It’s tough to top a $95,000 placement fee. It’s especially tough to beat in a split placement network like Top Echelon.

And that’s exactly why that placement fee is the Largest Split Fee of the Quarter for the second quarter!

As we announced here on June 29 of this year, Top Echelon Network members Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates, LLC and Norma Wallis of LME Resources, LLC placed a Vice President of Sales during the month of May. They split $95,000 as a result of that placement.

Not only was that the Largest Split Fee of the Month for May, but it’s also the Largest Split Fee of the Quarter.

Not only is it the Largest Split Fee of the Quarter, but it’s also the largest fee that any two recruiters have split in the history of the Network. We’re talking over 28 years of history here.

To put that into perspective, it was over $40,000 more than the second-place fee on the list for the quarter. However, the rest of the list is nothing to dismiss:

• $51,250
• $48,750
• $36,875
• $33,300

So congratulations to Ron, Norma, and everybody else who landed large fees as a result of split placements they made in Top Echelon Network during the second quarter!

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Largest Split Fee of the Quarter:

Norma Wallis

Ron Sunshine

Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates, LLC and Norma Wallis of LME Resources, LLC

The position for this split placement was a Vice President of Sales. Sunshine was the job order recruiter, and Wallis was the candidate recruiter.

The action that stimulated this split placement was listed as, “Regular communication with a Top Echelon Network member.”

The fee for this split placement was $95,000.

— — —

Second Place:

Bob Wyland of R.A. Wylan & Co., Inc. (job order recruiter)
Gerald Brown of Technical Management Advisors (candidate recruiter)
Position Title: VP of Manufacturing Operations
Fee percentage: 25%
Split Fee: $51,250

Third Place:

Mary Ann Buckley of Interstate Recruiters Corp (job order recruiter)
Diane Rothong of Worksource 2000, Inc. (candidate recruiter)
Position Title: Associate Director, Med Comm International
Fee percentage: 25%
Split Fee: $48,750

Fourth Place:

Kenny Frey, CPC of The Frey Consulting Group, Inc. (job order recruiter)
Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search (candidate recruiter)
Position Title: Flow Business Unit Lifecycle Service Director – Latin America
Fee percentage: 25%
Split Fee: $36,875

Fifth Place:

Pamela Ratz DeVille, CPC of the MMS Group (job order recruiter)
Bob Vogt of Vision 2020 (candidate recruiter)
Position Title: VP of Compliance
Fee percentage: 18%
Split Fee: $33,300

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Top Echelon determines the monthly and quarterly winners of its Network recruiting awards in four distinct categories, which are listed below:

1.) Recruiter of the Month
2.) Largest Split Fee of the Month
3.) Recruiter of the Quarter
4.) Largest Split Fee of the Quarter

The winners of these awards are only announced in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, usually (but not always) in the issue following the conclusion of each month and/or quarter.

Sure, you can celebrate recruiter loyalty with photos of cake. But there’s certainly nothing wrong with pizza. I mean . . . it’s pizza. And after all, the official name is pizza pie. Cake vs. pie. I say it’s a draw.

Anyway, we have example of recruiter loyalty in this blog post in the form of Top Echelon Network anniversaries. Each month, we celebrate Network recruiting firms that are celebrating anniversaries of certain lengths. (See the editor’s note for the official guidelines.)

Once again, we have all kinds of anniversaries this month—long timers, short timers, and those in between. Along the way, the recruiters in these firms have made a tremendous amount of placements. They’ve leveraged the resources that the Network offers and turned those resources into revenue.

While these firms have been loyal down through the years, we hope that we’ve given them good reason for that loyalty: by providing the type of value that has convinced them to stay customers.

So congratulations to Command Consultants, EXEK Recruiters, Med Exec International, and all the other Top Echelon firms celebrating Network anniversaries during the month of July!

(Editor’s note: Top Echelon recognizes firms celebrating five, 10, 15, and 20-year anniversaries, plus any firm celebrating an anniversary in excess of 20 years.)

— — —

26-Year Anniversary

Command Consultants, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee
Staff Members: Mark London
Agency Join Date: August 22, 1990
Placements: 75

— — —

23-Year Anniversary

EXEK Recruiters, Ltd. in Rochester, New York
Staff Members: Lawrence T. Ploscowe and Andrew Ploscowe
Agency Join Date: August 19, 1993
Placements: 137

Med Exec International in Glendale, California
Staff Members: Rosemarie Christopher, Jan Clements, Lewie Casey, and Paul Dionne
Agency Join Date: August 23, 1993
Placements: 61

— — —

20-Year Anniversary

FINANCIALjobs.com in Ojai, California
Staff Members: Michael Muller
Agency Join Date: August 29, 1996
Placements: 28

— — —

15-Year Anniversary

KnowPeople, Inc. in San Diego, California
Staff Members: Hani Mussa
Agency Join Date: August 13, 2001
Placements: 46

— — —

10-Year Anniversary

Bertram & Associates, Inc. in Woodbury, Minnesota
Staff Members: Stephanie Jakubik and Tom Jakubik
Agency Join Date: August 21, 2006
Placements: 16

Vista Technology in Woburn, Massachusetts
Staff Members: Richard Connors
Agency Join Date: August 25, 2006
Placements: 25

— — —

5-Year Anniversary

JA Pharma, Inc. in Hauppauge, New York
Staff Members: Denise Milano Sprung
Agency Join Date: August 5, 2011
Placements: 7

Peters Search Group, LLC in Angola, Indiana
Staff Members: Jeff Peters
Agency Join Date: August 19, 2011
Placements: 13

Packing your bags already for the Top Echelon Fall Conference?

