Yes, it’s a rather blunt headline. But I got your attention, didn’t I?

Everybody who’s a Preferred Member recruiter in this Network wants to make more money and top placements. But how do you do it?  Well, we’re going to show you two recruiters who serve as a perfect model for building a Trading Partner relationship that produces placements.

Those two recruiters are Donna Carroll of Systems Personnel and Gary Silver of The Shay Group.  As I mentioned in last week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, Carroll recently made her 100th Network placement and Silver made his 200th.

Carroll deals in the placement of Management, Health IT, MEDITECH, and Sales professionals in the Healthcare industry, while Silver specializes in Healthcare and Information Technology.  So they work the same industry . . . that makes sense.  But what else has contributed to their success as Trading Partners?

They work well together AND they know how each other likes to work.

How did Carroll and Silver reach this point?  By investing time in the relationship, from the very beginning, over 15 years ago.

“Donna and I work very closely together,” said Silver.  “She knows my capabilities, and I know hers.  Her client development is excellent, some of the best in Top Echelon.”

“Gary and I share the same business philosophy,” added Carroll.  “And when we call one another, we don’t only discuss current deals in progress.  We talk about other issues, as well, and that’s helped us learn more about the way each other works.”

They communicate constantly.

Speaking of calling each other, Communication is one of The Four Pillars of the Network, and these two take it seriously.

“We don’t talk just every day, we talk several times a day,” said Silver.  “I’ll call Donna up and say, ‘What can I help you with today?’  Or if I have a job order, I’ll say, “Donna, can you help me with this?’  Wherever I can plug into her desk, I will.  She’s like a hotline on my desk.”

Is communicating every day enough?  Probably . . . but these two are communicating several times a day, and they are making placement after placement because of it.

They trust each other—completely.

Okay, this is the single most important factor in any successful Trading Partner relationship.  We’ve been researching this and writing about it for years.  Once you trust your Trading Partner completely, you are going to make multiple placements.  Carroll and Silver are just one example of that.

“As partners, we trust each other implicitly,” said Silver.  “After you trust somebody like that, the placements just happen, although some placements are harder than others.  Some of them took a month to find the right person, but one way or another, we get the job done.”

“Gary is one of those people who I’ve come to know and trust,” said Carroll.  “When you have a trusted relationship like that, you can build on that toward making more placements.”

They’ve developed not just a Trading Partner relationship, but a friendship which has developed over the course of 15+ years of sharing family stories with one another.

This is a crucial element that basically seals the deal on an incredibly productive Trading Partner relationship.  Carroll and Silver have a stellar business relationship and a great friendship.  They like to work with one another AND they like each other.  You can’t beat a combination like that.  Once you’ve reached this point in a Trading Partner relationship with another recruiter, you will make placements!

So there you have it.  Now you know how to make money as a Preferred Member recruiter in the Top Echelon recruiter network:

1. Find other recruiters who work your industry and/or niche.
2. Build a relationship with those recruiters you work well with and you like to work with.
3. Communicate on a constant basis to continue building those relationships.
4. Over time, reach the point where you trust these Trading Partners completely, with all of your information and in every way possible.
5. Make split placements!
6. Repeat as necessary.

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MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
(330) 455-1433, Ext. 125

Has it been a brutal winter for recruiters in some parts of the country?  You’d better believe it.  But March is here, winter won’t be here for much longer, and Preferred Members of the Network are still making split placements and still want to praise each other for them.  And who are we not to oblige them?  Nobody, that’s who.

That’s exactly what we want—warmer weather, more sunshine, and more splits.  Sounds like a happy to spring to us.  Hopefully, the economy will heat up just as much as the weather.  In the meantime, below are two more Top Echelon Network recruiters who want to laud their Trading Partners for recent split placements.  If you have comments for a Trading Partner regarding a split placement, please email those comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

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“Thanks, Eric, for doing such a good job of matching people to the job.”

Submitted by Steven C. Brandvold of Executive Connection regarding his split placement with Eric Berg of JN Adams & Associates, Inc.

