Direct Marketing of Talent

Hi group, I'm new here. I've been in mid-level retained recruiting for quite a while (I helped start JobPlex.com back in the late 90s). Like a lot of folks in our industry, even with great clients, I'm experiencing a slow period. My question is, is it possible to market solid candidates I worked with for retained searches that didn't get offers? About half are still employed and half are between jobs. It's tough listening to their stories. So has anybody here had any luck taking great candidates directly to clients when no requisition exists? I realize it's probably easier taking them to clients you already work with but what about new clients (most of mine have hard frozen their hiring)? How do you do it? How do you bring up and discuss fees? I haven't a clue as to what those discussions sound like since my work has been normal retained assignments under contract. Any comments or techniques you can share would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Beryl

Comment by Amitai Givertz on February 15, 2009 at 9:37pm: Beryl, hmmm....

Given the hit-and-miss nature of what you are suggesting you might find more value over time in carving out an hour or two a day to make introductions on the basis that the two parties may share mutual interests or have something else in common.

As counter intuitive as it might seem "paying it forward" and building goodwill across your network may pay bigger dividends down the road than diverting the energy you should be investing in generating business now.

For what it's worth, my feeling is that when business slows down you should speed up, not change course. When business is good or bad, people remember random acts of kindness. Pay it forward.

Comment by berrelc on February 18, 2009 at 8:32pm: Amitai-Thanks for the thoughtful response. I'm a big fan of the "paying it forward" way of doing things and often provide introductions. This not only makes long-term business sense, as you point out, but it also suits my nature. That said, I have partners (they are not recruiters) and they expect me to aggressively leverage our assets. Two of those assets are 1) a pretty good inventory of C-suite/senior finance people and 2) a fairly extensive network of influential contacts. I was asked to actively mine those two things. In fact it was put to me like this in an e-mail from a lead partner, "Beryl I know you have a lot of finance people in your files, some of whom are my friends. I also know several companies that need senior finance help. Please figure out how you can merge those two in a way that generates fees. Thanks."

My challenge is while I can understand how this can be efficient for the buyer of the talent (no wait, modified fees, etc.) I don't know how to speak to it and I certainly don't know how to bring up the fees. My sense is everybody would expect you to do it for free, despite the immediate value they derive. I can't do that. It has been mandated at my end to be an immediate and fair exchange of value.

Comment by Amitai Givertz on February 18, 2009 at 10:37pm: Beryl, the detail you give sheds a different light on things.

Let's pick it apart...

"Beryl I know you have a lot of finance people in your files, some of whom are my friends.

>> What does the fact that some of the people in your files are personal friends of the senior partner have to do with this? Is this effort in part to help them out? There's certainly nothing wrong with that if it is but I suspect it's a red herring. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

>>...several companies that need senior finance help. Please figure out how you can merge those two in a way that generates fees.

Well, how is that different from "business as usual?" If you have supply to meet the demand I'm not sure where the challenge is. Oh, hold on...

>> My challenge is while I can understand how this can be efficient for the buyer of the talent (no wait, modified fees, etc.) I don't know how to speak to it...

I think you just did speak to it -- no wait and modified fees [whatever that means]

>> I certainly don't know how to bring up the fees.

This is where I suspect the real problem is.

>> My sense is everybody would expect you to do it for free

Now I'm pretty sure this is the problem surfacing here....

>> I can't do that.

That's it!

Beryl, I could be way off the mark, but it sounds like your getting in the way of your own success, buying into the "sky is falling" claptrap and procrastinating as a result. If you distill what you're saying it is "I have an opportunity to develop business, place candidates and get a fee" on the one hand and "I don't believe I can restate my value proposition in today's panicked environment" on the other.

I hate to tell you this but you have to pick one of those positions and live with it.

I'll happily take the names of the people in your files and your extensive network of influential contacts [especially the ones you say need senior finance help] and pay you 25% of the fee for every placement I make.

If that helps you get over "My sense is everybody would expect you to do it for free" great. If it helps you "leverage your assets" -- consider me an asset, Beryl -- even better!

Watcha wanna do?