Fees
Search Support Expenses
Travel Expenses

Fees

We work on a client-retained basis only. We base our fees on the nature and difficulty of the search, including such factors as level of the position, competitiveness of the compensation package, difficulty of identifying and attracting prospects, expected impact on the client's business, time and effort required of our consultants, plus other factors unique to each assignment.

The average fee is about one-third of the annual cash compensation of the executive hired. Once agreed upon, the fee is fixed. No additional fee is due should the offered compensation be higher than the original target. We reserve the right to discuss additional fees if the search specifications change substantially from those originally agreed upon, or if the search becomes protracted for reasons beyond our control.

The Fee Is Billed In Four Installments Tied To Performance Milestones

The First fee installment is billed at the outset of the engagement and is payable when we have developed a mutually agreed upon Recruitment Profile for the project (normally completed within the first or second week).

We bill the Second fee installment when we present a detailed Research Report. (This normally occurs within three to six weeks of the beginning of the search.)

We bill the Third fee installment when we have presented written reports on an Initial Panel (typically three to five) of qualified candidates. (This normally occurs within two to four weeks of the second fee billing.) We continue to recruit and introduce additional candidates until the search is completed.

The Fourth fee installment is billed when a Candidate is hired or 60 days after the third fee installment, whichever occurs first.

If a candidate is hired before the second or third fee installments have been billed, the remaining portion of the fee will be billed immediately. If the search is canceled, we bill a prorated portion of the next fee installment that would normally have been billed, based on a thirty day period from the date of the most recent fee installment.

Search Support Expenses

We believe it is more equitable to bill actual expenses required to support each search than to allocate expenses using an overhead formula. Expenses billed to each client are the actual costs associated with our work for that client. Search support expenses include telephone, on-line services, data entry, typing, postage, messenger services, copying and entertainment. Search support expenses typically range from 5-15% of the fee, depending on the level, nature and difficulty of the assignment. An expense estimate that will not be exceeded without prior approval is provided at the beginning of each engagement. We do not apply administrative surcharges or undocumented administrative fees. With regard to expenses, our books are totally open to our clients.


Travel Expenses

We also bill for consultant and candidate travel. Travel is a vital component of executive search, as there is no substitute for personal contact in assessing a candidate's total qualifications and fit with our client's requirements. Although we can accomplish a great deal by telephone, and despite the promise of video-conferencing and other new technologies, the best prospects typically become candidates only after a face-to-face meeting. Carrying our client's message to these individuals, who are usually not looking for a job, is one of the primary values of executive search. We normally reimburse candidates directly for travel expenses and then bill these costs to our client.