Recruitment Unpacked: Recent Episodes
Mike Ames
Recruitment Unpacked is a podcast for leaders of the recruitment industry.
Providing insights, tips and tactics that reflect the priorities and interests of Recruitment Leaders.
Flair is a specialist growth consultancy serving the Recruitment industry and lead by Mike Ames, who has built a recruitment business from the kitchen table through to an 8 figure sale not once, but twice.
There's no consolation prize in recruitment. The best way to win is to get hold of vacancies well before your competition. This is how you do that. If you live in the contingent recruitment world this is crucial but even if you only work retained roles the early bird gets the worm. That's what this edition of the #MARShow is going discuss with Luke Willcock, an expert at using AI to steal a lead over the competition. Together we'll be exploring: - ✅ Why most recruiters don't lose deals, they arrive too late ✅ What happens inside a business before a role is ever advertised ✅ The types of real-world events that quietly trigger hiring ✅ How agencies can position themselves earlier and have more consultative conversations ✅ Why job boards are reliable but create crowded, low-leverage markets ✅ What a more modern, intelligence-led BD approach looks like in practice We're really excited about this because, as an ex-recruiter, my main priority wasn't to compete for roles, it was to get them ahead of the pack. The difference is, as Luke will explain, we now have AI tools that make this much easier to do. So click ATTEND to join us if you dream of getting in and out before the competition know what's going on
The US market is different from the UK in many respects. Sure, fees are higher and more clients are more receptive, but BD stateside is very different.
In short, if you want to be successful in America you need to change your approach, your style and your methods.
Do that and you find that "there's gold in them thar hills" – which is what the next #MARShow is focused on.
We'll be joined by American sales and marketing digital expert Clark Willcox to discuss: -
♦️ How the UK and US buyers are different and so require a different approach.
♦️ Why high-value outreaches and hard-sell approaches don't work in America.
♦️ Why content works and what should that content be
♦️ How to use LinkedIn to win over American hiring managers
♦️ Why AI generated often falls flat on its face (and what really works)
♦️ How finding your unique voice combined with great content brings results.
This show is for you if you want to build a highly profitable, efficient US desk from the UK.
Bigger margins and being valued as a trusted advisor are up for grabs and we're going to show you how to get them.
Dan Sullivan, once said, "all the money you need is in the pockets of the people you know and the pockets of the people they know" In other words, the size and strength of your network dictates how successful you'll be. It's confirmed in the numbers too, from research we and others have conducted. About 80% of your high-value clients (the minority who generate most of your profits) will have originated from a relationship. You could have met them anywhere: online, an event, an introduction etc but you built a relationship with them first. In this edition of the hashtag#MARShow we're going to explore the grossly misunderstood topic of Real Networking: - ✅ What is a Real Network and Real Networking ✅ How you add new people to your network ✅ Creating strong working relationships (there's a framework for this) ✅ How to monetise your network Along the way we'll debunk the many myths around real networking, especially the one that says you must attend events to build a network. If attending events and meeting people works for you, keep doing it, but if that's not for you, please remember it's entirely optional. In the corporate world I occupied, the decision makers I needed access to, never went to those kinds of events so neither did I. It never held me back. So, click ATTEND and join us to discover how to build and monetise a powerful business network.
Either by accident or on purpose, organic reach for LinkedIn posts is harder now, which means fewer people are seeing your content. Let me explain.
Nobody knows for sure, but it looks like LinkedIn has a cunning plan.
That's why I'm so excited about this episode of the #MARShow with Darren Westall, founder and CEO of Paiger.
Darren spends his days working with hundreds of recruitment firms and sees, in real time, what's actually working on LinkedIn right now; and what absolutely isn't.
Together we talk about: -
♦️ Why LinkedIn is shifting towards a pay-to-play model (and what to do about it)
♦️ How to use thought‑leadership ads without becoming spammy
♦️ Why posting alone isn't enough unless it supports outbound BD
♦️ How to combine content, signals, and timing to open real conversations
♦️ What recruiters misunderstand about their LinkedIn "personal brand" in 2026
This is practical and proven advice you can follow to boost your reach.
It's about using LinkedIn deliberately to support business development and create opportunities.
If LinkedIn is part of your growth strategy (or should be), this episode is for you.
You may be like the many business owners I speak to who haven't considered how their business will fuel their retirement. "It's too far off". Along with income tax and death there are two other absolute truths about life: 1️⃣You'll need more money than you think to live a comfortable retirement. 2️⃣ If you don't build that fund nobody else will (especially the government) So we're going to discuss this very real issue with Christian Mather, an expert in the field. Together, we'll explore: - ✅ Why many recruitment founders build successful agencies yet remain financially dependent upon them. ✅ The gap between business performance and genuine financial freedom. ✅ The key "walk away" number every founder should know and how to calculate it. ✅ Why relying on a future exit alone can limit your options and how to build flexibility alongside it. ✅ An alternative way of becoming wealthy without having to sell your business. This is going to be a very practical session giving founders something they can act upon. What it isn't is the usual financial advice – you don't need that now. This is for you if you like to be ahead of the game when it comes to your financial freedom.
Imagine when you were short of roles to work you just picked up the phone and an hour or so later you had another couple of roles to work exclusively.
Well, that's the world of our next guest in the #MARShow.
Shane Fairchild is a solopreneur recruiter in Columbus Ohio and he has a superpower.
He knows how to build a network of people who like him, trust him and want to use him above his competition.
He truly is an Apex Supplier and he's coming on the show to tell us all about it: -
✅ How he has built his network
✅ How he maintains it and keeps it current
✅ Why his clients work with him first by choice (yes, there is a formula you can copy)
✅ How he goes about getting vacancies from his network whenever he needs them.
Ladies and gentlemen, he will not be unduly affected by the rise in AI because AIs can't build relationships.
I know we're all busy, but I would urge you to tune in and listen to what Shane has to say.
Think of this, of all the hundreds of people I could have asked to come on the show and talk about this, I asked Shane.
I did this because he's darned good at it.
Did you know that if you lift your recruitment revenues but keep costs the same, 80% of that additional money generated is net profit. And yet, talk to most recruitment company owners and to them growth equates to hiring more people. More cost; more risk. There is an alternative though and that's what we'll be discussing with our next #MARShow guest Sean Anderson of Hoxo. This is a really big topic especially in these days of uncertainty, and one you can't ignore. If you can grow revenues without hiring more people you become more profitable without increasing your risk exposure. Together we'll be discussing the many ways you can do this including: - ♦️ Use of tools and AI ♦️ Lifting fees and margins ♦️ Making more placements ♦️ Being choosy on the vacancies you work on and clients you work with ♦️ Productising your offerings ♦️ Training and coaching All relevant but there are other ways you can boost productivity. We'll no doubt cover these too.
This is for you if you're a recruitment firm owner who's keen to get more roles from TAs, since increasing numbers of companies are using them. Wouldn't you just like the opportunity to sit down with a TA and dig deep into how they want agencies to work with them. Well now you can. Mike Dossett is a career TA having worked for the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, HMRC, and Miro and he is joining us on this episode of the MARShow for a live, no‑holds‑barred conversation about how TAs want agencies to approach and work with them. We cover four critical themes: - 1️⃣ Approach: How NOT to be like 99% of the agencies who approach Mike, and other TAs and increase your chance of being chosen when a TA team needs external support. 2️⃣ Offering: What agencies can offer TAs (that they actually want) rather than what recruiters think they want. 3️⃣ Adding Value: Practical ways to add value and stand out beyond trying to sell in candidates or win roles. 4️⃣ The AI Shift: How technology is reshaping TA, what's coming next, and how agencies must adapt to avoid being left behind. This isn't theory, it's the inside track from somebody who knows. 45 minutes of straight talk, real examples, and actionable advice to help you win more business from TA leaders like Michael
First day of the month and you already know your base level revenues for the month. That's because you have a contract desk. Curious on how to build one? The benefits are obvious: - ♦️ Fewer revenue peaks and troughs ♦️ Predictable revenue streams ♦️ More leads into your business (from the contractors) ♦️ Unlike perm candidates you can reuse contractors ♦️ Makes your business more attractive to a potential buyer Many people are put off because they think it's too hard or too risky to set up a contracts desk. Others just need a place to start. A third group believe that contract and perm recruitment are pretty much the same (they are sooo NOT). Well, no matter which of those apply to you we can help you become better informed in the next hashtag#MARShow. We'll be giving you a clear step-by-step guide to setting up a contract desk for your business. As usual, this is a live event so you are free to ask questions as we go. My background is contracting and I just cannot understand why everybody doesn't create a contracts desk. Why not join us and find out what to do next. Your bank balance and peace of mind will thank you!
When used properly you can win clients directly from your Podcast and we're going to show you exactly how in this episode of the MARShow.
The big myth about podcasts is that you start recording them, become the new Joe Rogan and the clients fall into your lap. Not going to happen.
Our guest is search firm owner and podcaster Natasha Klymczuk.
Just months after launching her podcast, Natasha has already won numerous retained deals all stemming from her podcast.
On this episode, she'll reveal exactly how she does it. We'll unpack: -
✅ How to attract high‑quality guests from industry giants to rising leaders.
✅ What topics spark engagement and position you as a trusted expert.
✅ The subtle art of turning a guest into a client without being salesy, awkward, or pushy.
✅ The process behind the scenes: preparation, structure, comms, and the guest experience that sets you apart.
✅ The process she uses to turn a recoding into a podcast
Whether you're thinking of launching a podcast, already host one, or just want a smarter way to build warm BD conversations, this is the episode you can't afford to miss.
Join us for a high‑energy and practical edition of the #MARShow with industry innovator Nitin Sharma, where we reveal how AI is transforming recruitment marketing and business development right now. If you're still relying on old‑school BD and generic marketing, this session will blow the doors off what you thought was possible. We'll explore how leading recruiters turn everyday conversations, note‑taker transcripts, and client chats into white papers, insight reports, podcasts, and short‑form content that positions them as a thought-leader. It's also a great way to bypass gatekeepers and reach those hard-to-reach decision makers. No big budgets. No hours spent grinding out content. No outsourced agencies. Just smart use of AI and the willingness to be ahead of the pack. Together we'll cover: - ♦️ How top recruiters leverage common AI tools for instant marketing impact ♦️ How to create Gartner‑style insight reports from the data you already have ♦️ How to turn calls into content that opens doors with dream clients ♦️ Why only 5% of firms do this and how you can join the club and leapfrog the rest If you're serious about standing out, winning more business, and doing it smarter, not harder just click the ATTENDS button and we'll see you there.
