Fast forward to the future and I’ve pretty much been “in sales” for the last six years and I love it. I’ve come to realize that it’s mostly about meeting people and building relationships, which is fun. I’m an extrovert to be certain and pretty comfortable in my own skin. I like socializing, dining, drinking coffee and playing golf…all important skills for sales, or business development, to put a more modern industry term on it.

I’ve learned some things about being successful at networking and business development over the years. The ideas aren’t new, but I thought I’d share my experiences with some tips that really do work, at least for me:

1. Get There Early – When attending a networking event, get there early and stand near the bar or food, if it’s a breakfast or lunch meeting. Everyone heads there first and they are captive. And whatever you do, don’t stand by the registration table because people will think you are a volunteer and may put you to work.

2. Business Cards – Obviously, we all want to share our business card when we meet someone new. Yes, physically exchanging contact info and loading it into our phones works too, but it takes away from the moment and quality time, which can be spent getting to know someone. For us women, there are a few additional rules. One, keep business cards in all of your various purses, briefcases, and laptop bags. And, just in case, keep a few in your wallet or lipstick case as a backup.

3. Appearance Matters – Speaking of lipstick, makes sense to keep that in all of your bags too along with breath mints. Networking functions are noisy and, if you have hearing loss like me, you will have to lean in close to communicate.

4. Think Like a Host – I heard this recently at…surprise…a networking event that included a presentation on networking. I know, I know. Anyway, I loved this and it really works. When walking around an event where you don’t know people, walk up and introduce yourself, ask if they are enjoying themselves, or offer to make introductions. Most importantly, like my mother always taught me, smile. You’ll look your best and it makes others feel comfortable and welcome.

5. Stay Late – As glorious as I make these type of events sound, many are during weeknights when all you want to do is get home, hug your kids before bed, and check what’s queued up on the DVR. But, I recently noticed a target client who coincidentally was at the same event as I was that evening. This individual is very senior in their organization and was being mobbed by other vendors all evening. I was about to give up when I was finally in the position to have a nice one-on-one discussion which led to potential business and more importantly, a new collegial friendship.

You don’t have to be an account manager or business developer to apply these tips. Making friends and expanding relationships will allow you to be more successful in any role, even as an accountant.

Suzanne Schultz is Director of Account Management in the Atlanta office

1)     Trust and the ability to build trust

2)     Open communication, candid dialogue & the ability to listen

3)     Respect and reciprocity

4)     The ability to work together, partner and have synergy

5)     Alignment of values

Of this list, the Trust Factor is by far the most difficult to achieve because it consumes the most time and effort. It also involves a reciprocal partnership for all involved parties. If you foster an open dialogue, your client will perceive you as working to understand their perspective and doing your best to represent their interest and values—a solid start on developing a strong/trusting business relationship.

Relationship development with clients, it is imperative to steer clear of “What’s in it for me?” and instead use the approach of listening and really taking the time to get to know your client, understand their needs and come to the table with resolutions/ideas/thoughts. This is most easily accomplished through candid and transparent dialogue between you and your client(s). Always listen to understand and digest what the client is seeking and/or needs. That said; remember to have a voice as most if not all, clients value other perspectives. Once you really understand your client you can align your talents to exceed your client’s expectations and ultimately deliver!

All that said, these Factors can also be utilized in developing meaningful relationships with peers, coworkers, subordinates, supervisors and even personal relationships outside the workplace. The method is universal; I use the Five Factors in my relationship with my family for example. Meaningful relationships don’t happen overnight or instantaneously. They take time, effort and persistence, so don’t get discouraged. There is a lot covered in the Five Factors!

To sum up in relation to the recruiting world, today’s competitive landscape makes it more necessary than ever to develop strong, reciprocal relationships with clients. It is how to build a reputation for exceptional service. And for the TrueBridge team, it has served us well. What are your Factors for building relationships?

