general information gathering to gaining more specific insights about their use of recruiters. Do not rush the process. It might take several calls to effective gather the information without alienating the contact.  You never want to create the impression that you either taking a survey or using the call as a ruse to see if they have any openings. The purpose of each call is to learn as much as possible about the industry and if the company possesses the potential to be developed into a client. (Suggested types of questions are at the conclusion of this section.)

Ø  Complete at least 100-150 (or 75% of the companies) successful calls and decide whether to work the industry.

Ø  Our purpose in making these calls is to determine to whether your choice of niche will support your company goals. When you talk with a hiring authority and an open position is mentioned, discuss your serv­ices in terms of the company's requirements. Remember that a client is never appropriately devel­oped or a search adequately defined in one call.

SOME APPROACHES AND QUESTIONS

APPROACHES

Hello, ______________, my name is _______________. I am a
Search consultant with [your firm’s name]. Could I have a minute of your time? Or,

I understand you are something of a guru in the _________ industry.

If the response is: I'm not looking, nor am I hiring, respond with, that’s great! I'm not buy­ing or selling today. I'm just trying to learn a little more about your organization.

I’d really like to learn more about the ______________ industry. We are considering the development of your industry as a specialization. Or, I'm interested in developing a relationship with your organization and would appreciate your insights.

If the response is: I'm busy or in a meeting, don’t push the process, end the call with, When can I call back? Set a date and time convenient to your new contact to avoid playing telephone tag.

QUESTIONS

I see that the industry seems to be moving toward _______________ right now. Is your company taking part in that? (Discuss facts, never speculate or editorialize. You are doing this to learn and establish a sense of understanding. Do your research to be accurate what you say about a niche or industry.)

How do you see the near term realities of your industry over the couple of years?

Regarding:

Ø  Sales growth

Ø  New products and product lines (Avoid or dispel their possible concerns about disclosing any proprietary information.)

Ø  Foreign and domestic competition

Ø  Hot technologies and candidate skills

I understand your firm manufacturer’s __________________.

Is that your main (or only) product?

What other products does your company make ___________________?

Or,

I saw your company’s web site. We have you listed as a manufacturer of_______________. Is that accurate? What else does your company do?

I would like to know more about your company. Lead the conversation about their business products, processes, and new developments.

How do you customarily find the best-qualified candidates for your essential posi­tions?  What do you like about that approach? (If other than recruiting services) How would you improve the results you receive, if you could? (Describe your search process … emphasize how we differ from contact’s experiences with other firms.)

Have you ever used executive recruiters?  For what kind of positions? Does your firm pay full fees? (Disclose your fee and what you do to earn it if asked.)

OPTIONAL CALL

Good morning/afternoon … My name is _______________.  I’m a Search consultant with [your firm’s name].  Are you familiar with our organization?

In short, ____________________is a nationwide executive search firm. We were founded [X} years ago. (Or we have been associated with the ___________industry for XX years) we specialize in the (your chosen niche).

Do you have a few minutes to talk? (Often a few minutes will turn into many with a high potential contact)

If yes, continue but, monitor the tension level of the listener and reschedule the call if it rises

If no, Schedule a specific time convenient to the contact.

Ask what they do at the company.

I understand that your company makes/sells/services _______________Is that correct?

How’s business?

Continue at this point in the same inquiring approach as shown in the first example above.

Any current openings? (If yes) Are you getting the results you need?

If they are hiring:

I would really appreciate the opportunity to let you understand and see how we work.  Can we schedule a time when you discuss our process with me?

If not:

I’d like to talk with you again. Is there a better time of day to reach you?  I will call you next month. By the way, here’s my number.. don’t hesitate to call me if I can be of service to you.

I’ll send you my card.

Who else in the company should I talk to?  Etc

CONCLUSION

It is important to actively and carefully listen as you lead the discussion. The success of your marketing and recruiting effort depends on the infor­mation you receive. This process allows maximum coverage of an industry. Begin sourcing from those companies who dem­onstrate limited potential. Follow up calls should be placed to those contacts we felt the highest potential in talking to and were the most comfortable with.

Then decide to pursue this niche or look at another.  Do not make a career out of these non-threatening calls. It will doubtlessly be a short and very non-productive one.

RULES OF THUMB

Ø  At least 25% of your market study contacts should have identified high potential client companies requiring our services

Ø  Completed 100-150 calls to hiring authorities and company decision makers

Ø  Identify trends in your market research to include hot positions, search fees, hiring cycles and attitudes towards recruiters.

REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS OF A GOOD CHOICE IN SPECIALIZATIONS

Ø  Can identify several searches each week

Ø  If market is healthy but does not support full-time activity goals, develop a second market.


BIOGRAPHY

New and unique in recruiter training resources is Doug's 2008 Complete Recruiting Process Training System on audio CD. This six-hour training system covers the extensive process Doug applies everyday to his client's most critical requirement.

See the details on Doug's website at: The Complete Recruiting Process Training System 2008

For the first time in recruiting history, an interactive, on-demand recruiter training course has been made available!