Growing a big rec firm is hard and risky. Staying solo is lonely and limits income. But there's a third way that also makes you wealthy. So what is that third alternative? A safe, highly profitable recruitment business that doesn't rely on you doing delivery, if you don't want to. It's called a Profit–Lifestyle–Wealth (PLW) business, and it's the focus of our next hashtag#MARShow. A PLW recruitment firm still places people, just like any other agency. The difference is how it's structured and managed. The goal is to protect the business, maximise profits, and intentionally move you out of delivery—without building a large, stressful firm. In this show, you'll learn:- ✅ How to significantly increase profits without increasing costs ✅ How to build a small, stable and productive virtual team ✅ How to remove yourself from delivery ✅ What your new role should be, once time is freed up ✅ How to confidently size your endgame team ✅ How to build real wealth without selling your business (which rarely happens) This show is ideal if you're tired of doing everything yourself—but have zero desire to build a large recruitment firm. It's about creating a profitable and stress-free life, then retiring in comfort.
The recruitment sector is splitting in two and when this happens, the middle often disappears. Time to choose your side before the market chooses for you! On one side we see a deeply transactional approach: scrape for vacancies, scrape for candidates, repeat and hope something sticks. It's all about speed, volume, automation, tech and of course, AIs. But on the other side, you have something very different: - ✅ Deep understanding of a niche ✅ Genuine advisory capability ✅ Trusting relationships built over years ✅ Emotional intelligence when stakes are high ✅ Consultancy, not commodity supply ✅ An absolute obsession with quality and high service levels. Sure, this faction uses AI to amplify their abilities but it's not at the core of what they are. They use specific AI agents to make them more efficient at those things listed above. In this episode of the #MARShow we'll be welcoming Ed Blogg as our guest. As the CEO of RecruitHub he's seeing the market shift first hand. I firmly believe that that second lane is where recruiters need to be to thrive in the New World. And that is exactly what we'll be discussing. A clear direction PLUS plenty of practical steps you can take to make sure you prosper in 2026 and beyond. This is happening, better to be on the front foot than late to the party.
I don't know about you, but I like to start the year with some quick wins. Small, cost-free changes that will make a big impact on profitability. So that's what we're going to do in the last MARShow of the year. We will be looking at what's working right now and bringing four things you can do to improve your productivity, to your attention. We'll have several tips (example in brackets below) for each of the following: - ✅ Delivery – where you make the placements (One way to make more revenue from your existing team) ✅ Sales & marketing – where you attract the best prospects and convert them into clients (One way to speak with high-value decision makers who you normally can't reach) ✅ Client Care – where you max out your revenues and keep the competition at bay (How to find out your real USPs in just a few minutes) ✅ The Team – the people who actually do the work. (When you can safely hire a new member of the team) We want to make it easy for you to make the changes we suggest and see a benefit, fast. No special skills, no deep experience and no fancy tools or training required. Right now, we have more than four things share so who knows, maybe we'll sneak in a bonus tip too.
Let's face it. These days recruitment tech is overwhelming. What should you have and what should you do with it? Well, in the next hashtag#MARShow we aim to fix this. We have Rob Green 🚀 the founder and CEO of Rectec coming on the show. Rob helps recruitment firms select the right software for them and so knows more about rec tech than most of us! As usual, it's live and interactive so you can ask what you like but here are the topics we plan to cover: - ✅ The core systems every recruitment business should have in place. ✅ Where the add-ons, automations, and AI tools fit in and which ones deliver tangible value. ✅ How to approach tech buying more strategically, so you're not just adding noise or chasing the latest trend. Rob is adamant that people should NOT see a shiny piece of tech and buy it. There lies misery and disappointment. But rather intentionally buy your tech so that it actually benefits your business and gives a good ROI. Wouldn't that be nice. You should attend this live stream if you: - 1️⃣ Are overwhelmed or confused about which tech you need and seek clarity 2️⃣ Want to make sure you get the right tech for your business. 3️⃣ Would like to know what's new out there and worth looking at. Technology is meant to give us an edge and make us more efficient. Let's make sure it does.
In the AI world the ability to build strong business relationships is becoming a necessity because the machines can't do it. This edition of the #MARShow is NOT about AI but let me make a point. We know that there is an overwhelming surge in auto-outreach. You can even get an AI that will create LinkedIn comments on your behalf! If you have the time and the money you can go all in on AI. But most of us have neither. So, leaning into real, human relationships is our last line of defence. Now I'm not saying we should ignore AI, far from it. But I do believe we should be using it to do the things AI can't do and that is build strong business relationships with people who matter to you. So, in this edition of the show, we're going old-school. 5 things you can do to create more and stronger business relationships. I'm going to make them practical and "out of the box" so no deep skills and experience needed. If you apply them, you will be better at building relationships and more of those will turn into revenue. In the end, that's what it's all about, right? In a world of noise, strong relationships speak louder.
It's rare to come across a recruitment company owner who has achieved what many want but few can realise. Our next guest on the hashtag#MARShow has done just that. Charles Magill has built a virtual business that is so successful it means he's never short of work and has clients who keep coming back for more. Plus, his existing clients are the biggest source of new clients! In this revealing interview we're going to explore the following: - ✅ Why he is so successful ✅ The power of his network and how he built it ✅ The secret to effective market mapping ✅ His client care regime (which I know is outstanding) ✅ Why he will except nothing less than exceptional delivery ✅ How he successfully manages a virtual team. ✅ And how he has expanded the range of services he now provides to his clients. BTW Charlie lives in Spain, so all of this is achieved by balancing virtual interactions with in-person meetings. It really is a fascinating story with plenty of take-aways and genuine insights. Have you ever considered moving abroad but still working in the UK?
Personal branding is a big topic at the moment.
But how do you build a strong PB yourself?
And, how can you use it in business?
Well, our next #MARShow is all about personal branding.
We're lucky to have as our guest, Andrew MacAskill who really understands personal branding for recruiters.
He is a LinkedIn Top Voice with 109k followers, so I think we can safely assume he knows a bit about building PBs!
Together we'll be answering the following questions: -
✅ What is personal branding?
✅ Why don't people commit to building a strong PB?
✅ How can recruiters' profit from a strong personal brand?
✅ How do you represent a personal brand?
✅ What do recruiters need to do to build a personal brand?
✅ What are the common mistakes people make when building their brand?
I have always believed that a strong personal brand will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you when trying to attract clients, employees or candidates.
As it turns out, Andrew agrees with me.
Added to that, it's not as difficult as you may think.
So, join us and find out how you can boost your own PB.
When you start a rec firm you hope for a flying start. Lots of new high-value clients and a big revenue stream. Most don’t manage it, these guys did. Camp Jennings and his business partner Scott Smith started Henry North in January 2025. They are tracking $800k to $1m in fees for their first year, from a team of four. ⭐ The amazing part is – Scott was a recruitment newbie and Camp had a couple of years’ experience gained 10 years ago! ⭐ In this episode of the hashtag#MARShow, Camp will be explaining exactly how they did this. But he’s also going to share some of the bear-traps they fell into and the attractive cul-de-sacs that slowed them down. Most of their problems stemmed from ignoring client red-flags and struggling to define their processes as they developed. Camp is also going to share the activities and decisions that contributed to their outstanding success story. Such things as: - ✅ The importance of a well-defined niche (and how you choose one). ✅ The benefits of having (the right) business relationships ✅ Why having a partner with the same commitment and values is a gamechanger. ✅ How they get their vacancies and find their candidates. ✅ What makes them stand out to their clients and prospects.
Without a doubt the hardest part of winning new clients is speaking to well protected decision makers (who don’t want to speak with you).
That’s why Kirsty and I will be featuring it as our next topic on the hashtag#MARShow.
We’re going to start at the beginning by looking at the obstacles in your way – and there are plenty of these.
Then we’re going to show you three and half practical approaches to start that first conversation.
These are proven and professional tactics I, and others, have used successfully for years.
They’ll draw on the very latest tools around but rely on desires that are as old as human beings.
❌ You don’t need any fancy tech.
❌ You don’t need to be an AI expert (we don’t use it).
❌ You don’t need to be one of those annoying people who are as confident AF.
✅ You just need to follow a process and be prepared to put a little time in perfecting your use of it.
ADDED BONUS: I’m also going to give you a high-level framework for when you get thru and have that all important “first call”.
In simple terms the more you can automate the more you can get done in your business for less cost.
In turn this will make you more efficient and more profitable (you’ll probably need less staff too).
With the explosion of AI products this has never been easier but there’s a problem – too much choice!
With so many products and options available you’re probably asking yourself: what can I automate and what can I use to do so?
Well, Dualta Doherty is the first guest in our new series of the MARShow and can answer both questions.
This is what we’ll be discussing: -
✅ As a recruiter, what should I be automating?
✅ What tools can I use to do this?
✅ What are the beartraps I can fall into (and how can I avoid them)?
✅ What should I do first.
This episode of the show is a must-see if you’re looking for some clarity on how you can make tech work harder for you.
Is “automate or die” too strong? Probably, but it’s along the right lines, I think.
Most recruiters want to stand apart from their competitors. Give their clients a positive reason to choose them. This is how anybody can do that. The good news is, it’s free, it’s quick to implement and no special skills are needed. All you need do is ask your clients what they really think of your people and your service. “Is that it? “ I hear you cry, “you got me all excited just for that?”. I promise it’s not what you think – it’s soooo much more. Our guest is Gemma Sleight, Group Marketing Director for FMC Talent. We’re going to be exploring VOTC, a powerful way to strengthen relationships and lift revenue by getting feedback. Honestly folks, ‘Voice Of The Customer’ is not what you think it is. Together we’ll be discussing: - ✅ What is VOTC ✅ What are the significant benefits of a VOTC programme ✅ The steps to run a VOTC Programme and who does it ✅ What you do with the feedback ✅ How you can also use it to help you win more sales pitches So, if you want to stand out, boost service levels and send a strong message out to the market, why not join us.
Account management on its own is definitely NOT client care. It’s a part of it, but not the most important part. Great client care needs other ingredients. If you want to max out your client revenues and keep your competition at bay, you need an Apex Client Care system. It’s where the BIG MONEY is and why some companies keep growing whilst others falter. Let’s look at all four parts of such a client care system. ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT Getting vacancies, placing candidates and an escalation point for problems. DELIVERY How good you are at finding and vetting great candidates and placing them in an efficient and convenient way is a big part of client care. ‘Average’ is not good enough anymore. QUALITY Finding out what your clients really think about your people and the service they provide and then having a system to process the results. Called Voice of the Customer (VOTC) – so important we have a whole show on it next time. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT Building personal relationships with your key client stakeholders. Moving them from the ‘client zone’ to the ‘friend zone’. Absolutely crucial.
Two things: we all need to find candidates and most of us use AI.
But how can we bring the two together: use AI to find better candidates?
This is the theme of our next MARShow, and we are delighted to welcome Vanessa Raath 🌍👩🏼🏫 onto the show to enlighten us.
