Introduction and Background
- Speaker has scaled four businesses and hundreds of others using other people's skills.
- Emphasizes the importance of the 'who,' 'what,' and 'how' in scaling a company.
- Acquisition.com recruits talent (who), provides knowledge (what), and teaches implementation (how).
- Speaker's personal success includes building, scaling, and selling three businesses across different industries.
- Speaker's portfolio currently generates about $200 million in revenue annually.
"Independent of industry, entrepreneurs typically lack the who, the what, and the how to scale those are the three things that you need to scale your company."
- Entrepreneurs often struggle with scaling due to a lack of resources and knowledge.
- Acquisition.com focuses on addressing these gaps by providing the necessary talent, information, and implementation strategies.
Early Business Challenges
- Speaker and partner started a company called Gym Launch, initially doing Facebook ads and direct sales for gyms.
- They experienced high transactional sales but faced exhaustion and financial instability.
- Hiring six salespeople was a pivotal moment, despite initial pains and near bankruptcy.
"We were broke, we had no money, and we started to gain a little bit of success."
- The speaker emphasizes the struggle and financial hardship in the early stages of their business.
- Success began to manifest gradually, highlighting the importance of perseverance.
Transition to Licensing Model
- Gym Launch switched from a service model to a licensing model due to scalability issues.
- Licensing allowed gyms to implement the strategies themselves, leading to more sustainable growth.
"We switched to the licensing which was basically we'll teach people how to do what we were doing."
- The shift to a licensing model represents a strategic pivot to overcome growth limitations.
- This move allowed for scalability and reduced the direct involvement required from the founders.
Realization of Talent Acquisition Importance
- The speaker identified that the sales team's capacity limitations hindered growth, not marketing or client acquisition.
- A mentor introduced the concept of a talent acquisition funnel, equating it to client acquisition.
"The reason that we couldn't scale was not due to lack of client acquisition, it was actually due to lack of talent acquisition."
- Recognizing the significance of talent acquisition was a key turning point for the business.
- The speaker learned that scaling a business involves not just attracting clients but also continuously recruiting talent.
Talent Acquisition Funnel
- The talent acquisition funnel includes application generation, nurture, and interviewing.
- Equating talent acquisition to client acquisition simplifies the process for entrepreneurs.
"Talent acquisition if you think about a lead you can think about application generation if you think about lead nurture you can think about application nurture and if you think about sales you can replace that with interviewing."
- The speaker draws parallels between client acquisition and talent acquisition, providing a framework for entrepreneurs to understand and implement.
Scaling Revenue with Talent Acquisition
- Implementing the talent acquisition funnel allowed the business to scale from $400,000 to $4 million per month.
- The sales funnel remained unchanged; the addition of the talent acquisition funnel facilitated growth.
"As soon as we paired Talent acquisition with client acquisition that is when you're able to scale from four hundred thousand dollars a month to four million per month."
- The quote highlights the impact of talent acquisition on scaling revenue.
- It emphasizes that the existing sales processes were effective, but the addition of a systematic approach to recruiting was the catalyst for exponential growth.
The Role of Leadership in Scaling
- Leaders should focus on building a team to facilitate business growth.
- The speaker uses the analogy of winning the Super Bowl, emphasizing the need for a diverse and skilled team.
"Your number one job as a leader is to find the people to help you build your business."
- This quote underscores the importance of delegation and team-building in leadership.
- It suggests that the entrepreneur's role is not to do everything but to find and manage those who can.
Value Acceleration Method (VAM)
- The VAM is a proprietary process used at acquisition.com to scale businesses.
- The method focuses on the 'who,' 'what,' and 'how,' but the speaker only discusses 'The Who' due to time constraints.
"To get repeatable outcomes we use a repeatable process at acquisition.com we call this the value acceleration method, the VAM."
- The quote introduces the VAM as a systematic approach to scaling businesses.
- It implies that having a structured method is key to achieving consistent growth.
Applicant Generation in Talent Acquisition
- Marketing skills used for customer acquisition are transferable to talent acquisition.
