Anatomy of a $112,500 Split Placement Fee

As chronicled earlier this month in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, two TE Network members broke the record for sharing the largest split placement fee in Top Echelon history.

The recruiters involved were Clint Martz of A to Z Search Group and Sean Bonner of Intensiv, LLC.

Clint and Sean placed a General Manager for a consumer products manufacturer, generating a fee of $112,500 at 25%. The position oversees an operation of more than $800 million in Macon, Georgia.

In the process, Clint and Sean surpassed the previous TE Network record held by Steve Brody of Executive Resource Systems and Trish Kuykendall of Source Financial Staffing. Brody and Kuykendall placed a Tax Partner in 2023, generating a fee of $100,917.

However, while the size of the fee makes this placement historic, the story behind the placement illustrates something just as important: what can happen when recruiters build strong relationships and consistently work together within TE Network.

A Record-Breaking TE Network Split Placement

Clint has worked with the client involved in the placement for more than four years. During that time, he has developed a strong relationship with the organization and made numerous placements.

In fact, Clint billed the client $370,000 last year alone.

Despite the size of the record-setting fee, Clint said his primary focus remains on producing results for his clients and the recruiters with whom he works.

“I am humbled that I had the biggest split fee placement in Top Echelon history,” he said. “I don’t get caught up much in the hoopla and just want to make placements and satisfy my clients and TE partners.”

The General Manager search represented a significant opportunity. The client needed someone capable of leading an operation worth more than $800 million, and finding the right candidate required identifying somebody with the specific experience and qualifications necessary for the role.

That is where Sean entered the equation.

Sean had already worked successfully with Clint on previous searches for the client. As a result, the two recruiters had developed familiarity with each other and an understanding of what was required to make placements.

“Sean has been a great TE partner and has made several placements with my client over the years,” Clint said. “He was able to find me a great candidate for what my client was looking for, as he has done in the past.”

That existing relationship helped lay the foundation for a record-breaking placement.

Communication and Trust Make the Difference

According to Sean, one of the biggest reasons he and Clint work well together is straightforward: they communicate.

“We keep in the loop and communicate with each other,” he said.

Sometimes that communication happens while the two recruiters are discussing another search. Clint might provide an update about one candidate or position while Sean is calling about something completely different. That ongoing communication allows both recruiters to understand what is happening with their searches and what each person needs from the other.

Just as important, Sean makes an effort to respect Clint’s time. He does not simply send large numbers of candidates and hope that somebody fits. Instead, he concentrates on finding candidates who possess the experience and qualifications Clint’s client is seeking.

That approach is especially important when working on high-level searches.

The record-breaking General Manager placement is an excellent example. A position overseeing an $800 million-plus operation requires a very specific candidate profile. Producing the right candidate requires research, sourcing, screening, and an understanding of what the hiring manager actually needs.

Sean described the record placement as “very rewarding” and joked that he would “love to have it happen every six months.”

However, neither recruiter knew when they started working the search that it would eventually become the largest split fee in TE Network history. They simply did what successful Network recruiters have been doing for years: work together to fill a client’s hiring need.

Relationships Create More Opportunities

Clint’s experience with the client also demonstrates another advantage of recruiter collaboration. He currently has multiple openings with the organization, which means there are additional opportunities for TE Network members to help him fill positions.

“I currently have several openings with them, so I’m always looking for TE members to partner with,” Clint said. “I have been very fortunate to align myself with some very good TE members that have helped me immensely, and I will always treasure those relationships.”

Sean has been a TE Network member for a little over two years, and his experience underscores the importance of developing relationships instead of viewing the Network simply as a collection of jobs and candidates. With hundreds of recruiting firms and recruiters available through TE Network, members have the opportunity to identify people whose specialties, recruiting styles, and resources complement their own.

For Sean, the key is making the effort to find those people and establish rapport.

“Try to find good people who you can establish a rapport with and work together with,” he said.

That does not necessarily mean attempting to work with everybody in the Network. A recruiter can develop a smaller number of productive relationships and continue building upon them. Clint and Sean are proof of what can happen when those relationships mature.

They had worked together before this placement. Sean understood what Clint needed, Clint trusted Sean to provide qualified candidates, and they communicated throughout the process.

And eventually, one of those searches resulted in a $112,500 placement fee.

The Power of TE Network Collaboration

A split placement starts with a simple proposition. One recruiter has the job order and another recruiter has the candidate. But the most successful split recruiting relationships usually involve much more than exchanging information.

They involve communication, responsiveness, trust, and an understanding of how the other recruiter works. They also involve a willingness to invest time in helping another recruiter satisfy their client.

Sean pointed to another important advantage recruiters can communicate to prospective clients: the recruiting horsepower available through a network of recruiters.

An individual recruiting agency might have considerable sourcing capabilities on its own. Through TE Network, however, that agency can potentially access the expertise, relationships, and candidate pipelines of other recruiters across industries and specialties. That can be a compelling value proposition, especially for difficult searches.

For Clint, collaborating with other TE Network members has become part of how he serves an important client that continues to have hiring needs.

For Sean, the relationship has provided opportunities to put his sourcing and recruiting skills to work on searches he otherwise might never have encountered.

For both recruiters, the latest result was historic.

But perhaps the most telling part of the story is that neither Clint nor Sean views the record-breaking placement as the culmination of their relationship.

Instead, they are already looking ahead.

“I look forward to many more placements with this client in the future,” Clint said, “and I look forward to working together with Sean in the future and all other TE partners.”

The record now stands at $112,500.

And considering what can happen when TE Network recruiters communicate, collaborate, and build relationships with one another, perhaps the question is not whether that record will eventually be broken.

The question is who will break it next?