The Numbers Still Matter (Just Make Sure It's The Right Numbers)

I'm a big fan of social media.  When pitching a program to a client, I discuss the benefits of blogging, but focus in on the money you can make blogging in excess of what you're currently making. In my view, if you're not hiring more people or making more placements with your blog, then you have no business spending working hours on your blog.

Of course, this is also true for meetings, paperwork, hour and a half long interviews with bad candidates, RFP's, reading ESPN at work, checking your e-mail, and talking about quality initiatives with your boss.  The truth is that if you're not making money, most of what you do is a waste anyway.

So when I'm training, and someone asks me how long they should spend blogging a week - I tell them 3-5 hours.  That's a big chunk of time, and the only people it makes sense for are those who already tightly manage their time.  One of the first lessons I had in recruiting was the idea that planning was the most important consideration in my success. I had to plan my day, and then execute it.  I had to know how many phone calls, interviews, submittals, sendouts, meetings and starts I needed to make quota.  And over time, I saw that when you didn't hit your numbers, you didn't make your placements.

Terry Petra covers this in the Fordyce Letter, with some blunt talk.  Stop Kidding Yourself - The Numbers Matter.

For over thirty years, I have documented the fact that achievement oriented people know their numbers in most, if not all, aspects of their daily activity. These top producers realize their numbers provide both a quantitative and qualitative measurement of how efficient and effective they are as staffing professionals.

In stark contrast, most recruiters/consultants who do not keep track of their numbers tend to be average to below average producers who spend the majority of their working day engaged in avoidance behaviors. They focus on pleasing processes versus productive results. They don’t want to keep track of their numbers because they don’t want to be held accountable. These individuals, who unfortunately make up a sizeable portion of our industry, waste approximately 50% of their time, energy, and resources everyday.

I'm fond of saying that recruiting is the one business where I can absolutely guarantee that if you're making 100 calls a day, you'll make $100,000 a year.  No matter how bad you are, if you consistently make the phone calls, you make the placements.  Terry takes it further, showing you that to be a "top producer," you have to measure everything you do.  Those who measure are winners, and those who don't, are below-average performers.

We've seen a lot of changes in the staffing industry in the last seven years, and with the advent of some kind of economic slowdown that doesn't seem to be affecting placements, we're moving into a new cycle, perhaps one we haven't seen before.  Most of the things I and other bloggers are writing about are productivity enhancers.  Once you have the basics down, these will improve your closing ratios and save you time.  That only works if you already have the basics.

An ideal client is one that I can save 5-10 hours in sourcing and cold-calling in a week, who then takes that extra 5-10 hours and uses it to close even more business.