- Job titles and ads should be crafted with the same attention as marketing campaigns.
"If you can market and find customers then you can market and recruit Talent it is literally the same skill set."
- The speaker equates the process of marketing for customers to the process of recruiting talent.
- The quote suggests that entrepreneurs already possess the necessary skills for effective talent acquisition.
Understanding and Targeting the Audience
- Be specific when communicating job titles and roles to attract the right candidates.
- Avoid using insider language or terms unfamiliar to the broader audience.
- Utilize clear and direct language to ensure the job description is easily understood.
- Cut unnecessary words to maintain conciseness in job ads.
"You have to be incredibly specific; there are so many jobs that you really have to understand and target who you're talking to."
This quote emphasizes the importance of specificity in job postings to attract suitable candidates.
"You want to spell it out because a lot of people use abbreviations...if you use any abbreviations across a platform you're going to get down-regulated."
This quote highlights the negative impact of using abbreviations in job postings on various job platforms.
"You have to speak from a place of assuming nobody knows you and has any idea what your job is talking about."
This quote underlines the need to explain job roles as if the audience has no prior knowledge of them.
"You want to cut the fat and you want to make sure that you're not using excess terms and they're actually getting straight to the point."
This quote stresses the importance of conciseness and getting to the point in job descriptions.
Real-World Examples from Portfolio Companies
- An example where specificity in job title (i.e., "Senior Financial Analyst") led to a higher number of qualified applicants.
- The importance of not abbreviating job titles to ensure visibility on job platforms.
- A case where changing the job title from "Student Happiness Lead" to "Head of Customer Success" resulted in successful hiring.
- Avoid using terms like "Rockstar" or "Superstar" as they are now perceived negatively and can lead to downregulation on job platforms.
- Mentioning salary in the job title can lead to downregulation and should be avoided.
"The moment I'm not kidding you literally the next day he got 50 applications and out of 50 about 20 of them were qualified."
This quote shows the immediate positive impact of using a specific job title.
"Don't abbreviate senior customer success manager like abbreviating senior and manager again you're down-regulating yourself on all the platforms."
This quote warns against the use of abbreviations in job titles for better platform visibility.
"Nobody that is looking for a job is going to have any idea what the [__] a student happiness lead is."
This quote illustrates the confusion that can arise from using unconventional job titles.
"Don't use those kind of terms when you're recruiting for people."
This quote advises against using trendy but potentially off-putting terms in job listings.
Acquiring Talent Through Effective Distribution
- Relying solely on one's network for hiring can lead to a limited pool of candidates and potential compromises in quality.
- A diverse approach to talent acquisition, including cold reach outs, paid ads, content and following, recruiters, and team referrals, is recommended.
- Utilizing multiple methods allows for a wider selection of candidates and a better chance of finding the right fit.
"You want to make sure that you cast a wide net and create endless options."
This quote suggests using a variety of methods to ensure a broad pool of candidates.
"The reason that people don't have good teams is not because they don't necessarily know what good looks like, it's also because they don't have the options."
This quote explains that a lack of options can hinder the ability to build a strong team.
Applicant Nurture and Hiring Experience
- The hiring experience is crucial in a candidate's decision-making process.
- Speed in the hiring process is essential as top candidates are often off the market quickly.
- The hiring process includes both sorting through candidates and communicating effectively with them.
- Reading resumes thoroughly and looking for unmatched experience or lack of progression are key steps in sorting candidates.
- Avoid justifying red flags or inconsistencies in a candidate's job history.
"68% of candidates state that the hiring experience has the largest influence on whether or not they take the job."
This quote highlights the significance of the candidate's experience during the hiring process.
"Speed is king during this process."
This quote emphasizes the importance of a swift hiring process to secure top candidates.
"We read every resume thoroughly."
This quote explains the importance of diligence in reviewing candidate resumes for better hiring outcomes.
Hiring Philosophy and Recruitment Strategy
- Emphasize the importance of being selective in hiring to avoid the high cost of hiring the wrong person.
- The ideal candidate has relevant experience, growth in their role, longevity at jobs, and a focused line of work.
