Steve Brody: Old-School Approach = Enduring Success

Top Echelon Network Charter Member Steve Brody of Executive Resource Systems knows all about old-school recruiting. And he’s the perfect example of why, despite the never-ending barrage of technology that has assailed the profession during the past several decades, the old-school method remains the most effective.

The numbers, of course, speak for themselves. As the last Charter Member in TE, Steve has made 143 Top Echelon placements during his tenure in the Network. That’s an average of a little more than four placements per year. Keep in mind this time period includes at least three recessions, including the Great Recession, as well as the COVID-19 lockdowns.

In addition, Steve recently became a member of Top Echelon’s exclusive Million Dollar Club, meaning that he’s billed a million dollars through the Network. (That million dollars is what he took away from those 143 placements, excluding Top Echelon’s 6% brokerage fee and what the other recruiters earned.)

And of course, Steve vaulted over the $1 million mark recently by sharing in the largest split placement fee in Top Echelon Network history ($100,917). Steve achieved the feat by placing a Tax Partner with fellow Network member Trish Kuykendall of Source Financial Staffing.

In fact, that placement alone demonstrates how Steve’s old-school approach can pay off in ways that you can’t quantify—outside of a placement fee, that is.

That’s because the search assignment that led to a placement fee of more than $100K was his first search assignment with a new client. Not only was it an exclusive retained search, but it was also the result of Steve being directly referred to the managing partner of the organization by the managing partner of one of his current clients.

“I’ve known the person who made the recommendation for 20 years,” said Steve. “I’ve met him in person and I’ve had regular conversations with him, both personal and business. I know the names of his wife and kids and his personal hobbies. As it turned out, that led him to be very loyal to me both in terms of executive searches and also referrals to his friends, who are also high-level partners at CPA firms.”

Based upon that recommendation alone, the company granted Steve an exclusive retainer to fill the $500K Tax Partner position. “But for” the relationship that Steve built with the initial managing partner, he never would have received the search assignment.

But Steve’s old-school approach—and the success that he experienced with it on this placement—does not stop there.

That’s because Steve is as big an advocate of continuous training and education as he is of networking. In fact, he makes it a point to attend Top Echelon conferences and conventions regularly. It’s during these events that he compares notes with other Network members, as well as enjoys the training provided by the keynote speakers.

Steve attended Top Echelon Connect 2023 in New Orleans earlier this year. The keynote speaker for that event was Greg Doersching.

“Greg made a tremendous presentation that included his recommendations on fee agreement guarantees, many of which I had never heard before,” said Steve. “Greg also volunteered that if any TE member wanted advice, to call him anytime.”

This happened to be fortuitous. That’s because Steve’s new client contacted him prior to the candidate’s start date with the organization. The reason: to renegotiate some of the terms of the fee agreement. Specifically, the client wanted to extend the guarantee period from 90 days to six months. So, as you might imagine, Steve called Greg.

“I left him a message and he called me right back,” said Steve. “He told me that he would give me 30 minutes on the phone at no charge. He reinforced what he said in New Orleans and then gave me even more advice. I used a lot of that advice when I got back to my client, ended up keeping the 90-day guarantee, and the client paid the fee within days of that conversation.”

Steve Brody is an old-school recruiter in a new-school world who is taking advantage of the best of both worlds to continue experiencing extraordinary success. He isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, either. In fact, quite the opposite appears to be the case. Since the beginning of 2021, Steve has made 28 split placements in Top Echelon, a profitable pace regardless of Network tenure.

“I’ve had a great run and I’m not going to stop anytime soon,” said Steve. “And I want to welcome other recruiters who would like to work with me to give me a call. I would be happy to chat with anybody who could help me.”

Steve currently has several open client assignments, including another exclusive search for a Tax Partner. If any TE members are interested in attempting some cold call recruiting to assist Steve in filling these jobs, he would welcome the assistance. Feel free to contact him by email at brody@erscareers.com or call him at (714) 744-4000.