Position Title—Plant Manager
Fee Percentage—27%

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“Rosemarie [Christopher, Jan Clements], and the rest of her staff are wonderful partners.”

Submitted by Denise Milano Sprung of Joseph Associates, Inc. regarding his split placement with Jan Clements of Med Exec International

Position Title—Director of Clinical Pharmacology
Fee Percentage—25%

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Remember, if you have comments for a Trading Partner regarding a recent split placement, please email those comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com.  We’ll publish them in the newsletter.

Down through the years, there have been numerous Trading Partner relationships in Top Echelon Network that have reached legendary status.  We’re talking about recruiters who have made 20 or 30 split placements together . . . in some cases, even more.

One such relationship currently exists within the Network, and the two recruiters involved are Gary Silver of The Shay Group and Donna Carroll of Systems Personnel.  Not only have Silver and Carroll made a ton of split placements together, they both reached a milestone in 2010.

Carroll made her 100th placement as a Preferred Member recruiter in Top Echelon Network, while Silver made his 200 career placement.  Both will receive a plaque at the 2011 National Convention in May to commemorate their accomplishments.

But that’s not all.  Carroll’s 100th Network placement and Silver’s 200th Network placement was one in the same—in other words, it was a split placement between the two of them!  They were able to celebrate their milestone together with yet another split placement, and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down soon.

In fact, both have shot past their milestone placement.  As of the publication of this blog post, Carroll’s placement total in Top Echelon Network stood at 111.  Silver, meanwhile, is already up to 213 placements, quickly climbing the charts of Top Echelon’s all-time leaders.  (It should be noted that Silver is also a Million Dollar Producer in the Network.)

Silver and Carroll haven’t been shy about complimenting one another for their Trading Partner relationship in the past.  In fact, they’ve been participants in our ‘Comments’ and Compliments Extra” feature in the newsletter.  You can read their segment of that feature by clicking here.

We’ll be delving deeper into Silver and Caroll’s Trading Partner relationship and what makes it to successful in next week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  Their relationship is based upon and is fueled by The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network—Quality, Communication, Trust, and Active Participation.

However, in the meantime, we want to congratulate the two of them for the milestones that they reached in 2010 and the awards that they won for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to the Network.

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MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
(330) 455-1433, Ext. 125

Split placements are up . . . optimism is up . . . and so are the number of submissions that we’ve received from recruiters for our “‘Comments’ and Compliments” feature.  In fact, we received five last week alone.

Preferred Members of our Network love to make split placements, and they love to shower their Trading Partners with praise when they do make split placements.  Far be it from us to prevent them from making their praise a public matter (within the Network, at any rate).

And as you know, we don’t disclose the amount of the fee earned with these split placements.  For that information, login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the recruiters involved.  Go ahead . . . do it.

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“Yes . . . finally . . . we, too, have made a placement with Trey Cameron!”

Submitted by Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC regarding her split placement with Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Position Title—Manufacturing Project Engineer
Fee Percentage—20%

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“Gail and I have been working on this placement for over a year.  Throughout that time, Gail has been outstanding to work with, a true partner.”

Submitted by Denise Milano Sprung of Joseph Associates, Inc. regarding her split placement with Gail Williams of Williams Recruiting, Inc.

Position Title—Head of Cancer Biology
Fee Percentage—25%

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If you have comments for a Trading Partner regarding a split placement, please email those comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

Believe it or not, the first month of 2011 is already gone.  Where did it go?  Don’t ask us.  But you can ask us who the Network’s “Recruiter of the Month” is.  We have the answer to that one: Tim Hopkins, CPC/CTS of Stephens International Recruiting, Inc.

Those aren’t the only answers that we have, at least as far as recognition awards for the month of January are concerned.  We recognize recruiters for both monthly and quarterly performance in three categories—Recruiter of the Month, Highest Split Fee of the Month, and Highest Non-Split Fee of the Month.

