Why Employers Should Learn To Use Linkedin (Instead of Paying For Employment Ads That Bring The Wrong Candidates)

Paid employment ads are helpful when you need to hire 100 call center workers or 50 temps but they aren't very useful when you need to hire a one-of-a-kind professional with very specific SKEs (skills, knowledge, experience).


For example, Charleston area DME (durable medical equipment) companies recently paid Charleston newspapers for ads they hoped would attract sales reps, customer service reps and managers. Whether the ads said so or not, these DME companies were hoping to attract applicants with DME experience. In fact, they hoped to attract applicants who were currently doing these jobs for a competitor but they probably didn't because people who already have a job aren't usually looking at employment ads. These people are called "passive candidates" because you can't attract them by running an ad, you have to go out and find them. You could hire a headhunter to do the job or you could learn how to use Linkedin and do it yourself. Over the years I've found respiratory therapists, pharmacists, physical therapists, sales reps and all levels of managers and executives for DME companies and collected some ridiculous fees for doing so but I never, ever paid for ads since, as I said, ads only bring in people who are looking at ads, so why didn't these three Charleston area DME companies use Linkedin? 


With my free Linkedin account and a few minutes of my time I found dozens of  "passive candidates" within 25 miles of Charleston who currently work in the DME industry. Do you suppose some of these people might know somebody with DME experience who would be interested in a DME management, sales or customer service job? I also found hundreds of health industry people within 25 miles of Charlelston who work in places where they come into contact with DME people. Social workers. Physical therapists. Case managers. Respiratory therapists. Nurses. Pharmacists. Do you suppose some of these people may know people with DME experience who might want to talk to these paid advertisers about their management, sales and customer service openings? Of course they do. 


There are also dozens of DME-specific and health industry groups in Linkedin where these paid advertisers could meet thousands of DME professionals who might know somebody who wants those management, sales and customer service openings.


During my decades of headhunting I never found a DME sales rep or manager that the client couldn't have found on their own had they simply networked a little. In fact, on several occasions I was paid 5 figures for "finding" candidates the employer already knew. 


To find such passive candidates all they need is a free Linkedin account and the willingness to learn how to use it.
--
Have a comment? Here's how to get your comment published: 


Comments submitted by anonymous or pseudonymous submitters will not be approved for publication by Higginbotham At Large. For example, a comment submitted by JosephHigginbotham@gmail .com would be published but a comment submitted by "Anonymous" or by OneWildAndCrazyGuy@idiots.com would not be published.

"What Are Headhunters Looking For?"

I'm often asked what headhunters are looking for.

Headhunters are looking for their next check. Headhunters are mercenaries. Headhunters don't represent the candidate, they represent the employer.

Yes, I know, when you ask what headhunters want you mean what do they want in a candidate.

See first answer. A headhunter is looking for his next check so he presents candidates that he thinks can lead to that next check. If the headhunter believes his client will only hire someone with a Ph.D. then he's looking for a Ph. D. If the headhunter knows his client is ageist and homophobic and racist he won't bring that client a gay, black, 60-year-old no matter how well-qualified that person may be. Why? Because the headhunter is looking for his next check.

"How do I get the attention of headhunters?" people sometimes ask me.

First, refer to my previous post about why headhunters prefer "passive" candidates and why you shouldn't send your resume to headhunters unsolicited and unbidden.

Second, be good at your job. Headhunters network til they find what they need. That means that if somebody mentions your name to a headhunter, you just got on his radar and he will call you if he can find contact info. Make sure headhunters can find your contact info in case people are mentioning your name. if you look at my previous post about passive candidates and how I found Bob Maynard and collected a handsome payment for bringing him to my client, then you will understand how headhunters find candidates. Headhunters network until they find what they need. After a half dozen people  told me Bob Maynard was the oxygen king of the Florida panhandle, I knew he was what I needed. That's very typical of how to get on a headhunter's radar. Be good at your job like Bob Maynard then make sure people who are looking for you can find you.

