CONTENTS

• Sales Superstar Strategies (Strategy 7: Sell Solutions not Products)
• Article One (Gardening Leave by Gareth Williams of Penn Legal)
• Article Two (How to take a good brief by Melanie Conaty)
• Don't Miss This (Press Release: Engage Learning Seminars, May and June - The Recruitment Society & Photoplod 2006 Event) 
• Discussion Board Summary
• Statistics (Hitwise Top 10 Recruitment Sites)
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe
• Feedback & Advertising Information

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Sales Superstar Strategies – How the World’s Best Salespeople Get More Sales!

Strategy 7: Sell Solutions not Products

Sell solutions not products. Sell solutions not products. Sell solutions not products. 

Clients do not get up one morning and decide to invest in a new PC system. They buy solutions to challenges which are effecting their business growth, profitability, efficiency etc. Most salespeople are too tied up in the nitty-gritty of their products and have little or no understanding of what the real business benefits are to their clients. This is partly due to lots of product training and partly due to not asking the right questions.

If you’ve ever had problems with trying to get clients to commit; had deals that seemed “on” then went sour; thought a client needed a far bigger solution than the one they were prepared to pay for; had clients who bought something else instead… then you were probably selling products not solutions.

As a benchmark rule… we shouldn’t discuss specific products or solutions until we know what the explicit need(s) of our client are. (Explicit: stated by client not you!)

Gavin Ingham is a keynote speaker & author. Get more strategies & tools free by joining his free newsletter, Real World Sales Tools, at www.gaviningham.net 

My Favourites will be back next week.  See the guidelines at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/articles.htm

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Article One: Gardening Leave by Gareth Williams of Penn Legal

Question

As fee earning Director of an employment agency I increasingly encounter candidates with lengthy gardening leave provision in their contracts of employment. This is frustrating as it often makes the candidate difficult to place. Just how enforceable are these provisions? If gardening leave is legal should I consider make my consultants subject to similar restrictions?

Answer

‘Gardening leave’ is a provision in a contract of employment that enables an employer to require an employee not to work during their notice period. Gardening leave is a useful tool in the armoury of an employer who wants to limit the damage caused by a former employee who may otherwise seek to work in competition. Well drafted gardening leave provisions are legally effective; however there are circumstances in which even well drafted gardening leave provisions are unenforceable.

An employer is prevented from enforcing any contract if they have breached a ‘fundamental’ provision within it. Of course as with most legal issues it is not this simple, legal advice may be required if there is any doubt about the seriousness of the breach, or whether the employee might have waived the breach - thereby allowing the contract to continue in force.

What does this mean to you, as a recruitment consultant? Well it means that your candidate might not need to comply with a gardening leave provision and may be able to start work for your client immediately. 

Often candidates leave an employer because of the way they have been treated. Acts of discrimination, bullying, victimisation, failure to pay wages or to adhere to statutory grievance procedures are just some of the ways in which a candidate may be released from the provisions of their contract or employment.

If the contract remains valid then gardening leave provision is likely to be enforceable and the employer would be able to sue the candidate, and potentially you and/or your client, if the candidate fails to honour the contract. The amount of damages the employer would be able to recover will depend upon the amount of financial loss they have suffered. You should never induce a candidate to breach a valid contract. Where appropriate, candidates should obtain independent advice.

As an employer enforcing a gardening leave provision in your recruitment consultant’s contracts can be a double edged sword. Such provisions do help stem the loss of clients and confidential information that may otherwise flow to a competitor. However to enforce such a provision you will be required to provide the consultant with the remuneration, bonuses and benefit they would have been likely to receive if they had been allowed to work their notice period. Any failure to provide this remuneration will be likely to prevent you from enforcing both the gardening leave provision and the other restrictive covenants upon which you may subsequently seek to rely.

It is always important to consider the interface between the various methods of protecting your interests when an employee leaves. ‘Non-compete’ and ‘non-solicitation’ provisions can also be legally effective provided they are well drafted; however the Courts are likely to consider such clauses to be less reasonable if they follow a long period of gardening leave. 

In summary, gardening leave provisions can be useful for employers. Such clauses are, on the face of it, valid if they are well drafted, although they may be rendered invalid by a failure to rigorously adhere to employment law. When preparing to mitigate the effect of an employee leaving it is important to have a strategy that considers issues of confidential information, non-compete and non-solicitation provisions.

Gareth Williams is a solicitor at Penn Legal.  Penn Legal specialise in servicing the recruitment industry.  Tel: 0870 043 4361 or agency@pennlegal.co.uk 

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Article Two: How to take a good brief by Melanie Conaty

Most recruiters find it an uphill battle to balance what the client thinks they want with what they can get for the pay and benefits they are offering. You as a recruiter are responsible if you don’t get the ‘brief’ right and select the wrong people, so do your best to eliminate problems from the start by following these simple steps: 

1. Take a detailed brief 
2. Listen to your client’s true need
3. Question and clarify 
4. Be honest
5. Get sign off

Here are some tips for each of these steps

1. Take a detailed brief

Ask what’s non negotiable? 
· What is essential in this role? 
· What must this person have in order to be able to effectively do their job?
· What experience do they need to have in order to work effectively and efficiently for the client?

