Drea’s Walk Through the Policies: The Check is in My Hand

Being a part of Top Echelon Network is being a member of a community of recruiters who are here for the purpose of furthering one another in business by helping with ideas; business strategies; and of course, making placements.

A part of being a good partner in this community is knowing the procedures, and most importantly, the Top Echelon Network Policies. Understanding these rules of engagement makes you a “better player in the game.”

This will help everyone understand not only the protocols, but also the expectations that we set forth to help foster healthy relationships between Top Echelon partners.

In the first of a series of articles here in The Pinnacle, I want to discuss Top Echelon Network Policy #11: Placement Fees, Payment Terms, Refunds, Fall-offs, and Guarantees.

When a placement is made, you can refer to this article: “You Have Made Your First Split, Now What?”

Now you have the client’s payment for the placement . . .

Which funds are split? The entire amount of funds a client has paid you for filling the role in question. If there is a retainer paid to you for filling that role, it is included in the total to be split.

When do you pay your TE partner? Immediately upon receiving your client check. Change the status of the placement on the Job Order in Top Echelon to Completed. Then make two photocopies of the client check , send one copy to your TE partner/candidate recruiter along with their full 47% and the second copy to TE headquarters with the 6% brokerage fee.

What if the client sends my fee electronically? It is not difficult to use screen capture tools to take a shot of that line item on your statement and block out other information that is personal. To confirm that amount, also include a copy of the invoice that you sent to the client with your TE partner’s check.

These actions of transparency establish checks and balances, demonstrating trust and partnership to those with whom you make placements in Top Echelon Network.

Refunds/guarantees/fall-off: When a fall-off occurs within the guarantee period, the job order recruiter must change the status on the job in Top Echelon on the placement form from Completed/Finalized to Fall-Off. This will initiate an email to both the candidate recruiter and Top Echelon headquarters. Of course, you also want to call your TE partner on the phone and let them know of the situation prior to filling out that form. The fees are to be refunded by the candidate recruiter and Top Echelon headquarters immediately upon notice of the fall-off. There are no exclusions or exceptions to this rule.

Most of you have been recruiting for quite some time and are very experienced. As members of Top Echelon Network, any placement that occurs between members is 100% subject to the Network Policies we’ve set forth, so everyone is using the same playbook.

You might think, “Well, my policy on this type of situation has always been . . .” or “Since I have been recruiting, I have always . . .” or “[insert internal dialogue here]” . . . none of that comes into play with a TE split. If that was the case, we would have bedlam on our hands, as there are so many perspectives on how things should be done.

I encourage everyone to read through the Policies, and if you have any questions, please contact me at drea@topechelon.com. If you’d like to speak with me, you can do so by scheduling a time on my calendar.