Is there contact info on your Linkedin profile? Are you sure? Only about 3 or 4% of the Linkedin profiles I see have any contact info on them so go look at your profile and ask yourself if you can be reached.

But don't wait for a headhunter to hear your name. Get your friends and colleagues and former co-workers and former bosses and every professional contact you've ever had to say your name to employers. Getting a great new job through a headhunter is good. Bob Maynard has thanked me two or three times for not giving up on him and for persisting until he agreed to meet my client. BUt don't wait for a headhunter. Read my posts about "professional co-signers" and start getting your professional contacts to say your name to people who can hire you. Do it now. Don't waste another day sending resumes to strangers. Yes, there's a chance you may get a job that way but play the high percentage game, not the low percentage game.

Higginbotham At Large no longer accepts or publishes reader comments. You may send questions, comments and hate mail to JosephHigginbotham@gmail.com.

How Dad Chose Apria

Having spent over a decade in DME sales, management, writing, speaking and consulting, I have always wanted to “be a little fly on the wall” when a patient was being discharged to see how social services/discharge planning really handles that moment of truth when the patient gets to choose his DME supplier. I recently got my chance to be in the room with my dad, my mom, the social worker, the charge nurse, an occupational therapist and a physical therapist when the social worker popped that question: “Who do you want to provide your home medical equipment?”

My dad co-wrote the jingle that Boll Medical used in their radio and TV ads back in the early 80s but he didn’t mention Boll Medical. Dad didn't mention that my first job in DME was at Boll Medical or that I worked in that industry for years. Instead, he looked at me as if to ask me to decide for him. I didn’t want to decide. I wanted to be a fly on the wall and see if social services would choose for him or steer him toward their favorite supplier. There was no way I was going to be cheated out of this rare chance to see how the “decision” is made. I just hoped neither of my parents exposed me by telling the discharge team that I used to be in that business. I was relieved when my mother narrowed the “choice” a little.

“Anybody but Loop”, she said. She didn’t say why she didn’t want Loop and nobody asked.

Oh, this is getting good, I thought.

Then the social worker started naming options:

“There’s Elana, Lincare, Boyd’s, All Med…” Her voice trailed off.

I also have a theory that DME people can tell which hospital my dad was in from the DME suppliers they mentioned to him at discharge.

I can’t prove it but I have this theory that if you walk up to a “referral source” and ask them to simply name some companies they refer business to, the first few names out of their mouth are probably their favorites.

My dad still didn’t voice a preference. It was safe for me to speak now.

“Can you give dad a list of local DME companies and let him choose from the list?

I never actually saw the list but someone gave it to him and he chose Apria. I asked him how he came to choose Apria, a company he’d never heard of.

“Your mom ruled out the closest company and Apria was almost as close”, he explained.

I was surprised both by his choice and the way the choice was made but I didn’t care. I finally got to be a fly on the wall when a patient was choosing his DME provider.

I don’t want to draw many conclusions from a single moment of truth, but I suspect if, at any point, someone – me, the RN, the OT, the PT – had actually recommended a provider, my dad would have seconded the motion and he would have never seen the list. Or chosen Apria.

In point of fact, Apria's office isn't any closer than several others dad didn't select so we may never know what really caused him to circle Apria on the list. Maybe he liked the way the name sounds. I didn't press him. He said he selected it because it was close but, by that measure, he could have chosen Lincare or Elana or Boyd's or All Med.

For the record, I do not now nor have I ever worked for Apria in any capacity. Although I still follow the industry and some of the people in it from afar, I haven't worked for any DME company in any capacity in at least 15 years.

DMEs might also want to read my three December posts on "referrals" and "relationships". SMPS.org called these posts "outstanding business development advice."

