When it comes to scoring the biggest recruiting fee in Top Echelon Network, Pamela Ratz DeVille, CPC of the MMS Group is at the head of the class. And that was the case again for the month of October.

That’s because Pamela once again had the biggest fee of the month. Over the past few years, she has consistently landed some of the biggest fees in the Network.

Biggest recruiting fee = $35,530

Pamela, who works primarily in the Healthcare industry, started recruiting in 1985 and joined our elite recruiter network in 2007. Since that time, she’s made a total of 35 Network placements, most of them with large fees.

In fact, here are some of the fees that she’s split with other recruiters in the Network during the past 12 months:

• $41,800
• $35,530
• $33,300
• $45,000

The fee of $35,530 represents the biggest recruiting fee in the Network for October. Below is all of the pertinent information associated with that fee and the placement that preceded it.

So congratulations to Pamela Ratz DeVille, Steve Kohn, and everybody who made placements in Top Echelon Network (both big and small) during the month of October!

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Largest Split Fee of the Month:

Steve Kohn

Pamela Ratz DeVille, CPC

Pamela Ratz DeVille, CPC of the MMS Group and Steve Kohn of Affinity Executive Search

The position for this split placement was a VP of Finance. DeVille was the job order recruiter, and Kohn was the candidate recruiter.

The action that stimulated this split placement was listed as, “Another Top Echelon Network member’s Job Board.”

The fee for this split placement was $35,530.

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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.

There are a lot of recruiters making a lot of money in Top Echelon. However, there are only certain Network members who could be classified as “TE Rockstars.” Pat McCombs, CPC of KB Search Team, LLC is most definitely a “TE Rockstar.”

There are quite a few reasons for this, but here’s the latest one:

Pat McCombs recently made her 100th placement as a member of Top Echelon Network!

All of Pat’s stats are impressive, starting with these:

• She has almost 35 years of experience in the recruiting profession.
• She made her first placement in Top Echelon Network on June 14, 1996, which was a little over 20 years ago.
• Her cash-in total as a Network member is now over $800K.

Pat McCombs: 3 factors for success

However, we wanted to go straight to the source to find out why Pat has been so successful in the Network. That source? Pat, of course!

According to Pat, there have been three main factors for her success as a member of our elite network of recruiters. She outlines them below:

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“One of my professional goals in 2016 was to make my 100th placement in Top Echelon Network. I am thrilled that I met that goal!

“Outstanding trading partners in the Network who continue to be extremely responsive to my requests for assistance have been a major factor in reaching this goal.

“The second key factor has been receiving awesome candidates who have responded to my postings on the websites and other sites of my TEN trading partners.

“The third key factor has been having the opportunity to attend so many TEN conferences, where I met future trading partners and received outstanding training from both industry trainers and trading partners.

“Thank you to all associated with the Network who helped me reach this milestone in my recruiting career!”

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Pat McCombs is a true “TE Rockstar.” She embodies everything that a model Top Echelon Network member should be.

We are pleased to congratulate her on reaching the 100-placement milestone!

The fee percentage can be a touchy subject for recruiters. Heck, anything related to recruiter fees can be touchy, depending on the specific topic.

But the percentage, that can be a downright inflammatory subject. That’s because what one recruiter considers to be an acceptable percentage another recruiter might not.

So we wanted to see where the members of Top Echelon’s recruiting network stood on this issue, more or less. So we made it the focus of a Members’ Area poll. The question that we posed is as follows:

What is the lowest fee percentage you would accept (not including flat fees)?

Results:

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

• 30% — 0.0%
• 25%— 4.8%
• 20%— 69.8%
• 15% — 22.2%
• 10% — 3.2%
• Less than 10% — 0.0%

Fee percentage fun!

Okay, so what stands out about the results of this poll? Let me count the ways:

1. Absolutely nobody (in this poll, anyway) would NOT accept a fee percentage lower than 30%. Demanding 30% fees across the board from all of your clients would be difficult to pull off. However, if you could accomplish that feat, take a bow.
2. Absolutely nobody (in this poll, anyway) would accept a fee percentage “less than 10%.” That makes sense, since 10% is typically considered the basement when it comes to fees.
3. Far and away, the majority of recruiters in this poll (69.8%) indicated they would not accept a fee under 20%. Does that mean every single one of these recruiters have never, ever accepted a fee percentage under 20%. Hmmm . . . you’d probably have to ask them yourself.

When it comes to fee percentages, there’s a “sweet spot,” at least as far as Top Echelon Network recruiters are concerned. That “sweet spot” is between 20% and 25%.

Sure, there are some 30% fees here and there, but they’re generally the exception and not the rule. And sure, there are some 15% (and even 10%) fees here and there, but they’re definitely the exception and not the rule.

Yes, some recruiters offer discounted fees in certain situations. One of those situations involves multiple job orders. “Sure, you give me five exclusive searches, and I’ll drop the fee percentage from 25% to 20% on all of them.”

What a person considers acceptable, including a recruiter, is a thoroughly subjective consideration. And that consideration does extend to the fee percentage.

Okay, so there might not be a Contracting Training Tuesday webinar session this month or next month. BUT there will be a Recruiter Coaching Series webinar in December about the power of contract staffing. That webinar is titled, “Make Placements by Overcoming Objections with Contract Staffing.”

Let’s start with the “bad news.”

Due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas Day holidays, there will not be a Contracting Training Tuesday webinar in November or December.

There are three types of Training Tuesday webinars in Top Echelon. They include the following:

1. Big Biller, Top Echelon’s recruiting software, held on the first Tuesday of each month
2. Top Echelon Network, our recruiting network, held on the third Tuesday of each month
3. Top Echelon Contracting, held on the fourth Tuesday of each month

Taking into consideration when the Thanksgiving and Christmas Day holidays fall during their respective months, we’re “consolidating” those Training Tuesday sessions into a single webinar. The webinar will be part of the Recruiter Coaching Series. Those webinars are held on the second Tuesday of each month.

Objections be gone!

As mentioned above, the title of this webinar is “Make Placements by Overcoming Objections with Contract Staffing.” It’s scheduled for Tuesday, December 13, and Bob Marshall of TBMG International will be the presenter.

Marshall has presented two other webinars for Top Echelon about contract staffing. They were both Contracting Training Tuesday sessions. Click on the links below to watch either or both of the recorded versions of those two webinars:

“Marketing a Blended Desk, Part 1—WHY?”
“Marketing a Blended Desk, Part 2—HOW?”

In addition, Marshall has presented quite a few Recruiter Coaching Series webinars that you can now view for free in video format. We invite you to access our entire collection of recruiting webinars.

We also invite you to register for this special upcoming Recruiter Coaching Series webinar about overcoming objections:

Click here to register now!

Finish the year strong with Top Echelon and take advantage of this free training by one of the most respected names in the recruiting industry. We hope that you’ll join us on December 13!

(Editor’s note: Contracting Training Tuesday webinar sessions will resume as normal starting on Tuesday, January 26.)