CHAMPION CHAT

Sourcing Recruits

In my poll posted on 08/14/2024 right here on LinkedIn, I asked people what was the number one way you source recruits and I gave 4 choices:

1. Internet Resumes (Indeed, Zip Recruiter, etc.)
2. Nominations From Team Members/Centers Of Influence
3. Personal Observation
4. Social Media Outreach

I could not fathom the response I got. 84 people voted and Internet Resumes was 100% the answer people gave. Now many of you are not going to like what I am about to type but.... If this is your leading source of recruits you're being lazy with a capital L. Yes using those websites is easy and you know what, I made the same mistake. However if you want a better way continue reading and then take me up on the offer I write later on in this post.

Do you realize that the success rate of agents in the voluntary benefit industry was 28% in 2005? That means that of 100 people contracted by companies in our industry 28% made it at least one year into the business and the 5 year survival rate was 18%. In 2022 the one year survival rate dropped to 3% and the 5 year survival rate to .05%. Why? Crappy recruiting coupled with no pre-contract.

As many of you know I was both a manager and an agency owner in the industry. I originally became a manager to maximize compensation by making my wife an agent and me becoming her manager. I recruited the minimum number of people needed to keep my contract. Then my nephew Jack, who worked with me asked "Joe, why don't we build a powerhouse team by recruiting more and grow our team?". It took a while but I listened and I started recruiting people using internet resumes and it was like a revolving door! Sound familiar?

Then, I decided to take my prospecting approach to recruiting. I required each team member to provide me with two nominations (the name of a person they came across during the week who we could recruit) in their weekly personal conference. This had a positive result so I decided to expand it further and turned the pastor and deacon at my parish St John Brebeuf into centers of influence and got an average of 5 nominations from each of them. Next I approached who my wife called "The Village People". No not the guys who sang YMCA. We talked to the mayor, trustees and key players in the Village of Niles....where we live. This yielded an average of 4 more weekly. Lastly, I got the Niles Chamber of Commerce referring me an average of 11 candidates per month. It was great but I wanted more!

So I started going out for 2 hours a week and conducting personal observation. I would go to malls, restaurants, events, gatherings and walk around talking to people. Now I was up to an average of 27 potential recruits a week. Was I satisfied...HELL NO!

Then with the advent of social media I had my wife Kathy launch campaigns to get candidates and she built up another 18 per week on average. However next we needed to develop a way to nurture these candidates and then recruit them into the team. So we started tracking our recruits and found that agents who came from nominations and personal observation had a 47% one year survival rate, social media had a 31% survival rate and internet resumes only 6%. Sooooooo internet resumes got kicked to the curb. In 12 months the team at Access Benefit Solutions grew from 11 people to 42! In two years we grew to 63 active producers and after that had a steady growth of 21.6% year over year. Our 5 year survival rate jumped to 19% and we excluded those who got promoted or started their own agency. Folks starting TODAY I want you to evolve away from Indeed and Ziprecruiter and start conducting Reliable Recruiting! That's what my wife called it. Below is the system and scripts we used and now I teach others to use....but first here is my offer.

I will conduct a 90 minute complimentary no cost workshop on sourcing recruits for you and your management team. No gimmicks, no bait and switch and no hammering you or your team to purchase my tools and services. "Why would he do this?"...you may ask. Well I know that my systems and tools that I will share with you will sell themselves because if you and your team get off your butts and apply them....together you will build a powerhouse team!

All you have to do is one of three things:

1. Call or text me at 708.870.7306
2. Email me at [email protected]
3. Click on my Calendly link at choose a time to talk for 30 minutes again at no cost:

https://calendly.com/championcoachjoe/discovery-coaching-call

Now some of you may find my blunt/crass approach too over the top and I understand. However understand that I am passionate about what I do because I want every agent, manager and agency owner to experience the success that I did. I am not bragging, that is wrong. However, I want you to stop wasting time and use me as a free resource for you and your team.

Below is my coaching module titled: Sourcing 101. Read it, use it but above all else get a workshop booked for your team! I know you and they will find value in the training and coaching I provide. Enjoy!

SOURCING 101

Discussion Questions

? What are the top 10 characteristics of your successful producers?

? What is your value proposition for candidates?

? Do you have an accurate written description for:

1) The agent position?

2) The management trainee position?

3) The manager position?

4) Internships?