Those who don’t know Vanessa should just Google her – that should satisfy your curiosity.
This is what we’ll be talking about: -
✅ What’s your AI gameplan? Without this you’ll only be partially successful.
✅ What tools can you use to find candidates
✅ Where should you look to find candidates
✅ How can you use AI to build your brand and so attract more candidates (and clients too).
Let’s face it, whatever the market, there are never enough good candidates around.
This is a real problem, especially if you’re basing your BD strategy on selling in MPCs.
So, having new ways to find and engage with more candidates must be a good thing, right?
- Vanessa Raath's Tried & Tested AI Tools: https://start.me/p/l6bkk7/vanessa-raath-s-tried-tested-ai-tools
Lots of people are using Chat and other AIs to generate copy and search the web but this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recruitment.
In this edition of the #MARShow we are delighted to have Nitin Sharma as our guest.
He will be exploring a wide range of uses that recruiters can put these powerful AIs tools to: -
✅ Coach you thru difficult business situations with clients
✅ Rate candidates against a vacancy from their CV and any of your notes and emails
✅ Provide powerful Boolean searches for any vacancy type.
✅ Bring job adverts to life, by creating engaging, SEO optimised adverts that work
✅ Help you offer a CV assistance service to help your candidates optimise their CVs.
These are only a few of the uses Nitin will explain how to do with AIs. He’ll also be exploring many more uses with us that may surprise you.
The key is in the way you prompt the machine to do what you want, so we’ll also be looking at the best way to do that too.
Finally, we’ll end up by predicting how AI will affect the rec industry in the future – who knows what Deepseek and its descendants will do!
So, please join us if you want to make the most of this very powerful tool.
Practical, powerful, and easy to use – a bit like us really.
We didn’t always have job boards, emails, and LinkedIn and yet we still placed people. Want to know how we did it and why you should care? Let’s start with the “why”. There are two reasons: - Firstly, your online sources are becoming increasingly expensive. Wouldn’t it be great to have an alternative? Secondly, if you only use LinkedIn and the job boards, you’re searching for talent in the same place as your competitors. Which means, you’ll come up with the same candidates they do – not a brilliant outcome. So, in this edition of the #MARShow, Kirsty and I will be exploring alternative ways to find great candidates your competition won’t get. Yes, we will be leveraging LinkedIn but there are other ways too. One thing though, please don’t think I am suggesting you turn the clock back 30 years. Dear God, no! What I am saying though, is what would happen if you combined today’s modern tech with older but equally effective sourcing methods If you’re curious to find out and have a desire to outpace the competition, turn in for more.
On average, UK contingent recruiters get paid for 20% of their efforts. For retained recruiters it’s 98%. Fancy learning how to only do retained work?
To be clear, switching to retained could boost your profits by 500% (just do the maths).
Our next guest on the MARShow is Greg Elton of search firm Day-2, is 100% retained and has been for years.
Some of you might be saying “he probably only does mega-deals which is why they are retained”
Well, you’d be wrong.
True, some of his placements are very chunky, but Greg maintains any salary over £40k can be on a retained basis, if pitched properly.
And that’s the rub, many recruiters just don’t pitch in the right way to win retained work.
In this show we’ll explore the following: -
✅ Which roles can be retained
✅ How to pitch to win retained deals
✅ How to overcome client objections
✅ The difference between retained and exclusive and why it matters
✅ What to do if the client is unconvinced
✅ How retained searches differ from contingent searches
Moving to retained can massively boost your profits, well of course it will if you get paid for every role you work.
Those UK-based recruiters who decide to start placing people in America, rarely switch back to the UK.
there are plenty of reasons for that.
💥 The market is less crowded: 12,500 rec firms in the US to 30,000 in the UK (and the market is 4 times bigger).
💥 Almost all candidates are open to a chat, even if they aren’t active.
💥 The fees are larger than the UK and clients haggle about them less, plus counteroffers are rare
💥 US hirers are easier to speak to and they seem to like UK recruiters a lot. You get treated with respect.
But surely, it’s a nightmare to start trading in America from the UK?
Well, no, it isn’t and Lindsay Hartland, our guest on this episode of the #MARShow, is going to prove it.
He left being a partner at SThree and started again even though he hadn’t been “on the tools” for years.
✅ He chose his state (Florida)
✅ He chose his sector
✅ He chose his niche and then he started trading.
Now he has a thriving business where he only does retained work or senior MPCs.
He’s going to come on the show and explain in detail how you can start placing people in the States.
His instructions will be so detailed you could probably start work that afternoon! 🤣🤣🤣
The big battle for all of us these days is getting the attention of people we want to read something we’ve written: emails, posts, adverts and CVs.
Many of your emails you know will be useful to the recipient, are deleted unread.
You can have written the greatest LinkedIn post in the world but if people don’t read it, then it will die a death.
Likewise, a fantastic job will only draw in candidates if the advert promoting it gets the attention of the right people.
Or how about CVs? Hiring managers receive stacks of them in their inbox. How can you make yours stand out, so they take the time to read it.
All of this comes down to the quality of your written work, often called copy.
Well, our guest on this episode of the MARShow is Mitch Sullivan, an expert in writing recruitment copy that gets noticed. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchsullivan/)
Mitch explains how to write copy that people are compelled to read.
He shares plenty of practical tips and also red-flagging things to avoid.
You’ll come away knowing how to write better copy that will increase the chances of your email, post, advert or CV being read.
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To find out more about the Summit click here - https://www.recruitmentpioneers.com/summits
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▹Flair Homepage:- http://www.recruitmentpioneers.com
▹LinkedIn:-
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- Mike: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mspames
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- Kirsty: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstyames/
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When used properly, email is still a very effective sales and marketing tool.
But things are changing, and you need to know how.
All the email providers are getting much stricter these days in their drive to reduce the amount of spam in your Inbox.
BTW, spam is just unwanted email so if you send marketing emails the email providers may view you as a spammer!
Google and Yahoo have recently changed their policies and others are bound to follow.
You must keep your spam rate below 0.3%, else you could have your email account blocked.
Real bummer.
There are several rules that you need to follow to be safe and that’s what this edition of the #MARShow is going to focus on.
Our guest is email delivery specialist Nick Butcher who’ll be explains how to get more of your emails into inboxes.
He also clarifies why you get so many opens and click-thrus but very few responses to your emails.
Plus, we explore his CTA framework that does NOT require clickable links (which helps in deliverability).
So, if you want to avoid being tagged as a spammer and get more of your emails thru, why not join us on the show.
Jo Kelly Fundraiser - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jo-road-to-wtg
DKMS - click here
Ever had that call from a client saying, “You’ve done a great job, but we’ve got an RPO in place now”?
Well, you could be that RPO and here’s how.
We welcome Jamie Stevenson as our guest because he offers full and micro RPOs to his clients.
The benefits are enormous.
You can often lock the client into a 12 month or longer contract and you’re in control of the vacancies during this time.
Also, as the RPO supplier you’re often given a long lead-time on planned hires, which makes filling vacancies easier.
During these difficult times it’s crucial to protect those clients who may be vulnerable to an RPO deal.
In this episode Jamie will be shares -
✅ The signs to look for that a good client may be considering an RPO deal
✅ How to pitch an RPO offering to a client.
✅ What you need to do to offer an RPO service to your clients (and new prospects)
✅ The legal implications and preparations
✅ What can go wrong and how you can contain these risks.
Bottom line, you can be inside the tent looking out or outside the tent in the rain. I know which I prefer and so does Jamie.
New Year is nearly upon us. Want to shake it up a bit, but not sure how? Well, here are 4 zero-cost ways to boost profits & reduce stress.
“Why should I change things?” I hear you cry.
Well, the market isn’t great, and trading conditions are tough.
A less than business-friendly budget, EU and UK growth forecasts revised down, and Tariff Trump in the White House.
True, there’s more private equity and VC money being injected into the economy, which will benefit everybody.
But next year doesn’t look to be a bumper year for any of us.
If you’re happy with the results you’re getting scroll on, otherwise you may be interested in the last #MARShow of the year.
We’re going to look at four zero-cost things you can do to attack the market differently: -
1️⃣ One way to get your clients to choose you over the competition
2️⃣ One marketing technique that actually boost sales
3️⃣ One BD technique that outperforms everything
4️⃣ A change in your thinking – more powerful than the other 3 added together.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got.
Be different in 2025.
⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford
Whenever I hear “so and so is a million-pound biller” I always look for the catch.
A hot client, huge fees or a team behind them.
But our guest on this episode of the MARShow actually was a million-pound biller.
His name is Mark Harris and he did it:
💥 Working on his own
💥 With average fees of £7k (yes, that’s 12 placements a month)
💥 Over 100 clients
💥 Only on a contingent deals
He was quite literally a placement machine, and on the show to explain exactly how he did it.
Of course, there were sacrifices to be made, and he made them, but the achievement in that one year was outstanding.
I want you all to know his secret and he is willing to spill the beans on: -
✅ Winning new clients
✅ Getting the lion’s share of his client’s vacancies
✅ Converting most of his vacancies into fees He also shares with us the price he had to pay to achieve this amazing feat.
Could you see yourself as a million-pound biller?
⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford https://www.linkedin.com/in/richberrisford/
As the market gets tighter one thing to focus on is being better, or at least more preferable than your competition. Here are two ways to do this.
Around here we say “Everything you need to be better than the competition is contained in the hearts and minds of your clients. All you need do is liberate it.”
In other words, you need to find out from your client community: -
✅ Where you need to improve
✅ What you do that they like
✅ What the competition are up to
✅ How can you add extra value to them
✅ What is going to get their attention
But, what’s the best way to do this?
Well, there are two ways: you ask them informally over a coffee, breakfast, lunch or cheeky half after work.
It works very well, providing you know how to do it.
The second way is to use your formal client feedback process to do it, often called Voice of the Customer (VOTC).
Well in this #MARShow we discuss both ways because the data it gives you is PRICELESS!
It’s also one of those rare occasions when we have the whole Ames team there – including that rascal Pete Ames.
⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at Rich.Berrisford@giantgroup.com
What would you give to spend time with a decision maker in a high value client to find out how to become a preferred supplier?
Well now you can.
In this episode of the #MARShow we interview Victoria Kirkhope, the ex-Chief People Officer for RSM UK.
Amongst her many duties, she was responsible for selecting (and deselecting) recruitment agencies for the firms PSL.
She is now an independent consultant and so has agreed to share the knowledge and experience she has built up over her career.
We ask her advice on: -
💥 How you actually get to speak to somebody in authority
💥 What she looked for in an agency
💥 What characteristics turned her off an agency
💥 What’s the best way to pitch, should you be invited in
💥 What the selection process typically looks like
💥 What should agencies do to be more attractive to larger corporate clients
In addition to the above very important topics she also litters the show with advice and help for agency owners and BD people looking to win more high-value new clients.
