Hi there. I’m Ross Statham, the Managing Director of Dogwood- that’s my ugly mug on the right, shooting a video for our YouTube channel last year. I sent you here to this “hidden page” on our main website that we created, because I saw several things in your resume that piqued my interest. I saw solid business skills, people skills and sales skills, and I saw a track record of success. I wanted to save you some time by sharing information about us and the position while trying to answer many of of your questions prior to any discussions we may have via Zoom (should we both decide to move forward.) Or perhaps you may read this and decide it’s not for you. That’s ok too.
You applied for a full desk (both sales and recruiting) role that is straight commission. There is no salary. In this full desk role, you would be working to find clients with hiring needs while then doing the recruiting needed to find highly qualified candidates to fully satisfy their needs. If you don’t have the experience, we’ll train you on the recruiting aspect and the tools will be provided by us. Should you take on enough solid clients that you need more recruiting support than you can handle, we’ll provide that as well. Our goal is to help you build a solid, dependable and sustainable book of business in an efficient manner, one that will grow quarter-on-quarter, year-on-year.
We pay an excellent commission of the profits for positions you source and fill (50%), and ours is a VERY profitable business. You’d be reporting to me should we both decide to do this.
You would be recruiting and placing white-collar “direct hire” or outsourcing placement candidates, usually into mid-sized companies into a vertical market (what we call a “micro niche”) which you and I would identify and discuss. You’d be connecting with hiring managers as well as candidates. Also recognize that we’re not going to hand you a client list, although we’ll work with you to develop your own prospecting lists for you to work as well as provide you access to some great artificial intelligence tools at our expense. It’s a model that works very well- we’ve been using it for many years to excellent results. But it’s not for everyone. It takes a lot of time, smart work and best practices coaching and training to get started, but once you’re rolling– you’re rolling.
This is a virtual position. You will need to be able to supply your own workspace, internet connection, telephone and computer. Should you join the team, we’ll fully support you, give you a Dogwood email address, provide full back office function and some very useful tools via our own internally-developed toolkit. The good news is that we have a plan for success, we have great tools, and we provide significant coaching by myself, by Jeff Bowler (our EVP of Recruiting) as well as an experienced industry-leading coach named Terry McNabb. Those who follow our processes, tools and my, Jeff and Terry’s one-on-one coaching and processes are almost always successful.
Make sure you have the maturity, determination, drive and especially the STAMINA to be able to take on this kind of role. We manage tools, training and processes– not people. (You should be fully capable of managing your own time, or you would not have accomplished what you have to this point in your career.)
For example, you’re not going to have a manager (me) breathing down your neck- but you will get a leadership team that will fully support your efforts, and when needed, back you up with additional resources– and a well-known brand. We take good care of our folks and have a reputation for excellence. What makes us special? We know how to build winning teams and to take care of our people without playing games. I worked in corporate America for many years before starting Dogwood and am a US Army veteran from long ago; we started doing this in 2001. I’d encourage you to review our “testimonials” page on our site. We’re straight shooters, and we have a reputation for treating our team members and our clients fairly, honestly and with full transparency.
We have a team of over 15 people doing work for us under this model across the US. We support them fully, make sure they have the industry-leading databases and tools they need and we try not to micromanage! And did I mention that we’re a highly ethical and transparent firm?
Here’s our YouTube channel with some videos we’ve developed for clients and candidates. Perhaps it and the other pages on this site will give you some ideas about who we are, what we do and how we do it every day.
If you want to move this forward, let’s take the next step and chat via Zoom. Here’s a link to my calendar; it allows you to check my availability, and saves lots of back and forth emails and will automatically set up a Zoom call. You should be able to set something pretty easily. If not, email me back and we will do it manually. My cell is 770-329-5400; I’m on central time.
If you email me, please provide your cell phone number and best email address within the body of the email, and reference your local time zone. You’re also encouraged to send with your email above a clean copy of your resume (that is always helpful!), rather than continue having to “relay” thru Indeed. A fresh copy of your resume is also appreciated.
All the best,
Ross Statham, Managing Director