Demand change
The *only* way to win exclusive and retained work
As I wrap up the third season of The Value of Recruitment Podcast, there is one theme that top recruitment leaders keep coming back to: client commitment.
The average fill rate in our industry is around 20%, so when I speak to people who fill 60% of their contingent roles what they’re actually saying is they’re getting paid three times more often than their peers.
Filling six out of ten roles isn’t just financially rewarding, it gives you a positive feedback loop that makes your job more enjoyable. If you’re only filling two of every ten roles you work, your experience is predominantly one of failure - which is no fun for anyone.
Here’s how I see high performing recruiters improve their fill rates: they have an intense focus on winning real commitment from their clients at the start of the process.
There are various ways to get a client to commit to working with you - with an upfront payment being the most powerful. But if you want to win commitment from your clients, you need to know the right way to get your clients to say YES.
In demand
To get a client to commit to properly working with you, you need to create one thing that most recruiters don’t create: demand.
Too often, what’s in demand is jobs we can work on. We’re asking clients if they’ll give us their vacancies, which puts the client in the driving seat when it comes to defining the relationship.
And, to be blunt, clients don’t know what they’re doing. Leave it up to them and they’ll select four agencies (“more reach!”) while pushing down the price (“why pay more?”). Then they’ll get distracted by some of the other plates they’re spinning, interview slots will slip, candidates won’t get feedback, and the vacancy stays vacant.
In short, you need to be in control - for the good of the client, the candidates, as well as your fees.
But you won’t be in control unless you create demand. Your clients must want to work with you. In this situation, you are in demand. You are no longer asking your client for roles to work; your client is asking you if you’ll work with them.
Only then can you get proper commitment from clients. Once you are in control of the situation, you can name your terms - including exclusivity and upfront payment as well as healthy overall fees.
My podcast guests have shared various ways to build demand. Sometimes they play the long game, building huge brand value over time. Sometimes they find just the right way to manage a pitch meeting so the client ends up knowing that there’s only one recruiter worth working with.
It’s a question worth asking yourself: how much am I in demand? The more positive your answer, the more committed your clients will be.
If you want expert help in building demand for your services, simply reply to this email with DEMAND in the subject line and I’ll explain how I can help.
Jon
P.S. We often talk about ‘exclusivity’ or ‘retained’ in recruitment, but we risk getting distracted by our own jargon and missing the bigger picture.
I worked with one agency on the concept of exclusivity, and we ended up with four different levels of commitment. Rather than simply asking for exclusivity, we identified exactly what we wanted clients to commit to at each level - and what they would get in return. This transformed the concept of client commitment from a vague promise into tangible, valuable commitments that made a huge impact on fill rates.
Of course, the consultants first had to build demand for their services and get clients to want to work with them. Once they reached that level, they were then able to get genuine commitment from those clients.
If you want expert help in building demand for your services, simply reply to this email with DEMAND in the subject line and I’ll explain how I can help.