Search consultants and buyers of search services have one major thing in common: the former offers something invisible that the latter wants to buy. This something is called a service.

It is invisible because it is has no smell, taste, shape or touch; there is nothing empirical to it. You can always test drive a car, visit a house you intend to buy, or fit the suit that looks so good; but you cannot test a haircut or try-out a surgeon. As I outlined in an earlier post, every service has a consequence you can't turn your back on,  and this will constitute service as a good or bad experience. Indeed, the proof is in the eating of the pudding.

The problem with the "invisible" is that it is fickle. It is fickle because so many intangibles are involved, most important of all, your personal brand perception to clients and candidates. In our business, to quote Alan Weiss , "there is no empirical quality catalogue that buyers consult. The only thing that matters is what the perception of the buyer is". Therefore I can't stress it enough: perception is reality.

Therefore what matters is your communication, presentation, competence, integrity, passion and so on. Perception is established from the first time a prospect lays his or her eyes on you, throughout the time span of the business relationship. Most important, your brand perception is established de facto, with or without your help, including both positive and negative aspects.

Therefore, the fickle invisible is shaped through your interaction with everyone else in your business:  perception and personal branding happens by default, whether you like it or not. Therefore, take positive control  of all your interaction with clients and candidates.

If you believe this is unimportant, you won't stay long in the service business - you will become invisible yourself in very short time.

A plumber offering to replace tubes and pipes, a lawyer proposing to write contracts or a doctor claiming present a diagnosis will loose out quickly to plumbers proposing to plug your leaks quickly, efficiently and economically; to lawyers structuring your acquisition in a beneficial and solid manner; and to doctors curing your ailment fast and without complications.

The successful sales and marketing of services does not consist in the presentation of a series of actions that constitute the service,  but in the offer of an efficient, effective and lasting solution.

HR buyers often approach search consultants with the request to find "someone", and the majority of search consultants present a service consisting of "finding candidates". The former immediately come up with job descriptions and desired profiles; while the latter in return will pitch a search system and methodology. Both however forget to define the value to be realized from the transaction, even less to "dollarize" that value. It is similar to the mute communicating to the deaf, though in this particular case they can find an agreement.

Does the client organization want to double or triple sales, increase revenue per employee, gross margins, to reduce dramatically employee churn, inventory leakage, improve cash flow from operations, reorganize the business unit to such extent that the channel has more depth, customer satisfaction increases, manufacturing yields improve dramatically,... ? I am astonished by how few companies want to initiate a search without a clear idea of what exactly they want to improve, least by how much; and by the search consultants who will avoid any inquiry beyond the plain obvious related to the act of finding an executive.

Of course, job descriptions contain a list of responsibilities described as "the management of the sales team", "report to the VP Manufacturing", "present leadership in customer satisfaction", "deliver great quality", "manage operations profitably and efficiently", "grow international sales" etc...  They are common to the majority of job descriptions produced by HR departments. However, they do not cover the tangible and intangible improvements in value to be delivered by the executive to be brought in.

Search consultants must offer a solution to a business problem. Though that business problem is related to filling a critical and sensitive position, the solution is found not in the search for an executive, but in delivering someone uniquely qualified to create the specific improvements sought.

Search consultants who relentlessly ask questions to frame and define the value sought by their prospect are the right people to entrust the critical task of bringing in executive power. Shy away from those consultants pounding on their search methods and systems: hammering with a blindfold on is guaranteeing a risky and painful outcome. Caveat Emptor.

Though not necessarily the perfect inclusive answer, I strongly believe the professional considered to be a great, high flying executive search consultant is someone who is a brand by him or herself. In almost every case this person will bill high fees and have both highly satisfied clients and placements.

As a result, the one major benchmark setting the great search consultant apart from the others is a consistent and growing level of billing that does not depend on the brand name of the firm he works for (with the disclaimer that although in the current crisis a great consultant will still be able to eke out an income, it will be reduced as everywhere else).

I do not say that factors such as pro-activeness, intrinsic and social intelligence, empathy, confidence and other aspects are less relevant. However, they do not cause the consultant to be a great consultant; neither do stylish, Italian office furniture; or a fancy suit, a well-ironed shirt, silver cufflinks, expensive eau de cologne, a 200$ hairpiece and a white flashing smile.

All these traits and accessories are necessary to the success of a Search Consultant. What they do is diminish significantly; very significantly the role chance or luck will play in the consistency and growth of the search consultancy business. BUt they are by far not sufficient.

So what does matter? As I said earlier, a great consultant is able to build a brand around his work, and he or she will very likely be a brand by themselves. This means his name and person are a guarantee to the hiring organization that his services will lead to highly satisfactory results.

I formulated above traits and accessories as factors in diminishing the role chance will play, because if a consultant is employed by a global blue chip search firm, the brand and global service provider agreements of these companies will compensate (at least initially, sometimes in perpetuity) for the lack in returns on personal business development. I was told more than once that the great consultants employed by those firms are frustrated by the uneven business development activity performed by some of the older more senior peers, who’d rather work on execution and client relationship management.

Therefore great consultants will be able to build business and billing without a sterling brand behind them. Hence they always seem able to create new clients, even win clients away from the competition, despite the fact their organization and resources are dwarfed by the larger global competitors.

(1) They will have a mild obsession (mild because true fanatics tend to know more and more about less and less) to add value to the business of their customers. Adding value is core to winning and keeping customers. Great consultants are praised and remembered for their value add.

(2) They will put focus in their work, talk and walk. Some will work within the narrow confined of a specific sector or practice, others within the borders of a defined geography. Regardless specialization, activity, or geography, a clear and sharp focus will always be discernable. No one can do everything for everyone; any attempt in this direction will fail to achieve its goal.

(3) They work with a high and consistent level of energy, usually fueled by a passion for what they are doing. When one loves a job, usually he or she excels in what they do.

(4) They will keep themselves always highly visible to buyers and potential candidates. This could be through the internet, (of which this blog is an example off), press interviews, public speaking engagements, membership of professional non-profit organizations, etc….

(5) They will be confident without being arrogant; though unfortunately those to attributes correlate more often than not. The best consultants are confident with grace, and keep themselves humble and modest, though have the talent to make people feel comfortable, smile, talk and listen.

(6) They will display an eclectic, creative intelligence and resourcefulness, which implies flexibility and adaptability to new clients and mandates; but also deadlines and available resources.

(7) They will have integrity, and never ever compromise on the ethics of the business, and on their agreements with both clients and candidates. They will walk their talk, they will be people who are respected and will respect others.

When all this has sunk in, remind yourself again that the great Executive Search consultant will always ask, search and look to add value for his customers.