There are many recruiters who don’t want to take time out of the office to attend events like the 2012 Top Echelon Network National Convention. They believe that time out of the office will hamper them in their efforts to make placements.

Judging by what happened with the Preferred Member recruiters who attended the convention recently, that argument doesn’t hold much water.

That’s because a total of nine recruiters made placements while they were attending the convention in Nashville, Tenn.  These are recruiters with offices all around the country, working in different industries and with different business models.

Regardless of those differences, nine of them shared at least one thing in common: closing deals without physically being in the office.

The advent of technology is a major contributor, of course.  These days, all a recruiter needs is a Smartphone and access to the Internet to stay connected to their office:

• They can make phone calls to candidates.
• They can make phone calls to clients.
• They can make phone calls to other people in their office.
• If they use an online recruiting software program like Big Biller, they can access their database for important information.

In fact, in regards to that last point, Joanna Spaun of MJ Recruiters, LLC logged in to her Big Biller account to retrieve the phone number of a candidate.  Her retrieval of that information allowed her to call the candidate and close the deal.

Click here to see a photo of Spaun after she made her placement.

Nobody likes to spend time out of the office, especially when your pipeline is stuffed full of time-sensitive job orders.  After all, “time kills all deals.”

Attending events like the National Convention isn’t necessarily a deal-killer, though.  Recruiters can—and do—step out of training sessions to make calls and take calls . . . and sometimes, they have a smile on their face when they return.

And that’s because they just made a placement.

— — —

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MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
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We’re back!  From the Top Echelon Network National Convention, that is!

I might be biased, but this convention was one of the better ones we’ve held in recent memory.  In fact, we had several recruiters who expressed those same sentiments to us when the convention ended.  (So if I’m suffering from a delusion, it’s a GROUP delusion.)

That’s the good news.  Here’s the even better news: we documented the whole thing!

We documented the convention in the form of photos and videos, of course.  Membership Development Coordinator Drea Codispoti and I handled the documentation duties, employing two cameras (plus my iPhone) to capture all of the action.  I even posted a series of photos through my Twitter account while I was at the convention, sort of a blow-by-blow timeline of events.

You can still view the photos in question by visiting my Twitter profile.  Remember, you don’t have to “follow” me to view these photos.  All you have to do is look through my “recent images,” which are located on the left-hand side of my profile, about halfway down the page.

Although, if you do have a Twitter account, I would encourage you to “follow” me.  That way, you don’t have to visit my profile all the time to see my latest tweets, not to mention the fact that it would be a huge ego boost for me.

Anyway, these Twitter photos are going to be posted to the Top Echelon Network Fan Page eventually.  Not right away, but eventually.  That’s because I’m going to post the photos that I didn’t tweet during the convention to Facebook first.

In fact, I’ve already posted some photos!  They’re in the “2012 Top Echelon Network National Convention Photo Album” on the Network Fan Page.

Click here to visit the “2012 Top Echelon Network National Convention Photo Album.”

Now here’s the fun part—I’ll be updating the Fan Page with photos every day, three or four or more, from now throughout the month of April.  I’ll also be adding photo descriptions and tagging recruiters in the process.  I whole-heartedly encourage you to visit the page as often as you can, “like” the photos, and comment to your heart’s content.

In the meantime, if you attended the convention, took some photos, and wouldn’t mind seeing them added to the photo album, send them to me at marketing@TopEchelon.com.

The convention has ended . . . but the fun doesn’t have to!

— — —

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The 2012 Top Echelon Network National Convention is next week!  Specifically, it’s scheduled for Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 24, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tenn.

As you probably know, Top Echelon Network is represented well on the various social media websites, including Twitter.  As such, it’s common not only for us to tweet during special events like the upcoming National Convention, but it’s also common for the Preferred Member recruiters who attend such an event to tweet during it, too.

This makes sense, since we all want to share what we’re learning and experiencing.  However, to facilitate a more organized tweeting environment (if that’s even possible), I’d like to present the “Official Hashtag of the 2012 National Convention.”

