At Rosenzweig & Company, we are beholden to our clients; not shareholders, lenders or anyone else. Quite simply: we focus on clients and their unique needs.We add value to each client’s business. We are more than an executive search firm. We are a strategic partner who can help your business grow.
Sometimes this unyielding customer focus means saying no to short term revenue gains because we believe the work will not create a “win-win” situation. The customer is not always right; and we are not afraid to say so when we believe there is a better option.
For example, a client came to us to find a “senior strategic executive”. In response to this inquiry, we asked a number of questions to help us more clearly understand the need. The more we delved into what the customer was looking for, the more we realized that this strategic person had to be their Chief Executive Officer. If their current Chief Executive Officer did not have those skills, then perhaps a difficult decision would have to be made from the point of view of leadership direction. For a business with less than $50 million in revenue, we advised the client that the kind of executive they wanted would not join their company unless the top leadership position was offered to them.
When our client first approached us on this, it was with the intention of retaining us unconditionally. We were in a position to be handed this mandate, and the substantial retainer fees that go with it, by not “pushing back” at the up front stage. But this approach would not have been consistent with our philosophy of only taking on work set up for mutual success between us and our clients. We hoped our client would see our position, and work with us to redesign a position specification more appropriate for their needs.
The client stuck to their position, and we did not take on this assignment. With our deep cross-functional and cross-sector experience, we firmly believed the company was making a mistake.
The client then went to a larger firm that is publicly traded and obliged to shareholders and share price. Several months later, the position had still not been filled.
At Rosenzweig & Company, we believe that it is best to sacrifice short term revenue for long term relationships. Clients respect our candour and come to appreciate that we truly act in their best interests, not in the interest of making quarterly numbers.
