Been dark for almost a month. Post when I have something to say. Whoa… here we go. Next blog about new technology. This one more linguistics, human equations. Fun doing it.
Spring. The air was crisp and cool, sun was shining. I was on my morning commute. The radio station playing in my car was set the night before on my commute home. Last night it was rock & R&B. Morning was the realm of, well, morning radio. I have no specific memories of what the host was talking about, only that every sentence he ended with by saying “you know”. At this point in time, I did not notice the proliferation of “you know”. I did, however change the station for the same reason many people tune out these shows; Forced laughter, call in contests, traffic reports, nothing I needed, so I changed the channel to National Public Radio (NPR).
NPR you say, this guy must be a liberal. No. My role is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of a software company. I’m an entrepreneur and a capitalist. Closer to a libertarian than anything else. That is important to state; NPR gets a bad wrap sometimes. Anyone heard of Bill Gates? aka Founder of Microsoft, backer of NPR via the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Enough on that.
So turn the channel to NPR, usually I’ll give it a minute. Good topic, I listen, boring topic… I put in a CD. It was a good topic, so I start listening. Can’t remember what is was about. The guest was brilliant. However, every time he finished a sentence he said, “you know” at the end. This time I noticed it. I felt trapped in my car, wanting to hear what this guest was saying, but feeling every statement he completed with “you know” was completely diminished. I was compelled to call in.
A very nice woman welcomed me and asked what I would like to talk about. I felt guilty and petty, but I was compelled by a strange rage.
“I’m feel really strange about calling in about this”, I said
“I am a long time listener” (everyone says that). ”and I feel I’ve got to say something. This guest you have on is saying “you know” at the end of every sentence. It sounds horrible. Can someone slip him a note or something.”
Uncomfortable silence.
The woman must have been listening to the live program. At first I could tell she thought I was a crackpot. ( I felt I came off as sincere). She could tell I felt uneasy. “Hold on a minute” she said.
A few seconds later, she came back and said “you’re right, I’ll see if we can do something”
I continued to listen to the program. The “you knows” continued until the half hour break. Every one felt like a stab at me. When the break was over, a transformation had happened. The guest WAS very intelligent and probably nervous being on the radio. Most likely I had nothing to do with it, he might have just calmed down. The “you knows” had stopped.
Pleased with myself. Yes, internally, I took full credit for the commentators transformation.
Late in the morning the “you know” monster reared it’s head again. Normally, I would not even have noticed. One of my star sales reps was having a 4-5 minute conversation with a perspective client. In the few minutes I listened in (we have an open floor sales environment), I heard 5-6 “you knows”. He was saying everything right, handling objections with skill, leading the prospect into a solution sell, actively listening and responding. However, he was killing his passion and confidence, as perceived by any listener, with interjecting “you know” into his conversation.
That is when I realized what “you know” is. Lack of confidence. Seeking approval. Sometimes just a filler. In his case, I believe it was just a filler. This guys rules the crowd at conference. No lack of confidence and not the type to seek approval. Somehow, it grew on him. My guy, my friend, my star.
Has ”you know” become the “um” of the 21st century?
I am guilty too. This is not a “you say it and I don’t” kind of thing. I am a “you know” offender. Now, it is few and far between and I usually catch myself, but it happens. And damn it, it is everyone’s fault. We are our brothers keeper when it comes to the evolution of language. Do you remember saying “google it” 5 years ago?
Remember the old movie, “Network”? I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore?”
I am mad about this. It really bothers me. Why? I am not an extremely polished linguist. I’ve got an average vocabulary for someone in my position. I’m not concerned that “ain’t” is now in the dictionary. I may be a snob when it comes to my mac powerbook, but changing the English language, no, I’m not a puritan. So why does it bother me?
Know thyself.
One simple reason. I live with passion. Passion about my beliefs, passion about what I create and sell. When someone ends or begins their statements with “you know”, it is reducing everything they said before. Try the test of injecting “you know” into a famous speech.
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. You know.”
“I have not yet begun to fight. You know.”
If you are in sales, try injecting “you know” into your sales presentation.
“Our recruiting software is used by over 3500 client in 22 countries, you know” ouch!
So where does this leave me. Frustrated? Hell no. Let me give everyone that wants to sell to me a tip. I love being sold to. I love buying stuff. I love being brought through the sales process by a person of excellence that is giving me a solution based on my needs.
