Recruiters spend a lot of time and money on marketing / new business development, but have you tried getting more work from your existing clients? It’s a no-brainer: you already have a relationship with this client, and they know you can deliver. Through membership in a recruitment network, you can help them with all of their staffing needs — whether it is outside your niche, geography, or your hiring contact’s department.
For example, maybe your client, an accounting firm, doesn’t need any more tax people right now… but you might be able to get work from a different division of the same company and help them fill roles outside of your typical niche. For example, they might need IT people or lawyers. Explain to them that your membership in the recruitment network gives you access to partners specializing in that niche who already have pipelines of talent.
Try getting more work outside of your geographical-focus if your client is an international company, or if they are expanding overseas. You might be their resource to fill all their roles at their NYC headquarters, but if they have an office in Spain, you can let them know that you have a trusted network partner right in that region. A partner who knows and understands the local market, including any laws and requirements, and who already has relationships with candidates in that area and can help with unfilled requirements there.
Here is a great example of how to leverage your membership in a recruitment network to get international work:
NPAworldwide members in Winnipeg, MB, Canada and Conway, AR, USA, have done a number of splits together in the manufacturing sector. They met when the US-based recruiter posted jobs on NPA’s internal job board. The Canadian member reached out and offered to help, which led to more searches and 6 placements. If you can recruit manufacturing candidates in Canada, you can recruit them in the US!
When you work together with an international partner, you can develop a relationship just like this – where it’s not a one-time transaction, but cooperative teamwork that makes splits flow frequently.
NPAworldwide membership gives independent recruiters and small firms a way to compete in a global marketplace, and be a “one-stop shop” for their clients.
Good recruiting partnerships take time to build and maintain. Sometimes in our recruiting network, we will see recruiters who only go to their partners when they need something. The important to remember that trading partners can choose who they are going to work with, so if they’ve never heard of you until now when you need help, they likely aren’t going to jump in feet first compared to maybe a trading partner that they’ve talked with weekly for the last few months, or someone they’ve met face-to-face over coffee. If you want to be at the top of the list for who other recruiters call when they need help, you better make sure you’re building relationships always.
