Need to fire a deadbeat client? Here’s how. In 7 steps.

Last week I argued that service providers need to fire clients who are uncooperative or unprofitable. Plenty of 'The Savage Truth’ readers agreed, but many asked, “How do I actually do it?”. And the truth is that it is not easy. But there are two guiding principals I have found are fundamental for this to work out well.

Posted by Greg Savage
On February 20, 2013
9 Comments

Look for clients in pain!

Every great recruiter knows how to triage their job orders, and understands the importance of prioritising. By and large, we only get paid for the people we place, so we have to work exclusively on committed clients and committed candidates. One thing I am fond of telling the recruiters everywhere, is that a client in […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On July 24, 2012
3 Comments

Dear Hiring Manager….

Dear Hiring Manager, So, just to make sure I clearly understand you. You consistently call our entire industry ‘cowboys’, who add no value and who cannot, or will not, build relationships. You often warm to your theme by telling us we don’t understand your business or your briefs, fail to match appropriately, never provide insights, […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On July 10, 2012
46 Comments

Tell your clients the way it really is!

Over the past 6 months I have spoken with many CEOs about their business growth strategies. And I have been overwhelmed by the range and scale of the online, digital and social media marketing plans they are developing. And that’s exciting, but at the risk of being a party-pooper, all this strategy prompts me to […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On August 31, 2011
2 Comments

“Does my butt look big in this?”

What do you say to a friend who wants your ‘real’ opinion on a matter of some sensitivity? You know, “Do you think I should marry him?” or showing off a new pair of jeans, “Does my butt look big in this?” It’s a tricky dilemma. You don’t want to rock the boat. You certainly […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On June 15, 2011
12 Comments

Good clients don’t only want resumes, they want insights!

Great recruiters need to understand their industry, their company, the competition, and the business environment for the types of people they place. You need to be a mile deep and an inch wide! I find that recruiters are easily seduced. In fact, truthfully we can be a bit tarty. A client wants help with a […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On February 16, 2011
6 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

Recruiters: What it means if a client rejects your shortlist (video)

Do you accept the fact that your client can reject candidates you present on your shortlist? Yes? Then you lack ‘Recruiter Equity’. View video on YouTube Recruiter equity is the trust, the buy-in, the belief that your clients have in your ability and your judgment. It is the combination of your experience and your knowledge, […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On September 7, 2010
6 Comments

Recruiters please, shut up and listen!

We are often told that recruitment is a sales job. And it is. But the truth of selling is badly misunderstood. Selling in old-style recruitment means volume of calls, pleading for client visits, and pushing people into jobs where maybe the fit is dubious, at best. But in fact the real selling in staffing is […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On May 30, 2010
7 Comments

Three brilliant recruitment lessons…learned in Japan!

People often ask me about staffing in Japan, and how “different “ it must be to the rest of the recruiting world. Well of course Japan can be a perplexing place to an outsider, but 10 years of running a recruitment business there has taught me that, at the very core, success in staffing in […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On May 21, 2010
5 Comments

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