First, that sounds more important than it actually is, which was by design.  And second, it’s easier to use than it sounds.

A hashtag is a tool within Twitter used to aggregate the conversation surrounding a topic, or in this case, an event.  You create a hashtag by combining the pound sign (#) with a word, acronym, or phrase.

As an example, this is the “Official Hashtag of the 2012 National Convention”:

#TENAT12

All you have to do is include this hashtag with every one of your tweets regarding the National Convention.  And you don’t have to actually be at the convention to do it.  You can use the hashtag even if you’re just tweeting your thoughts from the comfort of your own home . . . or while you’re at the office . . . or via your smartphone.

When I tweet this blog post, I’ll insert #TENAT12 at the end of my tweet.  Later, if you conduct a search in Twitter using #TENAT12, Twitter will find and present all the tweets that include that hashtag.  Once you do that, you can also view “Realtime” results for that hashtag.

So if you’re attending the convention, I look forward to seeing you there, and I encourage you to tweet heavily.  If you’re not attending the convention, shame on you, but I encourage you to tweet heavily, anyway.  (And as always, tweet responsibly.)

— — —

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It could be argued that there are two types of people: people who things happen to . . . and people who make things happen.

The purpose of this blog post is not to get into a deeply philosophical discussion.  In fact, I’m not even going to discuss the first group that much.  Instead, I plan to focus on the second group, namely because it seems as though these types of people are rather representative of the Top Producers in Top Echelon Network.

They make things happen.  They search the Split Databases.  They reach out to other Preferred Member recruiters.  And they attend Top Echelon Network events such as the upcoming 2012 National Convention.  Speaking of which, the convention is scheduled for Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 24, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn.

To further illustrate my point, click here to see the recruiters who have already registered for the National Convention.

Notice anything?  I’d be willing to bet that many of the names you see listed are also among the Top Producers in the Network.  Actually, I know they are.  I did the comparison myself.  And a couple of the recruiters who look as though they’re having limited success within the Network are making a boatload of money using the services provided by Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.

So why are these people attending the convention?  You’d think that if anybody could stay home, it would be these people, right?  They’re already making money using Top Echelon’s tools and services—what more do they have to learn?

Actually, the question that should be asked is this: what do they know about the Network that you might not?

The answer to that question, of course, is a rather open-ended one.  However, it appears as though one thing these recruiters do know is how to do is make things happen.  They’re “taking the bull by the horns,” so to speak, and putting into motion a series of events that they believe will lead to more production, more revenue, and more profits for their firm.

And why shouldn’t they believe that?  After all, it’s worked for them before on countless occasions.

That’s why we’re inviting you to join us in Nashville in two months for the convention.  Meet new recruiters, talk about important recruiting topics, share ideas and information, and most of all, MAKE something happen!

At Top Echelon, we like to mix things up.  The reason we like to mix things up is because that makes things happen—and making things happen usually leads to more business.  That’s exactly what we want for you as a Preferred Member recruiter in Top Echelon Network.

Click here to view a promotional PDF detailing everything you’ll enjoy at the National Convention.

Early Bird Registration for the convention is over at the end of the business day on Friday, February 10.  Between now and then, you can sign up at the low price of just $399 per person.

Join us in Nashville.  Make it happen.  You won’t regret it.

View the preliminary agenda.
See who’s already signed up.
Register for the convention.

— — —

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When it comes to our National Convention and Fall Conference, one of things we always try to do is book the very best speakers and trainers in the recruiting industry.  That’s why we’re excited about our keynote speaker for the upcoming 2012 National Convention—Rob Mosley.

Mosley is a Partner and Senior Director of Training and Development for Next Level Exchange.  He has an impressive list of credentials.  His knowledge of the search industry comes from 10 years with Merritt Hawkins and Associates, part of AMN Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of clinical healthcare staffing, and consulting services.  Mosley was MHA’s “Marketer of the Year” for three consecutive years and served as Vice President of Corporate Business Development.

