As we near the end of 2011, it's a good time to reflect on your current business practices; what's working, and what you must change in order to increase revenue in the upcoming year. One of the key mistakes many agency recruiters make, year after year, is continuing to do the same process over and over, instead of tweaking it to gain the highest level of productivity. Let's talk about some basic tips to increase your billings in the new fiscal year, and how to grow professionally and financially in 2012.
1. Evaluate your relationships with Human Resources, with all of your valued clients. Contingency recruiters tend to have "stressed" relations with HR for a variety of reasons. HR Directors and Managers have the ability to completely shut out a recruiting agency, should they choose to. Take a look at each individual relationship with your clients, and determine whether it's time to connect with someone from HR. Create friends with them, and offer to provide them with value. As HR's role continues to expand and evolve in 2012, it's important to have them on your side, versus in an adversarial position.
2. Take the time to understand your client's internal recruiting process. Working as a headhunter or staffing specialist is about cultivating solid relationships with hiring companies. The days of making a "hard sell" in recruiting are long gone. In order to remain competitive, and garner respect from your clients, you must take a consultative approach to this relationship. To successfully accomplish this task, ask probing questions to uncover their needs. Offer viable solutions that address their pains.
3. Human Resources can be your best friend, or your worst enemy. Whether TPRs address it or not, the fact remains that HR is a powerful department within any organization. They have the ability to approve your partnership within their organization, or deny you altogether. Doesn't it make sense to partner with this group to gain more business from your current clients? Perhaps you're currently providing talent acquisition services for one department within a particular firm. With human resources buy-in, you could be managing the recruitment effort across the board. Work smarter, and increase your income potential.
In 2012, the importance of building solid relationships across organizations will be more important than ever. After all, as more technology-based solutions continue to flood the market, companies will realign their recruiting budgets to coincide with the latest, greatest tool that fills jobs. The only true way to differentiate yourself in the new year is to build better relationships, provide better customer service, and to deliver results.
Let RecruitAlliance connect your recruiting agency with viable, fee-eligible positions to fill. To learn more, visit the RecruitAlliance website.