Coming Soon To Higginbotham At Large: Recap Of What I Said At The ISA Symposium, How To Unleash The Awesome Power of LinkedIn,

Referrals and Relationships - Part Two

____________________________________

“Marketing is not a department.” – Harry Beckwith

_____________________________________

I said in my last blog entry that readers who are in "R & R" (relationships and referrals) businesses need to turn their staff and their existing clients into a sales force because leveraging the existing relationships of your customers and employees can bring you that most powerful and most efficient form of new client acquisition: word-of-mouth.

Hire People Who Integrate Their Professional Lives With Their Social Lives

At a recent luncheon I invited a most unpleasant director-level executive to a meeting where she would have the opportunity to network with people who could support her organization. Some of her co-workers actually asked me to add them to my mailing list and inform them of meetings so imagine my surprise when this sourpuss told me she didn’t appreciate my using a professional relationship to invite her to a social function. This unsociable executive is an example of the kind of employee NOT to hire. Not only was she just downright unneighborly, she is trying to totally segregate her professional and social lives, robbing her employer of whatever benefit might be derived from her social network – if she has any social network.

Hire people who join things, people who meet and make friends easily, people who integrate their professional and social networks.

You might be able to get a feel for a job candidate’s ability and willingness to integrate his/her social and professional lives by looking at his/her LinkedIn profile and connections. Not only does the candidate’s LinkedIn profile show me how that person is connected to me, giving me a chain of “back door references” I can ask about his/her character and competence, a candidate’s LinkedIn profile gives me some idea if the candidate knows how to network. I’m not impressed with a job candidate who has 15 connections and belongs to no LinkedIn groups. On the other hand, if a job candidate has a network of 200 LinkedIn connections and belongs to all the LinkedIn groups that are appropriate to his/her industry and profession, I might be dealing with somebody who brings some word-of-mouth and referral potential to the table.

Frankly, in this day and age I have serious reservations about a job applicant who isn’t using LinkedIn to build both a positive professional brand and a sizeable, searchable professional network. Once onboard, staff members should be encouraged to invite each other to their LinkedIn networks so they can easily see how the company is connected to potential clients and who it is on the staff who has the relational bridge to a prospect.

For further reading on the subject of integrating your professional life with your private or social life, see Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone. I suggest you make it required reading for your staff.

Frequently Mine Your Employees and Clients To For New Leads

Get in the habit of asking questions like these: What networking opportunities did you attend this week? Who did you meet? Did you collect any business cards? Did you make any interesting new LinkedIn connections? Did you meet anybody who might be able to benefit from our product or service?

Asking these questions yields immediate leads and teaches how to network. When your employees know they’ll be asked which meetings they’ve attended and whom they’ve met, they’ll understand that, at your company, marketing is not a department and that they need to be prepared for the questions. Most of your current employees probably weren’t born with the networking gene but it’s a behavior they can learn if you ask them the right questions.

Spend The Money In Your Ad Budget On Association Memberships and Other Forms Of Direct Contaact With Potential Referrers

____________________________________________________________

"Advertising is what you do when you can't talk to someone." - Fairfax Cone

____________________________________________________________

Some of my readers are in the kind of “R & R” (referrals and relationships) businesses where almost their entire universe of prospective clients and referrers is knowable and finite. I have to be careful here because I don’t want to identify any specific businesses, but I know businesses whose target markets are so specific and so public that they can literally make a list of their prospects by name and by title and organization.

It doesn’t make any sense at all for these R & R companies to spend much money on advertising. Advertising is what you do when you don’t know how to reach your customer – or you don’t know who your prospective customer is. But when you know who your prospects are – I mean you know their names, their job titles, and where they work – it makes no sense to spend thousands of dollars on radio ads, newspaper ads or slick magazine ads as if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach.

