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What are the benefits of using a small
firm?
The more that a client understands the
search process, the clearer it becomes that it is not the
size of the firm but rather quality of search strategy, perseverance,
intelligence and sense of urgency that cause the search to
be successful. Size is irrelevant.
 Here
are a few factors that make the case for using a small search
firm:
Relationship-building over an extended
period of time with a client is counter to the strategy of
most large firms, where the emphasis is on generating revenue.
The best smaller search firms can and do take the time to
get to know their client companies thoroughly and develop
a "vendor mentality" where customer service is paramount.
Smaller firms work with fewer clients and tend to value those
clients and the relationships that develop with key personnel.
Quality of the professional staffs at
smaller firms is comparable to that found in the big firms.
Many consultants in quality smaller firms come from the large
firms where they were often the better performers. Most consultants
have impressive credentials and accomplishments regardless
of firm size. The consultants from smaller firms tend to be
more entrepreneurial and better able to react to a crisis
in the search process, whereas the average member of a big
firm tends to be more process driven, allowing the system
to respond to search problems.
Modern information technology and the
Internet now allows any technically sophisticated search firm
to retrieve data from public and proprietary databases with
the same, if not better, degree of success as the big firms.
Search firms hemmed in by large inflexible systems have no
advantage over the electronically nimble, whose data often
is better and more relevant.
Blockage is a major problem clients face
in dealing with a big firm. When a client is looking for a
senior, specialized executive, the universe can become very
narrow, very quickly. If a search firm is blocked from accessing
even a few targeted executives because a company is a client
of another of the firm's recruiters, it cannot deliver the
best executives to the client.
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