There’s no tougher or more rewarding career than recruitment. You can see that by the sheer number of consultants chasing every vacancy and the amount of recruitment start-ups that are springing up at a rapid rate; the latest data says 1500 a year in the UK. Add this to a predicted market growth rate of 30% over the next few years and you will appreciate the opportunity for recruiters.

Most recruitment consultants are taught that business development is the key part of being a successful recruitment consultant. It’s crucial that you are always seeking out new opportunities on a daily basis to ensure that your business development pipeline is full. But the really savvy recruiters know that something else is just as important; client retention.

Think logically about the growing recruitment market; if you’re not spending a significant amount of time servicing your regular clients every month (even if they are not recruiting), you’re giving other recruiters an opportunity to get a foot in the door.

So what’s the key to retaining your clients and ensuring you stay a big biller?

Exceed your client’s expectations

If you’re doing what is required by your client, great. But lots of other recruiters can do that too, so you still risk losing your client. But what if you exceeded your client’s expectations in everything you do? By doing this, you’re shutting the door on every other recruiter out there. What possible reason could your client have to leave you for when they are getting such a premium service?

But how, in practical terms does exceeding your client’s expectations look?

It means in everything you do, going the extra mile. It’s also about attention to detail, as this can really mark you out as a professional who cares. For example:

– Instead of simply emailing a handful of CVs to your client, if they are reasonably local why not print out some hard copies and take them to your client personally. You can discuss the merits of each candidate in person and you’ll be strengthening the relationship between you and your client

– Visit your client and find out about their business; in detail. Face to face wins out every time above a phone call. If you want to establish a long term relationship showing an interest in the business its goals and aspiration will make you stand out

– Make sure candidates are fully prepared; I mean FULLY. In one of our recent case studiesa client of ours referred to the fact that we stand out because all our candidates are fully briefed on the role and exactly what the client is looking for. Is this part of your process? If not, make sure you give it more attention.

The benefits?

Retaining clients means you can plan ahead with a reasonable amount of confidence. It’s a well-documented fact that regular clients are over 4 times easier to sell to as you already have an ongoing relationship. Imagine getting into the position eventually where you could hit your target Month on month simply from your regular clients?

Until next time,

Cheryl