Top Echelon Contracting has made it even easier to make contract placements. That’s because we’ve partnered with industry trainer Barb Bruno, CPC/CTS to produce a FREE video series about contracting!

That video series is called “Contract Staffing Fundamentals for the Staffing and Recruiting Professional.”

This is a multi-session, comprehensive series designed to provide the building blocks needed to make contract placements. Recruiters have told us that contract staffing seems too difficult and time-consuming. That is NOT the case, and this series is proof.

Video series topics

In this series, you will learn:

• The benefits of contract staffing
• How to get started and who to contact
• The tremendous impact on your bottom line
• What to say to overcome all objections
• How to negotiate bill and pay rates
• How to close more deals
• And much more!

Barb is one of the recruiting and staffing industries’ most recognized trainers. She has over 30 years of experience as a recruiter and business owner in search, contract, and temp placement. The bottom line: she knows what she’s talking about!

Barb has developed cutting-edge web-based training programs delivering sales, recruiting and management training. And now, she’s created a multi-session video training program to help recruiters add contract staffing services to their recruiting business.

So what do I mean by FREE? I mean you just have to enter your email address. (And since you’re already a member of Top Echelon Network and we have your email address, is it really that big of a deal?) Just click on the link below. It will take you to a landing page where you can submit your address. Then the video series is yours!

Watch this FREE training series by Barb Bruno!

Remember, Top Echelon Contracting is here to help YOU make contract placements. We are a recruitment back office with over 25 years of experience. We take care of all the back office duties so you can just keep doing what you do best: recruiting and cashing placement checks!

So watch Barb Bruno’s video series and get ready to make more money!

Have you considered hiring extra staff for your office, but hesitate because of all the hassles and liability tied to W-2 employees?

Did you know that you can add staff to your office and outsource the employment of that worker (along with all the time-consuming tasks) to Top Echelon Contracting?

Through our In-House Clerical and Administrative Program (ICAP), we become the legal W-2 employer of your short-term staff. We will handle all of the employment tasks. These include background checks, weekly payroll processing, taxes, unemployment, workers’ compensation, year-end reporting, etc.

In-house employees: an example

ICAP generally costs $1.750 per hour over and above the pay rate, plus the employer’s payroll taxes and insurance. Below is an example based on an Ohio worker:

Employee’s Hourly Pay Rate $15.00 + Employer Taxes and Liability Insurance $2.94 + Top Echelon Contracting $1.75 = Your Hourly Bill Rate $19.69

The hiring process is simple:

• Call our office for an ICAP quote.
• You recruit and select the candidate.
• You complete the ICAP set-up form on our website.
• We will send you a Client Services Agreement for In-House Staffing.
• We will email the candidate a link to their secure online employment paperwork.
• After the paperwork is completed your new in-house employee can begin work!

Plus, if the candidate works at least 30 hours per week, they will be eligible for Aetna healthcare, dental, vision, and life insurance, as well as 401(k). Please note, however, that we do NOT contribute to the healthcare premium for ICAP participants. If your in-house worker elects health insurance, we will invoice you an additional $188.56 per month. Due to healthcare reform (ACA) requirements, the worker must be paid at least $15.00 per hour to ensure that healthcare coverage meets the affordability requirement.

Workers eligible for this program include administrative assistants, bookkeepers, researchers, recruiters, clerks, receptionists, and data entry personnel. We cannot employ agency owners, partners, etc.

For more information or an ICAP quote, call 888.627.3678 and ask to speak with a contract administrator.

Last week, we explored how many perm placements Top Echelon Network recruiters made in 2017. This week, we’re moving on. Specifically, we’re moving on to TE members’ cash-in totals.

Adding up placement totals is all fine and good. However, the cash you earn from those placements is where it really counts. And we wanted to know how much counting Network recruiters have done during the past 12 months.

That means YOU. So, as you might imagine, we posed a poll question in the Members’ Area. That question went something like this . . .

What was the cash-in total for your recruiting desk in 2017?

The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of split network recruiters that selected each one:

• Less than $100K — 24.5%
• Between $100K and $200K — 34.0%
• Between $200K and $300K — 18.9%
• Between $300K and $400K — 9.4%
• Between $400K and $500K — 2.8%
• Over $500K — 10.4%

Cash-in totals: the “sweet spot”

Once again, let’s find the “sweet spot” of these poll results. We have a winner! The “sweet spot” is apparently “between $100K and $200K,” which accounted for 34.0% of the vote.

The next-“sweetest spot” was “Less than $100K” at 24.5%. From there, the percentages decreased, but with one major exception. That exception occurred at “Over $500K.” Once the answers reached that level, the percentage jumped back up to 10.4%.

There are a lot of different ways that a person could look at the results of this poll. Which ways are those? Well, let’s find out, shall we?

• 75.5% of poll participants billed at least $100K in 2017
• 41.5% of poll participants billed at least $200K
• 22.6% of participants billed at least $300K
• Nearly half of all recruiters who billed at least $300K billed over $500K

All of these numbers, no matter how you view them, all point to the same conclusion. That conclusion is that Top Echelon Network members are successful recruiters. This is especially the case if you measure success by the standard of recruiting fees.

But that makes sense, doesn’t it? At Top Echelon, we want successful, ethical, split-minded recruiters in our recruiting network. It doesn’t matter to us whether they bill $100K or $500K.

Although, you know . . . the more, the merrier.

Using a contract staffing back office is a great way to reap the benefits of placing contractors without the hassle and risk that comes with employing those contractors. The question is which back office should you entrust to be the Employer of Record for your contractors?

Obviously, you want one that has been in business for a long time and has a good reputation. But beyond those basics, here are four questions you may want to ask:

1. What happens if a client doesn’t pay an invoice?

If the back office provider’s standard practice is to ask recruiters to pay any client invoices that are “uncollectible, you may want to consider your ultimate financial obligation. Just imagine if a client who uses several of your contractors suddenly decides to stop paying invoices. You could find yourself “on the hook” for several thousand dollars!

2. Do you provide contractor benefits?

Getting quality, affordable benefits is the top priority for many workers. This is especially the case since healthcare has become more and more expensive. So if you want to attract the best contract candidates, then make sure your back office offers benefits to its contractors.

3. What positions do you accept?

Some contract placement services will only place office professionals who fall under the standard 8810 Workers’ Compensation code. Why? Well, since those positions come with the lowest risk of Workers’ Comp (WC) claims, the WC rate for them is much lower than for other positions.

But if all of your placements don’t fall into that classification, you will have to handle your own tasks for those placements. OR you’ll need a separate back office provider that can handle your placements outside the 8810 code. When shopping for a back office, find out before you have a job order what positions they can and cannot place.

4. Do you recruit candidates and fill your own job orders?

Some contract staffing back offices also recruit and place candidates, in addition to handling the tasks for recruiters. If that’s the case, remember that they will be working closely with your candidates, as well as your clients. Your safest bet is to stick with a provider that does NOT do any recruiting. Instead, they simply serve as the employer and handle the tasks for the candidates you place.

Selecting a quality contract staffing back office is an important decision because of the sensitive tasks they handle. Be sure to do your due diligence and select your partner carefully.