I am putting the world on notice: If you talk to me and say “you know?”, I will assume that you are asking me a question. If you ask me a question, I am not going to stand idly by. I am going to answer:
“No, I don’t know”
Will I be mean? No. Will I do it until they get the hint? Yes. Will they be insulted? I do not know. My basic tenet is that there is a spark of intelligence in all people. There is no need for this in our language. Let’s bring “um” back. It was kinder and it did not pose a question.
This plague can be eradicated. Doing nothing spreads it.
Join me in just saying, “No, I don’t know”.
I need your help, for if I’m the only one saying it then people may be thinking I am saying:
ERE in San Diego was a great conference. It’s taken a week for everything to sink in and then bubble up out of my subconscious. My mission at these conference is to throw out some ideas, sit back and listen. While there are always the obvious tracks of discussion, my ear is attuned to different topics. While talking to people from corporate recruiting, the resounding theme that I was hearing is that recruiting and sourcing are further differentiating.
A few signs:
-More talk of sourcing getting it’s own budget.
-This seems simple, but it was noticeable: titles are starting to have the word “sourcing” in them.
-Increased discussions, sidebars, questions about “sourcing” vs. recruiting.
-Increased line length at the vendors booths that provide sourcing technology. This makes Broadlook happy
-Sourcing has it’s own conference.
Last thought. Can someone talk to Microsoft? “Sourcing” is still seen in my Microsoft Word 2007 as a spelling error. When this gets fixed, sourcers are legit!
It’s all about bringing people in. Broadlook is the undisputed leader in Internet Research Automation. Our challenge: Letting people know about it. Stop by ERE in San Diego, see what is all about. It far exceeds any hype or description of quasi-competitors.
Quick post. Rob McIntosh made a great comment on my recent post List Metrics; how to measure quality in a list?. Instead of replying to the comment, I though I’d write a quick post on this, as it is something I have some strong feelings on.
Rob asked, “Who owns list validation?”. Rob goes on to point out that sometimes great lists never get acted upon. Sometimes a recruiter will point to a sourcer and ask if a list is validated, and to what level, cross-referenced, email, phone validation, etc.
Here is the real problem: Lists get stored and archived are simply structured wrong. Add validation fields to each record. It does not matter who owns validation, as long as the list is coded correctly and expectations of the list recipient are accurate.
I’ve had years of experience pioneering this research at Broadlook Technologies. We look at validation from a statistical perspective. For example, our Profiler product SCORES all contact data.
Scoring of data allows the human using the data to make decisions with respect to where to put their efforts.
What are the source dates of the web pages someone was pulled from? Was the person cross-referenced on multiple sites? If a resume, what is the date? Does the date on one resume board match the date on another? Are you saving both dates? What type of page was the information taken from?
What this makes me think about is that maybe Broadlook should break-out the logic inside the Profiler, enhance it, and create a product that simply scores list data. Why? All data is not equal. After scoring data, a recruiter would have much more insight as to where they should put their efforts first.
I would like to hear from people on this one?? Implications in the recruiting business but definitely wider appeal in general B-B sales.
Example: What is the likelihood of someone from New York, NY moving to Boston vs. Milwaukee? That affects the score. What is the ability of the recruiter getting the list to build rapport with a technical candidate? That affects the score. What is the track record of the Internal recruitment staff to actually recruit these candidates vs. an outside agency? (Would be interesting to test this). Agency recruiters tend to be better, that is why they make the big bucks. It may be the first step building an ROI study that corporations should be doing the sourcing and getting the short list to a few select recruiters to work the magic.
Axiom: Regardless of all other variables, all records in a list should have a score
Axiom: Validation level within a list should persist and be updated throughout the life of the list
Axiom: Lists should be scored differently based on the need.
Fun stuff. Thanks for making me think Rob. enjoyed the rant!
Proving ROI is what will empower one of my clients at Broadlook to sign up for year #2, 3, etc. Without good metrics, corporate budgets won’t open up year after year. To help my clients track ROI, I’ve put together some concepts over the years to help examine the pipeline of sourced data.
Without a perfect record of all hires, measured against years past, ROI is hard to prove in a single year. Don’t get me wrong, some companies do this very well; however, they are the exception. In most cases, metric must be applied to the pipeline of data and the quality therein. (For recruiters, data=candidates, for sales reps, data=leads)
How do you measure a list? How important is it to keep a particular list updated? What is the frequency that a list should be updated? When is a list too old? What resources should you apply towards building a list? When is it cheaper to outsource the creation of a list vs. build it yourself? Do you want to create a one-time list OR do you need to have a documented, systemic process for keeping a list updated?
