(By Drea Codispoti, CPC)
Drea Codispoti, CPC, Membership Development Coordinator
Welcome to a new series in The Pinnacle newsletter, one that involves Top Echelon Network’s “Best Practices.” This series will explain which actions and strategies work best within Top Echelon when it comes to experiencing more success as a Preferred Member of the Network.
One of the most important and valuable mechanisms in Top Echelon is Communication. In fact, it’s one of the Four Pillars of the Network, along with Quality, Trust, and Active Participation.
However, the most crucial question involving this particular Pillar is “Communication with whom?” Simply put, you need to know the Preferred Members who work the same industries and disciplines as you do. This way, you can create your own set of Core Groups and network with your Trading Partners on a consistent basis in order to stay in touch with what they’re working on . . . and so they know what you’re working on, as well.
There are three main ways you can find potential Trading Partners within Top Echelon. I’ve listed those ways—including a description for each—below:
- “Who Works What” search from the Recruiters tab—You can either search by keywords, states, or communities. The results are listed in order of relevance, so if you’re searching by keywords, it will list those Top Echelon Network Members who have that string of keywords showing the most in their Recruiter Profile. If you’re searching by communities, it will order by relevance based on the percentage of communities you selected.
- Search Candidates—By conducting a search in the Split Candidate Database, you’ll be able to see who in Top Echelon has the candidates that most closely correlate to your needs. You may see some fits for your positions, but even if you see a few “almost fits,” call the other Preferred Member and see what else they have in their database. You never know what you might find.
- Search Jobs—Searching the current job orders in Top Echelon could bring your attention to one or several candidates that you could send in reference to the job. You will also see who is actively working the same types of jobs as you. This is a good reason to call and get to know them. You may have leftover candidates that would be perfect for them, and vice-versa.
Which brings me to the really important part of the process: once you’ve identified potential Trading Partners, we’ve found that it’s best to pick up the telephone. Call them, introduce yourself, and initiate the process of building a split partner relationship. Email is great, but it’s not the way to go when you’re in the preliminary stages of building relationships with other recruiters in the Network. While it’s true that nothing beats a face-to-face meeting, talking on the telephone—or via a Web cam, if you both have one—is more effective than just sending an email.
If you have any questions about this article, please contact me at (330) 455-1433, Ext. 156 or via email at Drea@TopEchelon.com.
—Drea
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