Jack Gehrs is Sourcing Manager with the Philadelphia office

Sources:

Getentrepreneurial.com: “Importance of Business Relationships”

Zentropist.wordpress.com: “5 Critical Factors of Building Meaningful Business Relationships”

The reality: listening isn’t as simple as we all think. It’s a skill that can be learned, developed and improved, and when applied seriously, it’s a powerful tool.

As my daughter was growing up, we got caught up in the crazy schedule that families do. Running to after-school activities made us frazzled and we would sometimes miss our regular meals around the table where we liked to thoughtfully discuss the events of the day. What came to our saving grace was the time we spent together in the car, returning from those after-school activities. During the car rides, the energy was lower and we were each other’s captive audience. No major distractions were present—no  human (or animal) requiring attention or food. We were able to listen to each other, truly listen, and we came to enjoy this time together. During the car rides, we discussed and learned what was important to one another that day or week and tried to find ways to help each other out.  We felt appreciated and respected again.

The importance of listening while doing our jobs came to mind the other day as I tuned into a video post from McKinsey Quarterly by the former CEO of AmGen, Kevin Sharer. Sharer, a highly successful, hard- charging, business exec, openly admitted that for most of his life he was an awful listener. He couldn’t wait to tell people his opinion on just about anything, mainly to prove that he was smarter than the next guy. Finally, at the age of 61, he learned how to listen. Sharer confided in the post that he feels sure he became a better executive and leader, better able to serve his company and his customers, when he became a better listener.

As recruiters, account managers and senior management, we spend the good part of our day talking with people. I can’t think of anything that builds long term relationships better than developing a feeling of respect, appreciation and understanding with our candidates, customers and employees than being an active listener– someone who listens without distraction, without stating an opinion immediately, without trying to prove how much we know.

Most people love nothing more than talking about themselves, their challenges and their successes. If we allow others the space to do this, I think we’ll be rewarded by having them feeling respected, appreciated and comfortable enough to share how we can really help them. This will translate into the long term relationships we seek to build as a company, differentiate us from our competitors, and create the unique TrueBridge experience.

Sandy Schwartz is a Senior Recruiter with the Philadelphia office

What if we took a moment to think about the candidates we work with at TrueBridge Resources?  Let’s imagine ourselves in their shoes for a moment …

Daily or weekly updating of resumes and reformatting for different clients. Tweaking the same sales pitch of experiences and talent.  Hourly contact with staffing firms and former clients to look for the next project.  Going on interviews (if they are fortunate enough to have them lined up) and trying to put their best foot forward to persuade that company they are looking at their next hire.  Walking away from the interview not knowing whether they have the job.  Regularly contacting the recruiter to see if there is news of a job.  Continuing to submit their resume to job boards.

The list goes on and on.  That’s a lot of activity!

Side story.  I was driving in the car with my mom a few months ago and we passed a church with a sign out front that read: “Ladies Tea, this Tuesday at 2pm.”  My mother knows that I am not a “tea sipping” kind of girl, so teasingly she commented, “Meredith, why don’t you plan to attend the Ladies Tea on Tuesday.”  My immediate response to her was meant as a tease back, but after I said it, I realized I really meant it.  I told her that while they are busy drinking tea, I’m busy getting people jobs.  That’s when it hit me—I truly am helping get people jobs.  I love that!

Since it is our fortunate responsibility and honor to help find people jobs, let’s always try to remember what the candidates go through to find their next project.  It is difficult and stressful work!  If there’s anything we can do to make it easier on them, shouldn’t we do it?  After all, they are our talent.

And you thought this blog was going to be about shoes!

Meredith Bolinski is Director of Affiliate Sourcing in TrueBridge Resources’ Atlanta office

As you know, the TBR team has participated in a book club for sometime now, and we have read a remarkable 17 books as a company. We wanted to share with you a couple highlights from the piece and encourage you to read the article in its entirety. Share it with your networks as a program that has served our professional development efforts and culture well.

Heathfield: What was the impetus for the book club in your organization and how did you approach it?