While you’re at it, pack these social media tips to take full advantage of attending the Fall Conference.

#1—Make sure you know the hashtag.

Our event will have a hashtag to help organize all the conference photos and happenings. When you make a Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram make sure you use the hashtag #TopEchCon2016. A hashtag is a tool within Twitter used to organize the conversation surrounding a phrase, in this case, an event. You create a hashtag by combining the pound sign (#) with a keyword. Sounds easy enough, right? Give it shot this conference! (link to this article somewhere in there https://blog.bufferapp.com/a-scientific-guide-to-hashtags-which-ones-work-when-and-how-many)

See what we’ve been tweeting! Click here to follow Top Echelon on Twitter.

#2—Smile, time for a selfie!

Take a page out of Dave Sgro’s book and make sure there is plenty of room on your smartphone to take pictures of you and your next trading partner. Not only will this be great to post with our event hashtag but it’s a great icebreaker! Here’s a look back on conference selfie pasts.

#3—Follow us!

We like you, so how about you Like us. We’ll be posting about the conference on our company FB, company Twitter account, and from Drea Codispoti’s personal Twitter account. Don’t miss out on any of the announcements or action and make sure to follow us before the conference.

#4—Most importantly have fun!

Sure, these conferences are about learning more and gathering recruiting tips. Another important part though is having fun while making valuable connections! By sharing fun updates of your time at the conference you show the job seekers and clients who follow you on social your personality and the face behind the name of your business.

We also created for you a social media checklist to help boost your social presence while at the conference. We’ll make sure to give a shout out to the recruiter with the most points at the end of the conference. Posts must have the #TopEchCon2016 to be counted for the contest.

• Share a comment about the event.
• Tweet at our speakers what you’re excited for in their training.
• Post a quote from training session with the hashtag.
• Post a photo with a new connection.
• Share a photo with someone you’ve made a placement with already.
• Post a photo at the ice breaker (bonus points if it includes singing).
• Share a photo on your way to the conference.
• Mention our keynote speaker on social media.
• Post a picture with a Top Echelon staff member.

Knock your social media presence out of the (Wrigley Field) park! See you at the conference!

Personal success sometimes depends on how well of a fit something is for you.

The common cliche is that you can’t force a square in a round hole. However, sometimes stars align and magic begins to happen.

For recruiter Tim Piccini, joining the Top Echelon Network in 2015 was exactly what he needed to make almost $90,000 in a little more than one year from 12 split placements.

“I knew from my first conversation with Drea that the Network would be a fit for us,” said Piccini.

Tim Piccini

Tim and his wife Kim started recruiting in 2003 as the co-owners of Philips Recruiting Services. Their previous experience in the automotive industry helped them create a very good client base, but the need for more candidates led him to Top Echelon.

“Being in the Network and building relationships was the perfect supplement to what we are already doing,” said Piccini. “We’ve been fortunate to be able to build a close circle of recruiters that we trust and match up well with.”

According to Tim, about 95 percent of their focus is used to fill candidates.

“We’ve always had more jobs than the two of us could handle,” said Piccini. “The Network allows us access to candidates across the country and shortens our bill time.”

Tim has relied on his own network of clients and attention to detail since the beginning.

“When we got started, our customers were people that we knew,” said Piccini. “We were driven by being able to help out our close contacts.”

It’s obvious that the goal of every recruiter is to make more placements. However, his desire is to ensure his customers are completely satisfied and he strives to exceed their expectations. Piccini prides his recruiting process on providing personalized service and quality candidates for each client.

Before joining the Network, Piccini had very limited experience with making split placements. He attributes much of his quick success making split placements within the Network to the quality of recruiters that make up the group.

“We’ve been fortunate to be able to build a close circle of recruiters that we trust and match up well with,” he said.”

Director of Network Operations Drea Codipsoti, CPC/CERS is responsible for helping new Network members experience success quickly once they join Top Echelon. Not only is he impressed with what Picinni has been able to accomplish, but so are other members.

“Tim is the perfect example of what can happen when you join the Network with a plan and then execute that plan,” said Codispoti. “Some recruiters join the Network and expect it to be a magic money-making machine. You have to invest in your membership in order to receive a return on that investment, and that’s exactly what Tim does.

“In fact, I’ve received phone calls from other members who have noticed Tim and how he conducts himself and conducts business. He’s exactly the type of recruiter we want in Top Echelon Network, and we’re excited to see what he can do and how much success he can enjoy.”

So while Piccini is a fit for the Network, he didn’t stop there. He’s also been proactive in efforts to make his membership work for him. The result: more split partners, more relationships, and more placements.

“If you jump in with both feet, you will definitely see success in the Network,” he said.