The past 12 months has radically accelerated the pace of change for recruiters. Whether in the uptake of new technology, adoption of remote working, or a revised business model, recruitment leaders now face a very different, and largely unexpected, set of challenges.

However, the conditions now facing recruiters have also shone a light on a problem that had been growing pre-COVID. Client retention in the industry regularly falls below 40%, whilst at the same time, recruiters struggle to secure more than 30% of a client's potential spend. Recruiters are often over-reliant on new business and failing to capitalise on the revenue potential of the relationships they do win.

In talking with recruitment leaders right across the industry it’s clear that many see the key to success going forward as winning and developing higher-value business. In fact, faced with tighter niches, smaller teams, downward pressure on margins and increasing cost of sales, ensuring maximum client value is the top priority for lots of businesses.

One clear route to sustainable profitability is to embed a consistent and reliable approach to replicate your best relationships by upselling, cross-selling and winning business by referral.

In adopting differentiated pricing or productisation some recruiters now stand to maximise client value by ‘upgrading’ them to new solutions. Others are seeking to build enterprise-level engagement in organisations with the use of insights and nurture campaigns that target Finance, HR and the C-Suite. Meanwhile, still others are dominating their niche by building client communities that drive inbound enquiries and enable their best customers to advocate for them.

Ultimately, what you focus on you get more of. In helping recruiters use a simple analysis of their customer base and a playbook for getting more from everyone, I’ve seen them increase the quality and value of their business quickly and consistently. As ambitious recruiters feel increasing frustration at low-value transactional relationships, ensuring maximum value from every client is emerging as the number one strategy driving tomorrow's success.

Ben Browning
Resonant Recruitment Development