Honestly, when I was running an agency, I would have bitten your hand off for this opportunity.
All you need to do is tune in.
The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance
To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at Rich.Berrisford@giantgroup.com
-- THE SUMMIT -- To find out more about the Summit click here - https://www.recruitmentpioneers.com/summits
How will AI impact the recruitment industry in the short, medium, and long term?
A very interesting question.
And we intend to answer it during this #MARShow with our special guest Max Armbruster.
Max is the CEO and Founder of Talkpush, a leading-edge recruitment automation platform and the company behind Sam the AI voice recruiter.
Over time there have been game-changing inventions: the wheel, harnessing steam, the internal combustion engine, computers and the internet.
Each of these inventions created a revolution in their wake.
AI is probably going to be more disruptive than all of them.
We’ll be looking at what’s available now in the world of rec AI but more importantly, what’s going to come and when.
Then, we discuss the impact this tech will have on our industry.
The possibilities are very wide from massively enabling rec firms to operate on a skeletal staff to more dystopian outcomes.
Previous disruptive technology took a long time to change the world.
However, it’s likely that AI’s impact with be a whole lot quicker.
Forewarned is forearmed and one thing is for sure; you can’t ignore AI.
One last thing, Sam the AI Voice Recruiter (https://www.talktosam.ai/sign-up-for-free) will be calling in to have a live conversation with me on the programme! Don’t miss this one guys.
⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐
To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at Rich.Berrisford@giantgroup.com
One of the best things you can do to boost revenues and make your business more valuable is launch a Contracts desk.
The benefits are enormous: recurring revenue, contractor reuse, bigger profits and a more rounded offering for your clients.
We love Perm but you have to reinvent your business every month whereas with a Contract desk you already have some revenue coming in.
Right then, in this edition of the #MARShow we’re going to explain how to start, grow and run a Contracts desk from scratch.
It will also make your business more valuable should you ever come to sell it.
We are joined by Tom Giles who already runs a very successful Contracts book and Rich Berrisford to cover how you would handle a much increased cashflow.
Together, we’ll look at: -
✅ The first things you need to do to get started
✅ How Contract differs from Perm
✅ The risks and pitfalls you will be exposed to (and how to overcome them)
✅ And how you finance the whole thing.
Somebody once told me they were bemused why people struggle past the money-pig that is contract to reach Perm.
Well, now’s your chance to get your snout in the Contract trough.
Technology is a tool and like all tools is only effective when used properly.
This is especially true for rec firms.
Added to that, I saw one piece of research by Pendo Analytics that said 80% of the features in any piece of software are rarely or never used.
When I was at university in the Sevs, one of our lecturers said something similar and when I think of how much of XL I use, I reckon it’s true.
So, we are spending loads of money and not getting a very attractive ROI.
Added to that, what rec tech should owners be buying.
There are simply oodles of tech apps out there for the recruitment industry and with AI hitting us at 100 MPH even more options to consider.
Well, in this Mike Ames Recruitment Show our guest will be rec tech expert Richard Caldicott.
He will be exploring the following: -
💥 What tech do rec firms need to be uber-effective (and so max-out profits)
💥 How can rec firm owners get more from their existing tech
💥 A peep into the AI crystal ball to see what exciting AI products are coming our way.
Tune in if you feel you aren’t getting enough ROI from your tech stack or are simply confused as to what tech you need.
Do you feel you get enough ROI from your tech stack?
⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐
To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at Rich.Berrisford@giantgroup.com
Designing a simple, enticing, and profitable commission scheme can be a real challenge.
Especially if you worked in only a few firms before setting up your own.
Commission schemes, when done right, incentivize teams to go above and beyond.
But when done wrong, they can demotivate your team or worse incentivize short-term gains at the expense of doing the right thing.
Leading to long-term problems.
I have seen this many times in the past, perhaps you have too.
So, the first episode of the new MARShow season is focused on all things Commission.
Our guest will be Carl Jones of Konquest ( / carl-jones-66093722 ) who will be exploring questions such as: -
💥Is there an ideal balance between base salary and commission?
💥What are the consequences of the different schemes?
💥Should you pay on GP, profit before tax or contribution?
💥What schemes work well in a Layered (non-360) model?
💥What’s the easiest way to run your scheme?
Perfect for you if you don’t have a scheme or feel yours isn’t working.
⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐
To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at Rich.Berrisford@giantgroup.com
I’m going to let you into a little secret on how you can pick up real vacancies from networking events – most likely exclusive or retained.
Well, truth be told it won’t be me, it’s actually our next guest on the #MARShow – Kerry Swift.
Kerry is one of those recruiters who attends networking events and comes away with vacancies, often exclusive or retained.
There's a knack to it, you know.
On the show, she shared the following: -
- Which events to choose
- How to build relationships with the right people
- How to get yourself noticed (and yes, that could mean doing a talk)
- How to pick up vacancies
- What else you can get from networking groups
- Are virtual networking groups any good
- How to overcome nerves and start mixing
This show is for those people who want another source of leads and feel networking events are largely a waste of time.
It is packed with practical tips and ideas ready for you to take and use.
Personally, I have never been a fan of so-called networking events. They always seemed a waste of time to me and I never got much from them.
Then Kerry shared her experiences in a recent online forum we were both in and she blew me away with her approach to them.
If you are in recruitment you may have noticed that the market has definitely changed. It’s harder than it was, and you need to take action now.
This isn’t about survival because I don’t think the market will collapse, but there is a real danger that it will tighten up even more.
In other words, there will be more recruiters chasing less vacancies and clients may start to be a little harder in negotiations.
However, the good news is there are four cost-free things you can do which mean you can not only hold your own but maybe even continue to grow.
They are centred around: -
✅ Using EVPs to find more candidates and make more placements
✅ What to do with your clients to get more vacancies
✅ Changes you can make to your BD activities to continue winning new clients
✅ How you’ll need to treat your team in the new world
There’s a lot at stake here but it’s not hard to steer your way through with relative ease.
Bottom line is – when the going gets tough, the tough get going and that’s what we’ll be showing you how to do.
Whether you want to change to scale up, become more profitable, win more new clients or attract better employees there are four obstacles you ALWAYS have to overcome.
We see it all the time. The owner of a recruitment company is keen to develop their firm but it just doesn’t happen.
Or it does for a bit, then it peters out and they go back to solely working “in” their business.
If you only overcome 3 out of these four obstacles your chances of success are still very remote.
Beat them all and it’s harder to fail than succeed.
So here they are: -
- Focus: no clear idea of what you want the business to look like and no plan to achieve it
- Knowledge: lacking the detailed know-how of what to change and how to change it
- Time: lack the time to work “on” your business to make the necessary changes
- Discipline: little or no accountability so discipline wains over time.
In today's #MARShow we explore these in detail and how you can beat them all.
Having a change framework means you’ll build a “habit of change” so the results you want will eventually come.
Remember, the more you work “on” your business today, the less you need to work “in” your business tomorrow.
They say that what happens in the USA is bound to happen here shortly afterwards.
So what is happening in the US recruitment world?
If you’d like to know, please tune into our final episode of the Mike Ames Recruitment Show before the summer break.
I have leading American recruitment industry podcaster Benjamin Mena on the show to spill the beans.
Benjamin interviews leading lights in US recruitment on his podcast the Elite Recruiter, so is well placed to share what’s happening across the pond.
Amongst other things we look at: -
💥 What it’s like to offer recruitment services in the US
💥 New innovations in rec software
💥 How AI is starting to have an effect
💥 The hot and cool spots in the US market
💥 What are the cool US rec firms doing these days.
He also answers any questions fired at him about what it’s like to work in the US markets.
His is one of the few rec podcasts I listen to because the content is so good.
So, please join us for a decidedly Stateside edition of the #MARShow.
Podcasting is everywhere, but have you ever wondered why people bother, and how they make theirs popular in their community.
Well, wonder no more because we have Rob Tyson as our guest on the #MARShow this week.
Rob is a respected search consultant but also happens to host the number one podcast in the mining sector.
He shares with us the following: -
❶ how he became the number one
❷ how often he posts an edition of his show
❸ How he chooses his topics and gets his guests
❹ What it takes to produce and then promote each episode of the show.
Many people think we don’t like podcasts. Au contraire, we just say they work better alongside a Livestream or other event that people can subscribe to.
As you will learn, having a well-known podcast in your sector is a massive benefit especially when targeting new clients. And it isn’t as complex and time-consuming as you might think.
So many people have already, or would very much like to, switch across to a retained recruitment model.
But it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Sure, the reward is obvious: a massive boost in profits because you convert more vacancies into revenue, usually on higher fees.
But there are two problems: how do you persuade people to go retained and delivering a retained service is very different to delivering on a contingent basis.
I know of at least half a dozen recruiters who have won retained work but then tackled it like a contingent search with disastrous results.
The results I refer to are an empty shortlist, a totally rejected shortlist and more blow-outs than is acceptable.
So, we have invited two seasoned search consultancy owners onto the show: Lee DeSouza and Ward Hampton.
Both are very successful search consultants in their own right as well as being company owners.
We’ll be drawing on their experience to answer two simple questions: -
✅ How do you persuade people to buy a retained solution from you
✅ How is a retained service different from a contingent one.
I cannot stress how important knowing these two things are.
You need to win more retained work, but you also need to be successful in delivering it.
Part of running a successful business is to have a pipeline of potential business stretching into the future, which is easier said than done!
But that’s what we’ll be discussing in this #MARShow.
These are the things we’ll be covering: -
❶ The difference between Relationship and Revenue pipelines.
❷ How to keep your pipelines topped up.
❸ How to manage your pipelines to fruition.
If you feel you don’t have enough future visibility over your upcoming work, this episode is for you.
I often talk about the three most important priorities in a business: profit, value and safety. Well, strong pipelines tick each of those boxes.
Who wouldn’t want to go to sleep at night with all the comfort a soft duvet and a strong pipeline can give you?
I love talking to successful people especially if they’ve achieved things I have not.
As they say, “If you’re the most successful person in the room… … you’re in the wrong room” because you’ll be the teacher, not the pupil.
On thi #MARShow we are privileged to have Justin McGuire founder and CEO of MCG Talent.
It's worth just tuning in to hear Justin’s journey from a marketing agency specialist to an agency owner with licences in the UAE, KSA, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
He shares his story with us but that’s not why we’re asking him onto the show
Justin has done two things I believe many people aspire to do: -
✅ Build a business in four foreign countries.
✅ Convert from a 360 to a Layered Recruitment model (with astounding effects)
We ask him how he achieved these feats, the pitfalls he made along the way, and the things he would do differently a second time.
