Intros through the recruiter who placed the buyer

When a company hires a new CIO, COO or CFO, someone usually ran the search. That recruiter spent months with the board and the CEO defining the role, then months more with the candidate.

They know what the new leader was hired to fix. And for the first year or so, the new leader takes their calls.

That makes the recruiter one of the warmest paths to a new executive. It's a path most services sellers never think to use.

What the recruiter knows

A good executive recruiter understands the mandate better than anyone outside the company. They heard the CEO describe what went wrong under the last leader. They heard the candidate describe what they'd do in the first 100 days.

They won't share any of that with you. Search firms guard client confidences closely, and they should. But they know whether your firm is the kind of help the new leader is likely to need.

And they have a reason to help. A recruiter whose placement succeeds looks good to the client. If your firm can help the new leader win early, you're helping the recruiter too.

Finding the recruiter

Sometimes it's public. The company press release names the search firm. The recruiter posts congratulations on LinkedIn. A trade publication mentions who ran the search.

Sometimes you have to ask around. Former colleagues who went through searches, board members you know, other executives at the company. The recruiting world is small, and most senior searches run through a few dozen firms.

The best case is a recruiter you already know. If you've hired through them, been placed by them or referred candidates to them, you're not a stranger asking for a favor.

The window is the first few months after the start date. That's when the new leader is forming their plan, meeting vendors and deciding who to keep. It's covered well in the first 90 days of a new CIO are your window.

Ask too early and the leader hasn't started. Ask after a year and the recruiter's tie has cooled, and the leader has already picked their partners.

The ask

Keep it short. Name the placement, say why you think your firm might be useful and give the recruiter a clean way to pass.

Say Elena, a partner at a search firm you've worked with, placed Jordan as COO of Fennimore Health, a regional health system. The release says Jordan is tasked with improving throughput across six hospitals.

You write to Elena. You congratulate her on the placement. You say your firm has done patient flow work at two health systems and might be worth a conversation once Jordan is settled. You ask whether she'd be comfortable forwarding a short note, and you say a no is completely fine.

Then the note itself.

Saw the Fennimore announcement naming you COO, with throughput across the six hospitals as the first priority. Coming in from outside, my guess is the hard part is that each site measures flow differently, so nobody agrees on the baseline. Is that accurate, or is the bigger issue something else?

Nothing in it depends on what Elena knows. Everything comes from the release.

What to offer back

Recruiters value two things. Strong candidates and new search clients.

If you know someone who'd be right for a search they're running, tell them. If a client of yours is about to hire a senior leader, mention the recruiter's name. If you hear a company is about to lose an executive, that's worth a quiet note too.

That's how the relationship stays two-way. A recruiter who gets good referrals from you will remember you when the next placement fits your work.

When to leave it alone

If the recruiter is still running the search, wait. Don't contact the candidate through them before an offer is signed. That puts the recruiter in a bad position with their client.

And if the new leader came in to cut outside spending, an intro through the recruiter can backfire. Read the release and the first few public statements before you ask. The when not to ask for an intro post covers more of these cases.

The point

The recruiter who placed a new executive knows the mandate and still has the leader's ear. Ask with care, rely only on public facts and give back in the currency recruiters value. For a related angle, see a connection just landed a buying seat.