In my previous blog post, I revealed five characteristics of million dollar billers. Today, I’m back with four more characteristics of recruiters who bill a million dollars (or more) on an annual basis:
#1—Persistence
They make it happen. If a million dollar producer is approaching the end of the month and the numbers aren’t there, they don’t give up. They figure out a way to get it done, identifying and rectifying the issues, and move on. One slow summer month this year, I was $80,000 short of my goal with only five days left to meet it. Failure not being an option, I came up with a solution, implemented it, and met my goal. I looked at all the deals closest to money, created a higher sense of urgency with my clients and candidates, and focused on closing them. High achievers don’t put their tails between their legs and back off. Ever!
#2—Fear
Every top producer has it. In the pits of their stomachs, it is a sense of fear—fear of not being successful enough or fear of failing that keeps them running. If you don’t have fear or if you don’t honor it, you will lose your edge. It is what keeps exceptional recruiters going when someone else would walk out the door. It is what drives them to conquer adversity and to bounce back from a slow week with renewed determination. If you don’t have fear, you are complacent. Complacency is the enemy of a million dollar biller.
#3—Passion
They believe in what they do. Million dollar billers love this business. You can hear it, feel it, see it in everything they do. Recruiting energizes them. They don’t do it simply to make ends meet, but because they believe it is the best career in the world. They know they create incredible value for both candidates and clients, and they aren’t afraid to talk about it. Top recruiters have earned the right to be listened to. They sell opportunity: the chance to make professional dreams come true.
#4—Above-Average Selling Skills
People get phone calls every day from recruiters. You only get one chance to break away from the crowd and you’d better be prepared to do so. You mustn’t sell just a market or a position, but most importantly, yourself. Million dollar billers are great listeners and great persuaders. They build high-level relationships where real value is added. My personal value proposition, the reasons someone would want to do business with me versus anyone else, is so strong that I would be shocked if a client or candidate did not want to partner with my firm and me.
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Jon Bartos, a guest writer for the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Blog, is a premier writer, speaker, and consultant on all aspects of personal performance, human capital, and the analytics behind them. In December of 2012, Bartos joined trustaff Solutions as the president. Founded in 2002, trustaff Solutions has been distinguished nationally five times by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing, privately-held companies in the country. Click here to visit Bartos’s website.