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The podcast for recruitment business owners, consultants and managers. Hosted by Jeremy Snell, this pod takes a fresh look at recruitment and how to achieve consistent success. Each short, punchy episode gives you an idea to play with or, a different perspective on a common challenge.
Making recruitment fun again.
Hey. Hey. And welcome to this, the 4 d recruitment method podcast with me, Jeremy Snell. Join me as we unpack ideas, tactics, and processes to help you grow your business. Hey.
Speaker 1:Hey. Welcome to another episode of the podcast with me, Jeremy Snell. Now whether you're choosing to tune into this via YouTube or you are, consuming this on your favorite podcast platform in terms of audio, we have got a show for you today because we're gonna look at the truth, the harsh, honest truth as to what is getting in the way of you being as successful as you would like to be. Particularly thinking about your success in terms of revenue creation, business growth, consistency of fee contribution, profitability, you know, the dirty stuff that people don't talk about enough in the recruitment business because they're overly fixated on the softer elements or the immeasurables as to why they think they're good at their job. The cold honest truth people is when it all boils down to it, it's all about the level of income you are generating and the consistency with which you can do that that creates the longevity of your career and creates the longevity of your business and becomes the foundation for growth.
Speaker 1:Foundation for personal growth, foundation for business growth. So before I share what I would consider to be the three things that are most likely to be preventing you from achieving the success that you would like to achieve, I have to share one thing, which is baked into this entire podcast as an assumption. And I share it as an assumption because if what I'm assuming is not true, you're gonna be in the shit. Like, realistically, hang the coat up, go do something else. Because if this turns out not to be true, then at its very core, your business is broken.
Speaker 1:And that's quite a strong thing for me to say. Right? So drum roll, please. The assumption is this. In the marketplace that you trade, you have clarity on the problems your clients have that you believe you fix.
Speaker 1:So let's get this straight. You are trading in an environment where you believe you have clarity on the problems that you fix for your clients. Combined with that, you also have a deep rooted belief that what you do or what you sell as a service, product, or experience fixes those problems. Because if what you do at your core in terms of service offering or products that you've created fixes the problems that you know exist in the marketplace that you serve, you have everything that you need to be able to build a healthy, sustainable business, whether that is in the employment of an agency working as a consultant or somebody who is running their own company as a director that they have set up as a recruitment business. So before we move into those three things that I feel are the barriers to your success, for everyone at the back, let's just go through that again.
Speaker 1:You believe you have clarity on the problems that you fix, and in combination with that, you believe you have a product or a service offering that fixes those problems. If this is true, if this is genuinely true, the link between the 2, I e, how those prospects who have those problems become aware of your solution, and how clearly communicated on behalf of your business that solution is presented, that will create these things called sales. So if you feel as though you deserve to achieve more sales, the link between those two assumptions, the clarity of the problems that you fix, the fluency with which you believe your service or product fixes those problems, the only link between the two is you, my friend, And it is your ability to be able to communicate to that audience out there, which is your marketplace, that you have a total understanding of the problems that they have and the ability with which you can show that what you do as a service or as a product fixes those problems. And the better you get at realizing that the link between those two things is either going to be the enabler or the detractor from your ability to be able to sell at a price that you are happy with.
Speaker 1:The sooner you start to recognize that, the more likely it is you can start to focus on doing the right tasks at the right time to the right standard. So if those assumptions are true, continue listening. If not, maybe have a search on a job board, look for another job, or think more clearly about what are the problems that I fix and then come back when you've sorted that out. And if you also need to think more deeply about how your product or your service offering can clearly fix those problems and how you can communicate it to customers, you may need to do some work on that too. So either go do some homework on your business or start to think about what you could do instead of the business that you currently have.
Speaker 1:And if the assumption is true, then stick around with me, and I'm gonna share the three things that I feel are most likely to be preventing you from achieving the success that you would like to achieve. And those three things are what are often referred to as the controllables. We've all heard the phrase, control the controllables. We see it in linked updates. We hear it on podcasts.
Speaker 1:We see it in self help books. Focus on the things that you can change. Some people talk about the circle of influence, the things that actually are under your influence that you can do something about. Spend less time in the circle of concern, which is worrying about the things that may be concerning for you, but you can't change them. So put your energy into the things that you can change.
Speaker 1:So the concept of control the controllables is everywhere. What rarely gets communicated to people is the definition as to what those controllables are. And there are only 3 things that are in your control. Everything else becomes a variable. So when we focus on the 3 things that are in our control and we point those three things at the primary mission for our business, which is the generation and retention of customers, we can then make sure we are doing everything that we can to the right standards at the right time with the right people to be able to create the integration between our fluency with the problems that we fix and the clarity with which we can demonstrate our product or service is a solution for those problems.
Speaker 1:So those barriers to us being as successful as we would like, the first one the first one is what we choose to focus on. This is controllable number 1. It is totally in our control as to what we choose to focus on. We're in a world where our attention is a prized commodity, and we are constantly being bombarded by distractions. If you find yourself beginning the day with a certain plan and then ending the day realizing that you haven't been able to deliver the plan, you've probably been distracted by too many things.
