A colleague shared with me recently how the Regional VP at a prospect gave him a list of names after  he finished his pitch. He was asked to provide positions and the  names of the companies those individuals were working for. This "test" would show the prospective client how well my colleague knew his market.

I beg to differ. Search Consultants do not learn a database by heart.  On the contrary, they know how to get to the right people, and they are intimately familiar with an industry vertical or sector. They also understand a business and the market it operates in. Furthermore, the great Search Consultant has the credibility to approach and even convince Senior Executives, while he understands and masters all intangibles necessary to close a search assignment for his client.

Rating a Search Consultant on his knowledge of names in the industry, is similar to rating a book on its weight, size, color, the font type and print ink used - except for the content. As a result, the most meaningful dimension is completely overlooked. In a similar context a prospective client does not seek to retain a parrot, but trusted advisors who are able to improve his bottomline.

Many people asked me how I would list the elements making a great leader:

(1) Personal humility fortified with professional will, which is much different from ego-drive, or the capacity for show-off combined with a large dose of personal PR. Humility leads managers to effortlessly take responsibility, but also naturally share success with their team.

(2) Integrity: walk the talk, and lead by example. These people do as they say. Such individuals always operate from within an aura of transparency and openness, as there is few or nothing they need to hide or shy away from.

(3) Passion, which I see as a combination of energy, creativity and focus. Passion allows leaders to develop vision, and the gives them the energy to implement it. It makes them mobilize their team to realize a shared mission.

(4) A genuine positive outlook on life and people, with a total absence of cynicism. Personal and organizational growth can only be sustained through optimism, or a deep positive belief that people and situations can change for the better. Its a main attractor for what one can define the good things in life: health and valuable friendships.

(5) Last but not least I would list intelligence, on both an intrinsic and emotional level. I once read an IQ test can account for one third of the success of an executive, and I do not completely disagree. Throw an equal measure of EQ and one will go a long way.

Great leaders develop a culture where the truth can be heard, and they do not devalue contrary views or idea's. On the contrary, like Jack Welsh, they will relish and promote candor in their organizations. As such they promote a culture where respect tends to be equally given as it will be received. Those leaders confront facts, ask the necessary questions, and will focus on what has the greatest impact;  they will be a major source for the job satisfaction of those working for them.

The wrong answer for service professionals is your professional category, in my case "headhunter".

It is the wrong answer because people have preconceived notions about headhunters and what they do, and it is often not a notion that sets you up for success.

Some of those preconceived notions:

• A CV collector and/or distributor
• Someone who will find you a job
• A secretive operator stealing employees from companies, including yours
• A scantly dressed tribesman dancing around a vat with boiling oil containing an unfortunate discoverer (the preconceived notion of my 4 year old niece).

The right answer addresses what a potential client would really want. The client does not want you to search someone. He wants the tangible and intangible benefits of what you do: more profit, more revenue, more growth, more recognition, more prestige, and so on...

The right answer provides a great opportunity for personal branding: what you do, how you do it, and why you do it. In my case, I would answer:  I help companies achieve higher performance, by attracting great talent for them.

Why I do it ? There are many reasons: I like to learn in many ways, I like to help people, I am fascinated with business dynamics, I love to see my client surge after i delivered my service, etc... The personal catch phrase that summarizes somehow all the above, must also link the "what's in it for me" of the listener. Ask why a client likes you, find out why peers and candidates respect you, all provide great material for a catch phrase that makes a powerful emotional statement.

The "why I do it" will then attract those people who will resonate with you. It is not about pleasing as many people as possible, but to connect with those that are waiting to hear your unique message. Don't water you message down to a generic professional category that represents anything to everybody, but make it reflect the unique you and make it your brand. It will make you show passion and excitement, and there is nothing more appealing and convincing about someone speaking from his  or her heart.

In "The Talent Advantage", Alan Weiss and Nancy MacKay explore some of the myths of Corporate Recruiting.

They offer the key insight that competing with pay and benefits is silly and expensive. It is silly because dollars attract  everyone, including mediocre and bad people. It does make things easier not to pay below market average, though matching it won't make an organization win.

One key observation I came across and share with Weiss and MacKay is that great bosses are an essential factor in attracting and retaining talent. I was told countless times by senior executives that work satisfaction depends 80% on the relationship with the direct manager. Great bosses win the talent attraction game, and manage to focus, retain and nurture talent: except for ROAD warriors (Retired While On Active Leave - or unproductive employees), nobody wants to work for a looser.