Mosley will present the following three sessions at the National Convention.  The abridged descriptions of these sessions are listed in the preliminary agenda.  However, the complete descriptions are contained within this blog post (for your edification, of course).

‘Best Practices that Drive Revenue’

This session involves five cornerstone strategies that have a direct impact on how you differentiate your services and ultimately, on your ability to generate revenue.

Participants will engage in group discussion, small group role play, and coaching feedback around these client best practices—Presenting Your Capabilities, Gaining Initial Commitment, Developing Executive Insight, Responding to “Red Flags,” and Negotiating Client Demands.  This session will provide you with the tactical skills to be better in the following areas:

• Presenting your capabilities to clients and candidates with greater impact
• Gaining initial commitment for next steps with prospective clients
• Leveraging insight to see a situation from the hiring authority’s perspective
• Responding better to different types of client and candidate resistance
• Negotiating to keep the client relationship in a healthy balance

‘Great Communication = Great Compensation’

Great dialogue in our business is the cornerstone of our craft, and great dialogue has four distinct elements—Probing, Listening, Responding, and Seeking Agreement.  These four elements are like the chambers of the heart; each section or chamber is a unique and critical part of the communication process with both clients and candidates.

This interactive workshop session will dissect each of the four cornerstones of conversation to better understand what is really behind the heart of great dialogue.  These four skills come together when managing certain types of potential client and candidate “red flags.”  This session will provide you with the tactical skills to be better in the following areas:

• Managing resistance (client and candidate “red flags)
• Listening (for what is being said and what is not being said)
• Acknowledging (indicates your attentiveness/seek to understand)
• Clarifying (the power of asking great clarifying questions)
• Expanding (suggest alternatives with strong rationales)
• Seek agreement (common ground)

‘Four Great Truths’

At the core of our business lies the ability to instill trust in both our clients and candidates.  This session is about your ability to develop strong, trusted, profitable, healthy relationships with these groups, even during challenging economic times.

It’s also about your ability to execute skills, techniques, and approaches to differentiate yourself from your competitors.  This session will provide you with recruiting principles and specific skill sets to accomplish the following:

• Open the conversation with new clients in a way that immediately differentiates us from our competitors
• Better understand the client and candidate thought process and align your value proposition at every step
• Build real value and trust in an industry that tends to see us as “vendors” or a “necessary evil”
• Better manage initial client and candidate resistance to secure next steps

The National Convention is scheduled for Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 24, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn.  Remember, you can sign up for the National Convention at the low Early Bird Registration rate of just $399 per person.  Register now, take advantage of this attractive price, and get ready for what’s sure to be a great event this March!

View the preliminary agenda.
See who’s already signed up.
Register for the convention.

— — —

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MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
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The end of the year is hurtling toward us like a meteor careening towards Earth.  Okay, that’s not the greatest analogy in the world, but you get the idea.

My point is that there’s a limited amount of time left to do all of the things that you want to do before 2011 bids adieu . . . which is why we’re releasing Early Bird Registration for the 2012 National Convention next week.  It’s been our experience that many recruiters prefer to register for the convention before the end of the current year, so that the expense of the event is associated with that year and not the next one—and we are more than happy to oblige them.

Where are we going for the 2012 National Convention?

As we announced recently, we’re going to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn.  We were at the Gaylord for the 2005 National Convention, and we had a great time.  How great of a time?  Click here to see photos from that event.

What’s the cost of Early Bird Registration?

I don’t have the answer to that yet, but I will say this: we haven’t raised the price of registration for either our National Convention OR our Fall Conference since I started working at Top Echelon—and that was two whole recessions ago.  In fact, our Early Bird Registration price for the 2011 National Convention was the lowest that we’ve ever offered.

How can I knock some money off the price of attending, anyway?

