Ready to be a Big Biller?

None of us were born knowing we wanted to be a recruiter, and most us didn’t even know it was a “thing” until we fell into our line of work by accident. But, if you’re reading this article, making placements is what you do and you aspire to do it well. That’s the first step to being a Big Biller. 

Mark your calendar to attend the Big Biller Panel, made up entirely of Pinnacle Society (and NAPS) members, at the 2017 NAPS Annual Conference in Denver. We’ll be waiting for you on Friday at 9:30a in the Centennial Ballroom. 

Members of the Pinnacle Society are Big Billers. Even to quality for consideration, Pinnacle Society members must document that they’ve been in the permanent placement industry for at least 5 years and billed in excess of $400K/year for at least 3 of the 5 most recent years. Pinnacle Society members demonstrate excellence, experience and expertise. When you see Pinnacle Society members participating on a Big Billers panel, it’s your chance to hear their honest answers to your questions about how to elevate your own production. 

Check out some questions and answers that come up during recent Big Biller Pinnacle Panels.

Q: What changes did you make to your production to enable you to qualify for and maintain Pinnacle level production?

 A: Carol Wenom, Whitaker Technical Services

“Here was my action plan: 

Asked for and developed more retained/engaged/exclusivity relationships

Focused on higher level position searches

Further defined and focused on my niche market to really achieve what is often called “market mastery”/market domination

Delegated more of the work that was not “worth my billable hours” - i.e. stuff that was really more admin/assistant work - so that I could focus on the real “billable hours” work (preping, closes, negotiations, candidate “deep dive” interviews, etc) “

Q:  How did you become a big biller?

A: Kevin San Juan, Advanced Medical Resources

“I started with a big plan and worked the plan and worked endless hours for a while, set the recurring routine into my mind set and tried to be everywhere all the time.”

Q: How did you transition to becoming a Pinnacle Recruiter?

A: Fernando Espinosa, TopNotch Finders

“I made an investment in education and added hard work, discipline and focus. As a result. I switched from being a typical recruiter trying to make lots of placements to a search consultant thriving to create a strong value proposition, develop and nurture key relationships and build a successful search practice.”

Q: How do you get out of a rut or a decline in activity?  

A: Karen Russo, KR Consulting

“When things are going in the wrong direction for me I  recreate the environment  by calling people I know who trust me , people I placed, or clients who believe in me , just to say hello. I like to find out what is going on in their world and reconnect.  (Some of these long term clients/ candidates help remind me why I do what I do and what separates me from the average  recruiter.   That helps me feel inspired especially when many of my placements have been promoted or are happy in their roles).”

Q: How do I get from where I am to Big Biller status? 

A: Jenifer Lambert,  TERRA Staffing Group

 “You must first decide that you’re willing to do something different to get different results.  Too often I find people who want to see different outcomes without changing what they are doing.  You must be willing to take an honest assessment of what is preventing you from billing more:  what conversations are you afraid to have, what weaknesses in your game are you not addressing, what does your planning look like and are you committed to really doing the work?  The good news is that it’s not exponentially harder to bill twice what you’re billing today.  It won’t even require twice the effort but it will take some honest reflection and a willingness to get outside of your comfort zone and do the things that you’re avoiding or half-assing today.”

Bring your questions about becoming a Big Biller to the Big Biller Panel at the NAPS Annual Conference in Denver.  This panel will include Gwen Hix Fausel, Kevin San Juan, Fernando Espinosa and Carol Wenom and will be moderated by Kathleen Kurke. We’ll see you there. 

Pinnacle Society offers Pinnacle Panels, or Big Biller Panels, to any local, regional or state staffing association for your meetings or conferences. You might have seen recent Pinnacle Panels at ISSA, HAAPC or TSA. And if you haven’t had a Pinnacle Panel at your state or local staffing professional meeting, reach out to jeremy@asaptalentservices.com for information about this high value, low cost program option. 

Kathleen Kurke will moderate a Pinnacle Panel at the upcoming 2017 NAPS Conference in Denver.  She has provided a look into the discussion that will take place with a few Q&A's from current Pinnacle members.