Speaker 1:So when you get committed to focusing on the right things, it is focusing on the right tasks at the right time, being delivered to the right standards that makes the difference. If you begin an activity, and let's say that activity is as simple as deciding to do some outreach using LinkedIn to begin some introductions to some prospects, and you decide to use LinkedIn to be able to do that because there are no gatekeepers. You decide to use LinkedIn to be able to do that because it feels as though you have a little bit more control over the number of people that you can actually start that communication with. And you start it on LinkedIn because it's a platform that you've got great fluency with. So you decide that you're gonna spend some time sending some introductions to some contacts.
Speaker 1:If you haven't put enough thought into actually what you are putting in those messages, if you haven't thought about the sequence of events that is going to follow once you have sent that message, the danger is you are doing a single task focused on a single outcome without any meaningful process set behind it as to how you will follow it up and how you will then follow-up the follow-up. So if you're not fully focused on purpose, if you're not fully focused on process, if you're not fully focused on how to be able to ensure that you do it to the right standard, you may be able to tick the exercise off on a checklist. However, on review, you may not find it is as productive or as meaningful based upon the return on investment as you had hoped. And you could find yourself in danger of blaming the platform, or you could find yourself in danger of blaming people's lack of attention to actually acknowledging your message, or you could find yourself blaming your competitors for creating too much noise because you're the special one, and you're the one that actually is good at what you do, and everyone else is a time waster.
Speaker 1:So you fall into the trap of blaming things that are out of your control for the lack of return on the thing that is in your control which is what you focus on. So if your focus is blurry, your results become blurry. If your focus isn't linked to something that can be done with discipline to follow a plan, you'll end up following your mood. You might begin the task with best intentions of sending messages to 25 people And within 3 messages time, find yourself being distracted by something that came in on your phone via WhatsApp or checking your inbox to see if there's any messages that may be able to save you through distraction from the task that you've started. Or you may simply start messaging people on LinkedIn only to find that you're suddenly involved in a poll trying to really work out a meaningful answer as to whether a hot dog truly is a sandwich or not.
Speaker 1:So people get control of what you focus on. Begin your day with clarity on the purpose of the day and how you will use that day to be able to make an advance towards landing that new client, embedding further with your existing customer base, or getting closer to increasing the number of customers that you currently trade with through the purpose of your sales activity. Focus, my friends. It is the number one controllable. The second thing that will get in the way of your own success that is also the second of the controllables is the amount of effort that you put into things, the energy that you expend.
Speaker 1:If we go back to high school physics, one of the things that we learned there was the equation for power. When you are at power as a recruiter, the equation for power is very simple. It is the work done divided by the time taken. So if you decide to do a piece of work, and again, let's say that piece of work is the same 25 messages to contacts on LinkedIn to start a process of business development. If I do those 25 messages across the course of an afternoon, so it takes me a 180 minutes, the power ratio is 25 divided by a 180.
Speaker 1:If I do that in 50 minutes, the power ratio changes because I have condensed into a shorter window of time doing the activity, which puts me in a position of greater power. 25 divided by 50 is a much higher power rating than 25 divided by a 180. And that's totally in our control people. This is the power of being able to time block. This is the power of creating cardio activities.
Speaker 1:This is the power of working at full power in bursts or in sprints to then have a period of recovery to then go back to another high power session. So if you think about the power ratio with you which you do work to do an hour of high powered work and then 15 minutes of recovery and then 15 minutes of planning the next power session and then 60 minutes of working at power, You will get far more done in 3 60 minute power sessions than you ever would in a single block of 3 hours allocated to a task. So when you look at the effort that you put into things and you look at the power ratio, that is the basic fundamentals of you being in control of how hard you choose to work. And then what sits on top of that, for those of you who are subscribers to the idea of working smart, not just working hard, the two things aren't mutually exclusive. Right?
Speaker 1:You can work hard and you can work smart. So you can work smart in a really hard fashion. And the people who work hard in a really smart fashion, they're the dangerous ones. They're the ones who competitors get scared of. The lazy ones are the ones who say, I prefer to work smart.
Speaker 1:And they do so at a very low power rating. And it has an impact on things like performance, and it has an impact on things like results, but they are delighted with the quality with which they generated that single result. And there are people who work hard, and they burn lots of calories, and they get sweaty every day. And perhaps in their wake, there is attrition because they don't necessarily fill every job. They don't convert every conversation.
Speaker 1:But what they make up for in terms of quality, they bring investment of energy. They bring work. And the people who do both together, they work hard to a high standard. And those people who are willing to do that, they bring something called discretionary effort. And discretionary effort is what sets apart the great from the good, the good from the average.
Speaker 1:The discretionary effort, it's not just the additional commitment to calories. It's not just the additional commitments to hours in the day. It's that willingness to do things that others aren't willing to do. That moment of challenge when the client says, we only work with agencies at 15%. Take it or leave it.
Speaker 1:The discretionary efforts to be able to engage in a conversation to successfully to successfully, underlining the word successfully, secure 18% when everyone else was 15. The discretionary effort that's required when the candidate says, no. I'm not looking at the moment. I'm happy where I am. The discretionary effort to investigate further, rather than to do a weak attempt of picking up a referral, but never seems to work, to then move on to find another candidate, and to always be stuck in this challenge of there's not enough candidates in the world.
