CONTENTS

• How to Deal with Client Rejection (... and increase your sales results, by Gavin Ingham)
• Article One (Investment in PR – is it really worth it? By BlueSky PR)
• Article Two (Engaging Client Procurement Effectively – Pre and Post Pitch By John Toppin)
• Online Recruitment Update (Hitwise Top 10 Recruitment Sites - Louise's UK Recruiter Blog - Discussion Board Summary - Vacancies from UKRecruiterJobs -)
• Don't Miss This (Research Practitioners Course, 23rd and 24th April - 10% discount on HR Business Partner Challenge - The Annual Conference: Employment Law and Practice 2008 - 10% discount on E-recruitment Challenge - PR: Greatfleet Unveils New Corporate Identity)
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe
• Feedback & Advertising Information

Visit http://www.ukrecruiterjobs.co.uk for the latest recruitment industry jobs.

How To Deal With Client Rejection & Increase Your Sales Results - Part Four by Gavin Ingham

Let it go

Whilst learning from our experiences is crucial, so too is releasing any residual emotions that we have held onto. Try asking the question “What can I learn from this experience so that I can let it go now?” 

This question utilises a presupposition that once you have learnt something you will let go of any negative emotions. When you ask this question of yourself habitually and consistently you will find that once your brain uncovers the learning then it will automatically let go of any emotions still attached to the experience.

Remember: It is never the experience that’s the problem but the emotions that stop us in our tracks. 

One of my peers often asks groups, “How many people in the whole world die every year of snake bites?” The groups invariably try and work it out stating that it might be several hundred or thousand. 

The answer of course is zero because people don’t die from snake bites they die from the poison in the bite. Likewise, we are not derailed by the event but by the poison that we allow to flow around our body after the event.

Let it go.

This article was written by author and motivational speaker Gavin Ingham. Sign up for his free Sales Success newsletter and read his blog now at www.gaviningham.com 

We'll be interspersing this series with the regular "My Favourites" piece.  So why not submit your 3 favourite web sites. See the guidelines at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/articles.htm

Advertisement

IT recruiters – have you tried TopITconsultant yet?

Over 15,000 IT professionals are already searching for UK roles on TopITconsultant.com each month. The sister-site of Top-Consultant.com, we can help you reach high-calibre IT candidates from the likes of Accenture, Atos Origin, BearingPoint, Capgemini, CSC, Deloitte, Detica, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, LogicaCMG, Oracle and PA Consulting.

Request a brochure to find out more, or call Graeme Underhill on 0207 667 6880 for further details

Article One:  Investment in PR – is it really worth it? By BlueSky PR

Some organisations may believe that cutting out the middle man can save time and money. But whose time is it saving? And is that person doing enough to not only save money, but make it as well? You may ask yourself what can a PR consultancy do for me? You may even believe you have your own budding writers on your team; however, are you taking the time to locate specialist areas of media in order to reach the right people? And do you have the knowledge and contacts to develop ongoing relationships that are good for business? And can PR really help you win new business – or is just an ego trip for the directors? 

Let’s take the example of a financial recruitment client of ours who was pitching to recruit for a FD Designate role within the NHS. The consultant was last in on the day, the potential client had seen several other consultancies and was showing definite signs of battle fatigue. We had helped the client to write and then get published an article on the challenges of recruiting within the public sector for Health Service Journal which the consultant took to the meeting as a demonstration of their expertise in the area. As it happened the client had read the piece the day before and on realising that the author was none other than the consultant sitting in front of him immediately showed more interest. The consultant’s credibility was raised, the assignment was won, the placement was made –and a not inconsiderable fee earned. The moral here is to make sure that your media coverage is recycled into your sales and marketing effort. It’s all very well having a folder full of press cuttings in reception but make sure they are taken out on sales meetings, e-mailed to clients and generally used to ‘ showcase your knowledge of your sector. 

There are lots of other ways to get meaningful coverage both proactively and reactively. Ad hoc surveys on proven newsworthy ideas will always work well. Ideas for contributed articles can be pitched to journalists who write for the magazines which are read by your candidate and client base. Additionally, providing quotes and contributions to journalists for planned and ad hoc features that are coming up is a good way to achieve a sustained approach to your PR. And from an employer branding point of view, production and circulation of press material regarding planned and current developments within your own organisation such as new divisions and offices, new recruits, favourable financial results and contributions to features can do a lot to position you as an employer of choice.

But it’s not just about the press. An organisation’s database of past and current contacts is an obvious source of possible new business. The problem is how to keep in touch with this audience on a regular basis without alienating them through inappropriate contact. A monthly e-newsletter which focuses on material useful to the individual and which is designed to drive traffic back to your website can be an excellent way of reviving past business. White papers and downloadable PDF business guides produced jointly with clients or institutions such as business schools can also do much to raise your credibility while at the same time providing value added services for your clients and customers. 