- Recruitment should be a "volume game" with a large number of applicants to choose from.
- The aim is to have hundreds, maybe even thousands of candidates for a role, depending on its nature.
"It took me five months just now to find my director of people but now she's perfect, she's the exact fit I need."
- This quote highlights the speaker's personal experience with taking time to find the right candidate, emphasizing the value of patience in the hiring process.
"For every 100 applications that I get, only two to three of them even get past the screening phase."
- The speaker provides statistics on their hiring process, illustrating the low percentage of candidates that move past initial screening and the necessity of having a large applicant pool.
Communication and Candidate Experience
- Effective communication with candidates is crucial; the assumption that candidates will navigate a complex hiring process on their own is flawed.
- There is a need to compete for talent in a market with diverse opportunities, not just against other employers.
- A positive candidate experience includes prompt follow-up, personalized messaging, and omnichannel communication strategies.
- Small businesses must work harder to follow up with potential talent due to the competition from larger corporations offering more benefits.
"If somebody doesn't have other options, I wouldn't hire them, probably means they suck."
- The speaker suggests that a lack of options for a candidate could indicate poor quality, reinforcing the need for a competitive hiring process.
"There's a candidate experience in your business and the candidate experience really is comprised of these four things: the first is speed... the second is volume... the third is personalizing your messaging... that brings me to omnichannel."
- The speaker outlines the four critical components of a successful candidate experience, emphasizing speed, the number of applicants, personalized communication, and using multiple platforms to reach candidates.
Case Study: Turnaround through Hiring
- The speaker presents a case study of a business in decline that experienced significant growth after filling five key roles using their hiring process.
- Emphasizes the relief and positive impact on the business owner once the right team was in place.
- The success of the business post-hiring demonstrates the effectiveness of the speaker's hiring strategy.
"Over the next six months, we kicked off the recruiting process for all those five roles... they are now at 12 million per month, 18 months later."
- The quote provides evidence of the business's growth after implementing the speaker's hiring process, highlighting the turnaround from a declining state to substantial monthly revenue.
Interview Process and Selling the Vision
- The interview process is likened to a sales process where the vision and impact of the role are sold to the candidate.
- Selling the company to the candidate is continuous and changes targets as the company grows.
- Common hiring mistakes include overestimating one's judgment of character, insufficient interview rounds, and not involving the team in the decision-making process.
- Robust interview processes are characteristic of top-performing companies, and a lack of information during hiring can lead to candidates rejecting job offers.
"Everyone thinks they're really good judge of character until they've got to hire somebody."
- This quote reflects on the common misconception of personal ability to assess character, which is often disproven in the hiring process.
"The top 26 percent of companies claim themselves to have world-class talent acquisition processes."
- The speaker cites research to support the claim that strong hiring processes are a hallmark of top-performing companies.
Mitigating Risk and Ensuring Quality Hires
- A five-step process is recommended for mitigating risk in hiring: screening, setting expectations and culture, conducting skill tests, and alignment interviews.
- The process is designed to ensure that candidates are a good fit for the company and possess the necessary skills for the role.
- The speaker advocates for addressing non-negotiables early in the interview process and involving multiple team members in hiring decisions.
"Would you ask a sales rep to book somebody on their calendar for an hour or 90 minutes without screening them? No, so then why would you book an interview without screening them?"
- This quote emphasizes the importance of pre-screening candidates before investing time in a formal interview, drawing a parallel to qualifying sales leads.
"Let's think of a problem that occurred last quarter with somebody that would have been this role would have solved. How would you solve that problem?"
- The speaker suggests using real-world problems to test candidates' skills, ensuring their ability to handle the challenges of the role.
Talent Acquisition and Interview Process
- Talent acquisition is essential for company growth.
- Implementing a structured interview process can lead to better hiring outcomes.
- A comprehensive interview process includes several stages: screening, culture fit, skill test, alignment, and CEO interviews.
- Each stage of the interview process has a specific purpose and objective.
- The process helps in doubling acceptance rates, reducing turnover by 50%, and increasing time to productivity by 100%.
