The only real path to recruitment success is building consultative relationships based on credibility and respect.

You may point to good periods you have had, smashing resumes around town and hitting the target enough times to rack up some nice-looking results. But it is an illusion—a mirage.

It won’t last.

The irony is that the emergence of AI and automation will accelerate the fact that a recruiter’s only real value is their ability to excel at the part of the job that machines cannot do. (Please read those last three words again)

That part is listening, selling, uncovering, advising, consulting, and creating outcomes through pushback and insights.

To do all that, you must have one key attribute in place.

Your clients must trust you.

Obvious right? Whoever took advice and guidance from someone they do not trust?

You need ‘recruiter equity’ and an attitude that ‘Selling is listening’, especially concerning credibility, advising, negotiating, and believing in your value.

A recruiter who works with clients as partners will build trust and never risk it.

It is so easy to damage trust. Overselling candidates, a lack of transparency, failure to follow through, manipulating salary negotiations, finessing reference feedback to your advantage, betraying confidentiality and, of course, headhunting staff from your clients. These are just some of the ways recruiters damage relationships.

Years of trust-building can be destroyed by one breach.

So, if you want clients to take your advice, keep you informed and treat you fairly, you must actively build trust. There is much you can do, but specific, decisive actions will lead to solid, trust-based partnerships over time.

1: Consistently deliver quality candidates.

Self-evident as it sounds, consistently delivering quality candidates is the platform upon which trust is built. A track record counts – it shows that you can do what the client came to you to do. It won’t be enough on its own, but trust will never develop without it.

2: Provide candidates that fit the brief.

A candidate mismatch suggests to the client that you don’t know what you are doing – or are trying to pull the wool over their eyes, neither of which is conducive to building trust. If you have one good candidate and two poor candidates who don’t fit the brief, don’t send all three because the other two will sully the outstanding work of finding a top-shelf candidate. Even if the client hires the excellent candidate, they will see it as ‘luck’ on your part. It must be, they will reason; after all, you also sent those two ‘no-hopers’.

3: Provide accurate, transparent, balanced reference checking.

Communicate the concerns that emerged from the reference check authentically. Even if it’s not to your immediate advantage, this will encourage the client to believe you and trust your judgement.

4: Never betray client confidentiality.

Betraying client confidentiality is easier to do than you think. You visit a client who tells you they have had to let some staff go. A week later, speaking to another client in the same sector, you let that piece of news slip. Your first client will not appreciate that, and it will forever harm your relationship with them.

5: Be quick to share both good and bad news.

It is so easy to let the client know that their preferred candidate is keen on the job, but perhaps you’re not so quick to reveal that their preferred candidate is favouring another role. Getting on the front foot with disappointing news will strengthen your relationship with the client, even though they won’t enjoy hearing it at the time.

This article is an excerpt from my new book ‘Recruit. The Savage Way’

6: Offer feedback and advice at every stage of the process.

Don’t just tell the client that the candidate has lost interest and taken another job. Giving feedback to the client on why and how the other job differed from theirs is incredibly powerful. Again, communicating this could be uncomfortable, but, in the end, the client will value your insights as much as anything else you have to offer.

7: Always do what you say you will do.

Deliver on every commitment you make. Even the most minor thing. If you are not going to do it.. don’t promise it!

8: Respond well when things go wrong.

When things go wrong, even when the fault is yours, it is an opportunity to build trust. A speedy recovery, flexibility in repairing whatever happened, transparency and honesty in accepting your responsibility will likely improve your relationship with the client despite the mishap.

9: Provide constant updates

Giving accurate feedback and ensuring your client never has to call you for news are the foundations of a trusting relationship. My mantra? ‘If the client calls you for an update, you lose.’

10: ‘Pushback’ will build trust

Consultative pushback is not confrontational or aggressive in any way. It involves having the self-belief and the courage to offer the client a different point of view that will be in the client’s best interests. Challenging a client on their assumptions or their hiring strategy and advising on a better way builds respect and trust between the recruiter and the client (More on this here)

Trust is built over time and can be lost in an instant.

You can’t fake the things that lead to trust.

Not over the long term, anyway. But that is a good thing because it means if you are good at your job, credible and authentic, and can provide fundamental insights that make a difference…. you will thrive, and AI will make you better, not replace you

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