Focus Keyword: Outsourcing Research

QUESTION: Can you give me some tips on outsourcing research? I find it difficult and much easier to do all by myself because I know exactly what I am looking for. – Marilyn in Charleston

That is a great question. Before I get to the tips, I want to get into the mindset because one of the biggest things when recruiter firm owners start working with us, in the first 30 to 60 days, we show them a light and how expensive it is to do your own research. One of the most, if not the most expensive thing you can do in your own business is doing your own research, especially with how effectively and inexpensively you can outsource it today.   

Overcoming Scarcity Mindset When Outsourcing Research

A true story. I am not going to mention this client’s name. This story came from our lead mindset coach, Frances, when she worked through this with somebody. Here was the situation, and it applies exactly to you.   

He was billing $300,000 or $400,000 a year, so he was already doing well. He felt it was more effective if he did his own research, and he was actually trying to save, I don’t know, $1,500 a month. Fulltime, 40 hours a week, might be $1,200 to $1,500 monthly. Again, I was not on the call, so I do not know the exact, precise numbers, but pretty close. With high aspirations, he wanted to get $750,000 and ultimately to $1 million without really growing a team. 

The Hidden Cost of Doing Your Own Recruiting Research

One, he started getting retainers because we began to coach him on how to get retainers. Ultimately, Frances took him through an exercise where he said, I do my own research, three to four hours a day, and so we figured out the bill rate for that. If you are already billing $400,000 a year, you are billing close to $200 an hour.

The amount of research that he was doing, they calculated that he was losing $19,000 a month less the cost of research, and let’s round that to $2,000. So, $17,000 a month net because he was doing his own research. That made it sting enough for him to go from that scarcity mindset – this all ties together – into nobody can do it better than me. Initially, nobody could do it better than you.   

It takes patience, but once you get somebody on board or even a couple of people on board, then it is much easier. You are liberating three to four – actually six hours a day – you can now do more searches. Because the one thing most recruiters never calculate because you never see it is the invoice you never type. That is where we got to the $19,000 a month. 

Fast forward. That conversation happened over a year ago. This individual is on track to do almost $1 million this year, and the biggest differentiator was they outsourced the research.   

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Outsourcing Research The Right Way

Option 1: Outsourcing Research to a Third Party

The other part of your question was, how do you do it the right way? There are companies that do it. We partner with a couple like Legacy Group, Prudent Outsourcing, and BPA. You can see them on our webpage, https://therecruiteru.com/partners/. 

Let them know you come from us, and they will give you a better deal. You have to be exact, specific, and precise in telling them what you are looking for. Are you trying to develop a marketing campaign? Or do you want to market a star candidate, or is there part of your niche you want to develop? A lot of times, I recommend giving them like ten companies and say, find the competitors of these companies.   

Now, you do not want to find a company like IBM or General Motors, or IBM is probably better – who has a ton of product lines, or Cisco Systems, a ton of product lines, Proctor & Gamble, a ton of product lines, consumer products. Find small companies, $15 to $200 million, so that they can narrow the search for the type of companies or the type of candidates you are looking for. Get really precise on the types of companies you want to market to or candidates, exactly where they are going to come from. Give them a list of 10 to 20 companies. 

Do not unleash them into the market to find 200 or 300 names. Say, go out, find me 30 names or 30 companies, and check in with the researcher. Here is what I promise you: they will not all be good. Half might be good. So, you say, this half is good and here is why. This half is not good and here’s why. It is coaching and training. 

Option 2: Hire Direct or Through Upwork

Or, you can hire a researcher through Upwork on a contract basis for $10 to $15 an hour. You give them a sample. If they are way off, you just let them go. You bring on another one. But if they are close some of the time, it is like training anybody else, the more and more time you spend with them, the more and more feedback you give them, the more and more accurate they are, so that within 30 or 60 days they are producing lists that are 90% accurate. That is the process of how to do it.  

Why do it? I honestly believe when recruiters are doing their own research, when they are going through LinkedIn to find profiles, spending hours a day doing it, it is how they justify to themselves they are working, and one of the ways they avoid doing the things that will take them to the next level, which is talking to more candidates, which is talking to more prospects.  

The Difference Between Successful and Wildly Successful

One of our mindset coaches, Kaito Bangudi, worked for David Neagle for several years and is certified in the same mindset process that all of our mindset coaches are, so we all follow the same process. I was asking him today what he saw with clients that came through, entrepreneurs that went through the David Neagle organization, because all they do is coach on mindset. They do not really coach on business process. They are helping entrepreneurs get out of their own way.  

I said, what are some of the themes that you saw with the people who were most successful in your years in that organization? He said, you would have people come through, and they became successful, and then you had people come through that would blow the doors off successful, like 10x.

Again, they were all exposed to the same information. He said, I never thought about it like this, but it was brilliant, and I can see how it’s absolutely true; those who were wildly successful still faced the same resistance points as those who were okay successful. Their ability to work through the resistance quicker and stay in decision, connected to desire, actually got them the 10x results.  

Desire, Decision, Action

I asked him, when you talked to these people, any levels of difference in intelligence, financial backing, things like that, all the things people could use as an excuse, and he was like, no, Mike, absolutely not. Even the most successful people still experience resistance along the same things. They are still sometimes resistant to investing in themselves. They are still resistant to investing in their business. But they stay in decision and connected to desire, whereas those that aren’t wildly successful waver more before they take action.   

So, my coaching for you today, get connected to desire. Give yourself a few days or a few weeks, but don’t say, I don’t know what I want because that locks that in. It is a form of resistance. I know what I want. Spirit, God, whatever your faith is, show it to me. Again, these are probably not going to be first-time thoughts.  

Give yourself permission to explore the things that come up! 

And, if you want to take a deeper dive on developing the mindset necessary to achieve your definition of wildly successful… Or, if you simply want to MAKE MORE MONEY, FASTER and Open the Hidden Doors to New Opportunities, Attract More Candidates, Close More Clients, Make More Placements and Exponentially Grow Your Business WITHOUT Working Longer or Harder…

P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow your recruitment business:

1. Grab a free copy of my Retainer Blueprint

It’s the exact, step-by-step process of getting clients to give you money upfront. https://get.therecruiteru.com/retainer​

2. Join the Recruiter Think Tank and connect with firm owners who are scaling too. It’s our Facebook community where smart recruiters learn to make more money and get more freedom. https://www.facebook.com/groups/there​​…

3. Work with me and my team privately

And if you ever want to get some 1:1 help, we can jump on the phone for a quick call and brainstorm how to get you more leads, more placements, and more time. https://get.therecruiteru.com/scale-now​