Below are the winners of the awards for January.  We’d like to congratulate those recruiters who earned them and thank them for their efforts.  Remember, for more information about the placements and cash-in totals associated with these awards, please login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the recruiters involved.

Recruiter of the Month
Tim Hopkins, CPC/CTS of Stephens International Recruiting, Inc.

Tim was one of three recruiters who made two Network placements during the month of January.  However, he edged out the other two based upon his cash-in total for those placements.  The other two recruiters were Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates and Tom Heeney of Corporate Resources, LLC.

Highest Split Fee of the Month
Tom Heeney of Corporate Resources, LLC and Don Fredrick of Executech, Inc.

This placement was for a Sales Manager.  The action causing this placement was listed as “Regular phone communication with a TE Network Member in my specialty area.”

Highest Non-Split Fee of the Month
Michael Foster of Mike Foster & Associates, LLC

The position for this placement was a Hospital Services Analyst.  Donna received quite a hefty sum for placing the candidate, and once again, you can see the exact amount of the fee by accessing her Recruiter Profile in the Members’ Area.

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Our criteria for these awards:

Top Echelon Network is a split placement network.  As such, we place an emphasis on split placements, and that emphasis constitutes a large part of our criteria for these awards.  We determine the monthly and quarterly award winners based upon two things, which are listed below in order of importance:

1.) The number of split placements made
2.) The amount of cash-in dollars earned as a result of those split placements

The beat goes on with one of our most popular features: “‘Comments’ and Compliments.”  And just like some of the recruiters in our Network are somewhat quirky (we prefer the term “fun loving”), sometimes this regular feature is quirky, as well.

Actually, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.  After all, when you make a placement, you feel like singing, don’t you?  How could you not?  And if you make a split placement with one of your Trading Partners, might you feel compelled to sing a song about that recruiter?  Of course.  That was the case with a recent split placement featured in this installment of “‘Comments’ and Compliments.”

As a reminder, we’re still not disclosing the amount of the fee earned with these split placements.  For that information, login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the recruiters involved.  That’s a suggestion, not a demand . . . in case you were wondering.

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“‘You are my Sunshine, my Ronnie Sunshine.  You make me happy when skies are grey.  You’ll never know how much I love you.  Please don’t take my Sunshine away.’ Thanks again, Ron.  Let’s do another.”

Submitted by Bob Gabor of The Gabor Group regarding his split placement with Ron Sunshine of Ron Sunshine Associates

Position Title—Senior Supplier Quality Engineer
Fee Percentage—25%

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“Suzanne was great to work with, and I look forward to working with her more in the future.  For someone new to this business, her guidance, information, and direction was very valuable.”

Submitted by Martha Schmidt of the Infinity Consultant Group regarding her split placement with Suzanne Griffith, CPC of J S Griffith & Associates

Position Title—Program Manager
Fee Percentage—25%

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If you have comments for a Trading Partner regarding a split placement, please email those comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

One of our more popular Pinnacle features is back!  And that’s “‘Comments’ and Compliments,” in which we publish some of the comments that Preferred Member recruiters submit with their Completed Placement Forms.

It’s a New Year . . . so we have new recruiters and new comments.  One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is that we’re still not disclosing the amount of the fee earned with these split placements.  For that information, login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the recruiters involved.  Please and thank-you.

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“Mary Anne is a fabulous Trading Partner to work with.  We both share the same philosophies in recruitment, and it’s always such a smooth process in working with her!  She has a very high level of integrity, and I really appreciate that!”

Submitted by Stephanie McGinty of Ives & Associates, Inc. regarding her split placement with Mary Anne Buckley of Interstate Recruiters Corp

Position Title—Senior Manager of Medical Communications
Fee Percentage—25%

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“Thanks again, Sean!  Great work!”

Submitted by Patrick Staudacher of Talsco, Inc. regarding his split placement with Sean Napoles of Career Brokers, Inc.

Position Title—Lead ABAP Developer
Fee Percentage—20%

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If you have comments for a Trading Partner regarding a split placement, please email those comments to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

We want to fill Top Echelon Network with as many quality, experienced, and split-minded recruiters as we possibly can.  Over the years, we’ve found that the best way to do that is through referrals from current Preferred Members.  In other words, YOU!