So how do you get all this done! It’s not essential to use a PR consultancy to get coverage and produce marketing collateral – but then it’s not essential to use a recruitment consultancy to hire staff, an accountant to do your tax return or a lawyer to draw up your will. What’s important is to choose a specialist who understands your sector – and crucially, who cannot only identify the right opportunities, but can also draft the content! While you may have some budding writers in your team, it’s more important for them to focus on the business than harbouring a secret desire to become a journalist!

Tracey Dunn is Director of BlueSky PR. BlueSky is a marketing and PR consultancy that specialises in the recruitment, sector. With over 20 recruitment clients, we offer a wide range of marketing communications services depending on the requirements of individual clients, from PR support on specific projects to acting as an outsourced marketing department, providing advice or input at any time. http://www.bluesky-pr.net/ 

Advertisement

Market Leading Recruitment, Talent Management, HR and Payroll Software 

Bond International Software provide human capital management software solutions for corporations and recruitment companies of all sizes. Our industry standard products include Bond Adapt, Talent, HR and Pay. 

Bond Adapt is designed specifically for recruitment organisations and is recognised as the world’s leading platform and database independent, multi-lingual recruitment solution, meeting the needs of the entire industry. Adapt is fully configurable to clients’ specific requirements and is used by over 100,000 staffing professionals across 42 countries. 

For more information contact us on 01903 707070 or sales@bond.co.uk

Article Two: Engaging Client Procurement Effectively – Pre and Post Pitch By John Toppin

Client procurement personnel have played an increasingly important role in the selection and management of recruitment consultancies in recent years. Their remit, driven by best practice and the requirements of corporate governance is essentially to ensure the quality, value and continuity of supply of services from their consultants.

As a consultancy setting out to be different and better than the competition, you should be operating your business in line with best practice.

By operating in line with best practice you should earn the best reputation, attract the best and most loyal talent, candidates and clients.  The features of best practice that you should follow include the following:

Financial processes - Up front 

• The basis of contract terms and budgets is discussed before the pitch, but the consultancy does not submit its remuneration proposal before the scope of work is determined. 

• A broader team is actively involved in the fee negotiation (consultancy FD, consultancy management, client procurement etc.). 

• The scope of work/deliverables that the fee relates to is discussed in detail before contracts are drawn up. 

• The resources that the fee relates to are tightly defined: team, skills, time allocated, what’s billable, what’s included and what is not included. 

• The consultancy uses a formal written document to describe to procurement the consultancy’s approach to money. You should have transparency over how fees/costs are arrived at. 

• Define the metrics for consultancy performance measurement and for outcome measures relating to any payment by results. 

Financial processes  - Ongoing relationship 

• Hold quarterly client/consultancy reviews of financial status of the relationship.

• Be business-like in day-to-day financial dealings with clients: give precise estimates of costs to clients in advance; define grounds for increase or decrease in fees and give detailed breakdowns; do not be reticent to ask for extra fees where they are justified; raise any fee/cost issues at the earliest opportunity. 

• Be efficient at maximising revenue and efficient at invoicing and debt collection. Bill all of your billable expenses. 

• Treat procurement as an integral member of the client/consultancy team. Involve procurement in negotiations with third parties where relevant, or be willing to discuss ‘decoupling’ certain activities. 

• Take the initiative to save the client’s money. Negotiate effectively with third parties to minimise costs to your client.

Work flow/management of the consultancy process 

• Have a documented process. 

• Ensure the consultancy doesn’t start work till there’s a signed contract. 

• Don’t start work until there’s a clear client brief for the assignment. 

• Define the approvals process: who is involved, the time needed for decisions, requirement for research, agree criteria up front.

• Define the roles of all parties involved to avoid overlap and conflict. 

• Assign consultancy staff flexibly to client assignments and ensure that consultancy resources applied to a job are managed and controlled. 

• Ensure that your implementation/back-office processes have been analysed for efficiency. 

• Use technologies to speed up process/save time/create efficiencies.

• Involve advertising media (on and off line) early enough to build in their ideas from the beginning, not at the end. 

• Run training programmes and workshops to ensure the rest of your consultancy is commercially aware. 

Creating and demonstrating value: processes for producing quality outputs and outcomes 

• Have people-management processes: six-monthly reviews for all consultancy staff, objectives, and training.

• Client briefing: insist on clear objectives and have a clear understanding of the client’s business. 

• Build in processes for ensuring effectiveness. 

• Keep records of past assignments and case histories of results. 

• Articulate the value the consultancy has added to the client to its procurement staff; use case histories and examples to show how value is created. 