"After implementing this process in my last company, we doubled our acceptance rate, had a 50% turnover reduction, and a 100% time to productivity increase."
- The quote highlights the tangible benefits of a structured interview process in improving hiring metrics.
Screening Interview
- The screening interview clarifies the role and expectations.
- It's important to ensure candidates have a clear understanding of the job and company.
- Candidates must align with the basic requirements of the role.
"The first thing I do when I get on the phone with anybody is... I'm like, 'I'm Layla from acquisition.com, here's my little backstory, here's what the role does every single time.'"
- The quote emphasizes the importance of a clear and consistent introduction to the role and company during the screening process.
Culture Fit Interview
- The culture fit interview assesses if a candidate's values align with the company's culture.
- Candidates are asked about their likes and dislikes in previous roles to gauge fit.
- An ideal candidate's work ethic and expectations should match the company's standards.
"What do you like the most and the least about their last few roles... what's your ideal day look like... you just want to make sure if somebody's not a culture fit."
- This quote underscores the need to understand a candidate's preferences and work style to ensure they are a good fit for the company's culture.
Skill Test Interview
- The skill test evaluates a candidate's ability to handle real problems they would face in the role.
- Presenting candidates with actual scenarios from the company's past challenges is a practical approach.
- The skill test predicts a candidate's potential performance in the job.
"What is this role doing, what are the problems that I had last quarter or in the last six months that if this person was there they would have been the one solving."
- The quote describes the rationale behind using real-life problems in skill tests to assess a candidate's problem-solving abilities.
Alignment Interview
- The alignment interview ensures the candidate's career goals align with the company's opportunities.
- Compensation preferences and work-from-home interpretations are discussed.
- Benefits and onboarding plans are reviewed.
"Understanding... what kind of compensation do people like... what's their interpretation of work from home... discussing benefits, going over the onboarding plan."
- The quote highlights the importance of discussing key aspects of the role and company that align with the candidate's expectations and preferences.
CEO Interview
- The CEO interview is for candidates in larger companies to meet with top leadership.
- It's an opportunity to share the company's vision and growth opportunities.
- The CEO interview can help candidates feel more connected to the company's goals.
"If you're big enough... there's a CEO interview which is meeting with essentially the key stakeholder."
- The quote indicates the CEO interview's role in making a candidate feel valued and informed about the company's direction.
Scripting and Objectives in Interviews
- Each interview stage should have a script and clear objectives.
- The right scripting helps to filter out unsuitable candidates and attract the right talent.
- A well-structured interview process parallels a well-choreographed sales process.
"You want to have a script and an objective for each interview... you push the wrong people out and you're going to pull the right people in."
- This quote stresses the importance of having a structured approach to interviews to effectively select the best candidates.
Talent Acquisition as a Business Funnel
- Talent acquisition is likened to a sales funnel for a business.
- Hiring the right people can solve many of the company's problems.
- Talent acquisition should be approached with the same rigor as client acquisition.
"Talent acquisition is really the missing funnel in your business and how pretty much every problem you have can be solved by finding the right person."
- The quote draws a parallel between talent acquisition and other critical business processes, emphasizing its importance for solving operational issues.
Case Study: Scaling a Niche Certification Company
- A niche certification company was stuck at $400,000 a month due to leadership constraints.
- Replacing the operator and recruiting a new leadership team led to a significant increase in revenue.
- The right team can have a more substantial impact than changing business strategies like sales funnels.
"We brought in an entire leadership team... and he scaled to 1.2 million a month within six months."
- This quote demonstrates the impact of effective leadership and team building on company growth.
Overcoming Resistance to Delegation and Control
- CEOs often struggle with delegating and relinquishing control.
- Fear of hiring the wrong person can prevent business growth.
- CEOs need to trust others to leverage their skills for the company's benefit.
"What if you let your fear prevent you from implementing this process and hiring smart people... the choice is yours, become a relevant mediocre or face fear and succeed."
- The quote challenges business leaders to overcome their fears and embrace the hiring process as a means to grow their businesses.