What I want to present here today is a concept I call List Metrics. Instead of boring you with numbers and formulas, I am going to share, at a 10,000 ft view of how I think about lists and data.
To determine the value of a list and the resources that should be applied to creating a list, I teach my clients to create a scoring system. One score for an existing list, another score for the importance of creating a list.
Yes, a list can have a score. A list score is determined by 2 factors: Data Quality and Competitive Advantage. Data quality is a combination of Accuracy + Timeliness. Competitive Advantage is weighted by the degree of targeting and Exclusivity.
Some thoughts on the 4 measures of a list:
Accuracy: Does your list give you dead people?
Is the list static or does it exist within a data-driven website? (1995-2002 static, 2003-2008 data driven)
Is it someone’s passion? (i.e., top 100 rutabaga growers (Typically high quality, timely, comprehensive))
Was any verification process used?
Is the list mandated via state or federal? (Registered Professionals, Banks & Credit Unions, Hospitals, SEC filings)
Timeliness: How often is the list updated?
By the minute (Federal contract opportunities) www.gsa.gov, www.ebay.com
Hourly (Job Boards, Social Networking Sites) www.monster.com, www.linkedIN.com
Daily (Find an agent pages, Associations) www.prudential.com, www.mbag.org
Is it categorized by a outdated concepts such as SIC codes or general industry classifications?
Does it serve a niche market? (List of Microsoft CRM resellers)
Exclusive: Who else has YOUR list?
Was the list made for profit? Is it for sale?
A custom created list is always far superior then renting a list from a source that will sell it to anyone who coughs up the $$
Does your #1 competitor have access to the same data as you? Every single online database falls into this category, Zoominfo, Spoke, etc. It does not matter how large a database is if everyone has access to the same tiny fish bowl.
How many times was your list sold?
Are the same people from the same companies being called over and over?
Developing a scoring system:
Every niche in recruitment or lead generation will have varing degrees of importance. In one business, fresh data may be more important, in another…lets say in a comodotized market, it may be exclusivity. Determine which of the 4 factors are most important to you. Next, using a 5 point scale, plot the “score” of your list by placing it on a Gartner magic quadrant.
For recruiters, the most valuable list would be one that (1) exclusive and (2) fresh data. Typically, this type of list is created on demand based on a current need.
YOU CAN’T BUY A LIST LIKE THIS.
You can commission one to be created from a great name sourcer like Maureen Sharib. This type of custom list has high value. I am surprised more recruiters don’t use name sourcers and research for hire.
FISH BOWL DATABASES
As more “online” databases proliferate, more and more people will be fishing in the same fish bowl of overused candiates and sales prospects. Why fish from a fish bowl when you can go directly to the ocean? If everyone has access to the same fish bowl, it doesn’t matter how big it is. We all know what happens when a fish bowl gets too populated…
THE GROWING TREND OF NAME SOURCING
The demand will continue to grow in the next few years for researchers and name sourcers. Recruiting and sourcing are diverging into separate entities. I am excited that Broadlook is announcing our Broadlook Remote Research program early next week. We’ve had it running in stealth for about four months now. Combine a fully trained researcher in concert with an entire suite of Broadlook tools. Put them to work for either 16, 20 or 40 hours per week. Instant staff augmentation. We’ve had overwhelming success. Fun stuff.
Thank you to all the clients that piloted the program with us and help us work out the kinks.
I’ve seen several speakers recently comment on the fact that it is coming to a world where everyone has access to ALL the contact data. The concept was furthered in saying that since everyone will have all the data, the playing field will be leveled as everyone will have total access, ergo, it will come down to the ability to network as the sole determiner of success.
The second part of this concept, (ability to network) has always has been dead on. A poor salesperson or recruiter will not do well even if given a great list. A great networker can do wonders starting with one point of contact.
However, the idea about everyone having access to ALL the data… This is a pipe dream of the uninformed. It may be a great material to pontificate on, but it is pure fiction. The science and trends behind information and going the opposite direction. I don’t know where this concept was started, but it’s taken off with all the indications of mob mentality (great conviction, but little facts to back it up).
Some facts:
The Internet and information in general is growing faster than our ability to index it.