I’m so glad you asked.  If you read my blog post last week, you know that you can reduce the cost of registration by $50 by submitting a video of you singing a country song.  And that’s just for starters.  If your video is deemed to be the BEST one submitted—by a very secret, covert, and completely objective committee—then you will attend the convention for FREE.  (Hotel and travel expenses extra, void where prohibited, your cancelled check is your receipt, sanitized for your protection . . .)  So what are you waiting for?  Start sending in your videos.  I mean right now.  Chop-chop.

What are the dates for the 2012 National Convention?

The dates for the convention are Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 24.

What’s the room rate that Top Echelon Network has secured for the convention?

The room rate is $155 per night for Wednesday, March 21, through Saturday, March 24.  That rate is good for either a single or double occupancy.  Each additional person to a room is $20 per night for triple and quad occupancy.

Does Top Echelon Network have a room block reserved at the Gaylord?

We do, but it’s a small room block.  That means if you know that you’re going to attend the convention, I suggest you book your room as soon as possible.  To do so, call the Gaylord Opryland Resort directly at (615) 883-2211.  Before booking your room, identify yourself as part of Top Echelon Network and/or mention group cope X-TOPEC.

Who are the speakers for the 2012 National Convention?

The keynote speaker for the convention will be Rob Mosely of Next Level Training.  Among the sessions that Mosely will present are “Great Communication = Great Compensation,” “Behaviors That Drive Revenue,” and “Four Great Truths.”  In addition, Sam Mondalfo of LinkedIn will be on hand to discuss strategies that recruiters can use when navigating this popular social media site.  Of course, Top Echelon Internet Strategies Manager Todd Bossler will once again present training about the Big Biller recruiting software.

What are we doing for the Gala Event on Friday night?

It’s a secret.  Quit asking.  Jeez.

Okay, that’s all for right now, but rest assured that we’ll be publishing plenty more about the 2012 National Convention in the weeks and months ahead.  And of course, be on the lookout for our country music video . . . because nobody is going to make fools of themselves before WE do.

— — —

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MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
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As we announced in last week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, we’re going to Nashsville, Tenn., for the 2012 Top Echelon Network National Convention!

We even presented the perfect case study for why you should attend the convention—namely that no matter WHO you are, you can make a split placement (and maybe multiple split placements) from attending.

As for this week?  Well, we have something special planned.

We’re always looking for new ways to either help you make money or help you save money.  Attending the convention, of course, helps you to make money since it presents split placement opportunities with other Network recruiters.  So . . . how will we help you save money?

Easy.  If you’re willing to send us a video clip of you singing your favorite country song, you’ll automatically receive $50 off the cost of registration.

AND if we pick your video as the best one that we receive, then you’ll attend the 2012 National Convention FREE of charge.  (You’ll still have to pay for hotel and travel expenses, of course.)

We’re not doing this just to save you money.  It also ties into the Gala Event that we have planned for the convention.  In addition, it’s a great way to promote the event and to enhance the networking aspect of the convention.  After all, these videos would make very good conversation starters for those recruiters who attend.

Still skeptical?  Tell you what, we’ll go first.  That’s right, we’ll be record a video of us singing a country song in the near future, just to show you how easy it is to do.  Below are some additional points to keep in mind:

• We will be using the videos for promotional purposes.  That means putting them on YouTube and publishing them in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  So when you send us a video, you’re doing so with the expressed knowledge that we’ll be using it for these purposes.  Hey—no guts, no glory.
• You do not have to sing the entire song.  Sing a couple of verses, if that’s all you can muster.  Of course, if you sing the whole song, you stand a better chance of going to the convention for FREE.
• You do not have to wear cowboy garb in your video, although it’s certainly permissible.
• You can play the song in the background while you sing along to it, or you can sing without it.
• If you want to get two or three or more Preferred Member recruiters together to sing in the same video, that’s a-okay.  You’ll all get $50 off the cost of registration.  However, we’ll have to randomly select one person from the video to attend the convention for free.
• Once you’ve shot your video, email it to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

Early Bird Registration for the convention, which will be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, will be available two weeks from today.  In the meantime, keep an eye out for our video . . . and we’ll keep an eye out for yours.

