The Buzz: Leveraging Word-of-Mouth in Search

In an age where we don't believe the ads we hear and can't keep up with our email, texting, voicemail and webinars . . . word-of-mouth  offers one of the most effective ways of being heard.  The Anatomy of Buzz, a book by Emanuel Rosen, has tremendous implications in the world of executive search.  Candidates get hired (or not) based on their buzz --  on whether colleagues think they're "hot" (in a business sense, not in the Paris Hilton sense of the word). 

Nowhere is the importance of buzz more apparent than in the world of recruiting for venture capital portfolio companies.  The moment a search firm presents a candidate, the VCs check their extensive, highly connected personal networks. If the answer comes back "no information" or worse, if it comes back "loser", that candidates will not move forward.

So now, let's look at search from the search consultant or recruiter's side.  As the shortage of talent grows, it becomes imperative that opportunities be interesting in a good way and that our companies stand out as employers-of-choice.  They need to be "buzz worthy" so that one candidate tells another and within the space of a few days, the social networks in your industry are fired up and buzzing about how cool it would be to come to work for you. 

If fact, buzz is critical in the world of executive search, where candidates conduct due diligence to evaluate their opportunities in much the way VCs evaluate their investments.  If VIPs are interested and involved, that creates buzz. If a company is backed by the right investors, that creates buzz. If a company has developed a hot product its about to introduce to the world and word has leaked out, all the better.

So instead of treating every contact or call as the same as you go through your list of "To Do's", think about how best to leverage those that are super-connected in your network, those most likely to spread the news and to fire up the buzz on your network. How do you know if someone in your circle of friends and colleagues is a super-connector? You don't have to go to them: typcially, they come to you. Chances have already contacted you, hungry for information. Next time that happens, instead of getting irritated at the interruption, stop and consider the opportunity and share your most buzz-worthy news.  And then sit back and watch the buzz begin.