So, much to learn and so much to take away and use immediately.
Some of you may have seen Justin on LinkedIn, he is an open, engaging, and very knowledgeable speaker and we’re looking forward to interviewing him.
What question would you like to ask Justin?
Most recruitment companies fail to scale for the same reason. The owner has a recruiter mentality rather than a scalability mentality.
If you own a recruitment company (even if you are a solopreneur), and you have a recruiter mentality you’re pushing water uphill.
Step one on your journey to scale is to adopt and nurture a scalability mentality.
This is the subject of this #MARShow: what is a Scalability Mentality, and how can you get one.
A scalability mentality has 7 parts to it, and we’ll reveal all of them. I wonder how many of them you already have?
Anyhoozle, just to get you started here are the first three: -
❶ A deep belief that your business is there to serve you, and not the other way around.
❷ You are as strategic as you are tactical (you need to be both).
❸ You feel no guilt for working “on” the business and taking time off for yourself.
These are the easy ones but there are others you need to know about.
Adopt a scalability mentality and I believe it’s harder NOT to scale than it is to scale.
The thing I am most proud of achieving with my clients is changing them from a recruiters who own a business, to a business owners who just happen to do recruitment.
There is a world of difference between the two, and I want you to be the latter.
Client care is one of those topics very much misunderstood by some recruiters. It is NOT the act of getting vacancies off clients. The actual definition is the opposite – client care is what you do with clients when they have no vacancies for you. Research around client care overwhelmingly points to many clients not being happy with the attention they get from their suppliers. This breeds a thing called “perceived indifference” (you do care but your clients think you don’t because of your actions). In turn, perceived indifference often leads to clients giving vacancies to other agencies leaving you out of pocket. In this episode of the hashtag#MARShow we’ll be explaining what real client care consists of, if you want to be your client’s natural first choice agency. This is called Apex Client Care and it’s how I made most of my money in recruitment. We’ll explore the following: - 💥 The research around this fascinating topic. 💥 How to grade your clients. 💥 How you build strong business relationships. 💥 How to get more vacancies than your competition. 💥 How to make sure your team are properly looking after their clients. 💥 How to get more exclusive or retained work from existing clients. 💥 How to move up the chain and get bigger roles from them. A lot to cover but then again, it’s a very important part of your business. I’ll leave you with this. My first business went from zero to £5m turnover in 5 years. In the next 5 years we went from £5m to £40m. That growth was down to Strategic BD combined with Apex Client Care. Can you afford to miss this one?
-- THE SUMMIT --
To find out more about the Summit click here - https://www.recruitmentpioneers.com/summits --
GET IN TOUCH --
▹Flair Homepage:- http://www.recruitmentpioneers.com
▹LinkedIn:-
- Mike: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mspames
- Kirsty: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstyames/
Get your commission scheme wrong and you’ll either make less money or attract less top talent.
Get it right and it can boost your profits.
But what options do you have, and what are the popular schemes out there these days?
Our guest on the MARShow is Carl Jones, founder and CEO of Konquest and an expert on commission schemes.
Obviously, commission payments are one of the most important motivators for recruiters so you have to get it right.
And that’s where Carl comes in.
He’s forgotten more about commission schemes than I ever knew!
We’ll be exploring such things as: -
✅ What the most popular schemes are these days
✅ Thresholds and accelerators
✅ Paying on GP or Contribution
✅ The most and least popular schemes at the moment for 360s and layered models
✅ What percentage of the GP should you be paying.
If you employ recruiters (or plan to anytime soon) this show is for you.
It’s widely accepted that when it comes to recruitment the less you focus on, the more money you make. In other words, you have to niche up. But how do you do this? Well, that’s the theme of our next show. We’ll be looking at: - 💥 The Pros and cons of operating a niche. 💥 How you select your niche. 💥 How you build your niche. 💥 The best way to promote and sell your niche. I think building a niche is easier said then done, but it is doable and I’ll be showing you how. One of my team, when I owned a rec firm, had a niche that not only bought in about half the company’s profits but also had new clients ringing her! Operating a niche in recruitment is well worth doing because: - ✅ you’ll make more profit. ✅ you’ll win more new clients with less effort. ✅ candidates will seek you out, not just the other way round. ✅ it can also help you to by-pass the dreaded preferred supplier lists. So, join Kirsty and me in the next #MARShow and find out how to niche up.
If you use an automailer from your CRM system or a product like Mailchimp, many of your emails won’t hit the recipients inbox.
Worse still, your current email policies may unwittingly be making the situation worse.
This is because the ESPs (email service providers) and ISPs (internet service providers) are desperately trying to reduce the amount of spam their clients receive.
Their spam-checkers are becoming increasingly sensitive, and yet you can easily avoid many of their traps.
This week's guest on the #MARShow is Nick Butcher whose job is to get more of his recruiter clients emails into the intended recipients inbox.
He’ll be explaining three massively important things: -
❶ How the ISPs and ESPs decide if an email is (rightly or wrongly) spam.
❷ The common mistakes many recruiters are making in their mass-email policies.
❸ What simple steps you can take to vastly increase the chances of your email hitting the recipients inbox.
Email is far a more cost-effective sales tool than any other channel, and yet you could probably make it soooo much more effective.
More emails hitting a client or candidates inbox means more revenue. Simple as that.
One of the big debates in recruitment right now is 360 or Layered.
They both have their pros and cons, question is, which is best for you?
Well in this episode of the hashtag#MARShow we will aim to shine the torch in all the dark corners of both models.
In the red corner will be Max Learmonth a keen supporter of the 360 approach.
In the blue corner is my good self, very much a devotee of the Layered model.
We’ll be looking at the best and worst parts of both models and also how to convert from 360 to Layered.
Furthermore, we’ll also explore whether it’s possible to run both models side by side.
This is going to be for you if a) you’re not sure which is the best model for you or b) you are dissatisfied with the model you currently use.
This is all about building a safe, profitable business that doesn’t need you in it all the time and will make you wealthy one day.
There’s a lot at stake!
By the end of the show, I believe you’ll have a very clear idea of the implications of both models and which is best for you.
PS There is some “frank and honest” exchanges between me and Max.
Would you like to hear how the owner of a recruitment company trebled his profits but reduced his headcount by 20%?
He’d been running his firm for 20 years but then made the decision to convert to a Factory model.
And that’s when things began to change.
He opted for a blended fulfilment function that was part 360 and part layered, and it operates like clockwork.
We are honoured to have Matt Ellis of ENG as our guest on this #MARShow.
He’s going to share: -
✅ Why he decided to make the change to a Factory model.
✅ How he blended 360s with a layered team.
✅ What changes he made
✅ How he convinced his team this was the right way forward.
✅ A high level view of the salary/commission arrangements
✅ What he thinks caused this enormous boost in profits.
Oh, and one more thing. Last year Matt’s firm only lost one person from his 40 strong team.
So, listen in if you want to boost profits, stabilize your team and be in complete control of a business that needs you less.
We know that teams that stay together longer become more productive and so more profitable. But how do you do this? Simple, by becoming a sticky employer. This makes it easy for you to attract, retain and motivate the right people. In this edition of the hashtag#MARShow we will be exploring exactly how you do this. The key factors we’ll discuss are: - 1️⃣ the type of people you employ 2️⃣ your selection process 3️⃣ your EVP (includes rewards, culture etc) But there’s one more thing you can do that costs nothing and yet will give you all you need to become stickier. Create an offboarding experience. By asking the right questions in the right way, you can understand the changes you need to become stickier. This isn’t the old exit interview where you tick a few boxes and wish them well. This is encouraging your soon-to-be-erstwhile employee to actively criticise anything they feel needs to change. And what’s more, you’ll thank them for doing so. To dig deep into this powerful tool, we’ll be joined by Jake Holt, a keen advocate of offboarding. Added bonus: offering this service to your clients is a real differentiator!
What makes a great recruiter and how can you discover whether the person you’re interviewing is one or not?
That’s the theme of today'sMike Ames Recruitment Show.
Over the years I’ve employed well over 100 recruiters and estimate I’ve interviewed over 1000.
I’ve learned some very hard lessons along the way (some cost me a lot of money).
But I believe it comes down to a handful of characteristics and some key interview questions to bring them out.
So we start by exploring the characteristics I believe all great recruiters have.
Then we give you some questions that you can ask in interviews that may help discover whether they will be able to cut it or not.
We all know how expensive it is in time, money and distraction if you hire the wrong people – this show should help keep these to a minimum.
If the gods decreed all the possessions I'd gathered over the years were to be taken off me, except for one thing it would be this.
My network, because with that intact I could get all my other assets back over time.
That's the power of a strong network - it makes it easier and quicker to get things done.
The problem is, the concept of modern networking has been so watered down that it's hardly recognisable now.
In this #MARShow we intend to put that right.
I'll be showing you what Real Networking is, not the "attending events and swapping business cards" version that appears popular today.
We'll be explaining: -
✅ What a Real Network is and how Real Networking is done efficiently.
✅ How to decide who to add to your network.
✅ How to get people to want to help you so you can profit from your network
✅ How to use all the modern apps and tools to make Real Networking easy.
✅ How to spot tyre-kickers who just want to take from you but won't give in return.
BTW if you hate going to so-called networking events, I'll also show you that you don't need to do that to grow a strong network.
What we'll be showing you are the techniques used to grow networks used by the ancient Greeks onwards - just with better tech these days.
Yes/No answer: do you enjoy attending networking events?
PS I'm not a fan myself.
Would you like to know what you have to do to recruit and retain the best recruitment talent out there? If so, check this out.
Lysha Holmes (www.linkedin.com/in/lyshaholmesr2r) is our guest on this week’s show.
She is a skilled and experienced rec-to-rec professional who has many years’ experience of recruiting recruiters.
On the show we focus on drawing upon her vast knowledge and experience in 4 areas: -
❶ What is the market like for hiring recruiters and which direction is it going?
❷ What do agencies have to offer to attract the best recruiters?
❸ What are the common reasons candidate recruiters are giving for seeking a new job?
❹ If you want to hire rookies, what professions should you recruit from?
I’m super excited about this episode because I know it will make a big difference to recruitment companies who are keen to scale.
Let’s face it, you can’t build a business without hiring and retaining the right team.
One of the biggest complaints I get from recruitment leaders is “I don’t have enough time to do everything”.
If this is you, this show is for you.
In the fast-paced world of recruitment, time is our most valuable asset, but the modern world conspires against us.
Countless emails flooding your inbox, a never-ending to-do list, firefighting, BD, client care and supporting your team – how can you fit everything in?
In this edition of the #MARShow Julia Doherty is going to be sharing five proven and practical tips tailored specifically for busy recruiters to achieve more results in less time.