? Do you know how to recruit agents who can prospect and sell better than you?

? How many candidate names do you get weekly from members of your team? (Ideally 2-3 per team member weekly)

? Centers of influence? (5-6 per week)

? Personal observation? (5-7 per week)

? LinkedIn? (15-20 per week)

? Do you use interns to round out and grow your team?

Key Concepts

? Stronger candidates come to you through agent nominations and referrals.

? Sourcing candidates through personal observation makes better recruits.

? LinkedIn and other social media platforms are a great source of candidates.

? College interns are a great source of help and recruits for your team.

5 THINGS TOP PRODUCERS WANT IN AN OPPORTUNITY

According to Gallup’s “State Of The American Workplace” report the top 5 qualities successful people look for in a new opportunity are:

1. The Ability To Do What They Do Best – Most candidates are looking for an opportunity that will allow them to help others and focus on something they are good at.

2. A Quality Work/Life Balance And Greater Well-Being – Respecting your team member’s personal time and illustrating how your organization offers them the opportunity to spend quality time with their families will attract top candidates

3. Greater Stability And Job Security – If you reward people who are productive, positive and believe in the mission of your organization you will show them that you are just as loyal to them as they are to you.

4. The Opportunity To Earn A Significant Income – Most agents want the opportunity to earn what they need to live the life of their dreams and build a future.

5. The Opportunity To Work For A Company With A Great Brand Recognition Or Reputation – Promoting your organization’s vision and mission will attract candidates who believe in the same principles and values you promote.

SOURCING TALENT

The three most effective ways to source recruits are:

1. Nominations

2. Personal Observation

3. LinkedIn

These are all handled and approached differently. Some are short term solutions and some are long term. Nominations usually take a bit less time, while LinkedIn is playing the long game. Let's look at each and how they are approached.

Nominations:

Very few agents maximize their compensation. How does that play into this discussion? Actually, it is a cornerstone of team growth. The four companies I work with all offer a financial reward for recommending someone and in turn that person getting contracted. In most cases the compensation is $500. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but let's look at a scenario. Every week you should be holding a personal conference with each agent on your team. Part of this personal conference is the act of providing you with nominations for potential recruits every week.

Where do your agents get these?

1. People they meet.

2. People they know.

3. People they meet and know through organizations they belong to.

4. People they come in contact with while living their life.

Additionally, after an agent is working with your organization for 60 days you give them a nomination 100 form to complete. This is a process where they go through every facet of their life (past and present) and look for people that may be a good fit for the career opportunity. Part of this form is a memory jogger so the agent can look at every facet of their life for candidates. This memory jogger is designed to get them to look deep into their contacts. When the agent provides a nomination, they provide a name, phone number, e-mail, and a golden nugget. The golden nugget is a piece of information that is why the nominating agent respects and admires that candidate. Additionally, it can be a unique fact about the nominee. Let's look at the numbers through the first year of an agent’s career. 200 Nominees: Nomination 100 List and 100 Weekly Nominations (2/week) 100 Interviews:

50% will come to a group presentation or interview. 60 Start Pre-Contract: 60% begin pre-contract. 40 Complete Pre-contract: on average1/3 will not complete pre-contract 30 New Agents on average 1 in 4 will decide to pursue other opportunities

$15,000 Recruiting Bonus:

30 x $500/contracted recruit. By this logic the agent makes $15,000 their first year and $7500 in subsequent years to help recruit 15 new agents annually. Agents benefit greatly from nominating:

1. Compensation

2. Part of a winning team that's growing.

3. Exhibit being a team player.

4. Can lead to advancement into management.

Personal Observation

Personal observation is where you as a manager look when you are out and about with a watchful eye for candidates to recruit. For example, you are out to dinner and have an exceptionally courteous friendly and hardworking server. This is someone you can approach. Sample Script

Hello, my name is __________ . First I want to thank you for the outstanding service you gave me. I am curious, do you enjoy what you do? Well I am a manager with __________ , and I have a career opportunity that may interest you. This career opportunity is a great fit for outgoing hardworking people like yourself. I don't have time to talk right now but I was wondering what's your name? May I call you tomorrow or the next day to give you some information on our career opportunity? What is your cell phone number? E-mail? May I call you tomorrow or will the next day be better? What time works for you? Great I'll send you an email and call you on ____________ at _________ .