Client/consultancy relationship 

• Hold regular formal reviews of assignments and the relationship, what worked, what could have been better – the aim is for continuous improvement. 

Much of the above is internal to the consultancy but those processes that are seen by the client give clients confidence that consultancies are managing the process properly and spending their money wisely.

Summary

• Work with client procurement and not against them – they are here to stay.

• Be commercial, they will respect you for that.

• Be clear about expectations.

• Demonstrate that your consultancy is professionally run by what you say and what you do.

John Toppin MA FCA has been involved with professional services and creative businesses for over 25 years and was formerly Finance Director at Saatchi & Saatchi and FT Knowledge. He now runs Nomizon Associates and advises the owner managers of SME professional services businesses on enhancing the value of their companies. www.nomizon.co.uk.  © Nomizon Associates 2008

Advertisement

At jobstoday.co.uk what makes us different is that we think local. 

Owned by Johnston Press Plc, one of the largest newspaper groups in the local community, jobstoday.co.uk gives you access to a strong base of the hundreds and thousands of local jobseekers; who visit every month and upload their CVs. At jobstoday.co.uk what makes us different is that we think local. 

So find the right candidate by advertising on jobstoday.co.uk. We offer recruiters:
- CV alerts that notify recruiters when a new candidate matches your criteria
- Targeted keyword, sector and location banner advertising, featured job listing and company profiles
- Increased reach by advertising on our 300 local newspaper website homepages as well as jobstoday.co.uk

Try us out and visit www.jobstoday.co.uk or call 0870 850 3890

Online Recruitment Update  (This section is sponsored by http://www.1Job.co.uk; "the leading UK job search engine")

UKRecruiterJobs: Traditional, On-line and Corporate HR Recruitment Job Board 
For the latest job opportunities in recruitment or to find recruiting professionals, go to www.UKRecruiterJobs.co.uk.  Here is a selection of the latest vacancies on the site:
- Recruitment Resourcer (Carmichael UK)
- Senior Recruitment Consultant (HRHR Personnel Services)
- International Recruitment Consultant - Edinburgh/Glasgow (JPARecruitment)
- Recruitment Consultant - Multilingual Sector (International Language Communications) 
- Resourcer (Witan Jardine)  
- IT Recruitment Consultants (Contracts IT) 
These are just a few of the jobs on the site.  Visit www.ukrecruiterjobs.co.uk to browse or search the database.  For information on posting vacancies to the site email info@ukrecruiterjobs.co.uk or call Richard on 0845 004 1717.

Hitwise top 10 Recruitment Sites, week ending 5th April 2008
The most visited UK recruitment sites last week, starting with the most popular, were www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk, www.jobs.nhs.uk, www.monster.co.uk, www.totaljobs.com, jobs.tes.co.uk, www.reed.co.uk. www.jobsite.co.uk, www.linkedin.com, jobs.guardian.co.uk and www.cv-library.co.uk. Hitwise don't 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

Louise's UK Recruiter blog
Since the last newsletter Louise has posted the following: 
- Howeru results
- Recruitment Networking Events - dates for your diary
- Recruiter Life Magazine
- Emma on Social Networking for HR Summit
- Recruitment Website Review from Stephen – Hammond Resources
You can read Louise's UK Recruiter blog at http://ukrecruiter.typepad.com  You can keep up to date with other recruitment blogs from the UK via the UK Recruiter blog watch page at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/blogs.htm.  

Discussion Board Summary
Don't forget to visit The Discussion Board. Current topics on the site include:
- Using a recruitment agency vs hiring directly
- Poaching
- New Recruitment Agency
- IT Contractor Introduction Low Fee Service??
- Breaking Into The Recuitment Industry At 18
You do not need to be registered to post or view messages on the discussion board.  Any postings you or anyone else makes will be included in the weekly digest (sign up for the digest here). Visit the site, ask questions and share your knowledge.  

Employmentbuddy.com resource 
www.employmentbuddy.com is Clarkslegal's online employment law resource. It provides access to a large library of training materials, accompanied by support documents, checklists and fact sheets. Some of their fact sheets that ukrecruiter readers might be interested in include the subjects The True Apprentice and Agency Workers.  For more information on the site and the services provided by Clarkslegal you can contact Aldine at abriggs@clarkslegal.com

This section is sponsored by http://www.1Job.co.uk; "the leading UK job search engine"

Advertisement

Looking for recruitment consultants, managers or directors, HR recruitment professionals or on-line recruitment professionals?  Look no further!

UKRecruiterJobs is the specialist job board of the renowned and highly respected UK Recruiter organisation.

