Job flow to recruiters has been flat now for more than 2 years. That’s a long time in recruitment terms, and it is especially long for those who have used up most of their reserves and now have to swallow increases to the National Minimum Wage and employers’ NICs.

There are definitely some changes that can be made. Making BD much more consistent, for one.

Better job and candidate qualifications for another. More on-site meetings with prospective clients, too. 

And then there is the increasingly popular option of finding your resourcers and recruiters from other parts of the world.

What I want to look at is a different paradigm for recruitment. It may not work for your sector, but I’ve done it successfully in healthcare, retail, financial services and telecoms, to name a few. And I’ve found that the businesses who innovate with Statement of Works, whether the “works” in question are recruitment or the direct supply of services (rather than labour) to their clients, are securing long-term commitment, predictable revenue and 100% fill rates.

Who doesn’t want that? But the overwhelming majority of recruitment business leaders are held back because of their own limiting beliefs:

• Nobody has asked me for that
• I don’t think my clients would commit to one agency
• I don’t know how to do it
• I don’t know how to price it
• I’m not big enough

Take it from me, you can learn these things. I did, and I’ve personally negotiated recruitment contracts worth eight and nine figures in revenue, and profit margins above 40%. Some of those were delivered within a twelve-month period.

There were smaller deals too – this approach can be tailored to work for them.

You just have to have a process:

• To identify the opportunity
• To understand the methodology
• To know what questions you MUST ask clients
• To manage the risk
• To present the value effectively to the most senior decision-makers

– oh, and some basic tech. But it does NOT need to cost tens of thousands. 

So, how about it? Would you like to develop this capability in your business? Because other recruitment agencies are now taking advantage of my programme, delivered ONLY in-house to protect confidentiality, over 4 x half-days.

If you’d like to know more, contact me today to receive the course outline or message me at alison@recruitmentleadership.co.uk to discuss.