Julia will be exploring the following: -
✅ How to control your inbox (not the other way round).
✅ Social media on your terms.
✅ Practice effective communication and so eliminate procrastination.
✅ How to leverage technology and automation (touching on AI).
✅ The ABC of time management. Work smarter, not harder.
These tips allow you to focus on what truly matters: growing your business or spending more “me” time doing whatever you want.
So, say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to being in control – you’ll achieve more and be significantly less stressed if you do.
When you run a recruitment firm the dream is to sell it but, how likely is this to happen and how much will it be worth?
In this episode of the #MARShow we will answer both questions.
We’ll also share the characteristics of recruitment companies that are particularly attractive to potential buyers.
Well, when I say “we” I mean our special guest, Carl Swansbury, founder and Head of Corporate Finance of corporate finance house Ryecroft Glenton Corporate Finance.
Carl has bought and sold dozens of recruitment companies on behalf of his clients, so he knows a thing or two about it.
In the show we drill into: -
✅ how do you value a recruitment company?
✅ what makes a recruitment company attractive to buyers?
✅ when should you begin to prepare for a sale?
This is for anybody who hates attending networking events or feels they don’t get very much from them.
The good news is they are optional.
A Real Network is a group of people who are willing and able to help you in your personal, and professional lives.
Real Networking is the act of building and maintaining that network.
But why bother?
Because getting introductions and finding help when you need it, are the easiest ways to grow your business.
When I started in recruitment, I was on the phone all the time, but my boss (who never made cold calls) had a steady stream of leads phoned in to him.
I asked him how this could be, and he said, “because I’ve spent years building relationships with people who like me, trust me and want to help me”.
I spent the next few years doing the same, and look what happened!
So in this Mike Ames Recruitment Show we are going to dig deep into Real Networking.
Our resident Real Networking coach Pete Ames is our guest and he’ll focus on three things that will get you started.
You have two choices: work hard forever or build a Real Network and let it do the hard work for you.
Ever considered an MBO as either an exit strategy, or as a way of taking over the firm from your boss one day?
Well, our next guest is Alan Shave who several years ago, successfully completed an MBO with his colleagues.
The process of a MBO is more complicated than many believe and is fraught with danger on both sides.
But Alan and his team steered their way through successfully, and now the business is flourishing.
He will talk us thru the process, explain the dangers to watch out for and give as many useful pointers as he can.
However, that’s not all.
Alan’s company has a very low turnover of staff, well below the industry norm.
Plus, he’s also going to share how his Employee Value Proposition (EVP) makes his firm a sticky employer.
But that’s not all: Alan’s team are NOT paid on commission – can’t wait to hear all about that then!
Wouldn’t it be great to know how to attract and keep some excellent recruiters without the distraction of a commission scheme?
I love a good case study and this one is going to be a doozey!
Probably the most common obstacle to growing a recruitment company right now is a lack of suitable candidates.
Just imagine how much more money you could make if you could find more talent and then place them (the easy part).
In this #MARShow our guest is marketing expert, James Whitelock who specialises in marketing techniques to attract candidates.
During the show, James shares the methods he uses with his clients, to attract more placeable candidates.
Amongst other things we discuss: -
✅ How to make your agency more attractive to candidates.
✅ The best way to reach and communicate with candidates.
✅ How personalisation of your messages can boost candidate attraction.
✅ Candidate communities and other places where they hang out.
✅ The use of influencer marketing techniques.
✅ Leveraging AI to reach more candidates.
Along the way we also touch on storytelling, the use of video and audio channels and much more.
If you’re looking for ideas, tips, tools or techniques to attract more candidates, this is the show for you.
Imagine you had a magic wand that instantly made you better at sales pitches, calls, emails, presentations, proposals et al. There is, and it’s called AIDA.
AIDA is a simple technique you can use when you want somebody (who doesn’t know you very well) to do something you want.
Hence, it’s brilliant in all things sales and marketing.
Anytime you have a “call to action” you want people to accept, AIDA is there for you.
It stands for:
✅ Grab ATTENTION
✅ Create INTEREST
✅ Build DESIRE
✅ Agree to ACTION.
AIDA was invented by Elias St.Elmo Lewis in 1913 so it’s stood the test of time and works as well now as when it was invented.
In this edition of the #MARShow, we’re going to explain what AIDA is, how it works and how you can use it to be more effective at sales and marketing.
In a world where social media and email noise is deafening, you can use AIDA to cut through it all and engage with the people you want to reach.
Another real benefit is that it simplifies all sales and marketing activities so even those with less ability can still deliver great results.
Anybody like that in your team?
If I could only use one marketing technique it would be AIDA!
Recruiters, did you know there are two kinds of BD: strategic and tactical.
You need both, they’re very different and most recruiters only do tactical.
This show is on this subject but let me quickly explain the difference between the two.
TACTICAL BD Is either, “giz a job” or “I’ve got this great candidate…” by message or phone. In other words vacancy scraping or candidate speccing.
You need this because when done properly it can make money in the short term.
But there are 5 drawbacks with tactical BD: -
❶ It rarely wins high value clients who value their agencies.
❷ It’s a treadmill you have to stay on – hunt vacancy, fill vacancy, repeat.
❸ It only works well when demand outstrips supply.
❹ Few people are really good at it. Most recruiters hate and avoid it.
❺ If you make contact when there are no vacancies you get nothing.
STRATEGIC BD Focuses on building relationships with buyers who prefer your flavour of recruitment.
It works with high value clients regardless of the state of the market and whether there are live vacancies or not.
Also, when organised properly, one strategic BDer can feed a medium sized company.
Process and tools make it relatively easy to do.
On the downside it’s a lot longer conversion process so the results take longer to show.
Why bother then?
BECAUSE YOU WIN MORE HIGH-VALUE CLIENTS WHO FEED YOUR ORGANISATION WITH VACANCIES INSTEAD OF HAVING TO CHASE THEM ALL THE TIME!
Websites are like food processors, everybody has one, but few of us really know how to use them fully. Yet, learning just a few tricks can deliver some great results.
In this episode of the #MARShow we’re delighted to welcome Rob Garner, a seasoned expert in optimizing websites.
We'll be sharing free or low-cost changes that can bring in more candidates and boost your BD effectiveness.
There’ll be a mix of changes you can make yourself but, if you have a web developer, we'll also share more technical changes you can ask them to implement for you.
Watch the show to learn from Rob how to: -
✅ Boost your credibility making your job as a salesperson easier.
✅ Make your team more prominent (people buy from people).
✅ Attract more candidates and potential clients to the site.
✅ Increased interactions with clients & candidates.
✅ Understand what’s working and what needs improving on your site.
✅ An introduction to all the easy-to-use Google tools.
So, if you feel you could be getting more from your website then please join us and learn how to make it work hard for you.
Like any tool, your website is only effective if it’s used properly. Join us and find out how.
Whether you’re a solo recruiter with ambition or have hit that 3 or 4 employee mark and got stuck, you may be wondering how you can scale up.
Scaling a recruitment business is soooooo much more than just adding staff and turnover. If that’s all you do, there’s a very good chance your company will lose its shape as it grows.
That means one or more of the following: -
❌ staff motivation and happiness levels drop
❌ client satisfaction falls and competition share grows
❌ profit doesn’t grow at the same pace as turnover
❌ a feeling that you’re not entirely in control
The effect of these symptoms can be higher staff turnover; slower growth, more work, more stress but less rewards. You can even lose clients!
The bottom line is you can’t create a butterfly by making a caterpillar fatter. It needs to transform and so does your business.
In this #MARShow we explain the 5 key things you need to change to make your business properly scalable.
Listen to this show if you want to break the link between how much you work and how much you earn.
Having seen many highly profitable recruitment companies the majority have one really big thing in common.
They have stable, empowered, motivated and highly equipped teams.
“Get outta here Sherlock”, I hear you cry. Obvious, yes, but since most recruitment companies aren’t highly profitable, it’s clearly hard to do.
There are several factors involved, such as: -
- 360 vs Layered fulfilment team
- Management style
- The mission, values and culture of your company
- How you qualify and hire people
- Reward and development of the team
In this episode of the hashtag#MARShow my guest will be Ruth Forster, founder and MD of Wagstaff Recruitment.
Like me she has worked in stable and unstable teams (her current team is very stable), so we have plenty to discuss.
OK, I accept that a stable team is not the only factor in building a highly profitable team, but it’s certainly the foundation on which to do so.
On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 10 (Key) tell us how important you think a stable team is.
If you’re a solopreneur recruiter or own a small recruitment firm and want to break the link between the hours you work and what you earn then this show is important.
Virtual teams are a great way to grow your business without committing to permanent staff, plus you can now hire people anywhere on the planet.
But this approach does come with some risks, which is why we are covering it in today's Mike Ames Recruitment Show.
Our guest is Ward Hampton who successfully runs a virtual team.
He’s an English search consultant, lives in Peru, services clients in North America, EMEA & Asia-Pacific and employs zero staff.
However, he has a team of 5 people spread across the globe.
We will ask him the following questions: -
❶ Why did he choose to run a virtual team and what are the benefits?
❷ Who’s in his team and what do they do?
❸ Where does he find his people from?
❹ How does he manage the team?
❺ What lessons has he learned along the way?
Bottom line here is, virtual teams can help you grow quickly, but it needs to be done in the right way.
Do that and you can easily break the link between hours and money. In other words you can scale up.
For some years now, the only people who did cold calls were the ones that liked doing it or were forced into it.
The market was good, active clients were feeding in new vacancies, email marketing was working OK and LinkedIn was also very productive.
But two things have happened to change that: -
❶ the market tightened up
❷ AI started generating a lot more content (including cold intro emails)
In other words, there’s more sales activity but less work to win – something has to change.
And, ladies and gentlemen, that change is to pick up the phone more.
Now, some companies out there have based their growth strategies on calling prospects, so no change for those guys.
But many other recruiters have either not done very much calling or have done it badly.
2024 means more calling people you want to work with. “But surely this is cold-calling and you hate cold calling Mike”, you may be thinking. I do but everything is not what it seems – who said they have to be cold calls?
Well, on this #MARShow Kirsty and I are joined by famed recruitment trainer Kate O'Neill (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateoneill-recruitment-coaching/) to talk about making outreach calls to prospective clients.
✅ How you can make a cold call into a warm call (much more productive)
✅ How to get sales people to make more outreach calls
✅ The structure of an outreach call
✅ Getting round gatekeepers
✅ Getting the recipient to give you time to speak
And much more too.
Simple question for you: do you like outreach calling?
We all want to improve our profitability and one way to do this is build offshore people into your team, but how do you do this successfully?
Well, that’s the topic of our next Mike Ames Recruitment Show: offshoring for beginners.
It’s also for those who’ve tried it, and it didn’t work out.