Kriscovich: We decided to create a book club at TrueBridge Resources based on several factors:

We started it from the beginning, when we were a very small company because we were looking for ways to build a company culture and cohesion among our team at the offset. We’ve read several books where we have tried to incorporate those thoughts and ideas into our thinking as a company and how we run the business; it allows us to have a common language and common context. For example, when we talk about “hedgehogs” or “flywheels” from Jim Collins’ Good to Great, then everyone knows what we are referring to without having to explain it.

Heathfield: What was successful and not successful about your book club?

Kriscovich:

• We all say that we want to read more, so putting a lightweight structure around it encourages and gives us a platform to do that.
• It allowed us to connect and build a relationship with Joe Callaway, one of the authors whose books we’ve read. He ended up interviewing us for one of his upcoming pieces.
• We just read The Southwest Airlines Way as we were launching and introducing the “TrueBridge Resources Way” into our own company culture. We were able to parallel what we read in the book to our own circumstances especially because both are considered commoditized industries. It allowed us to help define our unique differentiators internally and for our stakeholders.

Our challenge was the difficulty of holding a book club discussion with 12-14 active participants over the phone (our book club is held across all our offices). We decided to max the group at 15 and then with at least four new people, we add a new facilitated group. Facilitators meet before each monthly book club call to come up with common discussion points and direction, then meet afterwards to compile the primary take-aways to share with our entire team.

So as participants of the book club, what do you think has been the greatest success or challenge we have faced? Do you have any suggestions for moving forward, or any books that you think the team could benefit from reading? What has been your favorite or least favorite book we’ve read? Let’s use this unique national acknowledgement to make an already successful program an even better one for our team.

Lynn Cromer is the Corporate Office Manager and Executive Assistant in the Atlanta office

I thought I would take the time to share with you a little about one of the books we are reading this quarter that has made a notable impression on me: Crucial Conversations (CC) by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler.

Someone gave me a copy of CC several years back, and I thought, “Yeah, that’s nice, but why do I need to read this book, at least now.  I’ll get to it.”  And, like so many books for so many of us, it languished on my bookshelf alongside many others (one more reason to like e-books…out of sight, out of mind, right?).

A couple of weeks ago, I had some down time at one of my daughter’s volleyball tournaments, so I thought I’d get started on it. (And, yes, I am a geek sitting on the bleachers reading my book and taking notes between games). It was amazing! Within the first few pages, I knew it was going to be something special, transformative even.  I thought about all the things I could be doing a better job of, and how we at TrueBridge could use this book as a reference to help us improve as individuals and as a company. And, of course, I thought to myself—maybe that person who gave it to me several years ago was trying to tell me something.

Here are a few takeaways from the book that I found to be especially impactful:

What is a crucial conversation?

Crucial conversations are defined by: high stakes, varying opinions, strong emotions and tough issues.  And they happen to everyone.  Personal and team performance is tied to how people handle these conversations.  In the worst companies, poor performers are first ignored and then transferred.  In good companies, bosses eventually deal with problems.  In great companies, everyone holds everyone else accountable – regardless of position.

So, how do we master these conversations?

The authors “backed into this topic” by studying why some people are more effective than others.  They found that skilled people find a way to get all the information out in the open because the free flow of information is critical.  Furthermore, people need to be able to open and honestly express opinions, share feelings, and articulate their theories

Think: The greater the group’s shared pool of meaning the greater the groups IQ the better likelihood of good results

So our “trick” is to create conditions for dialogue that will help us master the tools for talking when the stakes are high.

What can you do as a manager or professional looking to make positive changes?

1) Your heart needs to be in the right place.  That is, you have to be sincere wanting to improve yourself and your relationships

2) The ultimate goals you want to achieve have to be:

a. Mutual Purpose – we want to achieve the same outcome

b. Mutual Respect – we need to have empathy for the other person

3) In order to get to mutual purpose and mutual respect, all parties in the conversation need to feel that a safe environment exists that allows them to perhaps express things that are outside of their comfort zone

4) You need to recognize that other people have a different perspective, “There are 3 sides to every story” as I like to say

5) It takes practice to get into the groove or habit of having good, effective, conversations…the book gives you some models, tools, and examples to help. (I’ll spare you the soapbox discussion of habits.)