The Art of the Recruiting Masters eCourse is a comprehensive training program for both rookie and veteran recruiters. Details on this exciting new way to master the techniques of top producers can be seen at:
www.RecruiterELearning.com.

Researcher ECourse is also a comprehensive and interactive training course combining both the art of recruiting with the technologies of 2008. Details of this unique and convenient, cost-effective training opportunity are found at: www.ResearcherELearning.com

Call Doug today at 850.424.6933 or email him at trainer@recruiterelearning.com , he will take you to your highest billing goals.

//

//he attached list to receive economic trends on all or specific industries in their geographic region.

2.      Call the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington DC for national scope insights on any specific industry.

3.      Place yourself on the Federal Reserve Bank regional and/or national mailing list.

Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, DC has eleven branches that will provide details and up to date insights on specific industries and regional areas. Exploit this tax dollar funded resource base to become well versed on a market's potential.  Once a final decision is made to develop a niche or specific industrial market, research resources continue to provide additional support. You should also acquire, as a business investment, national, state and industry specific directories.  Many can be found on the Internet and in many public libraries. This eliminates the need to invest a lot of start up capital into a research resource library. The Federal Reserve Banks can be contacted as follows: (some of these numbers may change as new administrations arise)

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
404/521-8934, fax 404/521-8391

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
617/973-3000, fax 617/973-5903

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
312/322-5110, fax 312/322-5770

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
216/579-2175, fax 216/579-2477

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
214/922-5252, fax 214/922-6500

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
816/881-2697, fax 816/881-2846

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
612/340-2373, fax 612/344-2796

Federal Reserve Bank of New York
212/720-5000, fax 212/720-5780

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
215/574-6482, fax 215/574-3980

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
804/697-8000, fax 804/697-8044

Federal Reserve Band of St. Louis
314/444-8444, fax 314/444-8452

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
415/974-2000, fax 415/974-2318

The Federal Reserve Board
202/452-2631, fax 202/452-6481
Market Study

DEFINITION

A market study is an organized and planned effort to determine if a desired industry specialization can provide sufficient opportunity to meet or exceed your billing goals. This non-threatening approach is an effective way to start the marketing process, using an indirect, professional and comfortable process. Each person you contact in a decision making position is asked questions to determine how many openings they are forecasting and how cooperatively they might work with us. The secondary, but essential benefit is that this approach establishes a great understanding of the company.  When a client contact feels understood, they are then best positioned and prepared to listen to how we work.

BENEFITS

Ø  Increased potential for success when executing relationship-selling calls while minimizing rejection.

Ø  Helps to make better decisions regarding client and source companies.

Ø  Adds valuable contacts and resources to your competency network.

THE PLAN

Ø  Identify industry and SIC codes. When identifying industry to be developed, consider the following:

·         Previous work experiences and technical knowledge

·         Personal preference

·         Personal ability to relate to the market

Ø  Do your homework to identify high potential companies to call. Use the following guidelines:

·         Geographic concentration of an industry and the location of your firm

·         Function and professional technical discipline(s)

·         Vertical market/horizontal market potential

·         Industry history and performance forecast

·         Size of company for high potential client(s)

·         Education requirements in demand

·         Companies that employ between 200 and 3,000 employees at one location are higher potential companies.

·         Companies that employ fewer than 200 or more than 3,000 employees at one facility are lower potential companies.

Ø  Do your research to develop specific company contact information and names when available. Your plan should include 75 planned calls per day. Include SIC code, company name, contact name and title, number of employees and city/state in your call plan notes.

Ø  Plan five business days, in a concerted effort, or plan an integrated effort to complete enough calls to make a reasonable decision on the feasibil­ity of your chosen.

Ø  Lead the conversation from general information gathering to gaining more specific insights about their use of recruiters. Do not rush the process. It might take several calls to effective gather the information without alienating the contact.  You never want to create the impression that you either taking a survey or using the call as a ruse to see if they have any openings. The purpose of each call is to learn as much as possible about the industry and if the company possesses the potential to be developed into a client. (Suggested types of questions are at the conclusion of this section.)

Ø  Complete at least 100-150 (or 75% of the companies) successful calls and decide whether to work the industry.

Ø  Our purpose in making these calls is to determine to whether your choice of niche will support your company goals. When you talk with a hiring authority and an open position is mentioned, discuss your serv­ices in terms of the company's requirements. Remember that a client is never appropriately devel­oped or a search adequately defined in one call.

SOME APPROACHES AND QUESTIONS

APPROACHES

Hello, ______________, my name is _______________. I am a
Search consultant with [your firm’s name]. Could I have a minute of your time? Or,

I understand you are something of a guru in the _________ industry.

If the response is: I'm not looking, nor am I hiring, respond with, that’s great! I'm not buy­ing or selling today. I'm just trying to learn a little more about your organization.

I’d really like to learn more about the ______________ industry. We are considering the development of your industry as a specialization. Or, I'm interested in developing a relationship with your organization and would appreciate your insights.

