The Recruiter Campus

Recruiting Conference: Diary of Tips from Day 1 at the Recruiting Firm Owner Summit

2010-03-09T00:01:59-05:00

I just completed the first day at The Recruiting Firm Owner's Tele-Summit and I thought I would share with you some tips shared by our speakers you can use in your recruiting business today.

In the keynote session I shared the #1 reason recruiting firms fail... and it's LOW Activity levels. Fix this problem first in your operation. I have seen no firm with activity levels at the right level fail. PERIOD. Hone in on the key recruiting metrics and execute to high, specific presentation targets.

I also shared why most of the recruiting industry is filled with smaller firms of a billing manager and 2 to 3 recruiters. Billing managers are pulled in many different directions and need to have monthly, weekly, and daily objectives for the growth of their business, not just the daily fire fighting we all put up with. Net, net you need strong recruiting business plans that have defined executables.

Lastly, I shared my philosophy on hiring and onboarding and a number of ideas that will reduce turnover and increase productivity of your new hires. Here is one key tip:

Begin to manage expectations of your potential new recruiter in the interview process of what EXACTLY you will expect of them.

Neil Lebovits shared a number of ideas on how to use internet marketing to get clients calling you. The key take away is stay in touch with them via special tips on hiring. Add value between your calls with valuable content to them to keep top of mind awareness. He shared a number of ways to do this via blogs and newsletters. The key takeaway is to stay in front of your prospects between calls.

Mark Whitby's session was loaded with specifics on managing high performance with your recruiters without being a micro manager. The KEY takeaway here is to set weekly coaching meetings that can be as short as 15 minutes with your people to manage Key Performance Indicators (recruiting metrics). He shared how to set the agenda for these meetings and a fantastic follow-up system to insure performance stays at a high level.

You can still register for the Recruiting Summit. Yesterdays (and everyday's calls) are recorded so that you can listen on YOUR schedule or live, whatever suits you. Register at www.TheRecruitingFirmOwnerSummit.com now and get more of the "dish" from yesterday's presentations.

Recruiting Firm Owners: How to Market Your Firm to Get Clients Calling You!

2010-03-02T19:43:52-05:00

Today I interviewed recruiting industry legend, Bob Marshall on How to add a new industry specialty to your office and Neil Lebovits on how to use the internet to market your recruiting business and have those who hire reach out to you with their openings.

You can listen to the entire 35 minute call here,no registration, no strings attached. It's that good! You can also download the audio in MP3 if you like.

Here are a few tips Neil shared on Internet Marketing:

The traditional web site we all have developed is largely ineffective because most visitors don't buy or call you when and if they find your site. To convert these visitors you want to "capture" their email addresses on your website by giving them a free special report, a free video or audio training.

Once you capture their email address you can then market to them via email to stay in touch with them and establish yourself as an industry expert in your niche. An example of what a page like this would look like is my site . This is a strategy to get you in front of people in your niche continuously. For more details, listen to the call.

Here are a few of the tips Bob Marshall shared on establishing a new industry specialty:

Bob told us that 80% of our business comes from 20% or fewer of your clients and that you need to evolve to "power broker" status to become a big biller in that niche. Here's a few of the steps you need to take to start down the road of becoming a power broker in your recruiting niche:

Learn EXACTLY how many companies are in your new niche.
Start with many companies and later narrow the funnel after qualifying who is a match.
Bob's research shows that a big biller will have about 4% of their defined niche as clients.
Cycle through your recruiting niche at least once per quarter, meaning you should have a LIVE conversation with each hiring manager in your space at least once per quarter.
Don't focus on the 96% that don't need and want you, get thru them quickly to find the ripe fruit of the 4% that DO need you.

These are just a fraction of the tips these speakers and 10 others who will be speaking live, the week of March 8th, 2010 will share with you at the Recruiting Firm Owner's Strategy Summit. As a reader of my blog you can register for 10% off thru Sunday the 7th by entering the word GROW into the coupon code.