For instance, let’s say you’re in the durable medical equipment industry. Oxygen. Hospital beds. Wheelchairs. Maybe diabetic or ostomy supplies. While the end users of these products are not knowable, the gatekeepers who refer these end users to you are absolutely knowable and finite. Case managers. Discharge planners. Pulmonologists. Nurses with a specific certification in ostomy and skin care. You get the idea. In most markets there are only a handful of these professionals associate with each area hospital and you can absolutely make a list and then figure out how to create a bridge or leverage an existing relationship to these professionals.

Here’s where hiring employees who use LinkedIn comes in handy. After you’ve made a list of the professionals who can refer end users to your DME business, look up each of them in LinkedIn and see how they’re linked to someone on your staff or someone you know who would be willing to introduce that referral source to you. Put that link’s name next to the name of the referral source. Ask that connecting link to introduce you to the referral source. Set up a lunch or a coffee.

Also, when you find a target referral source in LinkedIn, consider joining some of the LinkedIn groups they belong to. Join some of the same groups then send a LinkedIn message introducing yourself. Who knows, maybe a real conversation will ensue.

Can’t find a connecting link or can’t find the referral source in LinkedIn? Then ask yourself what meetings that professional is likely to attend or what professional associations that person is likely to belong to. Join and attend as necessary. If you’re in the staffing business you need to belong to Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). If you’re in the DME business you need to attend sleep disorder support groups, ostomate support groups, Better Breathers support groups and you need to belong to sponsor events and meetings for National Association of Social Workers and Case Management Society of America. Someone from your staff needs to be at every meeting, gripping and grinning, exchanging business cards and inviting referral sources to lunch. Send the member of your staff who has the most in common, the greatest rapport with that professional group. Send your respiratory therapist to the Better Breathers and sleep disorders meetings. Send a nurse to the ostomy club.

Your sales rep probably can’t get an appointment with many of the people who make up the Known Universe of Referral Sources and Gatekeepers but if you show up at a meeting you just might find yourself having dinner, elbow to elbow, with someone you need to meet. Also, being seen at meetings gives your current referral sources a chance to be seen behaving friendly with you, an implicit professional endorsement or recommendation and a strong “visual” that makes you seem more trustworthy to observers who have not yet referred business to your company.

Consider Firing Or Repurposing/Redeploying Your Sales Rep

What many R & R (relationships and referrals) businesses need is not a sales rep but someone who can teach the entire staff how to get relationships and referrals that lead to sales.

I recently had the opportunity to talk to a VP at The Carlyle Group who told me about a recent group of acquisitions whose greatest need is for the licensed and certified professionals who run them to learn how to network.

Ideally, this kind of networking leadership would come from the owner or CEO but for reasons that mystify and elude me, some owners of R & R businesses would rather run expensive "ego advertising" than engage in activities that will actually lead to new business. I've seen small business owners spend tens of thousands of ad dollars making sure their high school pals and fraternity brothers or sorority sisters know they own a company or trying to look like the most successful member of the local Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club while doing nothing at all to teach their staff how to network.

Maybe your sales rep can be repurposed and redeployed as the guy who teaches your staff how to network.

In summary: Hire people who know how to network, how to integrate their social and professional lives. Consider firing your sales rep and becoming or hiring someone to teach your staff how to network. Spend your ad budget on association memberships, on lunches, on opportunities to get face-to-face with somebody. Frequently ask your clients and employees whom they've met recently who can use your product or service.

Why DMEs Should Embrace Social Media

In a recent HME News article, an unidentified DME dealer said he wasn't using social media because he didn’t think referral sources were looking on Facebook to select a DME company.

I agree. Referral sources aren't using social media to select a DME provider, but they are using social media to communicate with their friends.

Can you be a friend? Is there any good reason why a "referral source" can't become your friend? Don't you want friends?

Let's forget for a moment that the discharge planner who won't meet with you and won't take your calls is a discharge planner. Can you pretend she's just a human being with an identity and interests and a social circle that doesn't have anything to do with her job? And let's forget that there's some unwritten silly rule that says the only way you can connect with her is between the hours of 8 and 5, at the hospital where she works. If you weren't a DME sales rep and she were just a person you wanted to meet, could you figure out how to use your existing network of friends to get an introduction?