Corporations are starting to silo their own data, vs. use public databases. These are closed systems that are not being shared and the are diverging like mammals and marsupials.
A UC Berkeley study from 2007 details that search engines like Google index less than 1% of the Internet. (when I find this link, I’ll post it..too late right now)
Who are these people that have access to ALL the information? Methinks it’s the great Oz.
1984 is not here yet. Good networking starts with your own unique knowledge of where to start your research. Dig in and roll up the sleaves. Being given a great database does not make you a great recruiter, being able to create a great database makes you a great recruiter.
I have been ask to write more and more about the company I founded, Broadlook Technologies in this blog. I do mention Broadlook quite often in my postings, I can’t help it, it is a big piece of my day and it’s a source of daily inspiration. However, the mission of my blog was to touch on many topics, therefore I would like to announce a place where I will be gratuitouslypromoting all things Broadlook: The Official Broadlook Blog. I, Donato will remain what it was meant to be. A safety valve for an overactive mind.
For recruiting animal, I am doing this for you…here is a repost of the first Official Broadlook Blog article. I plagiarized it from myself and I challenge you to a donut eating contest or oreo cookies or whatever you are calling me these days. Peace. Donato
March 6th, 2008, By Donato Diorio, Reprinted without permission.
The Broadlook Technologies logo has meaning. For the 5 of us that started in a single 400 sq ft office, it has a special place with us. When it was time to create the image/logo/icon that would come to be our stamp to the outside world, we stopped everything for 2 full days. No sales, no development, no marketing. It was white boards and debate; define our mark or die trying.
Here is how it came to be.
The original vision behind the company was building products that were the right mix between automation and human interaction. We wanted to create a company logo that somehow communicated that concept. One of the ideas tossed around was 2 hands, one machine and one human…intertwined. Neither myself (Donato) Igor, Kevin or Dan (working remote from Portland) were artists of any sort, however, Andy had experience with some photoshop so he was elected to sit at the computer while the rest of us tested his design skills. The machine-human hand thing was too complicated; it did not scale down to logo size image. A bunch of ideas were tossed around when I suggested doing something with carbon, denoting human and silicon for meaning the machine. We then started working with the atomic numbers of carbon (6) and silicon (14). We tried to create a large “B” using a series of dots for our logo. 14 Dots were the background, 6 formed the B. I remember showing the first iteration to Dan, our first sales rep working remote out of Portland, OR.
“What in the hell is that?”, said Dan. “It looks like one of those darn eye tests they give blind people” (Dan’s comments are famous around Broadlook and often repeated years later, we all knew he meant color-blind).
We couldn’t find any of the “B” logos in the company archives (trust me, it was horrid).
Back to the drawing board we went.
Kevin had a brainstorm. Why not use the ratio of carbon to silicon? It was one of those ideas the didn’t need any discussion. Rare for our meetings. So we went back to the dots. here are the iterations.
Eventually a voice of reason spoke up and suggested we move away from the dots and go towards solids. I’m guessing it was Igor and the Broadlook logo was born. Here is the first iteration that we still use today.
The blue and the charcole are the proportions of 6:14; carbon to silicon. If I can find it, we even have a math equation that defines the graphic (I’ll find it and post it to this article later).
The most important thing that I learned when looking back at the experience is the team effort required. My contribution was the spark, but without the operational know-how, the out-of the box thinking, the strong logic and the feedback from the outside, we wouldn’t have our logo. To the outsider, it is a box with a slash through it. To us, it was the genesis that grew into the company we are today. The world leader in Internet research technology.
What is a good vertical market to recruit in? I get asked this question every week.
However, most often the question is more a question of what I “feel” would be a good market to start a new desk specialty in.
“Donato, what do you feel a good new desk specialty would be?”
I say. “I feel like a great market would be placing sales reps in software companies that do real time data mining of contact information.”
They respond, “but Donato, Broadlook is the only company I know that does this kind of thing.”
“That’s right”, I say. “..and I don’t pay fees” <grin>
About this time they realize I am having fun at their expense and I chime in. “You asked me what I feel, not what I think.”
Most recruiters don’t think it through thoroughly when starting a new desk. Lets face it, thinking is hard. A day of designing software wipes me out more than a triathlon (ok I’ve only done one). It’s not their fault. This is how they were taught. Or I should say, this is how they learned. They watch someone who was a big biller and tried to do what they heard.