However, it’s not as though we won’t reward you for your efforts.  Quite the contrary.  We’ve had a referral program in place for quite some time, one designed to reward those Preferred Members who provide us with quality referrals.  The details of that referral program are outlined below:

When you refer a recruiter to Top Echelon Network who becomes a Preferred Member as a result of your referral, we’ll pay you $20/month for each month that recruiter/agency is active in the Network for up to 36 months.  That’s a total possible referral fee of $720 for each referral.

Okay, so there’s a limit on the length of time that we’ll pay you for a referral—36 months or three years.  However, there’s no limit on the number of referrals that you can give us. Give us five, 10, 15, 20, or more.  If they become Preferred Members, we’ll pay you for all of them.

So, I’d be more than happy to do the math for you.  If you sent us six to eight referrals, we would pay you between $120 and $160/month, which would go a long way toward paying your entire Top Echelon invoice, provided that you’re paying for more than just Membership.

Of course, any recruiting firms that you refer to us will have to go through our four-stage screening process, the same as any firm that applies for Top Echelon Network Membership.  Once your referral makes it through the screening process, has been approved, and starts their Membership, then we’ll pay you the referral fee.

The benefit to you, beyond the referral fee, is this: with more quality, split-minded recruiters in the Network, the greater the chances that you’ll make more split placements.  That’s our ultimate goal, to help Preferred Members of the Network make more splits.  Having the opportunity to work and network with other recruiters definitely increases the odds of success.

If you know a recruiting firm that you believe would be a good fit for Top Echelon Network Preferred Membership, I encourage you to refer that firm to us.  Have the firm owner fill out the online application form and/or give us a call.

When they fill out the application form, there will be a place for them to include the name of a referring recruiter.  Make sure that they type your name into that field, so if they eventually become a Preferred Member of the Network, you’ll receive the proper credit and the $20/month for up to 36 months.

Quality is one of The Four Pillars of Top Echelon Network, and that’s just one of the many reasons we want to fill the Network with as many quality recruiters as possible . . . and that starts with your referrals.

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(330) 455-1433, Ext. 156
Drea@TopEchelon.com

Everybody likes to be recognized for their accomplishments and achievements—and Top Echelon Network Preferred Member recruiters are no different.  This is why we like to recognize them, in as many ways as we can.  One way is here in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  How do we recognize them?  Glad you asked.  For both monthly and quarterly performance in three categories—Recruiter of the Month, Highest Split Fee of the Month, and Highest Non-Split Fee of the Month.

Top Echelon Network is a split placement network.  As such, we place an emphasis on split placements, and that emphasis constitutes a large part of our criteria for these awards.  We determine the monthly and quarterly award winners based upon two things: 1.) The number of split placements made, and 2.) The amount of cash-in dollars earned.

Below are the winners of the awards for December of 2010, as well as the awards for the fourth quarter of the year.  We’d like to congratulate those recruiters who earned them and thank them for their efforts.  For more information about the placements and cash-in totals associated with these awards, please login to the Members’ Area and view the profiles and placement details of the recruiters involved.

Recruiter of the Month
Bob Long of Executive Personnel Services

Bob was one of three recruiters who made two Network placements during the month of December.  However, he edged out the other two based upon his cash-in total for those placements.  The other two recruiters were Bill Quackenbush, CPC/CTS of QCI Technical Staffing and Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group.

Recruiter of the Quarter
Trey Cameron of the Cameron Craig Group

Trey made a total of four placements during the fourth quarter of 2010, and that total was one more than any other recruiter in the Network.  Carol Brinkman of Corporate Resources, LLC and Marc Tappis of Opportunity Search, Inc. made three placements apiece.

Highest Split Fee of the Month
Maynard Charron of Paper Industry Recruitment and Kathryn Shepherd, CPC/CSP of The Focus Agency

This placement was for a Vice President of Sales.  The action causing this placement was listed as “Regular phone communication with a TE Network Member in my specialty area.”

