This is an extraordinary case study.

It happened only a few weeks ago.

These recruiters did something exceptional in one day

I sincerely advise you to read this article.

There is a critical lesson for every recruiter here.

Especially the many ‘dishonest’ recruiters out there. (Read HERE what I mean by dishonest)

Stop convincing yourself that clients and prospects will not meet you in person.

They will.

‘Meeting in person is so old-school’ is the delusional mantra of a recruiter who confuses ‘old-fashioned’ with’ tried and tested‘.

Telling your kids to look both ways when they cross the road is undoubtedly ‘old school’ advice. It has been passed on for a hundred years. Do you think it is no longer necessary? Is it not cool anymore? Have you stopped giving it to your kids?

Before you leap up in indignation, yes, I know it’s hard to secure meetings.

It’s true many clients and prospects won’t even answer the phone or return emails.

But it’s also true you created this dynamic because you never worked on the relationship. You hid behind your keyboard and rode the post-COVID job boom without ever believing that the wheel would turn (Even though I told you countless times 😊.)

Most crucially, you do not give customers a good reason to invest in a meeting with you.

Suggesting a meeting because “I am a good recruiter, and I want to meet so I can tell you how good’ simply will not fly.

Nobody cares.

This you have found out.

If you want to meet a prospect or even a client, you must have something of value to bring to the client or prospect.

And so here is the story you need to hear. It happened within the last few weeks.

Every fact I tell you here is accurate and verified by me with the CEO of this recruitment company, a person I have known for more than two decades and trust implicitly.

Let me start with the banger.

This recruitment company arranged 1,370 client meetings in one day.

Yes, let that sink in.

1,370 meetings

They did not conduct the visits on one day (obviously)

They called. They pitched. They arranged.

Now, let’s dig in

Firstly, this was not a random event.

It is an annual campaign, and this day was planned for months. It all hinges on the release of a company-produced document. Let’s call it the ‘Market Survey’. It is 80-plus pages and has vital details on salaries, workplace trends, labour mobility, recruitment demand drivers, why employees are quitting, temp and contract trends, salary increase by regions and discipline, managing counter offers and much more.

It’s a valuable, substantial document., But can you see the beautiful symmetry? It is an excellent piece of research created by ‘marketing’.

But it directly drives sales and assists the recruiters in doing so.

Let me continue the tale.

This recruitment company has several offices, and 85 recruitment consultants were involved in the big day of client-meeting-arranging.

To be transparent, the ‘Market Survey’ is well known to many of their clients and is looked forward to, so some meetings are much easier to secure than others.

However, totally cold prospects are called, too.

The ‘pitch’ is; “we have vital new data with insights that will help you be more effective. Yes, you will get the document, but I need to meet you to explain the nuances and add colour to the data.”

So here is the irony. The ‘Market Survey” is hard copy! Yes, so ‘old school’! But not really. It’s hard copy because we do not email it. We present it face to face. Because we are a recruitment company that believes in relationships, and they are best built IRL

So that was the focus of the day for 85 consultants who started at 9 am

Here is how it played out. Everything is recorded in the ATS.

-> 2,990 calls were made on that day. These were attempts to connect, but a client or prospect may not have been reached.

-> In the course of making those calls, those 85 recruiters picked up 36 active job orders from clients who simply said, “Oh, thanks for calling. How fortuitous. While I have you on the line, can you help me with….”. 36 new job orders. If even a third of those are filled at an average fee of $12,000, that is a lazy $144,000. But how many extra job orders will flow from this ‘client-meeting-fest’ in the coming months? Hundreds is my guess. However, we won’t need to guess because that number will be tracked.

-> From those 2,990 calls, 1,370 meetings were arranged.

-> The recruiter with the top visit count that day secured 45 meetings. I know this person. They have 25 years of experience and strong relationships. Many of their visits will be with repeat customers. But that is the point. They are working tirelessly on the relationship. Even though they are ‘good clients’. Nothing is taken for granted.

-> The recruiter with the second-highest visit count secured 42 meetings.

-> In third place was a six-way tie, with 36 meetings arranged by six recruiters.

-> The highest number of calls made by any recruiter that day was 104.

-> Second was 85, and third was 81.

Now, those meetings will take place over the next six to eight weeks. Some will be cancelled, and others postponed, no doubt.

But what incredible value will be gained from that volume of face-to-face contact?

Relationships started or strengthened
Insights gained and passed on
Credibility enhanced
Job-orders secured
Leads secured
And fun and self-esteem had!

Compare the next six months for this recruitment company against the fortunes of their main competitors who (let’s assume) do not do this.

Understand, too, that this huge ‘marketing day’ is not the end of using the ‘Market Survey’ to secure meetings. That will continue for months, and hundreds more meetings will be arranged.

Here is the thing;

Getting face-to-face meetings is not easy. You will often be told no. But you have been lied to if anyone told you recruitment would be easy.

It’s much more likely you haven’t been honest with yourself. We have convinced ourselves that clients won’t see us because we hide behind digital and we hide behind WFH, and (here it comes) we lack the confidence to set meetings up and get out and mingle.

Yes, I know you don’t like hearing it, but while you are behind your screen, these recruiters are face to face, giving advice, asking questions, building genuine rapport… and having a laugh.

They will win.

This anecdote is a story of BD and a tale of brilliant marketing. The “Market Survey” creates PR and branding and goodwill and all that is cool. But that is not why it is created.

It’s a tool to allow consultants to sell.

To allow them to walk through a ‘half-open door’. If all those calls were made and the pitch was “Hey let’s have a catch-up coffee and talk recruitment”, I predict a 10% success rate on what was actually achieved. If that.

So, for leaders, the side lesson is that marketing spend should always lead to sales opportunities for recruiters. Not generic ‘branding’ or ‘awareness’.

This company keeps excellent data on what happens at these visits.

I might be able to get them to share it with me.

If I do and they permit me to do so, I will follow up with fascinating data on how many of these visits actually happened, how many jobs were taken, and how many were filled. We may even be able to drill it down to a $ return on this investment.

But meanwhile, rethink.

Clients will meet face-to-face.

You need to find a reason for them to want to do it.

And it does not have to be a glossy publication. You have insights and knowledge that are valuable. You have candidates with specialised skills that you can reverse market.

And if it can’t be F2F (and I realise that is sometimes the case), a carefully conducted VC is next best.

Remember, too, that this advice synergises with how AI will change recruitment. Anything that tech can do better in recruitment will be done by tech. You have to be superb at the part that Tech cannot do. Building rapport, listening, uncovering, advising, creating outcomes, and consulting are those parts.

Then, be brave, disciplined, and skilled enough to make it happen.

It was true 40 years ago, and it is valid now.

It is in the client meeting that the magic happens.

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