The recession is ending it's time to grow your recruiting firm again. Join us at the summit and learn the secrets of some of the industry's greatest thought leaders like Bill Radin, Pat Scopelliti, Mark Berger, Gary Stauble, Doug Beabout and others. They will teach you how to become wildly profitable as the rebound in the economy continues.

Time Manangement for Recruiters- How to Get Things Done in Your Recruiting Firm!

2010-02-16T20:53:33-05:00

See the image to the left? $50 bills blowing in the wind! That is what I see every day in many offices of recruiting firms. Money blowing out the window in lost time. You see to me it's visible. That wasn't always the case. I made the same mistakes as other recruiting firm owners and didn't really KNOW the value of my time. Not knowing this lowered its value significantly.

Today I interviewed two industry trainers Gary Stauble and Doug Beabout on how to get greater productivity in our recruiting firms. Here are some quick tips from Gary and Doug:

Create Strategic Urgency. Do tasks like recruit calls, marketing calls, Planning and strategic development time in 30 to 50 minute blocks using a digital timer that counts down. When the clock goes off, move on to the next task.
Have 10 minute meetings with your recruiters once per week where they have answers to predetermined questions in advance of the meeting. Questions like:

What have I accomplished the past 7 days?
What are my challenges now?
What are my opportunities?
What am I committed to the next 7 days?

Then coach them around the answers to help them implement their new ideas.

3. Hire a researcher, even in tough times, to take the $5 to $10 per hour activities that are keeping you from what you do best which is the interaction with your recruited candidates and clients.

This can be a part or full time person
They will leverage your time and do things you are probably putting off!

These were just a few of the ideas I took from these two speakers. You can get free access to this interview HERE. Both Gary and Doug are being featured as part of the world's first Recruiting Firm Owner Virtual Telesummit March 8th thru 12th designed specifically around the needs of recruiting firm owners.

Calling all Recruiting Firm Owners! Virtual Summit in March

2010-02-10T19:27:53-05:00

One of the largest voids I have found in the recruiting industry is the lack training or recruiting seminars dedicated specifically to us, the owners and managers of recruiting firms.

Well, I am doing my part to change that. I have gathered some of the most influential thought leaders like Bob Marshall, Bill Radin, Gary Stauble, Bill Boorman, Margaret Graziano, Mark Berger plus several others in a one week virtual telesummit with one purpose: to give you the tools, strategies, and tactics to emerge quickly and profitably from this recession.

What is a Virtual Telesummit? The speakers come together every afternoon the week of March 8th for 4 hours each day and present to you in "your office". No travel or time away, so you have no excuse not to invest the time in your business. Can't be on some of the calls live? No problem, you can listen whenever you want. Recordings will be posted within 24 hours of the presentation.

I have asked all the speakers to pull back the curtain and share some of their secrets that have made them successful. If you are looking for innovative ideas in finding, hiring, motivating recruiters you will want to listen in as to what these people have to say.

Check out the conference and the agenda. Register HERE for free sneak preview calls where the speakers share some of the ideas they will be presenting at the Summit.

Recruiting Plans: The Slate is Clear, What are you Going to Do About it?

2010-01-04T17:47:48-05:00

For most recruiting firm owners, 2009 sucked! Well it's over. Dead, buried! The stock market opened today with an almost 2% up day on strong reports of expansion in manufacturing. We all start at ZERO again this week.

So what are you going to do differently? What commitments are you prepared to make to yourself and your recruiting team this year that you will actually STICK with for the balance of the year?

Let's face it, this business can get very boring after a few years if you don't push yourself a bit. I believe the first step is a strong vision. You can read about how to build a strong vision here. The second step is taking the elements of that vision and creating a plan based on strong recruiting metrics.

What? You don't track your numbers? If you don't track your numbers you will NEVER have a sustainable, scalable recruiting business, you will have a recruiting practice. I can't say it any more bluntly than that. The good news is that you can CHOOSE to start tracking numbers now. Here's some ideas on how and why.

If you are doing 1 and 2 above, pick one thing to focus on implementing this month. That's it... ONE thing. Get it into your recruiting business. Get this strategy and/or tactic operational before you move on to the next thing.

If you have several ideas, save them for February or March... if your idea is fully implemented and is running in your business by mid-month, then sure move on to the next one.

