The A-Lister Methodology – how to get from an open headcount to a high performing team
Step One – Let’s Say Hi
In a 15–30 minute initial call, we talk about your business, your goals, and what you are looking for in the person you want to hire – a mutual Q&A to see if we are a good fit for one another.
What’s next?
Do we think we’re a fit?
I’ll send you a proposal detailing the scope, timeline and cost for the project
Not quite a fit?
That’s fine too. I’ll try to suggest other options that might work for you.
Step Two – Getting started
You’ve signed and returned the proposal and agreement, and we’ve agreed the project start-date. My team are now working for you.
What’s next?
Knowledge is power! I need to get a thorough understanding of your company, your culture, your product set, your messaging, the role we will be filling, its objectives, the profile of the ideal candidate, the profile of your most successful team member, the salary structure, interview process… wow – a lot! In order to optimize your and our team and resources this will be:
- A 45-60 minute videoconference or phone call where we go through a comprehensive questionnaire
- Extensive market research, candidate mapping, competitive analysis – who is hiring the people you want, and how can we beat them?
- Review of all messaging, resume formats, interview questions, interview success matrix etc
You will receive a report usually within 24 hours of the call with everything we need to mount a successful campaign
What’s next?
Step Three – Headhunt
My team execute the plan we agreed upon on our call.
Here’s how we’ll hire your quota smashing salespeople and sales engineers…
Candidate Pipeline Management
- 125 possible candidates approached in seven different ways = 875 contact points
- Top 10 are shortlisted for a “deep dive” indepth interview to determine their skills, experience and aspirations are in line with yours
- Top 3 are shortlisted to interview with you
- Top 2 make it through to offer stage; you offer the one you prefer but still have a fallback if necessary
What’s next?
Step Four – The Interview Process
Interview Preparation: Have you ever wondered why recruiters seem to provide the candidates with extensive interview preparation, but only ever give you a resume? In our process you will be as prepared for the interview as your candidates, with a series of interview questions, our unique Interview Success Matrix – an independent scoring system to – and key information about each candidate: (skills, experience, requirements and aspirations).
Interview Process Management
Interviews take time. You need to learn about them and they want to learn about you, but no great candidate will want to spend hours interviewing when they already have a job they love.
A-Lister Salespeople and Sales Engineers are hard to come by. They are valued by their employers and do not need to look for a job. Onerous interview processes will repel the best people and you’ll be left with the desperate and the failing. We will work with you to tailor an effective interview process where you will learn everything you need to about the candidates, and allow the candidates to learn everything they need to, without the length or complexity of the interview process ever repelling good people.
Usually, before the final interview, a ‘preferred candidate’ emerges; the one you think just might be the one. We will work closely with you to ensure that your ‘preferred candidate’ is safely guided to the offer stage, without alienating the other suitable candidates just in case they are needed later.
Step Five – Offer Negotiation
Imagine the frustration of offering your preferred candidate and the offer is turned down. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this is because the offer hadn’t been trialed and tested throughout the interview process. We will assess in our screening process the minimum offer a candidate will accept and trial close this throughout the interview cycle. When we put your offer to the candidate, you can be sure that they will accept it.
Step Six – Start Date Preparation
In the days between the candidate accepting your offer and their start-date, we will remain in constant touch with them to ensure there are no issues that may get in the way of a smooth onboarding.
On their start date, our finance department will send you an invoice for the balance and our team will be in touch to see what gift you’d like to celebrate your new hire! I’ll probably also be in touch to ask you for a recommendation, and to ask you some questions about your experience so we can constantly refine and improve our service.
And that’s how you get an A-Lister!