On this, we’ll be exploring the reasons offshore projects often fail, so you can avoid them yourself.
Like most things, there’s a way to approach using offshore people that will significantly increase your chances of success.
So, we’ve invited Ketan Gajjar, (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ketangajjar/) founder and MD of RPO Arena to share the secrets of a successful outsource project.
This is what we cover: -
❶ Why offshoring often fails to work.
❷ Tasks and roles you can move offshore and the results you can expect.
❸ The commercial arrangements.
❹ How to measure and manage offshore people.
❺ Taking the first steps.
With harder times expected, now is a great time to embrace offshore and see how it can support your business.
When done properly, you not only get great results for less cost, but getting experienced people is considerably easier than finding equivalent people in the UK.
360 recruiters have been the mainstay of the industry for years, but things are changing now because as a model it’s unreliable.
How can this be? I hear you cry.
Well, 80%+ of the recruitment companies out there have less than 10 staff, growth is clearly a problem.
Good 360s are hard to find, hard to make yourself and hard to keep.
And if they go, they’re going to take a big chunk of your revenue with them. This creates yoyo companies that grow and shrink as people come and go.
Plus, they say they’re 360s in the interview, but only later do you discover that they are weak in BD or client care (not 360s at all).
The alternative is called a Layered Model. Forget the old 180, 270, 360 malarkey and get into layers instead.
In next week’s edition of the #MARShow we are going to delve into: -
✅ In most cases why the 360 model is broken
✅ What a Layered Model looks like
✅ How this affects your comms structure
✅ How you convert from pure 360 to a blend of 360 and Layered
Sure, we’ve had some very big successes with layering larger companies (doubling or even trebling their net profit) but it’s ideal if you want to start or grow a small business too.
If you’re fed up of hiring 360s who aren’t really, and losing people then seeing your revenues dip – this show is for you.
LAYERED = more profit and less stress. What’s not to like?
CHALLENGE: if anybody who believes in the 360 model wants to join us on the show to debate it with me, just DM me.
Every now and then you meet somebody who achieves great things but think themselves ordinary. Wendy Merricks is one such person.
This is her story.
A story that just culminated in the successful sale of her business to an investment company.
Wendy has more recruitment experience than anybody I know, including me!
She worked for Software Knowledge, my first Recruitment company, in the 90s and was not only a brilliant recruiter and businesswoman but was also great fun too.
After the sale of SK to Modis she left to build her own business, Jumar, and what a success that turned out to be!
We’ll be discussing her career, what has made her so successful and the key lessons she has learnt along the way.
I guess we’ll also talk about the sale of her business too. Lot’s to learn there!
You may be particularly interested in the way she developed from being a recruiter to becoming a businessperson – a transition we all have to make to be successful.
She’s a brilliant guest and I’m so looking forward to having her on the show. What a great way to start the year!
So, if you’re looking for inspiration, ideas or just a few simple tips, this is a must listen!
Not having a noticeable fear of failure and 35 years doing the same thing, teaches you an awful lot.
Well, it’s time to share the best bits.
Quite frankly, I’ve learnt more by working closely with over 100 recruitment company owners than I did building and selling my own two recruitment firms.
One thing I have learnt is that recruitment is easy but business is hard.
By that I mean it’s full of attractive cul-de-sacs.
These are decisions you make believing they are 100% the best way forward, only to find yourself in a dead-end, and having to back out and try again.
These false-starts cost you time and money and too many of them can damage your credibility with your team.
I should know, I think I have made them all, some more than once.
So in our final #MARShow of 2023 I will be looking back over 35 years in recruitment and sharing the lessons I’ve learnt.
Such things as: -
✅ How to be a sticky employer
✅ What to do when you’re overwhelmed, confused and out of your depth
✅ How I very nearly went bankrupt and how to avoid it
✅ What created our stellar growth – zero to £40m in a decade.
✅ How to thrive in a flat market like this one (I‘ve worked through 3 of them).
Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, so this show is 100% about the future not the past.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt in business❓
Youtube link - https://youtu.be/LJAVkA4fM-s
Picture this. You’re discussing terms with a new prospect. They want as much as possible for as little as possible. You want retained and a good fee.
Even though you’re damned good at what you do, that often isn’t enough to win the deal on your terms. Bummer!
Well, our guest on the Mike Ames Recruitment Show has a blemish-free record of getting what she wants, using one simple tactic.
Michelle Theuma is a solopreneur recruiter who is good at what she does, and only wants to be paid her worth.
Win-win and no more.
She isn’t the least bit arrogant, doesn’t hold her clients hostage and never throws her toys out of the pram, but she does present what she can do in a very persuasive way.
And she’s on the show to tell us all how she does it.
There’s more to this than threatening to hold your breath until you pass out, if the client doesn’t give you want you want (BTW, that’s a metaphor).
Years of trial and error have given Michelle an approach that works – now it’s your turn to give it a go.
12 months ago, The recruitment world changed utterly and forever – CHATGPT launched and incited an arms race. Where it will all end up is still to be seen, but in just one year, the world has witnessed a surge in AI-driven services, particularly in recruitment. ATS & CRM systems have integrated AI into many of their services. (or at least their marketing says they have) Thousands of custom SaaS platforms have been released for annual or monthly subscriptions. Question is, which are worth it? During 2023 many recruiters have leveraged these tools to accelerate tasks, enhance efficiency, elevate standards, and increase profitability. Others have barely scratched the surface. In our next Mike Ames Recruitment Show, Pete will be joining us to dive deep into the trends we've seen around AI implementation by recruiters and where he thinks the next big thing will come from. Click through to find out more and register. But come or not, is there a shiny bit of recruitment AI Tech that you use and want to champion? Let me know below. hashtag#AIRevolution hashtag#RecruitmentInnovation hashtag#ChatGPTAnniversary hashtag#RecruitmentAI
Did you know that all of us have a way we prefer to buy things, and if suppliers sell to us in that way, they will be more successful?
It’s called our Buying Style.
Knowing how to spot, and then sell to a person’s buying style, is a bit like cheating, and will give you a massive competitor advantage.
It makes sense when you think about it.
We’re all motivated differently, so trying to persuade us to do something in a standard way is bound to deliver different results with different people.
That’s because we need to be approached according to our buying style.
Get this right and you are much more likely to get what you want. Basic persuasion skills really.
In this week’s Mike Ames Recruitment Show, Kirsty and I will be explaining: -
֍ what the 5 buying styles are
֍ how you work out a buyer’s style
֍ how you sell to a buyer based upon their buying style
All of us have a primary buying style and most of us have a secondary style too. Plus, our styles may change according to what we are buying.
Added bonus: you can use it to persuade your kids to clear up their mess before bedtime!
Want to be more successful when you’re pitching then this is the show for you.
BTW, my primary style is CHARISMATIC and secondary is THINKER – quite an unusual pairing.
Over 80% of recruiters never bill more than £1m a year, so those who do must have a secret growth sauce. Like to know what it is?
Our next guest on the #MARShow is Roheel Ahmad, founder and MD of Forsyth Barnes.
Started 8 years ago, they are now an international perm business with a turnover of £20m.
Roheel will be talking about his journey and the things he does differently. We’ll be looking at how his staff attraction and retention system enabled his growth and means he’s only lost 2 people in 8 years.
We’ll also be exploring how he set up offices in the USA and is planning on doing the same in the Middle East.
This is a must for anybody looking to trade abroad, especially in America. And he’ll be sharing how his BD engine is tracking 50% growth for 2023.
I’m particularly excited about this section because I believe that 2024 will be the year of BD.
I’m personally very excited about having Roheel as our guest, he’s switched on, tuned in and very much on top.
Everybody has to write job ads from time to time, some more than others, but could they be better? Well, the stakes are high because we know great ads attract better candidates.
We also know that everybody’s attention span has diminished so it’s increasingly hard to attract attention.
Question: has your attention span diminished over the last few years?
In truth, the words you use have a massive effect on the stickiness of anything you write.
The same goes for blogs, long-form LinkedIn posts and even candidate profiles, but especially job adverts.
My question is: could we be better at writing them? I suspect the answer is “yes” (well, I know it is for me).
To help, we’ve invited Anna Iveson, an expert in writing ads, onto the show.
Her tips and advice can be applied to most online copy, but we are focusing in on adverts.
֍ How to grab attention
֍ Building interest in the role
֍ Increasing the chances of people responding to your ads
In these challenging times, the power of the written word is only going to increase!
Growing your revenues is easy, right? Hire more people and they will do more business. But there’s a problem. 82% of recruitment companies have less than 10 staff and half of those are solopreneurs. In other words, if growth was as easy as hiring people, a lot more recruitment firms would have more than 10 staff. There are several reasons for this, but the biggest is they outgrow their management strength. Service levels can drop, staff motivation plummets, and your reputation takes a bashing. But the worst side-effect is a drop in profits – crazy right? More turnover but less profit, but it happens way too often. One way to avoid this is put more effort into increasing your revenues but keeping your costs the same. In other words, become more productive and that’s what this #MARShow is focusing on. 7 ways you can lift your revenues but keep your costs the same. And remember, 80% of the additional revenue goes straight to the bottom line. One of my clients tripled his profits and reduced his headcount by 20% following these strategies! That’s a lot of extra profit there guys. To get a reminder of when we go live just click the ATTEND button. Why not spend the next three months focusing on profit instead of chasing turnover and see what happens!
If you presented your offering to 100 people all at once, approximately 5 would be open to a pitch, 50 would blank you, and 45 would be like, “maybe but not now”.
These are called the “Forgotten 45%”, and they hold potentially 9 times the revenue you get from those ready to buy right now.
YES, A POTENTIAL 900% LEAP IN YOUR REVENUES!
Maybe they don’t want to engage because it’s not the right time for them, or they need to know more about you, or even that they already have suppliers that do what you do.
Who knows, but what I do know is that each quarter some of the “Forgotten 45%” could drop into the “Fruitful 5%”, so what’s the problem?
Well, the problem is that in a world fixated with making money by the end of the month, most salespeople invest zero effort into the "Forgottens", and so miss out on a rich seam of business.
“Want to buy from me? No, OK, I’m off to the next then”. That’s a rookie error, right there.
In this Mike Ames Recruitment Show, we’ll be looking at how you can work with the Forgotten 45%, so that more of them become clients.
We start by explaining why most companies don’t tap this rich source of revenue.
Then we show you how to identify who they are, how to convert them into clients in record time, and how to spot the timewasters who need to be ignored.
It’s a simple system that anybody can implement; you’ll be surprised how easy it is.
Imagine the boost in revenue that could provide!
Everybody is looking for a silver bullet that will speed up winning high value clients. There is one, but most people ignore it.
Or, they know what it is, but dismiss it out of hand for a range of reasons (none of them are valid).
