“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky
I’m guessing everyone is looking for ways to “take more shots” in 2019! In my experience, great years occur when you work more orders and market more candidates. Not every deal is going to come together so spend less time wringing your hands over those deals that fell apart. Think about how you can continue to push more send outs (first interviews) into the pipeline! Your success today is less about your pipeline and more about new activity that you have initiated. Don’t be the bird that spends half its time sitting on a nest and waiting for eggs to hatch!
1. Commit to working the NPAworldwide network! This expanded dashboard will lead to “taking more shots!” Here are some suggestions!
- Set a production goal for NPAworldwide placement!
- Increasing your engagement in NPA will lead to more opportunities to find a candidate or connect one of your candidates to a partner firm job.
- Set Alerts in Matchmaker. Think of this as part of your daily instrument panel. You might find matching opportunities for your candidates by staying current on opportunities in the network.
- Take part in a “coffee call” served up by one of our great staff members. Check out the calendar here. The staff are there to help you increase revenue!
- Join in on Practice Group and/or an Area call. This is another way to increase your odds of connecting to an opportunity.
- Attend the Global Conference convening in Long Beach April 4-6. These meetings lead to opportunities. The Global Conference will provide exposure to leading industry trainers. I have long attended these meetings for several reasons. The relationships you build will lead to future opportunities. I have found that this conference provides a learning and re-charge with hopefully new perspectives, tools and strategies to implement. The opportunity to grow relationships built at this conferences provide immense value over time.
- Attend local or regional meetings. This is another chance to open a larger umbrella for business within your area or region. NPAworldwide leadership has committed to building cohesion within geographic areas. Also, building relationships within a geography will ultimately lead to more financial opportunities. It works!
2. MPC Marketing. You have just finished a search and have two strong candidates who didn’t get the job. You know these candidates are highly placeable. Find creative ways to market those candidates. Acting as a talent scout for other companies is value added to them and you are staying “close to the money” by being a yes from getting a send out!
3. Daily Planning!! Daily Planning!! Daily Planning!! This is the single most critical thing you can do to increase your production. Use time blocks on your calendar to keep you focused. Plan your day in advance. Time block after 4:30 to plan the following day. If you go into the day with calls lined up then you will be more productive. Incremental production = more placements!
4. Stay on the phone! PHONE = MONEY. Call past clients, past references, past placed candidates etc. When you are on the phone you are close to making money. When you are sourcing…you are not! Track the number of calls you are making and set goals. Be disciplined!
5. Be Assumptive – Obviously assumptive on the positive side! Envision deals coming together and be pro-active moving things forward. Here are three things to incorporate into your methodology;
- Anticipate client questions about a candidate and answer those when you submit the resume. Include availability to interview.
- If the first interview goes well then check and reference and send them unsolicited. This will bolster the case for the candidate and it might help separate that candidate from the pack.
- Question candidate interest level, money, counteroffers and candidate status (what else do you have going or anything changed?) early and often. We can’t stop every deal from being derailed but we can mitigate surprises.
Good luck in 2019. Can’t wait to hear about your success stories!