In the competitive market of staffing and recruitment, securing contracts with clients is essential for the success and growth of recruitment/staffing agencies. Winning contracts provide a steady stream of business, establishes credibility, and fosters long-term partnerships.
However, how do staffing agencies get contracts?
And more importantly, how can you, as a staffing agency owner or professional, ensure a consistent flow of leads and contracts for your business?
Read on as we outline approaches that answer these questions. We’ll also explain how you can get a minimum of three live leads/vacancies monthly when you sign up as a franchise recruiter with Recruiter Startup.
4 Techniques for Obtaining Contracts as a Staffing Agency
As a staffing agency, getting contracts and new clients is always challenging. There are various approaches agencies use to secure contracts. Our top picks are the ones with visible results. Let’s discover them.
Approach #1: Building Trust and Credibility
You need to establish trust and credibility to get contracts as a staffing agency.
How do you do that, though?
Here’s how:
- Focus on a niche: Don’t try to be all things to all people or, better still, a jack of all trades. Rather, specialise in a specific industry or job function and become an expert. That way, clients will see you as the go-to agency for their needs.
- Develop a professional brand: Have a custom website, email, and social media profiles. Sharing valuable content on your areas of expertise positions you as a knowledgeable resource.
- Build relationships: Network both online and in-person at industry events. Engage with people, ask questions, and look for opportunities to provide value. Some of these connections may turn into new clients.
- Get references and testimonials: Ask happy clients if they’d be willing to provide a recommendation. You can then feature these on your website and marketing materials. References from reputable companies carry a lot of weight and are an excellent method of acquiring contracts for recruitment agencies.
- Charge fair prices: Conduct research to determine typical staffing fees in your niche. Price competitively based on your level of experience. As your reputation grows, you can increase rates; however, never overcharge, or you’ll damage trust.
Building a trusted, credible brand takes work. On the bright side, by specialising, developing a professional image, building relationships, getting references, and guaranteeing results at fair prices, you’ll be securing new contracts in no time. Recruiter Startup has everything in place to help you achieve this success and provides you with live vacancies to start working on straight away — contact us now to get started.
Approach #2: Focusing on Client Needs
Paying attention to your client’s needs is non-negotiable if you’re keen on securing contracts as a staffing agency. That means understanding their pain points and crafting solutions to solve their problems.
Here’s how you can achieve this:
- Do your research: Learn as much as possible about the companies you want to work with. Know their industry, services, clients, competitors, hiring challenges, and critical initiatives. The more you understand their world, the better equipped you’ll be to help them.
- Build relationships: Don’t just cold call — connect with key decision makers on LinkedIn, set up intro calls to learn about their needs, and look for ways to add value. Provide helpful resources and advice, not just sales pitches. People want to work with those they know, like, and trust.
- Present solutions, not services: Your clients don’t care about what you do but about results. So, ensure your conversations focus on how you’ll help them achieve their goals — whether it’s reducing time-to-hire, improving the quality of candidates, or scaling their team.
- Share your success stories: Nothing is more compelling than examples of how you’ve helped similar companies. Don’t just rattle off stats, though; share the details of each challenge, solution, and outcome in the form of case studies, preferably. Help them visualise what success could look like for their organisation.
- Be flexible and responsive: The staffing industry moves fast, so you need to keep up. Be willing to customise your solutions for each client’s needs. And when they reach out with an urgent request, make them a priority. Quickly responding to their needs may be just that singular factor that sets you apart from the competition.
If you focus on client needs, provide real solutions, build genuine relationships, share your proven success, and deliver quickly and flexibly, you’ll make good progress in landing new contracts and keeping your clients happy. And with our platform behind you, we guarantee you’ll have a successful business.
Approach #3: Providing Value to Clients
Showing clients you offer value is one of the top techniques for obtaining contracts as a staffing agency.
Some of the main ways to do this include the following:
- Tailoring Your Services
Get to know the client and their specific needs. Then, customise your services to match.
For example, if they routinely struggle to fill specific roles, focus your recruiting efforts on those positions. Try offering additional screening or testing for challenging jobs. The more tailored your services are to the client’s challenges, the more valuable you become to them.
- Access to Top Talent
Refine your ability to source high-quality, pre-screened candidates. In other words, develop a reputation for providing the “cream of the crop” regarding talent. Offer your clients first access or right of first refusal for the best candidates. Don’t forget to explain your rigorous screening and vetting process to give them confidence in the candidates you provide.
- Industry Knowledge and Expertise
Continuously build your knowledge of the industries you serve by staying current on trends, new technologies, certifications, and other developments. Then, apply your expertise to help clients solve problems, fill skill gaps, and gain a competitive advantage. Your industry insight and advice add significant value.
- Streamlining the Hiring Process
Take over tasks like posting jobs, screening resumes, scheduling interviews, and handling paperwork. Make the hiring process as quick and hassle-free as possible for your clients. Your ability to fast-track the process and present qualified candidates promptly provides tremendous value, especially for hard-to-fill roles.