If the response is: I'm busy or in a meeting, don’t push the process, end the call with, When can I call back? Set a date and time convenient to your new contact to avoid playing telephone tag.

QUESTIONS

I see that the industry seems to be moving toward _______________ right now. Is your company taking part in that? (Discuss facts, never speculate or editorialize. You are doing this to learn and establish a sense of understanding. Do your research to be accurate what you say about a niche or industry.)

How do you see the near term realities of your industry over the couple of years?

Regarding:

Ø  Sales growth

Ø  New products and product lines (Avoid or dispel their possible concerns about disclosing any proprietary information.)

Ø  Foreign and domestic competition

Ø  Hot technologies and candidate skills

I understand your firm manufacturer’s __________________.

Is that your main (or only) product?

What other products does your company make ___________________?

Or,

I saw your company’s web site. We have you listed as a manufacturer of_______________. Is that accurate? What else does your company do?

I would like to know more about your company. Lead the conversation about their business products, processes, and new developments.

How do you customarily find the best-qualified candidates for your essential posi­tions?  What do you like about that approach? (If other than recruiting services) How would you improve the results you receive, if you could? (Describe your search process … emphasize how we differ from contact’s experiences with other firms.)

Have you ever used executive recruiters?  For what kind of positions? Does your firm pay full fees? (Disclose your fee and what you do to earn it if asked.)

OPTIONAL CALL

Good morning/afternoon … My name is _______________.  I’m a Search consultant with [your firm’s name].  Are you familiar with our organization?

In short, ____________________is a nationwide executive search firm. We were founded [X} years ago. (Or we have been associated with the ___________industry for XX years) we specialize in the (your chosen niche).

Do you have a few minutes to talk? (Often a few minutes will turn into many with a high potential contact)

If yes, continue but, monitor the tension level of the listener and reschedule the call if it rises

If no, Schedule a specific time convenient to the contact.

Ask what they do at the company.

I understand that your company makes/sells/services _______________Is that correct?

How’s business?

Continue at this point in the same inquiring approach as shown in the first example above.

Any current openings? (If yes) Are you getting the results you need?

If they are hiring:

I would really appreciate the opportunity to let you understand and see how we work.  Can we schedule a time when you discuss our process with me?

If not:

I’d like to talk with you again. Is there a better time of day to reach you?  I will call you next month. By the way, here’s my number.. don’t hesitate to call me if I can be of service to you.

I’ll send you my card.

Who else in the company should I talk to?  Etc

CONCLUSION

It is important to actively and carefully listen as you lead the discussion. The success of your marketing and recruiting effort depends on the infor­mation you receive. This process allows maximum coverage of an industry. Begin sourcing from those companies who dem­onstrate limited potential. Follow up calls should be placed to those contacts we felt the highest potential in talking to and were the most comfortable with.

Then decide to pursue this niche or look at another.  Do not make a career out of these non-threatening calls. It will doubtlessly be a short and very non-productive one.

RULES OF THUMB

Ø  At least 25% of your market study contacts should have identified high potential client companies requiring our services

Ø  Completed 100-150 calls to hiring authorities and company decision makers

Ø  Identify trends in your market research to include hot positions, search fees, hiring cycles and attitudes towards recruiters.

REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS OF A GOOD CHOICE IN SPECIALIZATIONS

Ø  Can identify several searches each week

Ø  If market is healthy but does not support full-time activity goals, develop a second market.

-------------------------------------------------------

BIOGRAPHY

Doug Beabout CPC CSP brings over twenty-seven years of expertise in top production, personnel services firm ownership, and industry training. His reputation for training excellence has placed him, repeatedly, as a guest speaker for the National Association of Personnel Services. Doug currently works with many state level associations as a featured trainer and speaker at several state conferences. He is a business consultant to many franchised and independent personnel services firms.

Doug is owner and president of The Douglas Howard Group, a personnel and training services company. Doug works a “desk” every day and he is uniquely qualified as a personnel services industry trainer. Many of his clients have put their net worth ON THE LINE to succeed in the personnel services industry and did as a result of his training and guidance.

Doug previously held the position of Vice-President of Training and Development for SRA International, Inc. for ten years and was responsible for the establishment and success of hundreds of personnel services firms and their staff members. Prior, Doug was owner and president of a successful contingency, temporary and retained personnel services firm for ten years in Dayton, Ohio. He gained his early placement experience as a personnel services consultant in an independent firm.

Doug’s professional experience started as an officer in Strategic Air Command. He was assigned to several B-52 bomber units throughout the continental U.S. and Pacific regions. Doug has a Bachelor's degree in Comprehensive Training and Education.

Doug has held the title of CPC; certified personnel consultant (NAPS) since 1981 and is included in several Marquis’ Who’s Who publications.

His websites, www.RecruiterElearning.com and www.ResearcherElearning.com detail many of his services to the recruiters in this ongoing War for Talent. 

Doug can be reached at his Destin Florida Search Consulting firm, the Douglas Howard Group, 850.424.6933Call Doug today at 850.424.6933 or email him at trainer@recruiterelearning.com , he will take you to your highest billing goals.

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