How resilient is your recruitment business? What will you do the next time there’s a financial crisis, like we experienced in 2020?
In this interview, my guest Lauren Stiebing describes the experience of her pipeline evaporating in March 2020. She goes on to reveal how she used that setback as an opportunity to create new service offerings that complimented her core business. Best of all, the new Mentoring program she developed aligned with her passion for and commitment to championing gender diversity.
Could you recession-proof your recruitment business by creating multiple revenue streams? Listen-in to Lauren describing her process for researching the market, creating a “minimum viable product” and sales strategy leading to a very successful launch. She also shares how she uses “video sales letters” as part of her fresh and innovative approach towards marketing.
Episode Outline and Highlights
- [02:50] Behind the scenes of a podcast and overcoming nerves.
- [03:50] What happened at LS International in the last two years?
- [06:45] Don’t panic! Lauren’s key lessons learned during this period.
- [11:03] Had no searches to work on, so she used the downtime to develop a new service offering
- [12:22] How the need for female talent in leadership roles led to a new venture
- [16:04] Find out how creating an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) can prevent paralysis by analysis to stop you from proceeding on a new venture
- [20:03] Lauren shares why they are not planning to grow the mentoring business too quickly
- [22:50] There is value in taking a step back from your network and seeing with whom you can partner for future ventures
- [24:30] What did the marketing process look like and how did Lauren include selling through teaching?
- [25:57] What is a “video sales letter” and why should you create one?
- [31:33] What is the value of a landing page?
- [36:50] Change required that Lauren steps out of her comfort zone, what did she learn from this?
- [40:00] How to use podcasts to your advantage to build trust with your audience
- [42:45] Can you hire less experienced recruiters and develop them successfully?
Female Mentorship – Answering a Need In the Market
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Lauren suddenly had no searches to work on. She was coming off a record year and had money in the bank, so at first she didn’t panic. But as the months went by without any signs of improvement, she realized she had to try something new.
“Always analyzing the market, analyzing what is happening and when you see a gap or a need, to really create a minimal viable product and see how the client reacts,” is how Lauren describes her process for developing a new service offering.
What Lauren realized is that there was a need for mentorship for female executives. Her clients often struggled to recruit female talent into leadership roles. So rather than recruiting outside talent, companies should invest to develop and advance their own female employees so they could promote them internally.
This is how LS Elevate, Lauren’s mentorship program came into existence. Her initial goal was to sell 10 mentorships programs in the first year. However, the sales and marketing campaign exceeded her expectations and she ended up selling 27 – more than double her original target. Now, in the second year of the program, she is ready to expand but is cautious about growing too quickly. She would rather enjoy sustainable, long-term growth instead of over-extend herself. Especially since her search business has picked up again.
Podcasts Are The Perfect Way to Present Yourself As An Authority
Lauren has published roughly 60 podcasts and states that these podcasts play a vital role to earn the trust of potential clients and candidates. When she already has a rapport with these people when they meet for the first time, it makes discussions and negotiations so much easier.
Lauren is also committed to constantly trying out new and different marketing ideas to see what delivers the best results. One of her most effective marketing strategies are “video sales letters.” In this interview, she shares all you need to know to create your first video sales letter.
Plans for Growth and Hiring for Attitude Over Experience
Lauren is growing her team once again and I asked what she looks for in a potential hire. She believes that “learning, agility, and curiosity are what is going to make someone successful.” comes Lauren’s words infused by her own experiences and the many mistakes she made as a young recruiter. Lauren is highly committed to the learning and development of her team and wishes for them to step outside of their comfort zones and to explore wider horizons on the constant journey of self-improvement.
Our Sponsors
This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro®.
i-intro® is an end-to-end retained recruitment platform. Our technology and methodology allows recruiters to differentiate themselves from the competition, win more retained business, bigger fees and increase their billings. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter for a 25% discount. Book your free, no-obligation consultation here: www.recruitmentcoach.com/retained
Lauren Stiebing Bio and Contact Info
Lauren is a small-town girl with big dreams. She has a degree in International Studies from Louisiana State University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her passion for head-hunting, top-notch networking abilities and being a skilled judge of people made her an experienced head-hunter. She is the founder of LS International, persevering, hard-working, resilient and has high personal standards.
She is dedicated to the success of every client and candidate with a burning ambition to transform executive search. Lauren specializes in finding the best people for Sales, Marketing, and General Management positions in the consumer goods industry across the USA, Europe, Middle East and Asia. Her relationships with candidates and clients give her a broad and deep knowledge of markets and people. Both clients and candidates acknowledge that they love working with her because of her unique ability to craft solutions that balance client needs with candidate interests. Extensive international travel allows Lauren to pursue her hobbies of collecting currency and attending electronic music events.
- Lauren on LinkedIn
- LS International on Twitter
- LS International website link
- LS International Podcast
People and Resources Mentioned
- Larry Weinberg on LinkedIn
- LS International Blog Article – How to Increase Female Promotability by 66%
- LS International Careers
Connect with Mark Whitby
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- Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby
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- Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach
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