6) Finally, it requires an environment that supports and encourages mutual accountability at all levels.  (This is one of our TBR Values).

Anyway, I can’t promise that this book is going to change any of our lives overnight, but I think that it really can be a valuable tool for all of us in our professional lives.  I feel especially confident that it can have a positive impact in improving our results and outcomes at TrueBridge along with creating a healthier environment for effective communications.

From here, it’s up to you.  I can’t recommend enough that you take the time to read this book.  It’s meaningful content is truly transformational and will leave you inspired to take on those difficult, but necessary conversations in your professional (and personal) life.

Scott Kriscovich is President of TrueBridge Resources

I’m truly fortunate to work with an amazing group of accomplished individuals who each bring different talents and strengths to our team.  My transition into leadership from that of an individual performer has been a tremendous learning experience that has brought me both joy and frustration.  I’m learning to delegate more and collaborate with the team instead of taking everything on my shoulders.  We’re somewhere between ‘norming’ and ‘performing’ as our team continues to grow and mature.

The teams I have managed before were in an office environment that already had its own culture and norms.  In our situation, we’re defining a culture as we go which presents great opportunity as well as a significant challenge.  My original approach in leading this team was to manage them as an extension of managing myself.  Sounds like a great idea, until I realize that not everyone is wired like me!

I’m not a ‘red’ (meaning: emotional) guy for those of you who have undergone the HBDI assessment (a test that measures and describes the thinking preferences in people).  This presents a conflict in working with folks who are more sensitive and has required me to undergo a great deal of personal change and growth.   The journey is a difficult one, hence the reason that most people who embark on the journey from star performer to manager find it so challenging.  Fortunately for me, I’m learning from an accomplished leadership team who’s not afraid to listen to my struggles and provide constructive and candid advice.

I’m proud to be a member of Team Charlotte and pledge to continue looking inward and improving myself to benefit others and I’ll continue to enjoy the rise to my level of incompetence!

Seth Hildebrand is the Recruiting Manager in TrueBridge Resources’ Charlotte office.

“Do what you say, not say what you do” relates to my business as a career marketing and account manager. Through my time in the field, I have come to understand the expectations of our internal and external customers in business, and the importance of follow through.

In our field, there are three areas where I see many fall short with concrete actions:

1. Making assumptions on the client’s needs: The customers’ needs are not always those of the organization as their perspectives can originate from external factors.  Examples include prior vendor relationships, their self-esteem in current role, or pressures from sociological influences. When understanding occurs and we build on internal/external needs, the success of our relationships increases the probability of delivering a quality solution.
2. Making assumptions as to the client’s frame of mind: In many instances, hiring managers can be guarded about the task at hand for one reason or another. Overcoming this challenge to understand their concerns and their role in the organization is how you begin to build a great relationship. Never assume to understand of the motivation of a hiring manager—or anyone—until you have had a conversation with that person. The misunderstanding of what drives their motivation can lead to miscommunication and a sense of mistrust within the mind of the customer.  Ask targeted questions to learn what drives their decisions and earn a better understanding of their needs.
3. Promising a timeline of deliverables that is unattainable: Delivering the submittal or solution in a timely manner is another success that can increase closing percentages. The discussions we have and the relationships we build with our customers should include a defined timeline of delivering the best solution for success. Account managers—not the customer—should outline and discuss deliverables and timing for which you will deliver the product. Setting expectations will relieve concern and question. This in turn will allow for account management to develop credibility with customer … assuming you meet your deadlines.

Each of the above areas is critical and has direct and indirect effects in securing productive long term internal and external relationships.  Sometimes it is just best to talk less and do more, letting your actions precede you.  And remember, when you do make promises, always “do what you say, not what you do.”

