The Intake Call Is Where Most Searches Are Won or Lost
When a new client engages Real8 Group for a facilities or construction executive search, the first structured conversation is the intake call. It is not a sales call. It is not a meet-and-greet. It is a working session designed to surface everything that will shape the search: the role, the organization, the culture, the candidate profile, the timeline, and the factors that are not in the job description but will determine whether the hire succeeds or fails.
Matt Lesher, a search consultant at Real8 Group specializing in VP of Facilities, Director of Construction, Director of Facilities Operations, and related institutional leadership roles, structures these conversations carefully. The intake call, done right, is the most consequential hour of the entire engagement. Here is how he thinks about it and what it actually covers.
Why the Intake Call Matters More Than Most Clients Expect
Most hiring leaders treat the intake call as an information transfer: they describe the role, share the job description, and expect the search firm to go find candidates. That approach produces generic searches with generic results.
The intake call Matt conducts is not an information download. It is a diagnostic. He is trying to understand not just what the organization is looking for, but why the search is happening now, what has happened in this role before, what the real organizational context is, and what will make a candidate genuinely successful in this specific environment. That intelligence is what separates a targeted search from a broadcast.
What the Intake Call Covers: Matt Lesher’s Framework
The Origin of the Search
The first thing Matt wants to understand is why the role is open. Is this a departure, a retirement, a restructuring, or a newly created position? Each of those answers shapes the search differently. A departure that happened quickly may signal something about the role or the organizational environment that needs to be understood before candidates are approached. A retirement creates a succession opportunity but may also mean the departing leader has shaped the function in ways that the next person will need to navigate carefully.
If the previous person left under difficult circumstances, Matt will ask about it directly. Not to probe for confidential information, but because a candidate who walks into a role with a false picture of why it became available is set up to fail. The best candidates are sophisticated enough to ask. A search firm that surfaces the context early protects both the client and the candidate.
The Role as It Actually Functions, Not as It Is Written
Job descriptions describe the role as the organization wishes it existed. The intake call surfaces the role as it actually functions. Matt asks about the direct reports and their tenure, the key internal relationships the new leader will need to manage, the vendor and contractor relationships that matter most, and the political dynamics inside the organization that the new executive will need to navigate from day one.
He also asks about the capital plan: what projects are in design, what is in construction, what is deferred, and what the board has approved or is considering. A VP of Facilities walking into an organization with a $200 million active capital program faces a different first year than one walking into a deferred maintenance backlog with no approved capital budget. The candidate profile for those two situations is not the same, even if the title is identical.
The Candidate Profile Below the Surface
Every search brief lists desired qualifications. Matt’s intake call goes further. He asks what has worked and what has not in previous hires for this role or adjacent roles. He asks what kind of leader the team needs right now: a builder, a stabilizer, a change agent, or a steady operator. He asks about the culture of the facilities or construction function and how the new leader’s style will need to mesh with it.
He also asks the question that most search firms skip: what would cause this hire to fail? The answers to that question are as important as the answers to what success looks like. If the organization has a history of under-resourcing the facilities function, or if there is a board member who has strong opinions about how capital projects should be managed, or if the culture is one that rewards a particular decision-making style, those are things a candidate needs to know. And they are things the search needs to screen for.
Compensation Reality Check
Before the intake call ends, Matt addresses compensation directly. He validates the approved range against current market data for the specific title, sector, and geography. If the range is competitive, he confirms it. If it is not, he says so, and he explains why, with specific reference to recent comparable searches and the current state of the candidate market.
This conversation is not always comfortable. Organizations sometimes have approved ranges that reflect internal equity constraints or budget limitations rather than market realities. Having that conversation at intake, rather than at the offer stage, is the difference between a search that closes and a search that stalls. Matt has this conversation early because the alternative is more expensive for everyone involved.
Timeline and Process Expectations
The intake call also sets expectations on both sides about the search process. Matt covers how Real8 Group conducts the search: direct outreach into a known network rather than posting, how candidates are screened, what the presentation format looks like, and what is expected from the client side in terms of interview availability and decision-making speed.
He also addresses the timeline honestly. Real8 Group typically presents a qualified slate within two to three weeks of a complete intake. That timeline depends on the client being available to move quickly once candidates are presented. A search that stretches from intake to offer over four months is almost always suffering from process friction on the client side, not a shortage of qualified candidates. Setting that expectation clearly at intake protects both sides.
What the Intake Call Produces
At the end of a well-run intake call, Matt leaves with a clear picture of the role, the organization, the candidate profile, the compensation parameters, and the dynamics that will shape whether the eventual hire succeeds. That picture is the foundation of the search strategy: who to approach, what to say to them, how to frame the opportunity, and what to look for in screening conversations.
It is also the document that protects the client. When Matt presents candidates, the presentation is built against the intake profile, not against the job description. That means clients receive candidates who have been evaluated against what the role actually requires, not what the posting says it requires. That distinction is the difference between a finalist slate that closes and one that falls apart at the reference or offer stage.
What This Means for Organizations Considering a Search
If your organization is preparing to engage a search firm for a VP of Facilities, Director of Construction, Director of Facilities Operations, or related institutional leadership role, the quality of the intake process is one of the clearest signals of what the search will produce. A search firm that asks for a job description and a start date is not running the same search as one that spends an hour understanding your organization, your team, your capital program, and the dynamics that will determine whether the hire sticks.
Real8 Group’s intake process is designed to produce searches that close with candidates who are genuinely set up to succeed. Learn more about how we work at real8group.com/how-we-work or meet the team at real8group.com/team.
To start a search or have an initial conversation about an upcoming leadership need, reach out at real8group.com/contact or visit real8group.com/finding-talent.
Real8 Group is a specialized executive search firm serving the real estate, construction, engineering, and facilities operations sectors across the U.S.