— — —

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Okay, we’ve just announced that we’re heading to Nashville, Tenn., for the 2012 National Convention.  And since you might be wondering whether or not you should attend, we thought we’d clear that up for you.

Yes, you should attend—and the following case study will illustrate exactly why you should.

If there was a Top Echelon Network “Hall of Fame,” Sean Napoles of Career Brokers, Inc. would be voted into it on the first ballot.  Why is that?

• 11 years as a Preferred Member recruiter
• 156 Network placements
• $1.3 million cashed in during his Network career
• Has won more Top Echelon Network awards and hardware than would fit in your car

Napoles is a split placement machine.  He’s seen it all and done it all, including attending Top Echelon events like the National Convention and the Fall Conference.

On the other hand, Kaleb Dumot of the Emerald Resource Group is about as new a Preferred Member as you can be.  Although the Emerald Resource Group has been a Preferred Member firm for nearly 14 years, Dumot wasn’t added as a recruiter until September 12 of this year . . . a little over two months ago.

With Napoles and Dumot, you couldn’t have two recruiters who are more at opposite ends of the Preferred Member spectrum in terms of experience within the Network.

And yet . . . the two of them recently made a split placement together.  And why did they make a split?

Because they BOTH attended the 2011 Top Echelon Network Fall Conference.

“But for me attending the conference, I never would have met Kaleb,” said Napoles, who is currently the number-two recruiter in the Network in terms of production during the past 12 months.  “He gave me a job order [for a C# Developer] at the conference, and I just filled it.”

If it sounds that simple, that’s because it is.  Dumot gave Napoles a job order at the conference . . . Napoles filled it with a great candidate that Dumot’s client liked . . . and now the two will split the placement fee.  Not only that, but the two of them are also more likely to work together in the future and more likely to split more fees.

So . . . it doesn’t matter who you are.  You could be a tenured recruiter with over a decade in the Network and countless placements.  You could be a recruiter who’s new to the Network and how everything within it works.

You can make split placements by attending Top Echelon Network events.

Make plans to join us at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in March.  Bring your hot job orders and candidates.  And be ready to make some money.

— — —

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This is traditionally the time of the year that we announce our plans for the following year’s National Convention, and I’m pleased to announce that we’re going to Nashville, Tenn., for the 2012 convention.

But that’s just part of the good news.  We’re also going back to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, which was the site of our National Convention in 2006.  If you haven’t been to the Gaylord Opryland, it’s one of the most impressive venues we’ve ever been to and we’re looking forward to having next year’s convention there.

Okay, I know you probably have some questions, so I will answer as many of them as I can.

The dates of the 2012 National Convention are Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 24.  The Easter holiday next year falls on Sunday, April 8, so the convention will be a full two weeks away from that date.  This year, we held the convention in May, and it seemed many recruiters ran into scheduling conflicts with that month, so we decided that a return to earlier in the year would be in order.

We plan to release all of the information for the convention’s Early Bird Registration (preliminary agenda, logistics, etc.) sometime in December, by the middle of the month at the latest.  That way, you’ll be able to sign up for the convention before the end of 2011, which I know many recruiters like to do for tax purposes.  As always, the earlier you register for the convention, the better the price you’ll be able to secure.

As has been the case in the past, we have a block of rooms reserved at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.  However, the number of rooms in that block is limited.  As a result, it will be in your best interest to book a room as soon as you possibly can.  In fact, if you know that you’ll be attending the convention, I recommend that you book your room at the hotel immediately.

If you have any additional questions regarding the 2012 National Convention, I encourage you to give us a call.  We look forward to a strong finish to this year, a great 2012 for the Network and the recruiting industry, and to seeing you in Nashville next March!

— — —

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MDemaree@TopEchelon.com
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