The goal is not to roll into December thinking about all the things you NEVER got around to in 2010. Write one idea you are committed to in the comments section below! Put it out there! What's going to be different this year in your recruiting firm?

This WILL Change the Way You Look at Your Recruiting Business!

2009-12-16T12:31:14-05:00

Instead of my normal written article this week I am moved to do something I don't normally do.

Last week I held a teleseminar to help Recruiting Firm Owners get ready for 2010. I was so overwhelmed with notes on how much the call impacted those that attended and how the information made them look at their business in ways they never had before that I decided to make the replay available at no cost to all of my readers in the spirit of the season. No Catch!

In the call are 4 key strategies recruiters and owners can use to develop a plan that WORKS for them in 2010.

You do not need to register. Simply go to this link to download the call in MP3 format or to listen to it on your PC (plan on 45 minutes) on your time:

www.attendthisevent.com/?eventid=10120035

Happy Holidays!

Recruiters: How to Define Your Targets for 2010

2009-11-30T13:24:29-05:00

In my last post I explained why many recruiting plans fail. This week I give you a solid outline to build your plan for 2010.

In the next few days I challenge you to start setting objectives for next year. What do you want your business to look like on December 31st 2010? What EXACTLY did you accomplish?

Here are the recommended steps I would take right NOW:

1) Define your revenue target for 2010? Exactly. Don't even say one million bucks,... that tells me you didn't think it through.

How many placements EXACTLY is that number?
How many first time interviews EXACTLY is that number?
How many interviews per week do you need to get EXACTLY to hit your revenue target?
How many people do you need and in what roles to hit your target?

2) What is your hiring plan?
When do they start?
When are they producing?
What role are they playing?
How will you onboard them to increase the likelihood of success?
What is your accountability structure?

3) What new markets (if any) are you going to develop in 2010?

When is the research done?
When is the person hired to do this?

4) What is your training and recruiter/personnel development plan?

What conferences are you attending and what is the outcome goal of each one?
What training products do you already have that you can use and how and when will you use them? What is the outcome SPECIFICALLY of one of your recruiters having gone through this?
What specific plan do you have to reinvest in yourself to develop your business? What weaknesses need to be developed?
What strengths need to be leveraged?

5) What strategic elements are you implementing to motivate and retain your big billers and tenured recruiters?

What expanded role can they play that takes some of the burden off of you and also increases the reward and challenge to them?
What contests and incentives can you implement to get them motivated for 2010?

Guys and gals, I could keep going. However, from my experience these are the KEY elements of a successful plan. Spend-delete that word-INVEST some quiet time that YOU SCHEDULE like any other appointment to think through the answers. Furthermore, don't try and get all the answers in one sitting. Start with general answers that will build around your lifestyle, desires and earnings goals and then drill down.

My experience with the best plans is that they are the ones that are very specific with timed benchmarks and execution dates. Have fun with this! It's your business. It's your life! What SPECIFICALLY do you want it to look like?

Recruiting Business Plans: It's November HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-11-17T17:15:12-05:00

That's right, it is November and Happy New Year! And.... Yes, I am still fully functionally mentally.

You see, most of you know this, but do not "own" it deep inside. As recruiting firm owners we know that pretty much any work we do in November will lead to cash in January. Could some slip in December? Sure, but for all intents and purposes any NEW work you start now will be revenue in 2010.

OK, we all know this, but when do we do our annual recruiting business plans-if we plan at all? My experience is that most do their planning in late December and January. While any plan at any time is better than no plan at all, you have lost two months in 2010 of executing on a good focused plan for next year.

The good news in the market is most I have met at recent conferences where I have spoke as well as my coaching client base are seeing nice sustained increases in their business. Most are crawling out of the rubble to build and/or re-build their recruiting firm. I am telling them to start NOW!

I am coaching my clients to start hiring recruiters the right way with strong expectations and accountability structures. When these are in place your new hires make placements quicker and you weed the "wannabe's" out weeks and months before they drain you of precious resources you could be using on someone else.

