What do you say if your Client uses The ‘C’ Word?

As the market recovers, misguided clients will try to push down agency fees. Under the flawed impression that ‘recruiting is easy now’ and ‘there are lots of candidates because of Covid’, some employers will try to leverage recruiters on fee, and they will use both old tactics and new. I have blogged about how you […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On March 16, 2021
3 Comments

Sixty Savage Seconds – If you have to discount fees, remember this!

Here’s the next “Sixty Savage Seconds” from The Savage Truth A one minute video of the best ideas, tips and tactics for recruiters… sixty seconds to make you think. This Sixty Savage Seconds is titled “If you have to discount fees, remember this!“. Let me know what you think!

Posted by Greg Savage
On July 25, 2017
0 Comment

12 crucial recruiter tips. (In 10 words or less).

A powerful two-minute read for all the desk recruiters out there. 12 tips. Each no longer than 10 words. Will lead you to fun and money. Click on the hyperlinks if you want more details on each concept. 1. Walk away from shitty margins or clients who disrespect you. (Here is how to do it) […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On September 20, 2016
6 Comments

Fire these clients. Now!

I talk to a lot of recruiters. And it is tough for many of them right now. That we know. Everybody is scrambling for a dollar, chasing every client. A bit like that sad, desperate guy in the bar at 2 am, harassing every one of the last few women left standing. But there is […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On February 5, 2013
23 Comments

Discount! Did you say… discount?

“So let me just clarify your position on this, Mr Client. You spend 30 minutes telling me all the recruiters you have used so far are hopeless, they provide zero value, they can’t find the talent you want, their service is pathetic, and they do not understand your business. Then, we spend hours going through […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On April 3, 2012
30 Comments

Recruiters, time to toughen up!

Most people who become recruiters do not last. There are many reasons for that. Poor hiring decisions and inadequate training being high on the list. But there is another key reason why so few people actually last in the hurly-burly world of agency recruiting. It’s a frigging hard job! So I know that sometimes you […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On October 12, 2011
55 Comments

The huge secret no-one ever told you about negotiating temp rates

The “big secret” when it comes to negotiating with clients about temp Bill rates is to shift the clients focus from the RATE, to the COST! If you allow all the focus to remain only on the $ value of the hourly rate, then you have very little negotiating leverage. The client quotes another agency […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On February 23, 2011
8 Comments

Competing on price in recruitment is a slippery slope to oblivion

Last week I blogged on how competing on speed and volume alone was not the way to be successful as a recruiter over the long term. Today I turn the attention to price. The question of fees and margins in our industry is a sensitive and difficult one. The fact is that clients resent our […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On November 16, 2010
0 Comment

What to say when your client drops the “C” word in a fee negotiation.

Last week I blogged about how you need to move the focus away from dollars and percentages when clients negotiate fees, and on to your value and your differentiators. One of the comments on my blog from Matthew Lancey raised the point that sometimes clients keep pushing, and they say something like “but your competitors […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On October 26, 2010
10 Comments

Client wants a discount? Don’t talk dollars, talk value

It’s a fact of recruiting life that clients will push you to negotiate your fees. And with so many recruiters quick to drop fee percentages to secure briefs, that can be a hard discussion to deal with. The starting point for successful fee negotiations is, strangely enough, to get the conversation off the fee percentage, […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On October 19, 2010
8 Comments

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