Ask what’s up for grabs?
· What would be a great additional extra skill? 
· What do you desire, but don’t need?

2. Listen to your client’s true needs

Ask a series of probing questions that will help uncover the real requirements for this person. 
· What actual skills do they need to perform the job?
· How much is it costing you not having this person in the business? 
· What are the key contributions this individual will make? 
· What are the short, medium and long term career options for a successful candidate? 
· How would you sell your company and this role to the candidate? 
· What kind of ‘personality’ would fit best with the team? 
· What qualities do you think makes a person successful in this business? 

3. Question and clarify

It’s all in the questions! You can usually uncover the key motivators for wanting certain skills when taking an in-depth brief. There may be a skills gap in the current team; a line manager may be thinking of their own exit plan, there may be a need for a team member with a particular level of experience or a particular niche experience. 

4. Be honest

It’s essential that you are honest with your client. If you feel the role is too big, too small, or too difficult – tell them. Timescales are also important, it’s essential that you are honest about the time the assignment will take you. Clients usually want the best person, in the shortest time at the lowest cost! We all know this is near impossible, but suss out what they are willing to compromise on - everyone has a fall back position. Most of the time, clients are willing to wait, as long as they get the right person for the job. 

Telling the client politely that their expectations are unrealistic saves a great deal of heartache and hair loss by the consultant, even if you have to steal yourself to do it.

5. Get sign off 

This is the most crucial element of the process. Ideally, a brief will be taken, written up and sent to the client for approval. In reality, a lot of tweaking goes on before sign off is given. This is a good thing as all creases are ironed out before you commence the search. It is career suicide not to get the sign off from the client, because if they change the brief halfway through, you have no come back. Get approval and keep your sanity! 

Melanie Conaty is Head of Resourcing for 2bhr Ltd. Specialising in headhunting at mid to senior level in Retail & FMCG. Mel's background is pure search (headhunting), with some time spent in an advertising agency focussing on assessment and selection before joining 2bhr to set up the Resourcing division. 01525 859900 melanie@2bhr.co.uk  

Don't Miss This

Press Release: Engage Learning Seminars, May and June
"Engage, the recently announced new recruitment and retention communications consultancy, is launching the first of its Learning seminars with a five city series that will focus on improving the quality of hiring by utilising in-depth consumer research and e-marketing techniques. The first two events will be held in London on 25 May and Manchester on 6 June with partners Taleo (on demand talent management solutions), and Jobsite. Three more seminars will be held in Birmingham, Glasgow and again in London in the latter part of the year.   For more information visit www.engageevents.com/home"

The Recruitment Society & Photoplod 2006 Event
The Society's annual "Photoplod" event takes place on 9th-10th June. The Photoplod is a competitive sponsored walk along 40 miles of the South Downs Way (full details of the event are at www.photoplod.com). The Society team is assembled and ready to go, so now the call is out for sponsorship to raise money for Save the Children. To contribute email your pledge to steve.huxham@recruitmentsociety.org.uk or send the donation to the Society (see www.recruitmentsociety.org.uk) making cheques payable to Save the Children. For Gift Aid tax relief you will need to add your address and postcode. Every sponsor will be entered into a draw to win a complimentary pair of tickets to the popular Society Summer Social on the 13th July.

Discussion Board Summary

Don't forget to visit The Discussion Board. Current topics on the site include:

Freerecruitment by Reed - What's the catch? - Is Reed just too good to be true?
SPLITS: Oil & Gas - Canada - A recruiter looking for other's within the Oil and Gas  industry based in the UK to fee split with
Looking for Research Specialists in Investment Banking - Recommendations required for a independent "banking" researcher
Where to advertise financial headhunter roles - Can anyone suggest where this recruiter can advertise for a Consultant?

Any postings you or anyone else makes will be included in the weekly digest. Sign up for the free digest here or hit reply to ask me to include your email address

It is free to use the discussion board and you don't have to register to view messages. Visit the site; ask questions and share your knowledge

Statistics

Hitwise top 10 Recruitment Sites, week ending 13th May 2006
The most visited UK recruitment sites last week, starting with the most popular, were Jwww.jobcentreplus.gov.uk, www.totaljobs.com, www.jobsite.co.uk. www.reed.co.uk, www.monster.co.uk, www.jobs.nhs.uk, jobs.tes.co.uk, jobs.guardian.co.uk, www.eteach.com and www.jobsgopublic.com. Hitwise are unable to aggregate data from sites who form part of a network such as fish4.co.uk 

For more information about Hitwise, visit http://www.hitwise.co.uk

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