This script can be adjusted for any situation or circumstance. By doing this you learn to be on the lookout for potential agents while you are out at your child's events, church or community organizations, or any and all the places you go.

LinkedIn

Most people don't know this but 71% of sales people find their career opportunity on LinkedIn.

? It is a platform designed to connect professionals.

? It is a platform where if you are active, you make a lot of connections as well as develop a reputation.

? The platform allows managers to communicate with connections or post various things.

o Accolades for their team

o Opportunities

o Information

o Interactive polls.

Linkedin 101

Build an effective profile.

·???????? First and foremost, talk about what you do for other people and how you do it. Your profile must be interesting and eye-catching.

·???????? It has to be the right blend of information about you, information about what you can do for others who come to work with you, and the use of eye-catching things.

·???????? Videos with text

·???????? Pictures

·???????? Block text with emojis and bullet points instead of paragraphs.

·???????? Emojis

·???????? I've built my profile, now what?

·???????? Make connections, not everyone is a connection.

·???????? Get active.

·???????? Post

·???????? Recruit

At Champion Coaching and Training we have two modules in which we cover social media. We could spend hours on how to use LinkedIn but today we are providing an overview.

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Making Connections

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Who do you connect with?

·???????? Friends

·???????? Colleagues

·???????? Relatives

·???????? Salespeople

o?? retail

o?? insurance

o?? car sales

·???????? Former teachers

·???????? Retired or retiring military.

·???????? Former coaches

·???????? Retired nurses

·???????? Former health care workers

·???????? Human resource professionals

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Getting Active

What does becoming active on LinkedIn mean?

·???????? Engaging people in a subtle way

·???????? Wish connections happy birthday.? Expand upon the canned auto message LinkedIn provides.

·???????? Congratulate those getting new positions. Expand upon the canned auto message.

·???????? Congratulate those with a work anniversary. Expand on the canned auto message.

·???????? Everyday review the home page and comment on posts don't give likes… be different!

·???????? Look for groups where you can find candidates.

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Posting

Get in the habit of posting two to three times per week. Make your post thought provoking....... REACH OUT AND GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE!

What to Post?

·???????? Congratulatory messages with pictures about your team

·???????? Holiday messages. New Year's Day, President’s day, MLK Day, Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas.

·???????? Industry news and tidbits

·???????? Polls

·???????? Videos

·???????? Career opportunities

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Recruiting

Passive

·???????? Post your opportunity.

·???????? Creative posts

·???????? Motivational quotes and messages.

Active

·???????? Reach out to people you want to talk to

·???????? Conduct a weekly career presentation using LinkedIn live.

o?? Typically, it should last one hour.

o?? Lunchtime or late in the day is best.

o?? Have people sign up so you can capture their name email and cell phone.

o?? The idea is to create interest and draw them into the recruiting process.

o?? Endorse and give recommendations to others as well as ask for them.

Recommendations

LinkedIn is a long game and it will take one month to six months to create interest and draw people in depending on how active you are.

·???????? Log on to LinkedIn 2 times each day ideally early morning and evening

·???????? Spend 30 to 45 minutes each time.

·???????? Have a plan and refine it.

·???????? Answer every message you get.

·???????? Focus on your goal and be disciplined.

·???????? The more active you are the better your experience will become.

·???????? Utilize all the LinkedIn features available.

·???????? After it starts working look into upgrades to LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator

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Action items

1.??? Draw up a recruiting plan that includes you using:

Nominations

·???????? From agents on your team

·???????? Centers of influence

·???????? Personal Observation

·???????? LinkedIn

·???????? Job Fairs

·???????? College Candidates

·???????? Personal Observation

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2.??? Write a description of the career opportunity.?

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3.??? Use the scripts in the addendum pages to approach candidates

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4.??? Meet with all the current members of your team to;talk to them about giving you nominations weekly

Making a list of potential candidates

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5.??? Make time in your schedule to recruit using personal observation

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Recommended reading

·???????? 60 Days to LinkedIn Mastery by Josh Steimle

·???????? The Ultimate LinkedIn Profile by John Nemo

·???????? Recruit Rockstars by Jeff Hyman

Conclusion

Folks there are accompanying tools but LinkedIn will not allow me to post them so send me an email and I will send them in PDF form.

Leaders, recruiting like prospecting is the life blood of your agency. Let me help you and your team learn more effective ways to recruit. Reach out and let me help!

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