Highest Split Fee of the Quarter
Maynard Charron of Paper Industry Recruitment and Kathryn Shepherd, CPC/CSP of The Focus Agency

Maynard and Kathryn won the award for the month . . . and their split fee for this placement was so large that they won the award for the fourth quarter of 2010, as well.  Remember to login to the Members’ Area to view the specific information associated with this placement.

Highest Non-Split Fee of the Month
Donna Carroll of Systems Personnel

The position for this placement was a Hospital Services Analyst.  Donna received quite a hefty sum for placing the candidate, and once again, you can see the exact amount of the fee by accessing her Recruiter Profile in the Members’ Area.

Highest Non-Split Fee of the Quarter
Donna Carroll of Systems Personnel

Just like with Maynard and Kathryn, the amount of Donna’s non-split placement fee was large enough to garner both the monthly AND quarterly award.  And incidentally, this was Donna’s 109th placement as a Preferred Member of Top Echelon Network.  Congratulations!

Okay . . . the New Year is here.  No more screwing around (not that you’ve been screwing around; that’s just a figure of speech.)  What I mean is that despite all that’s happened during the past two years and the seemingly endless beating that recruiters have endured, the industry—as well as the economy—is poised on the edge of recovery.  Optimism is high, and confidence is commonplace.  As a Preferred Member of Top Echelon Network, that means, among other things, more split placements.

We have been and will continue to put an emphasis on the 2011 National Convention, and that’s because events like this help recruiters make split placements.  If I could double-bold that last sentence, I would.  When you meet other recruiters, you find out more about them, and when you find out more about them, you find it easier to work with them.  You want to work with them.  You look for ways to work with them, and desire precedes everything.  If you have a desire to make split placements, you WILL make split placements.

What we have at Top Echelon Network is a desire to help you make split placements.  We believe that attending the National Convention will help you make splits, and that’s why we’re offering a “Super Early Bird” Registration period until Friday, January 14.  The price for “Super Early Bird” is the lowest that we’ve ever offered for a National Convention: $275 per person.  But just as important as the affordable price are the recruiters in attendance, and I want to highlight those recruiters in this article by listing their names and agencies below.  Attend the convention, meet these recruiters, and make more split placements.  (WHERE is the double-bolding key?)

Jay Canowitz of Ives & Associates, Inc.
Vicki Marino of Recruiting Excellence
Marla C. Ray of Scientific Resources, Inc.
Cindy Stephens, CPC/CTS of Stephens International Recruiting, Inc.
Douglas Stephens of Stephens International Recruiting, Inc.
Tim Hopkins, CPC/CTS of Stephens International Recruiting, Inc.
Tamra Rhodes of TR Associates
Sean Napoles, CPC of Career Brokers, Inc.
Daniel Simmons, CPC of Continental Search and Outplacement, Inc.
Bob Wylan of R.A. Wylan and Company, Inc.
Cindy Andrew Cordell, CPC of Corporate Resources, LLC
Chris Ramsay of Corporate Resources, LLC
David M. Sgro of True North Consultants, LLC
Joe Noto of Regency Search Group
Dave N. David of Executive Research Associates
Melinda O’Neil of Enterprise Search Associates, LLC
Mike Aquino, CPC of MPA Companies, Inc.
David J. Sgro of True North Consultants, Inc.
Bob Small of Carroll Technology Services, Inc.
Bill Quackenbush, CPC/CTS of QCI Technical Staffing
Steve Brody of Executive Resource Systems
Cynthia Woods of Woods & Paolino Recruiting Solutions
Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters, LLC
Joanna Spaun of MJ Recruiters, LLC
John Paolino of Woods & Paolino Recruiting Solutions
Jim Folger of ONESource Technical, Inc.
Eric Berg of JN Adams & Associates, Inc.

View the preliminary agenda.
See who’s already registered.
Sign up for the convention.

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MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
(330) 455-1433, Ext. 125