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Deal-Wrecking Psychology · The Talent Trade

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  Hello and welcome to the talent trade.
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  I am Stephanie Maas, partner with Thinking Ahead, executive Search.
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  And today I wanna talk about some interesting psychology that often happens
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  after a candidate and a client have met for a final interview that if not
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  navigated carefully, can kill a deal.
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  It kills the deal because the recruiter, quite frankly, doesn't have the patience
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  and isn't willing to put their ego and their needs to the side for the
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  greater good and the greater good is that of the deal coming together, which
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  should always first and foremost, serve our clients, serve our candidates.
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  Once they're served, we get served.
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  So here's the interesting psychology, and this happened recently to a colleague of
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  mine and I really wanna shout out kudos to him for being willing to say, Hey,
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  am I thinking about this the right way?
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  Is my approach the right approach on this?
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  So let me set the stage.
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  So we had a client.
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  That we have been trying to fill some talent needs with, put a handful of
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  candidates in their process and they decided on the one person that they
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  wanted to bring to a final interview.
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  So we did all the work you do to prep for a final interview with the client.
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  We did all the work that we do to prep the candidate for his final interview,
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  and we let them go when we meet.
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  Here's where things got interesting on the backside of that final interview.
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  Now again, we know with final interviews, typically it's not where decisions are
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  made, it's where decisions are finalized.
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  So typically in an interview process, as someone is moving through the process.
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  By the time they get to a final interview, the candidate has probably
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  already decided that if the economics make sense, this is gonna be what
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  they do and they're gonna make a move.
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  Same with the client.
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  If they're bringing 'em into that final interview, they're probably
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  decided that, hey, if all goes well, we're gonna make an offer, or we feel
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  like the decision is, this would be a good person to have on the team.
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  So, knowing that the final interview.
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  There's usually just a reinforcement that, hey, we all think this is a match.
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  Go through some details and button some things up, et cetera.
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  When, however, sometimes a final interview happens, the client can often go in
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  and have a really good, strong meeting.
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  They get affirmed that this is the right person.
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  They wanna bring 'em on board.
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  The decision, again, evidence to support the decision, which
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  they probably already made.
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  And same with the candidate.
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  They go in, they have a good meeting, they were probably gonna take the job anyway.
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  They get affirmed.
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  Here's what can happen sometimes.
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  Now, I will be honest, this doesn't happen that often, but it
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  happens enough to talk about it.
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  There can be a weird psychology that happens after this final interview.
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  If the final interview goes super well.
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  Here's what the psychology is.
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  The client can sometimes walk away going, wow, that guy is ours.
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  He showed up.
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  He showed, well, basically said he wanted a job and he sold.
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  Then what the client has to do next is make an offer.
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  So we all know when you feel like you got something.
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  Sometimes it happens where we wanna see, okay, we know
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  they're sold on the opportunity.
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  We think they're gonna say yes, let's flow ball 'em.
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  Our hiring compensation range was one 40 to one 60.
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  I know the recruiter said they wanted 1 58, but eh, let's offer from one 40.
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  We think we got him.
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  He's ours.
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  I bet we can get him in a deal 'cause he's so sold on us.
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  Y at the same time, this can happen to candidates.
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  They can go in and the client.
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  Has their selling, she's on and does such a great job of selling them and convincing
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  them that they're sold on the candidate.
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  That the candidate who previously was willing to take an offer in
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  the one 40 to one 50 range suddenly says, yeah, I'm gonna need one 60.
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  Now.
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  Again, where we have to do our homework is making sure that
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  there wasn't any information.
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  Or new circumstances to change the interest of the candidate
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  or the client because sometimes.
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  Clients will low ball because they heard or saw something that now
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  deters them from the candidate.
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  And they'll often use a low ball offer as a polite way of saying, no thanks.
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  Same thing with candidates.
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  Hey, I'm gonna ask for the sun, moon, and the stars and compensation.
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  They're gonna say no, and that's gonna get me out of the deal
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  because something's changed.
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  I don't want it anymore.
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  This only applies when you've done a good job debriefing with a client,
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  debriefing with a candidate, and can confirm to the best of your ability
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  that this is truly, they absolutely want the talent and they're just
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  trying to see if they can get a deal.
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  Now, are most clients gonna jump out there and tell you, Hey, I just want a deal?
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  No, but they're gonna say things that, again, if you're a good enough
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  recruiter, you're gonna pick up.
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  Hmm.
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  I know we said originally we could go to one 60.
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  I've told you from the beginning the candidate wanted 1 58.
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  Help me understand what has changed that now we're thinking of offering
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  one 40 and when you really.
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  Listen, you can hear what they say or don't say, and if they really want the
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  candidate, but they're trying to get a deal, you'll be able to decipher that.
