Obamacare...let the games begin!

http://m.cnbc.com//id/100389422/Obamacare_Drives_a_Bull_Market_In_Staffing_Agencies

Great article from socialmediaclub.com

10 Step Process for Creating a Kick Butt Social Media Strategy | Social Media Club

Qualifying Orders

I was reading an article the other day from a recruiter who said there are 3 things you should always do in order to qualify an order.  Although I agree with those 3 things...they alone do not a qualified order make!

His were:

1. Budget allocation?
2. Job Description?
3. Why is the position open?

I thought I'd just do a quick post and add to those...

1. Hiring process?
2. Who is the decision maker?
3. Target start date? ("YESTERDAY!" and "ASAP!!" are not a start dates...)
4. Interview time(s)
5. Priority to get filled on scale of 1-10? (client)
6. Length of assignment (if contract/temp)?

This isn't about being anal!  It's about smart business decisions.  It's about allowing yourself or your recruiter the ability to expedite this order OR put a more qualified/urgent order ahead of it!  OR get your butt back out on the street and find better business!!

My advice is to make a "requirement" form OR start using the one you might already have.  The idea is to make a habit of asking the SAME questions EVERY time you take an order.  Your business WILL absolutely grow because recruiters 99 times out of 100 will work their butts off if they are sure it's a qualified opportunity!

My advice to recruiters...  Ask that this start happening (if it's not already)!  OR...ask these questions before you work the order!  You have EVERY right to do so!!  I guarantee your leadership would rather have you doing this than spinning your wheels for a week on the same position only to find out your client is just "testing the waters..."

Get ready!

Don't take these next couple weeks for granted in terms of "down time."  Some things that I am reading and seeing are telling me that the first two months of 2012 are going to offer quite a bit of opportunity for recruiting (both temp and DH). 

By all means, if you can, take the time to regroup and enjoy family...do so!  That said, its also a great time to simply prepare your business development strategy for Jan. and Feb! 

Every year it happens... recruiting leadership wonders why "this year" seems to be producing worse results than years past!  Granted it IS typically a slower period for staffing than say...spring/summer, HOWEVER, sales people going into proverbial "hibernation" from Thanksgiving to New Years day definitely doesn't help!

Take this time to plan your sales strategy because I guarantee that the vast majority of your competition is NOT!

Happy Holidays!

 Generally speaking, staffing is slower this time of year. Take the time to be grateful to your customers, your team, and the organization you represent! This IS NOT the time to be ungrateful and/or regretful. It is by the shear grace of God that we are even priviledged enough to be here! I'm not sure if it's the time of year, however for some reason I've started waking up in the morning and realizing I have a choice.... I can be grateful and excited for the gifts I have been blessed with and $ can't buy...OR...I can continue question why I don't have more of what eventually is never enough ($).
Please don't misinterpret my thoughts here!! I'm not saying that making $ is a bad thing and that you shouldn't have goals! I'm only standing on my holiday soap box because even though having served my country and being a proud veteran of the US ARMY... I've been the one in the past to discount what I HAVE for what I want more of...It's not the circumstances that matter as to WHY you "reflect"...it's what you chose to do with WHAT you see looking back at you (Todd Mauser 12/19/2011).  I chose to apologize, to forgive, AND to appreciate ;-)
HAPPIEST OF HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!

How hard can it be???

One of the most ridiculous things I've witnessed over the years is when a staffing firms hires a new sales person off the street with zero staffing experience and then has them out selling in less than a week!  OK, I get that its not rocket science, however, it ain't gravy either!  Do yourself and the credibility of the recruiting industry a favor...at the VERY LEAST put a chair next to your very best recruiter and have your wet-behind-the-ears sales rep shadow that recruiter for at least 3 weeks.  It's hard enough to establish credibility in our industry...it's that much harder to get it back!
Another positive spin-off happens from entrusting your recruiter to "break-in the new guy"... you've started creating a sense of ownership with your recruiter!  That's PRICELESS!!!

Partner or not...YOU ARE STILL A GUEST IN THEIR HOUSE!

In 17yrs of staffing experience I wish I had a nickle for every time I've heard a client walk away from a vendor they perceived to be less than committed to a TWO-WAY relationship.  Whether it be with their current staffing service and with every interaction/communication the client came away feeling as though they were the burden on the recruiting firm...Similar to my teenager who wants me to give her $20 AND drive her and her friend to the skating rink BUT rolls her eyes when I ask her to empty the dishwasher first...or the hot shot sales guy from XYZ Staffing who felt THEY knew what was best for the prospect...OR STILL BETTER YET...he was simply going to tell his account what was and wasn't going to happen!!  Ohhh yes...this absolutely happens!

Let me explain...  If you're in the recruiting industry and you service the same account for a year representing the PDQ Staffing Solutions Company... What will the client be reminded of every time someone mentions the name PDQ Staffing Solutions Company??  YOU!!!

...continuing with my explanation...

Now let's say that after that first year you have done such a great job growing customer share within this client that it requires a couple different employees from PDQ Staffing Staffing Solutions Company to "touch" different parts/areas of your client for various reasons and communicating with various departments i.e. billing, recruiting, HR, misc issues, etc.  Only one of your counterparts need not be on the same page when it comes to the "uniqueness" of this account....OR that you MUST handle communications with "this" department in a certain way....OR that this account is being pressured by their corporate office to bring in a second vendor so we need to raise the bar even further!  It takes a team to sustain a large successful client...BUT it only takes "1" to bring it crashing to the ground!

The moral of this story... know (from your support functions) who is involved in your accounts, business, area (fill in the blank) besides yourself.  TREAT THEM AS VALUED STAKE HOLDERS...BECAUSE THEY ARE!  Make sure you are on the same page with them when it comes to a "service level" philosophy.  Don't go into those conversations shaking your finger in someone's face and telling them they had better or better not act a certain way.  Address EACH conversations by allowing "buy-in" which in turn creates ownership.  This is done by allowing their participation in creating an "account strategy"...