retainers and partial retainers

A while back I had what is always great conversation with Don Ramer. I enjoy seeing him at shows and we always have fun at night. Last time I saw him he said something interesting to me. At one point he puts his arm around me and says something like do you know the thing about bacon and eggs? I said I like to eat it but I am not sure if that's what you're talking about. He said the chicken made a donation but the pig made a commitment. I think about that all of the time. It's been a few months now and tonight I finally have figured it out and I know if I were still making placements and picking up job orders, this simple translation into recruiting would have for sure increased my production.

Maybe if I would have asked current and potential clients up front and immediately, whether or not they have any recruiters on retained or partially retained searches and if they said no, have they ever in the last year. I think this is something I never thought to ask but in doing so, I would have cut out a tremendous amount of wasted time. I know you can't ask this right when you get the person on the line but at least if I would have been aware that I had to find out it on the first call, it would have been a good thing, It's easy to work into a conversation If you're having a conversation.

Comment by Paul DeBettignies on December 25, 2008 at 10:16pm: I have always asked if other firms were working on a search and if so how many, why have they not filled it, what have the obstacles been. Their answer(s) played a big part in my decision to work on a search.

I have made a few changes to my business in the past year. One was no longer doing searches other firms were doing. I went to the "last resort" model as in call me after the internal team, ads, referrals, and other search firms could not fill a position. In most cases it was not an impossible search but a tough enough one that others did not want to spend a lot of time on. At that point any conversation on fees has been fairly simple.

Along that line I removed myself from most all the vendor lists I was on. Rather than fight a bunch of firms for the same searches or the famous "Submit 2 best candidates by Friday" I started doing splits with a couple of the firms I know and trust. The number of splits made is greater than the number of searches I closed.

Another is what Craig mentions. It has led to greater stability for me as a one man band of a search firm.

These have not been easy changes but over the past year it has put me in a better situation.