Speaker 1:When in reality there is. There isn't enough discretionary effort for that recruiter to be able to engage in conversations with people to start to shift their perspective of the benefit of becoming a candidate. So when we start to think about energy, when we start to think about the amount of effort that we put into things, there is calories, there is time, and there is discretionary effort. All three of those things again, people, are totally in your control. And because you control how much energy you bring, because you control how much discretionary effort you're willing to put into things, because you are deciding, what do I wanna achieve, and when do I want to have it happen?
Speaker 1:You've got clarity on what to focus on, and you have clarity on the energy that's required. And those two things, unfortunately, people are often questionable in those who are struggling to achieve the results that they would like to achieve. And sometimes it is the lack of achievement of results that actually stops those people from continuing to think about what should I focus on today? I, what is the purpose of today, and how will I know if I've had a good day, and how much energy am I willing to put into this? What am I willing to sacrifice that perhaps others won't that could look as simple as the number of hours that I work today?
Speaker 1:And how do I dig deep enough to find the discretionary effort to go above and beyond what others are willing to do when faced with moments of adversity? Because that requires a little bit more resilience. That requires a little bit more discipline. That, my friends, requires a greater focus on the goals that you have, not just for now, but for the week, for the month, for the quarter, and dare I say it, potentially for your life. Because today is a component in the rest of your life.
Speaker 1:And then 3rd and final, but is often an inhibitor to success is your willingness to accept things that could actually prove to be better if you are less willing to accept such a low level of compromise or agreements. So, for example, what you're willing to accept as your definition as the minimum standard of a job that you would work on. What you're willing to accept as the minimum definition of a good quality candidate that you present to a client on a job. For example, what you're willing to accept as being the minimum focus area that you would have to be able to ensure that you are building a pipeline of clients to join your customer base over the course of the next 3 months. And during the course of this year, there have been many moments where people have chosen to compromise what they're willing to accept because they have been blaming external conditions for some of the challenges that their business is facing.
Speaker 1:And rather than adapting their business to overcome the challenges, they've adapted their business to work within the confines of those challenges. So things like minimum fees have dropped, things like minimum acceptability in terms of client behavior has dropped. Definition of a good job has dropped. Definition of good quality account management has dropped. And because those things have dropped and they've done so gradually over the course of this year, there is a lack of awareness just how much those things have dropped until those businesses and until those consultants start to review what actually is my definition of my minimum acceptable standards.
Speaker 1:Minimum acceptable standards of self, minimum acceptable standards of customers, minimum acceptable standards of activity, and responses from those activity. And this is where we start to drive performance. Performance starts to improve when we shift in a positive fashion our definition of acceptable, because as we up our definition of acceptable, the level of capability that's required to be able to generate it increases, and what we choose to do when we reject clients, when we reject candidates, when we reject work so that we have enough bandwidth to be able to find better. And as we start to do that and we have more pride in what we do, we take greater levels of ownership as to what we're willing to accept. So which where the wherever way you look at it, people, whether it is focusing on those three things to think about how you strengthen your business and therefore improve your results.
Speaker 1:So thinking about what should I be focused on? How much energy should I be putting into that? And what am I willing to accept? Or to look at the barriers to you achieving the results that you would really like to think about what actually have I been focusing on and what have been my main distractors, how much energy have I realistically put into the proactive things that'll make a difference compared to simply being busy all day doing stuff? And where have I compromised myself in terms of what I'm willing to accept that has now started to have an impact on the quality of results of my desk or my business?
Speaker 1:So peeps, it's totally with you. Right? You can listen to this and go, hey. That was really interesting. You can listen to this and go, hey.
Speaker 1:That was a bag of shit. Or you can listen to this and start to think about what am I gonna start to do to help me to be able to get control of the controllables, have absolute clarity on what I need to focus on, to commit fully to the level of energy that I'm going to put in to ensuring that that gets delivered, and to start to hold myself and my team accountable for what we're willing to accept. And then my friends, we have the blueprint for a good quality business as long as the assumption is true that you know the problems that your clients have and that you know that your solution is fit for purpose to fix those problems. Because then things like competitors and market conditions, they all disappear because they're outside of our control, and we're focused on the things that are in our control, and we do everything that we can to ensure that we get the most out of them every single day we choose to turn up. So take from that what you will.
Speaker 1:Have fun. Enjoy. And I'll see you on another episode in the very near future. Hey. Hey.
Speaker 1:You made it to the end of the episode. Thank you very much indeed for listening. Look, whether this is your first episode or you've consumed many, I'd like to give you, a little bit of a heads up that we now have, a wait list for the 4 d recruitment membership, which is your opportunity to be able to join me more consistently for live action based training to be able to get access to a wireframe to help you to be able to adopt the 4 d recruitment method and to ensure that you can differentiate yourself in a crowded recruitment market and start to be able to win the business that you know that you deserve at the prices that you'd like to charge. So what are you waiting for? Oh, that's right.
Speaker 1:Join the wait list. See you on the other side.