In this #MARShow we will be covering this very powerful BD tool – webinars.
See what I mean – your instant reaction was “not for me”.
But just bear me out on this.
Think about the benefits of webinars: -
✅ Free to run
✅ The guests provide all the content – you just ask the questions
✅ Easy to get attendees, and unlike podcasts you know who they are
✅ Created a powerful asset you can reuse
✅ We all know the tech now – Zoom
✅ You can outsource the whole thing – you just ask the questions
✅ The easiest way to start a conversation with decision makers
So in this episode we’re going to share how you run them, how you get attendees, how you choose the subjects and get the guests.
I’m also going to explain how you use them to start conversations with hard-to-reach decision makers.
We’ll be covering the whole shebang, so please don’t be so hasty to dismiss webinars without knowing the full story.
Have you ever signed up for a webinar?
Statistically you only place 1 in 5 contingent roles you work. For retained its closer to 98% and here’s how you convert to be retained.
But first a warning.
If you’ve been used to working contingent or even exclusive roles, making the jump to retained carries risks with it.
In this week’s #MARShow we have a double whammy.
Backdoor Barry Cullen will explain the costly pitfalls many people can fall into when they convert from contingent/exclusive to retained.
As Barry said to me, “people think they can use the same Tc and Cs for retained and they can’t. There are a whole load of extra terms they need for their own protection”.
Barry will go thru them with us, and explain the difference between exclusive and retained.
Also, for those who haven’t made the switch to retained yet, I’ll explain how to in three easy steps: -
❶ Build your retained product (and sales collateral)
❷ Know which roles to go for
❸ Learn how to convince hirers to buy your retained product
Think about this. Lets be kind and say you convert 1 in 3 contingent/exclusive roles in to fees.
By switching across to retained it goes up to nearly 1 in 1.
That means your NFI will increase by 200%.
Since your costs remain the same, most of that additional income drops straight to the bottom line.
BTW I’ll be explaining the very latest in recruitment productisation – the next step on from “good-better-best”.
Winning clients hasn’t been a big problem recently, but it will be if the recession bites hard.
Vacancy scraping and speccing candidates won’t be as effective, so what can you do?
That’s the theme of this week’s Mike Ames Recruitment Show – a proven system to win new clients in a recession.
Here’s a run down of what we cover: -
✅ Why vacancy scraping and candidate speccing won’t be as effective
✅ Why inbound referrals will drop
✅ A simple 5-part strategy for winning new clients in a recession
✅ Why you need to start building it, NOW
✅ A few tactics you can use to deliver some great results.
If you are overwhelmed with vacancies now, this probably seems like a waste of time. But believe me, when the recession comes, it’s going to be hard to keep the money coming in and re-engineer how you win new clients.
Like it or not video is here to stay and many have dabbled with it in one form or another.
But few have really made it work as an effective sales tool to win new clients, except for one person I know.
Jacob Ireson uses video to great effect as a potent sales tool and he’s on the Mike Ames Recruitment Show to share all his secrets.
He uses videos to boost sales in three key ways: -
❶ VIDEO MESSAGES – to cold and warm prospects as well as existing clients
❷ LINKEDIN POSTS – to communicate and engage with is community
❸ VIDEO PODCAST – not the usual format but it works for him
The video messages are perhaps the most powerful and Jacob shares his proven format and style of message.
This is for you if you’re thinking of using video or have already begun to dabble but want to see a greater return for the time you invest.
You’d have to live in a cave to not be aware of how powerful building an online community can be, especially for recruiters.
A tribe of people who have opted to join your WhatsApp, Facebook, Mighty or Six Circles group.
They post, comment and help other members where they can.
Each time you engage with your members another layer is added to the relationship bridge and when it’s strong enough you can ask for something you want.
Perhaps they’ll become clients or maybe candidates, or both.
But how do you create a membership group from scratch and, more importantly, get people to stay and contribute once they have joined?
Well, my guest on this #MARShow is James Hickman and he has done just that.
From a standing start he now has several groups with thousands of members.
He shares: -
✅ What platforms to use
✅ How to launch the group
✅ How you attract members
✅ The best way to encourage participation
✅ The rules you should set for the group
✅ How to benefit from a group
I have been blown away by the speed the group I am a member of has grown – now I get to see how he did it.
So, if you fancy building a group of clients and (more importantly) prospects, please listen.
There are a lot of recruitment companies in the UK – over 30k in fact. But, why are some successful and others not?
Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a discussion around this with somebody who speaks to 100s of recruitment company owners? Somebody who knows the “secret sauce” that makes one company succeed whilst others around it fail.
Well, now we can and his name is Hishem Azzouz. Podcastser, facilitator and generally all round good guy.
He is our guest on the #MARShow and it’s going to be a goodie.
We discuss the top characteristics that successful recruitment companies possess.
I’ll also throw in a few thoughts of my own, from personal experience.
It could be the attitude of the leaders. Or how they’re organised. Or the type of people they hire and how they manage them. Or a host of other things besides.
Why try to reinvent the wheel to be successful, when all we need to do is look at what others have done before us.
Probably the most common obstacle to growing a recruitment company right now is a lack of suitable candidates.
Just imagine how much more money you could make if you could find more talent and then place them (the easy part).
In this #MARShow our guest is marketing expert, James Whitelock who specialises in marketing techniques to attract candidates.
During the show, James will share the methods he uses with his clients, to attract more placeable candidates.
Amongst other things we’ll be discussing: -
✅ How to make your agency more attractive to candidates.
✅ The best way to reach and communicate with candidates.
✅ How personalisation of your messages can boost candidate attraction.
✅ Candidate communities and other places where they hang out.
✅ The use of influencer marketing techniques.
✅ Leveraging AI to reach more candidates.
Along the way I suspect we’ll also touch on storytelling, the use of video and audio channels and much more.
Whether you want to change to scale up, become more profitable, win more new clients or attract better employees there are four obstacles you ALWAYS have to overcome.
We see it all the time. The owner of a recruitment company is keen to develop their firm but it just doesn’t happen.
Or it does for a bit, then it peters out and they go back to solely working “in” their business.
If you only overcome 3 out of these four obstacles your chances of success are still very remote.
Beat them all and it’s harder to fail than succeed.
So here they are: -
- Focus: no clear idea of what you want the business to look like and no plan to achieve it
- Knowledge: lacking the detailed know-how of what to change and how to change it
- Time: lack the time to work “on” your business to make the necessary changes
- Discipline: little or no accountability so discipline wains over time
We explore these in detail and how you can beat them all.
Having a change framework means you’ll build a “habit of change” so the results you want will eventually come.
Remember, the more you work “on” your business today, the less you need to work “in” your business tomorrow.
Todays episode handles one of the great rivalries in modern business.
Marketing vs Sales.
We talk about Mikes hypocracy on the subject (always fun) and we dig into how you should really look to support your business development with marketing.
There's some tips on where to start, but great advice for anyone with a functioning marketing and sales teams that don't quite gel.
Virtual Assistants can take on a surprising number of tasks from you, leaving you free to do more of what makes you a success as a Recruitment leader.
Today we talk with two small business owners, Lee De Souza and Martyn Coton, on how they get value from virtual assistants.
Filled with ideas and tips, it's a great listen.
You can't do it all. No one can.
Mike learned this lesson the hard way, through a near nervous breakdown but thats another story for another day.
Once you understand the power of delegation, how to do it correctly and what you get back then your business will change.
Todays podcast we talk around and about this most vital of management skills.
I thought cybercriminals wanted to hit the big boys, steal a load of payment details and make off into the sunset.
Turns out I'm wrong.
They want to hit you and me, in all sorts of painful and expensive ways. Listen to find out where your risk is and the solutions.
Jonathan Miller of the cyber company Broken Stones explains it all.
Senior members of the team giving quick tips and guidance to juniors has really been the bedrock of many businesses training. This proximity training has taken a hit, and may not return.
But that doesn't mean you need to pay out to replace it.
Our guest, Diane Law is a leader in learning and development. She talks you through the options to replace this informal training in a way that retains the simplicity, and affordability.
Along with a few other inspirational ideas to boost the quality of your staff, your product and ultimately your customers satisfaction.
This week we will look at what happens when you audit your clients and find a few of them are wanting.
Dan is MD of Pertemps Network Catering, and will discuss how he saw turnover drop and profit go up by cutting away some poor performing clients.
He's not the only one to have seen this.
What will happen once Furlough ends?
We interview a Global HR director and former HR consultant about furlough, preparing for redundancies and what we can learn form China as it leaves lockdown.
Note: resources mentioned in the podcast can be found on flair.co.uk/recruitment-unpacked-070520
No one is 'fine'. Not in this current situation and we know that. So we reached out to someone who specialises in managing such situations.
Emma Dredge is a Mindfulness and mindset coach who works frequently with recrutiers. She speaks candidly about the signs of stress and how leaders can help their team manage them.
Alan Kenny ran the European arm of Mimecast, a legal technology business. A self confessed fan of proximity manangent he was forced to embrace remote management and he made an astounding success of it.
In this interview episode Alan shares his thoughts on what any leader can do to help their people through the Covid-19 crisis.
NOTE: this is the audio recording of a webinar held earlier in the year. it can be found on flair.co.uk/prospering-recruitment-downturn
During the recruitment downturn of the early 2000s Jumar Solutions, led by CEO Wendy Merricks, was the winner in Deloittes Fast 50 awards on four occasions.
Clearly, it’s possible for recruitment companies to prosper in more difficult trading conditions and Wendy is going to share the strategies she used to do it.
We’ll be discussing 4 simple things you can do to protect and actually boost your growth during a recruitment downturn. Wendy and Mike discuss each strategy, bringing to life how you can implement them. We also have a bit of a laugh.
- Spotting the signs
- Preparing your financial position
- Being a clients first choice for recruitment
- Protect your best people from poachers
Don't get me wrong, I love 360 recruiters as they are the most efficient type of recruiter. But building a business based purely on them will hinder your scalability, because they are:
- Hard to Find
- Hard to Manage
- Hard to Keep
and when they do leave, you lose your revenue stream.
In this podcast version of our webinar we talk through how building a factory model alongside your 360 model can offset these issues and unlock your growth.
In the UK, 0.2% of recruitment business are sold via Trade Sale - those aren't great odds.
- So what can you do to be more appealing to a buyer?
- How can you maximise the value you get?
- What can you do if trade sale isn't an option?
All these questions will be answered in this Podcast version of our webinar with guest panelist Carl Swansbury, Head of Corporate Finance for Ryecroft Glenton.
Carl has helped over 100 owners of recruitment and staffing businesses to exit their companies, and Mike has been one of the 0.2% twice, with combined headline sales of £40million.
Together they are going to give you the inside track on using your recruitment business to become financially independent