There is not much new in the field of training for the success in the executive recruiting business. There are new tools to impart the information, but the basic information remains the same as it was 30 years ago. The Internet is just another tool to be mastered in carrying out your task, but despite what you may hear to the contrary, the basics as they were taught in the early days of our business are the same as they are today.

I once took over the management of an office where one of the tenured consultants knew everything about the basics. He was a walking, talking encyclopedia of information about how to make placements happen. Unfortunately, he rarely put this information into practice and, as a result, wasn’t very good at it. It was a “personality” thing.

I had another guy who didn’t know squat about the ins and outs of the success formula. His “hillbilly” verbal skills would send a grammar teacher into catatonic shock, but he had a magnetic charisma to charm the socks off clients and candidates alike. They loved him and went out of their way to make things happen the way he wanted them to. Our business is, after all, a sales business.

Trainers in our business come and go. For all but a few who have been around for a while, it can be a less than sustainable way to earn a living. We applaud those who try and have often said that no one can have too many training programs.

What can be different are the delivery systems for this knowledge. Several training programs exist on the internet and a number involve blended learning combinations. One such program is:

INSIGHTS SUCCESS KIT

As I mentioned last month, the Insights Success Kit was developed by 16-year recruiting veteran Christopher Brown. Brown started the Burlington Wells, Inc. firm which was sold to TMP Worldwide. This program is a compilation of processes that worked for him in his position of trainer, instructor, coach and guide for the people he educated in our business. It consists of an impressively packaged program which includes a DVD/VHS video, a Step-by-Step Guidebook and an Interactive CD-ROM.

The premise upon which this is based is a version of the formula we have written about for the last 2 months. While our version has 24 steps, Brown’s version is called the Sweet Sixteen which narrows the 24 steps to 16.

Upon receiving the program, you are required to register on the Internet to activate the CD-ROM information. This registration process installs cookies on your computer to allow for quick access the next time you access the CD-ROM. It also restricts you to just that one computer unless you purchase additional “licenses” to give access to other users and other computers. This would make it necessary to buy an additional license if you wanted it on your work computer and computer at home.

I was less than impressed with the time it took to register and had to do it three times before it finally happened but that was mainly because I was working through a slow modem on an unfamiliar machine. Probably my fault rather than theirs.

The CD-ROM is a “Conversation Builder.” It is full of scripts for the various types of calls a recruiter must make to clients, candidates, etc. The interactive part of this program allows you to customize or add scripts that conform to your firm, your particular niche and your conversational style so that, when talking on the phone to a potential client, candidate, reference, etc., the answers to the most common objections are right on your screen for easy rebuttal or explanation.

The Step-by-Step Guidebook is a 169-page roadmap to the recruiting business covering every facet of the basic recruiting business from attitude to closing deals. It is a reasonable recitation of the fundamentals and it is well laid out to cover the essentials as well as any book could.

The video portion of this program comes in either DVD or VHS and we requested the VHS version. Watching this is meant to be the prelude to the program and it’s a 2-hour tape. Although expensively produced as a combination game show/talk show/interview show, I found it to be a bit too cute for my cynical makeup but when I showed it to a few rookie recruiters and non-recruiter acquaintances; they found it to be an entertaining way to learn about the business and didn’t object to the glitzy production techniques used.

All in all, I would recommend this product for training new recruiters in the basics as it sets the state with a good foundation for learning the tips, techniques, scripts and strategies necessary to succeed in this business.

There are several options for purchasing the product with the initial kit at $995 and additional licenses available for $495 each. More information is available through (877)646-7483 or http://www.insights-interactive.com.