In my personal experience, over and over again, the best companies make cultural fit one of the most important elements in their hiring decisions; not just competence and experience. This explains why I have come across many cases where the passionate and assertive candidate was selected above others with more experience and competence. Executive search consultancy is retained to find the "hard skills" of competence and experience; great search consultants will be able to discern the unique cultural fit of particular candidates to the organization of his clients.

Whatever it is called, "value chemistry", "mutual liking and understanding" point to  the subjective, emotional factors that are key in attracting and deploying talent.  The company values, both manifest and latent, underlying the culture of an organization are, together with the personality of the boss, the essential factors in the talent attraction game.

Weiss says in this regard:

"Attracting top talent is about building a relationship of trust consistent with the values of your company. If one of your company values is not related to helping people achieve their full potential, then you'll have great difficulty attracting top talent, because your belief system is screwed up".

In the above context, Search Consultants can be great partners, not the "people vendors" or "CV distributors" commonly associated with succes based recruiters. Work with Search Consulantants who show a sensitivity, interest and affinity to the above, and who can translate these factors into a compelling story to the talent your firm wants to attract.

Search consultants trying to win search mandates by selling "benefits" are unlikely to gain much business.

Two fundamental human motivations are pain (avoiding loss), and pleasure (seeking reward.) The two often apply together, though is widely acknowledged in psychology that the avoidance of loss is a more powerful motivator than that of gaining reward.  Just think about the energy you would spend to find a 100 Euro note lost during a day in the office, and the days it will remain in the back of your head, than you would put into earning it extra.

Imagine also why people go to work. Most people would happily admit if winning the lottery, they would stop working; and even those that would not, would probably reduce their time at work.  The majority of people go to work not to gain reward, because then winning the lottery would not make any difference. They go to work because of risk avoidance.  If we don’t work we cannot pay mortgage, credit card bills or provide for the family. If most people go to work to avoid loss, then it is clear by definition that companies are full with people that are risk averse.

Selling benefits, or the gain of reward, to people who are risk averse is therefore illogical. Remember the slogan "nobody gets fired buying IBM". IT Managers will not buy a new software to become more efficient, but rather to avoid wasting money, lose market share to competitors or miss opportunities. People rarely buy to gain reward, they want to avoid loss of any kind: prestige, money, time, influence, mind and market share. A purchase is done to solve a problem.

The classic behavior of people trying to avoid loss is when they wait until the last minute, sometimes after weeks or months to place the order; a process that usually happens with customers with whom one had a positive interaction, who gave clear indications to go ahead with the order. It is clear businesses do not spend money until they really must. Who would place an order, but wanted to have it delivered in 6 months ?

Many HR directors will work with Korn Ferry , Heidrick or Egon Zehnder for the same reasons, because their brand equals high security, not excellence. This is especially true for critical positions in times of economic distress. Many firms deliver equal or better work, however, these "global brands” - even if they can’t deliver - will never be a risky choice for the buyer (especially HR). A lesser known,  or new firm with less international or segment exposure, even when demonstrated to offer better results, has few chance of winning a sale on benefits to the conservative, risk averse buyer

The focus in selling searches should therefore be shifted from realizing a transaction to building relationships, which in turn helps building reputation, building a foundation for referrals and recommendations. In such model the customer interests always come first.

With the transactional definition of sales there is no recognition of the sales person adding value towards the customer, as the value is always created on the seller’s side: “a sale was made”. and a commission gained. A strong focus on transactional sales results either in a win/lose situation, miss or overselling. Sales defined only as the customer buying the solution, with the customer situation being irrelevant, is shooting oneself in the foot.

Search consultants selling their services must fundamentally be involved in helping the customer to buy the right solution, and only when it is in the clients interest to do so. Selling must always solve a problem.

Again: every single purchase solves a problem; therefore the sales of searches is always about solving problems. In executive search, benefit selling on a transactional model does not focus on the process leading to uncovering and defining the problem, which is exactly what is required to gain the trust and respect of a client. Only relationship sales, with its focus on the customer and the process yields a beneficial outcome to the customer, candidate and consultant.

Why cling the myth to sell benefits, all about gaining reward, when people usually do things to avoid loss ? Using benefits forces sales people to use a language their customers do not use - and usually do not want to hear. They want to hear about themselves and their problem, and how it will be solved. Only then a situation is created conducive to sales.