When discussing the creation of a new desk, I hear about a good deal about reading everything from an industry, articles, journals, etc. Wake up, this type of activity is about learning about the industry, not if the niche will support a desk. If I am going to trust my livelihood to one vertical or another, forget the gut, give me data.
“Hey Donato, are you telling me to ignore my gut instinct?”
NO
The role of the “gut instinct” in this whole process should precede the data gathering. The gut should lead you to the top several candidates and then you then expose to the scientific method. The gut gets excited while reading and learning. Don’t let it get carried away.
The gut is the emotion, the wind. Let the data be the rudder and the sail.
To start a new desk, I would prefer solid facts about a potential specialty, such as:
How many open jobs, by state and nationally? (size of universe)
How many recruiters specialize in the niche? (competition)
What are the average fees paid to recruiters? (compensation)
What resources can I use to build a candidate pool? (sourcing)
What resources can I use to win business? (marketing)
Will I enjoy working this desk specialty? (mental health)
Can I own the space, can I brand this space as mine? (branding)
Once you do decide on a new desk specialty, based on the data, the first thing to do is think about branding yourself. I’ll focus on the other questions in my next few blogs. A great example of branding is Harry Joiner and his site MarketingHeadhunter.com
How easy is it to brand yourself? Two areas that I know are hot are Physical Therapists and Nanotechnology. Very different, but both very hot. So I went out to GoDaddy.com and checked the following web sites:
The first Physical Therapist Recruiter to purchase the Broadlook Suite, you can have that site for free. (I have no passion for that desk). New clients only.
Don’t ask for nanotechnologyrecruiter.com. Nanotech excites me. It’s mine.
I am behind the times. Kicking back tonight I caught the Apple TV commercial that you can now access facebook with the iPhone. My facebook profile needs updating. I do love my iPhone, so I jumped on and learned that AmyBeth Hale was having coffee with her bro and that her space heater was on the blink. Not the information I was looking for, but, the ease of accessing it made me think (I am a fan of AmyBeth, so don’t say any different).
The biggest explosion of the social networks will be when voice recognition nears 100%. Yes, everyone types, but we are just putting up with it because we don’t have something better. Think. Microsoft software is now in cars. It does voice recognition. Microsoft invested in facebook. Soon we will be seeing in AmyBeth’s profile that she just took a left turn on the drive over to the next SourceCon event. AmyBeth won’t have to type it in. It will all be controlled by a set of preferences. If she does not want the world to know her whereabouts, that option gets turned off. Technology converges and then excelerates. The key elements are (1) Superior/intelligent input devices and (2) rules to determine what to do with the input. We will see it.
Back to the stream of thought: Ease of access to information. Back on facebook. Political commercial on TV. Check out how the candidates are doing. Search on each candidate. Stats found:
In race John McCain 59,902 facebook supporters Hillary Clinton 113,248 facebook supporters Barack Obama 515,332 facebook supporters
Mike Huckabee - not on first page of results for “Mike Huckabee”
Not in race, but worth mentioning Ron Paul 84,145 facebook supporters John Edwards 32,630 facebook supporters
Wow. The Internet cannot, will not be ignored in this election. Ignore it or don’t leverage it is political death. It will be interesting how the numbers affect momentum and final results. Businesses and consultancies will be built on the analysis of this information and how it affects the real world. Keep in mind that this is the presidential election and we are seeing it many months in advance. Closer to election day we will start to see the congressional candidates more visible as well. They are there now, we just don’t see “facebook groups” for state and local elections popping up. We will.
On the other hand Ron Paul is doing better on facebook than John McCain, but he is out of the race. Interesting variables. Where is the buzz to influence ratio? Ron Paul, buzz, McCain has the support of the voters. I take no sides here, I just find it interesting. I’m curious.
This data can and will be data mined. What will be done with this information once it is stored? What information do you add to the social network? Who will cross reference this data with national cell phone databases? Who will I be getting calls from on my cell phone come November?
Has anyone thought of a version of the do-not-call-list for data stored on social networks? One repository with permissions for usage of data. Google has their Open Social system for working with many social networks. Maybe someone can leverage it.
Never know where a blog is going until I’m done. Meeting with my adopt-a-blogger Dan Hughes in the early am. Should I spend time posting my appt on facebook or find a facebook appointment interceptor widget? I vote widget.
Entries (RSS)