- Our Approach is to limit the volume of job opportunities on display to those that are current, relevant and targeted to our specialist audiences.
- Jobseekers are emailed your jobs as soon as you post them if they match their criteria.

For more information email info@ukrecruiterjobs.co.uk or call Richard on 0845 004 1717

Don't Miss This 

Research Practitioners Course, 23rd and 24th April, London
"In the executive search profession, quality starts at the research level. To help researchers achieve results, search-consult is running its first Research Practitioner - Skills Day. Delivered through small groups, it will be packed with practical tips and techniques that will make a real difference to the way you work. The course will cover: information sources, how to get the best out of the internet, tried and tested techniques for approaching candidates, telephones skills, difficult candidates and legal issues. We are limiting the numbers to 50, and for most of the sessions you will work in groups of 10 people. The website is www.search-consult.com/research2008 or email events@search-consult.com or call 020 7749 6102" If you are going along on the 24th look for our "roving reporter"; Heather Travis of Travis Research. 

10% discount on HR Business Partner Challenge, Barcelona 5th-6th June
"At Jacob Fleming’s breakthrough European event HR Business Partner Challenge to be held in Barcelona from the 5th-6th of June gain a deep insight on how to adopt a business partnership approach and learn to consciously align HR with business strategy. Key topics at this event include: How other organisations have successfully implemented partnering, What skills to develop to become an effective HR Business Partner, Which key techniques are key for building relationships and Improve HR’s reputation and credibility within the organisation. Hear from leading industry experts: Procter & Gamble, Sun Microsystems, HSBC, Deutsche Post World Net, Lloyds TSB, Daimler Chrysler, Goodyear, ABN Amro, SAP, Hitachi Data Systems and more. For more information click here for a free event brochure. Quote code 7548 for your 10% discount."

JSB's 'The Annual Conference: Employment Law and Practice 2008', 12th June, London
"This year is shaping up to be an exciting one for employment law developments. We have already seen key European level opinions on annual leave and disability in the cases of HM Revenue and Customs v Stringer and Coleman v Attridge Law as well as the Court of Appeal decision in James v London Borough of Greenwich surrounding the status of agency workers. With the boundaries of the law continuously changing it is essential for HR to stay up to date on best commercial practice and key legal changes in this complicated area. With presentations from legal professionals leading the way in the employment law arena from CMS Cameron McKenna, Dechert, DLA Piper, Eversheds and Herbert Smith along with best practice case studies from BT and East Sussex County Council, this one day conference is a must for HR colleagues wanting to ensure legal compliance and achieve business success within their organisation. For more information on this event please visit: http://www.annualconference2008.com/ or call Jo Mortlock on 0208 371 7032. All bookings can be made via the JSB website at http://www.jsbonline.com/bookings/". This event is in media partnership with ukrecruiter.

10% discount on E-recruitment Challenge, Prague June 19th-20th
"At Jacob Fleming’s e-Recruitment Challenge Forum to be held in Prague from June 19th-20th learn to take a holistic approach when developing an e-recruitment strategy and employer branding plan. Key topics at this event include: Explore new recruitment techniques, Deliver an innovative employer brand, Increase speed, efficiency and reduce costs at every stage, Gain coherence between HR, Marketing and Communications. Hear from leading industry experts: Fortum Corp, Bertelsmann, Sabmiller, Barclays, SAP, Credit- Suisse, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Merrill Lynch, Audi and more. For more information click here for a free event brochure. Quote code 7548 for your 10% discount."

Press Release: Greatfleet Unveils New Corporate Identity
"Greatfleet plc, the AIM quoted holding company of recruitment consultancies Qualitas People Solutions and Longbridge Search & Selection, has unveiled a new corporate identity. The Group’s website - www.greatfleet.co.uk - has also been redesigned. The re-branding exercise was carried out by Blackbridge Communications who were also responsible for the rebrand and relaunch of Longbridge Search & Selection."

Subscribe
Don't forget to let your colleagues know about this newsletter. Anyone can subscribe - it's completely free of charge - all they need to do to receive their own copy of the ukrecruiter newsletter is complete our simple form 

Unsubscribe
To unsubscribe from the ukrecruiter newsletter please reply to this message with the subject line "unsubscribe".

Feedback
Please email your comments on the newsletter: the sort of articles you like, the sort you don't read, new features you'd like to see, etc.  Feedback from everyone is always welcome!  

Advertising
If you are interested in advertising a product, service or internet site in the newsletter please contact Louise at contact2@ukrecruiter.co.uk

If you want to see back issues of the newsletter visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/recnet

NOTE: This newsletter may be copied and distributed free of charge in its entirety. Individual sections may NOT be copied or distributed without prior written agreement.

Copyright (c) 2008, UK Recruiter Ltd