When clients first approach Katy and me here at Centredexcellence, it starts by having a call where we uncover their hidden profit centres. 

We then identify that there are generally a few things going on. 

They are either: 

  • doing OK and want to scale,  
  • alternatively, all hell has broken loose, and they are experiencing feast and famine months. 

Sound familiar? 

When it comes to scaling and dominating your recruitment sector, there are a few critical areas to consider involving action on your part. 

You Make a Decision 

 

Everything starts with a decision, and your mindset is critical in helping you deliver your domination vision. 

A mentor of mine suggests that to create a thriving business, you must focus on mindset, marketing, sales and business strategy. 

No surprise that he starts with mindset when you consider that it impacts so much of what we achieve in our life. At Centredexcellence, Katy and I are pretty unique because this is an essential part of the way we work with clients. If you want to know more about that, get in contact here. 

Once the decision is made, let’s explore the five critical elements of domination. 

Go, Specialist  

One of the core principles we teach on our RockIt and Gamechangers programme is that the ‘money’ is in the niche. In other words, being a specialist recruiter will enable you to deliver the best service possible and at a fee that works for all concerned; especially you. 

Generalist recruiters end up fighting for contingency business with a host of other agencies all at a low fee  not exactly the fastest path to world domination. 

When we first talk to potential clients we often find they are working in multiple sectors, some as many as seven or eight and unfortunately none of them well. 

Fact: The World Wide Web delivers choice and opportunity, which means that everything has changed for consumers and organisations.  

The professional services sector in which recruiters reside is now full of specialists. At the click of a mouse, we can find a specialist in our field, and this includes the recruiting and staffing market too.  If you want your recruiting department to have these technology, you have to first start by looking for a good wordpress hosting service to get an stable website up and running.

The truth is that the ‘generalist’ approach isn’t attractive to candidates and clients anymore. 

From a candidate’s perception, a specialist recruiter is going to be an expert; they will work with the best companies and understand everything about their specialist area. 

Clients have a similar view, and, in a skillshort market, they assume, rightly, that you have a vast network they can access for the key employees they need. 

If you don’t start to specialise, you will struggle over the next 2-3 years as the market moves. 

Pick A Growing Sector 

 

A question then is, are you in the right specialist sector? 

One mistake people make is to set a massive financial goal in the wrong market. When it comes to business growth, there is a clue in the title! 

Can the market you operate in sustain the growth you need?  

Let’s say you operate locally, and HR is your niche. All good if it’s the centre of Birmingham or Manchester; probably not so good if you are in central Scotland with very few companies in the area where you can grow your position and market share. 

What if your sector is going to be impacted by the advent of A.I. and a reduced workforce is on the cards? All these factors will change what is possible for you.  

It’s OK having a goal of dominating your sector; however, if it’s going to be tiny, what’s the point? 

Get Marketing and Sales Working Like A Well-Oiled Machine 

The recruitment and staffing sector had a tough time in the recession ten years ago. However, we have now bounced back, and last year, over 40,000 companies were registered with companies’ house in the UK. 

Great news as these figures suggest we are in a buoyant market. However, with growth comes competition, which means old school recruiting won’t deliver the same results for you. 

It’s now critical to get your brand out in front of candidates and clients ahead of others; consistently. 

Gary Vaynerchuk is a well-known author, speaker and owner of Vaynermedia. He started using various marketing strategies with his family’s wine store and took it from $3million to $60 million in less than five years. Realising the potential opportunity that marketing and the web bring he then launched his own media company which has a global presence. 

He rightly points out that selling more is all about how much attention you can get.  

“She or he who has the most attention wins.” 

So how much attention are you getting? 

If you don’t have a marketing plan that is actioneda lot less than you think, therefore recruitment companies who dominate their sector invest in marketing. 

They either recruit an internal marketer and/or outsource certain activities. 

Remember, marketing creates demand and sales, then converts that demand. In your case, this will be your BD recruiters, which leads me onto the next critical element of domination. 

360 Recruitment is Dead 

 

The market has changed drastically. 360 recruitment is old school and isn’t workable if you are serious about scaling. (Here is a link to a longer post I wrote on this.) 

Okay if you are running your business from your spare bedroom making fifty grand a year; though you won’t be around in a few years – sorry, but it’s important to make sure you appreciate this. 

Here is the thing: recruitment is a complex process that can’t any longer be effectively delivered by one person alone. 

If you are running a 360 model, it’s probably the reason you are filling less than half your jobs, everyone is working like a dog, and yet you are still failing to hit your target. 

great BD person can utilise your marketing to create inroads to the clients you want. Your resourcers can then do their part to fill the roles you work on. 

All part of the exceptional service you provide…… 

Provide a Standout Service 

Great service is fast becoming the predictor for business growth; it’s logical even though it gets missed by many recruitment organisations and their teams. 

It’s okay being great at ‘selling in’ your recruitment service; though does your delivery live up to your client’s and candidate’s expectation or exceed it? 

This is the name of the game these days. Customer service is the King and Queen of growth and especially in a market with more choice than ever. 

Let’s use an example to explain what we are talking about. 

The iPhone growth curve from 2007 to 2015 was jaw-dropping. In 2007 their sales were $1.4 billion; eight years later it hit $231 billion. 

During this time, Apple was listening to its market and continually providing a product that got better and better. The last few years growth has dipped alongside less innovation and frankly turning a deaf ear to their loyal customers. 

Contrast this to Amazon and Jeff Bezos. In his letter to shareholders, he sets out the vision that Amazon will be THE online retailer providing everything we need. 

Hands up those of us who purchase weekly from Amazon and are always appreciative of the “related to items you have used” section. Or the friendly reminder that we aren’t using all our prime benefits?  

Amazon is even tapping into our drive to be more sustainable by developing its Amazon sub-brand of renewed products. 

I know few of us have the budget of Amazon, but what can we learn from the way they do things we could then implement in our business? 

Provide a great service, and the word does get around. One client recommends you to other departments in their organisation. 

A candidate tells all their work colleagues, managers, friends and mates down the pub. The snowball effect occurs, and your growth starts to take on a life of its own. 

All through ‘doing’ your job really, really, well. 

What Next? 

Useful? We hope so. Knowing and then acting on the key areas to dominate your recruiting sector will be the difference between success or constant struggle. 

If you would like to know more about how to plan your domination, we can help. You can apply for a personal profit accelerator call with one of us here. 

Warm regards, 

Nicky and Katy 

P.S. If you found this useful, you’ll enjoy our forthcoming Recruitment Business Launchpad too. You can find all the details here.