Jeff Hicks is Account Manager with the Houston office

Worse yet, it’s not just at the office.  Folks don’t seem to engage each other anymore and anywhere just for the sake of doing so.  I’ve been striking up conversations with strangers for most of my life.  I’ve met some fascinating people talking to them in line at the grocery store, gas station, anywhere I find myself standing next to another human being.   Those experiences are getting fewer and farther between.

One of my favorite recruiting success stories was finding an incredible Partner candidate while working for one of the Big 4.  This gentleman and I were standing in the taxi queue at a Houston airport.  I commented on the weather and the long line ahead of us and learned he was in town for an interview with another firm.  We ended up sharing a cab downtown and I went on my way with a copy of his resume in hand.  Two months later he accepted our offer and I was congratulated on my excellent recruiting effort!

In today’s world though, that might have been an opportunity lost because one of us would likely have been staring down at the little device.  (Most important for me is that we became friends and he’s still a part of my life.)

Margaret Wheatley, author of Turning to One Another:  Simple Conversations to Restore Hope for the Future says, “I can believe we can change the world if we start talking to one another again.”  If changing the world seems a bit grandiose for you, consider this:

Tom Peters, business guru, says “No question, technology is the Great Enabler.  But, paradoxically, now the human bit is more, not less, important than ever before.”

Here’s my challenge to each of you.  If you walk staring down at the device, leave it at your desk, in the car or put it in your pocket and make a point of engaging each person you see.  Smile and just say hello.  You may be surprised where that simple act can lead.  Unfortunately, in some places you’ll only be smiling at the top of someone’s head because they’ll be staring down.

Cheryl Witham is Account Manager in TrueBridge Resources’ Dallas office. 

I’m a big advocate of putting a plan in place, whether it’s for repainting a room or developing and building long-term client relationships.  I’m not a project manager who uses Gantt charts to keep things moving forward (although I appreciate the skill involved in keeping massive projects on task and on budget).  Rather, I like knowing that I can set a vision or goal and then put in place a plan to execute against it.  Sometimes I’m formal and other times I’m less formal, but I usually believe that having a plan is better than not having a plan.

But how long do you give it before you determine if that plan is working or not?  How long do you keep moving down the path towards your goal before you decide things are not working as planned?  How long do you invest in one course of action, when you could be taking another course of action?

I wish I knew the answer.

For me, it’s usually based on intuition or a gut reaction.  That’s a difficult answer to hear, particularly if you are someone who makes decisions based on hard facts and analytics.  In recruiting, there’s a basic tenet that says: “Past performance is the best indicator of future performance in a like or similar setting.”  I rely on my intuition to help make decisions, but I also know that my intuition is grounded in years of experience.  So while it may seem nebulous to someone who is used to dealing with hard facts, there actually is past data that has informed my decision-making process.

So let’s address the topic of building long-term client relationships.  The clients we target are large, complex organizations … living, breathing organisms that morph as we stand in their lobbies.  To truly understand these clients, we have lots of meetings, with lots of people, asking lots of questions.  And because we are a relationship-based company, we have to do it over and over again.  And that takes time—focused and dedicated time.  What my gut and intuition tell me is that with the right amount of energy focused on the right clients, we will grow our business.  But it takes time and it’s easy to get discouraged.

So how long do we stay on the same course?  Long enough to know that we’ve given it our best effort.  And if we have truly given it our best effort, and we’ve examined what we could be doing differently, and exhausted all of the tools in our toolkit, then we can look at a mid-course correction.  But to give up too early is to have wasted all of that time and energy.  So if you are having trouble growing your client relationships, ask yourself:

• Every day, am I focused on the right things to get to know this client better?
• Am I meeting enough decision makers?
• Am I asking the right questions?
• Do I understand the business issues my client is facing?
• Have I built trust with this client so they know they can rely on me to deliver a solution to their problem?

If you can answer “yes” to these questions, you can consider making a mid-course correction.  But if you can’t, get back in there and stay the course.

Jodi Weintraub serves as Market Leader in TrueBridge Resources’ Atlanta office