Before I give you some solid tips on building a plan, let me share with you what a plan is NOT. A plan is NOT polling your office for what they will "sign up for" next year.

Doing a plan this way (I confess, I used to too a long time ago) takes control from you as the owner and makes it dependent on: 1) everyone being physically there at the end of the year, 2) all of them making their usually pie in the sky goals and 3) elements that you can't measure-other than pure placements-to insure execution.

In my next post I will give you a solid outline to build your plan for 2010. In the next few days I challenge you to start setting objectives for next year. What do you want your recruiting business to look like on December 31st 2010? What EXACTLY did you accomplish? Have those thoughts ready for the next column.

No One Ever Remebers Who Came in Second Place!

2009-10-28T19:05:34-04:00

Who lost the Super Bowl? Who lost the World Series last year? You probably don't remember and at best can come up with the answer only by thinking about it.

Well, now that's me! :-( I attended a national coaching conference in Dallas last week and I was one of 3 finalists for "Coaching Entrepreneur of the Year". I had a well prepared (and funny) presentation, and, well, so did the other finalists. The competition was tough and I came in 2nd by 2 votes to an incredibly worthy individual named Kelly Thorne from http://ibloom.us/. Kelly has built a great business at a very early age and is quite an inspiration! She truly deserved the award.

Here's what the experience taught me. The biggest value of the whole process was filling out the application. It made me reflect back on my recruiting coaching practice and focus on where I have come from. It made me focus on what I have built and the mistakes as well as the wins along the way. It also made the "gaps" very visible as to what I needed to do to develop the business going forward.

How often do you as a recruiting firm owner refelect on where you have come from? How often have you reflected on your mistakes, your goof ups? My long time coach, Pat Scopelliti taught me that there is "no dishonor in failure, the only dishonor is not learning from that failure". This lesson has made me millions over the years.

Do you tend to blame circumstances, the economy, your health, etc for what holds you back? There is NO learning there! There is NO personal development there!

The past is over, you can't change it... GET OVER IT! Do, however ANALYZE it. Ask questions like "What was it in me that brought this outcome?", and/or "Knowing what I know now, what will I do in a similar situation next time?

Recruiters- Do You Have Trouble Planning?

2009-10-14T09:14:18-04:00

One of the first challenges recruiting firm owners and recruiters bring to me as a coach is "Mike, I need help planning" and/or (read a 'whining' sound into this) "I don't plan well or at all!"

Well I have good news and bad news! This won't be the 157th article you read on good planning, on how to devote a period of your day to map out strategically what you will do next week and tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, I believe you need to do this, but just between you and me-- please keep this a secret-- I was HORRIBLE at it! That doesn't mean I didn't plan, but putting together lists, filling in forms made me want to stick needles in my eyes!!

Here is what it took me over 10 years to learn. Most likely poor planning is a result of the recruiter or recruiting firm owner having a very weak short and long term vision for their business. You see, "making a lot of money" is NOT a vision and frankly it is not even compelling until you can answer "How MUCH money?" and for "What SPECIFIC purpose?"

Here's a quick question to see if this applies to you:

Do you relax with a sigh of relief when you have billed enough to cover your personal and professional overhead for the month?

If you answered "yes", you may lack a vision or a purpose for your work beyond paying the monthly bills. As Michael Gerber says in his book Awaken The Entrepreneur Within "A business without a vision has no soul; a business without a soul has no heart, no passion. A businsess without passion is a business whose demise has already been foretold."

You see when you know WHAT you are building for WHAT purpose planning becomes easy. You simply say "I want to be 'there' and now I am 'here', what do I need to be doing right NOW to get just one or two steps closer to that target. Do that every day and now you have a plan!

OK, it's a bit more complicated than that, BUT if you do the couple fairly simple items of defining WHAT you wish to build and determine WHAT exactly that will provide you both personally and professionaly you will be doing more than 80% of the recruiters and recruiting firm owners do in our industry!

A lack of vision is just one of the sins recruiters and recruiting firm owners make building their businesses. For others you can ENROLL here for a FREE 7 part audio series delivered immediately to your inbox on the 6 other sins recruiting firm owners make and how to avoid them.