Scott Brownholtz’s back-to-back $1MM years
January 8, 2019
Charlottesville, Virginia
“Get up. Do the same thing. Hit your numbers. Live and die by your numbers.” As of today, Scott Brownholtz billed $1,045,637 in 2019. In 2018 he billed $1,003,131.
In recruiting, crossing the million-dollar mark is like winning the Super Bowl. Scott has four rings.
Yet Scott is a solo-recruiter who works out of his home office. He performs all of his own business development, does all his own sourcing, and recruits all of his own candidates. He doesn’t even have an office administrator to answer the phone. (As long as I’ve known the guy, I’ve yet to figure out who the associates are in Brownholtz & Associates.) In 2015, I interviewed Scott and he shared the keys to his success (if you'd like a PDF of the 2015 interview, just hit reply and let me know). We caught up to discuss his recent back-to-back $1MM years and how he continues to consistently perform at an elite level. …. NS: After two huge years, what’s your next mountain to climb? Tom Brady has six super bowl wins, for example, but you only have four. Are you aiming for two more? SB: Honestly, I don’t put a lot of thought into where I am for the year. $1MM is great, and I take note of my billings, but that’s not what drives me. I don’t go into the year with a goal to make a million bucks; I don’t look that far ahead because it’s not relevant. I take it one week at a time -- one Lock-On Report at a time -- and make sure I’m hitting my daily numbers & weekly numbers. My routine is paramount. That said, I do care about my quarterly billings goal of $100,000. That’s my minimum. After that, I’m not chasing, I’m just watching. The Lock-On is the single most important piece of accountability that I religiously focus on, and it focuses me on my activities. A lot of it is psychological. I know I’m on the clock, so I don’t slack. I know Nico is there behind the curtain like the Wizard of Oz, and I’m responsible for reporting consistent numbers. NS: What exactly are those consistent activity numbers you hold yourself to? SB: I make 5 connects by 8:00am [Pacific], 10 by 10, 15 by noon, and 30 by the end of the day. And they’re actual connects, as in real conversations. Now, it doesn’t always happen that way, and sometimes I exceed those numbers. But they’re what I live by. I get really uncomfortable when I’m not on the phone. As for other metrics, I aim for one poejo [presentation on existing job order] a day. I know my send out-to-placement ratio is about 8-to-1. So I make a placement every 11 days. NS: A mutual friend of ours, Rick Glass, would do two or three huge deals per year, like $200k+ placement fees. How do you feel about that? SB: Rick is awesome. But my fees are $32k-33k on average because I personally would rather hunt rabbits and coyotes than elephants. NS: A million bucks at $33k a pop is about 30 deals. How do you keep up with that? SB: I maintain that mental endurance is the greatest asset you can have in our role as recruiters. Cold calling, talking to strangers, the monotony of the work... After 23 years, I still lament it. I still find excuses not to do it. But I do it, anyway, because that’s the life I’ve chosen to live. NS: How have you seen your career and life develop over these past 23 years? SB: My career has broken down into three phases, and I think this applies to just about everyone. In the first phase, I was a rookie, just beginning. The mental narrative at that point sounded like, “Holy shit, I’ve got a lot on my plate. I’m married, I have kids, everything is chaotic and new.” But Karl & Beth Dinse - who brought me on at Management Recruiters of Sacramento when I first got started - handled me and nurtured me through it. I learned how to manage the chaos and work within it. In the second phase, there were no more babies in the house or changing diapers, but it morphed into raising the kids and coaching sports and carpools. I was established in my career, I knew what I was doing. The chaos started to abate. Now, in the third phase, I’m an empty-nester. I’m not coaching or dealing with rideshares. I love and miss my three sons, but without distraction, I’m having crazy fun in my work. It’s my passion. Recruiting is the hobby you love and get to make money doing. This is the most exciting phase. I’m fully matured as a recruiter and respected as a veteran in the market. Add that to the strong economy and hiring, and you’ve got the perfect storm. It’s a great time to be alive and a recruiter. NS: A lot of recruiters talk about how technology is both moving our industry forward and holding us back. How has it impacted your business? SB: Technology is only making it better for us. I remember DOS blue screens and fax machines. Now I’m setting up interviews via text before I get out of bed in the morning. I don’t bother leaving voicemails anymore, what’s the point? But there’s no excuse not to respond to a text. It’s a beautiful thing. You obviously can’t just start texting with someone, there does have to be a warm-up period. But candidates and clients alike prefer digital communication. As long as I get the send out, I don’t care how we arranged it. NS: What’s one bit of the Brownholtz secret sauce recipe you can share with us before we go? SB: If you are submitting a resume and waiting for the send out, you’re doing it all backwards. You should get a send out with your verbal presentation, and get the send out before sending the resume. The verbal poejo [presentation on existing job order] is intended to get the client interested enough in the candidate to meet. Then you can say something like, “May I thread you into an email with the candidate and include their resume?” --- My thanks again to Scott for giving us a peek into his awesome world. I'm proud that the Lock-On Report can support recruiters at any level of performance, from those struggling to make ends meet to the million dollar billers like Scott. If you're ready to take your next step forward, whatever that looks like for you, click here and schedule a call.