Of course you could.

Social media helps you do it faster and with a greater number of people.

Let's get something straight: social media is not marketing. I have well over 300 LinkedIn connections and I'm not likely to buy their financial services or their health supplements or their energy drinks or their legal services just because I'm connected to them on LinkedIn. I'm not likely to refer business to you just because you Tweet me 3 times a day telling me that you are the greatest marketing consultant in town. In fact, if you use social media to annoy me, I'm less likely to do business with you.

And social media won't improve your social skills. In fact, social media gives selfish, rude; inconsiderate jerks a chance to annoy a lot of people many times a day. If you are a social jerk who only contacts people when you want something from them and only communicates with "referral sources" to put the sales moves on them, social media will only enable you to wear out your welcome more quickly than you already do. If you are socially inept, if you don't have the networking gene, if you are a socially challenged misanthrope, social media will not make you a better networker or make you like people.

And social media is not marketing even though you're going to meet some really annoying people who think it is.

Social media is just another tool to help people "meet" new people, establish relationships, maintain relationships and deepen relationships. Some of your Twitter, LInkedIn and other social media contacts will become friends. Some of these friends will become customers or referral sources. Some of these friends will introduce you to people who will become friends and then customers or referral sources. If you already have good networking skills, social media extends the rate at which your network expands but, frankly, if you don't "get" networking, if you don't already know how pre-internet social networking worked, Twitter and LinkedIn won't suddenly splice the networking gene into your DNA.

DME people who don't already know how to make new friends and to network and to merge their social and professional networks and to tap the social networks of others won't suddenly do these things just because they open a LinkedIn account.

Social media is a force multiplier that helps people who already know how to network to do it faster and with more people.

Let me illustrate:

A DME sales rep would like to meet Donna the Discharge Planner but Donna won't make an appointment and won't return the sales rep's calls (and let's face it, why would she?). If the sales rep is a good networker, he'll stop thinking of Donna as just a referral source and start thinking of her, as a person and he'll stop limiting his attempted contacts to sales calls during business hours. He'll find a way to meet Donna through mutual interests and mutual friends. Here's how a good social networker might use social media to make that happen:

First, our savvy networker might look Donna up in Facebook and LinkedIn. If she has an account, he can see how's he's connected to her, who they know in common. Once he knows how they're connected, he can contact the common friend and ask them to introduce him to Donna.

If Donna doesn't have a LinkedIn account, perhaps our savvy networker performs a LinkedIn search on who he knows at Donna's hospital. Perhaps our Skilled DME sales rep is already LinkedIn to somebody in accounting or somebody in physical therapy. Our savvy sales rep arranges to meet his friend in the hospital cafeteria.

While in the cafeteria, our savvy sales rep's friend tweets "I'm in the cafeteria" and pretty soon, other hospital worker start coming to the cafeteria.

Because our DME sales rep is already a skilled networker, he hands out business cards to everybody he meets. Yes, even the people who can't refer business to him. On his business card is his Twitter and LinkedIn information. Our savvy sales rep asks his new acquaintances if they are on Twitter and LinkedIn. Some of them are. He asks if he can add them as a contact in LinkedIn and "follow" them on Twitter. That very day or perhaps the next day he discovers that one of Donna the Discharge Planner's co-worker, Debbie The Discharge Planner, is in his expanded network.

Good networkers already know where this is going. Debbie links him to Donna who links him to Bob in Respiratory Therapy who is married to Dr. Lung's daughter who's best friend works in the hospital administrator's office.

"Referral sources" can dodge your calls, ignore your emails, and, when you get lucky enough to pass them in the hallway, they can tell you they "have a list" and that they just work their way down the list".

Friends, look forward to your tweets, they read your blog, they forward your LinkedIn profile to their friends.

Don't you really want friends?