***
Following these steps and genuinely channelling your efforts to your client’s needs will set you apart from the competition. When you provide real value and become a trusted partner, you’ll find that contracts and new clients will come much more easily. However, with the Recruiter Startup Model, we have already
done most of the hard work for you by building an existing database of clients
who come to us to fill their vacancies!
Approach #4: Maintaining Strong Communication
Building partnerships with clients as a staffing firm is critical to getting repeat contracts from existing clients. As the saying goes, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Don’t be afraid to check in regularly with your clients to ensure they’re happy and see if they need additional help.
Here are insightful tips to help you get ahead of this process:
- Follow up consistently.
Touch base with new clients within the first week of starting a contract to ensure everything runs smoothly. Then follow up at least once a month after that. Send a quick email asking if they need more candidates or have feedback on current placements. Your proactive outreach will keep you top of mind for any future staffing needs.
- Address issues immediately.
If a client reports a placement problem, resolve it immediately. The faster you fix mistakes, the more trust you build. Apologise, take responsibility and work to remedy the situation as quickly as possible. Your responsiveness in these situations can turn a negative experience into an opportunity to strengthen the relationship.
- Maintain transparency.
Be upfront and honest in all communications. If a candidate drops out or a role is proving difficult to fill, let the client know immediately. Explain the challenges, and lay out your plan of action to resolve the issue. Suffice it to say; transparency is the foundation of a trusting partnership.
***
Following these best practices for communicating with your clients will help strengthen your relationships, build loyalty, and win you repeat business and referrals. And remember, at Recruiter Startup, we provide the tools and support to help you achieve a minimum of three live leads per month, so you can focus on what matters: keeping your clients happy!
Check out what others are saying about us.
Guaranteeing 3+ Live Leads Per Month as a Franchise Recruiter
As a franchise recruiter/associate with Recruiter Startup, you’re guaranteed a minimum of three live leads to work on each month. We aim to make contract procurement for our franchise recruiters less of a hassle.
How can we make such a bold promise, you may ask?
The answer to this lies in our proven system for generating leads and contracts, which is made possible by the following:
- Targeting High-Growth Companies
We focus our efforts on fast-growing companies with ongoing talent needs. These organisations are expanding quickly and often struggle to fill roles fast enough through traditional recruiting methods. We reach out to these companies and show them how we can provide a steady stream of qualified candidates to meet their hiring needs.
- Building Relationships
Rather than cold calling, we take the time to build genuine relationships with key hiring stakeholders. We learn about their specific needs, company culture, and ideal candidates. We work with them as true partners, not just other businesses — this relationship-based approach leads to long-term, repeat business.
- A Track Record of Success
Our proven process has led to an impressive track record of delivering client results. As they see the quality of candidates we provide and the speed with which we fill roles, they come back to us repeatedly to meet more of their hiring needs. Our success with other clients gives new clients confidence in our abilities.
- Staying in Constant Communication
We don’t disappear after filling a few roles. We regularly contact clients to ensure their needs are met, address issues, and look for new ways to support their hiring and growth. This high-touch, hands-on approach is critical to gaining repeat business and long-term contracts.
***
Our proven game plan ensures you gain access to a steady stream of leads and the opportunity to build ongoing, mutually beneficial client relationships. With our support and training, you’ll be able to secure long-term contracts and fill multiple roles. Get in touch with us now for more information.
How Do Staffing Agencies Get Contracts – Frequently Asked Questions
How profitable are staffing agencies?
Staffing agencies in the UK are quite profitable, earning 25%–100% of the candidate’s salary as fees or commissions. However, factors like competition, economic conditions, and changes in labour regulations can influence profitability. Nonetheless, they can ensure profitability by effectively managing their operations, maintaining strong client relationships, and providing high-quality candidates.
How do staffing firms or agencies get paid?
UK staffing agencies generate revenue through fees or commissions charged to the employer or the job seeker. The two standard payment models are the employer-paid model, where the agency charges a fee to the employer for successful placements, and the less common candidate-paid model, where job seekers may be charged a fee for the agency’s services. The specific payment terms and arrangements vary between agencies and clients and are typically negotiated and outlined in contracts or service agreements.
What is contract staffing?
Contract staffing, also known as temporary or contingent staffing, is a flexible workforce solution where organisations hire individuals on a contract basis to fulfil specific roles or complete projects for a defined period. These individuals, often sourced through staffing agencies, provide specialised skills and resources without the long-term commitment of permanent employment.
Contract staffing offers benefits such as cost savings, agility in workforce management, access to niche expertise, and the ability to fill skill gaps quickly. However, contract employees may not receive the same benefits and job security as permanent employees.
Wrapping It Up
In conclusion, how do staffing agencies get contracts? The answer lies in being proactive, building relationships, and providing value to clients and candidates. If you follow the tips outlined in this post, stay persistent, and never stop networking and marketing, you’ll be well on your way to securing multiple new contracts each month.
At Recruiter Startup, we guarantee at least three live leads per month to get you started. The opportunities are already here for you; you just have to build a quality candidate list and match qualified ones to the open jobs using your recruitment skills and knowledge. Sign up today to get started!