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  It often sounds something like, oh, no, no, no.
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  We, we definitely want John, we, we think he'd be a great fit here.
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  Just after our conversation, you know, we think, you know, at one
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  40 he'll be happy to come on board.
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  We think we can get him language like that.
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  Hesitation, like that.
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  Those are our ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
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  Yes, John is very excited about the opportunity and I think he
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  could really see himself being here with this organization.
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  However, I need to caution you, client, that part of John's excitement
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  came from the idea that we had already discussed compensation
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  being closer to the 1 58 number.
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  If we're gonna deviate away from that without a compelling reason, that could.
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  Impact his interest.
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  Simple as that.
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  Same thing on the candidate side.
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  If the candidate comes back and says, you know, Hey, I know I said
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  I'd take 1 58, but I, the magic number now is 1 65, or, yeah, I'm
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  not sure this is gonna work for me.
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  Okay.
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  Help me understand.
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  What did you learn in that final interview?
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  What in your circumstances has changed?
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  You just gotta dig in and really listen to the why and, and they can say all
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  kinds of things, but you gotta really hear, I mean, look, I know I'm your guy.
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  I know they want me.
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  I know I could add a lot of value.
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  It's best to negotiate on the front end.
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  Listen, listen, listen, hear, hear, hear, and then come back to and say, Hmm, John,
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  I appreciate where you're coming from.
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  Let me ask your help.
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  This is where we're gonna be.
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  A little challenged.
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  Yeah.
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  I spoke to the client, they are very high on you.
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  In fact, they think you would be a tremendous fit for the organization, part
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  of your candidacy and their interest.
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  Is you being closer to the 1 58 in compensation range?
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  If we go in and deviate too far away from that, they are gonna think either
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  you're not interested and you have to be bought, or you are no longer interested
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  in trying to price yourself out.
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  Help me with that.
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  And then listen.
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  And if they go, oh yeah, well I have decided it's one 70 or nothing.
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  And that's just the way it is.
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  Okay, well I, again, I'm your advocate.
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  I will represent you accordingly.
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  I just wanna be very transparent.
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  If they can't get to the one 70, I have your permission
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  to say we are not interested.
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  Again, none of this is manipulation.
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  None of it is even negotiating.
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  What it is doing it is helping us bring our clients and our candidates back to
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  a little bit of reality, and this is where the art of what we do comes in.
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  It's helping us put pride and ego and highly emotional topics like
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  compensation back to logic and reason.
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  Again, it just reminds everybody in a very kind way that, hey, you are
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  represented at a certain price tag.
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  That is part of what makes you attractive.
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  You represented this opportunity at a certain price tag, and that's part of
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  what makes this person super interested.
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  And if there's something that's changed, we need to delve into that.
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  But if it's suddenly you just think you can get them cheaper and that's
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  bad language, but you think you can get 'em for a deal or a steal.
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  That will impact their interest because their interest included this compensation.
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  It can be tricky.
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  These are very big, real grownup conversations to have with folks.
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  Again, typically it's in the midst of something that's highly
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  emotional, and where we can be really strong and add tremendous value is
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  deescalating the emotion, really helping our clients and our candidates.
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  Remember.
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  Promises that were made, representations that were made and that, hey, if you
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  really wanna do right by this person, we gotta do the right thing and changing
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  what we said we could do for no other reason than we think we can get a deal.
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  It's not good business.
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  It doesn't end up feeling good, and most of the time the candidate is
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  gonna say no and they're gonna walk away with a bad taste in their mouth.
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  Same thing on the candidate side.
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  Hey candidate, if you want me going in and asking for money, that's way
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  outside of what we talked about.
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  I'm happy to do it.
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  I appreciate the spirit of negotiation, however.
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  If they can't do it and we walk away, that's gonna leave the client with a
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  pretty bad taste in their mouth, knowing that you came to the final interview
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  under certain compensation understandings, and now we changed at the altar.
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  The other thing too is from the recruiter, we have to put our pride and ego to the
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  side because sometimes we wanna bow up both at the client and at the candidate.
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  At the candidate going, Hey man, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
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  No, no, no, no, no.
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  I told you from the beginning this was the comp.
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  Why are you changing your mind?
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  Nope.
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  We don't have to, we, we, we don't need to be that way.
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  Same thing with our clients.
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  I mean, I can be completely honest when I get a low ball offer from a client
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  and my clients know I adore them, I adore my candidates, but when they do
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  silly things like that, it is super hard for me not to lose patience.
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  But then that's making it about me.
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  And a good recruiter never makes it about me.
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  You take care of your clients, you take care of your candidates,
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  you'll always get taken care of.