Want to Win Retainers? Master This Proven Question-Based Approach

Oct 2, 2024 | Client Fee Issues, Growing Recruiting Revenue, Retained Search | 0 comments

QUESTION: Please explain the retained search model and how you approach clients for this arrangement.

Understanding the Retained Search Model

Getting a retainer is not a pitch. The approach has to be very question-heavy. Let’s assume you find somebody who has an opening. They might start off with: You know, before we get started, Mike, what is your fee? Do not answer that question with a number. Do not answer that question with a number.

I go, “Right now, I have no idea what our fee would be in this situation because I have no idea (1) if we are the right firm to fill it, and (2) if you have proper expectations of the marketplace, and (3) based on both of those if there is alignment, the level of complexity of the search. So, why don’t we have a quick conversation to see if or how we can help?” Then, I just start asking them questions.

Asking the Right Questions to Stand Out in Retained Recruiting

There is a series of questions. For those of you who have been following me for a long time, you know my number one opening question, when somebody has an opening, is, first, you want to replace all the standard job order questions, the questions of, what is the background required? What are the duties and responsibilities? What are the selling points of the company? There is nothing inherently wrong with those questions; however, every recruiter asks them. If we are going to get a retainer, you want to come across as a little different.

Instead of asking what the duties and responsibilities are, think about it: In any sales situation, what do we want to do? We want to figure out the problem and solve it. What are they trying to do with the job?

“What are the duties and responsibilities?”

The replacement for that question is:

“Mr. or Ms. Hiring Manager, I want you to imagine you have hired this person. You are walking down the hall with them. It is a year after they have started. They have met and exceeded all of your expectations. You are beaming with pride about what they have accomplished. What did they do over that year for you to feel that way?”

The question works on so many levels. It takes them to the visual part of their brain. They tell you a story. If you said, what are the duties and responsibilities? They would say, you know, if it was a salesperson, develop the Northwest sales territory. We target Fortune 1000 corporations with our solution, hit their sales quota, do their reporting, whatever. When you ask that other question, they will answer it almost entirely differently. There are a series of questions and you must stay in that mode. The questions from the search, you just want to stay highly consultative. In the worst-case scenario, you tweak some of your existing search assignment questions.

Addressing the Consequences of an Open Position in Retained Search

Here is the other thing on the approach. You have to help them identify the consequences for the position remaining open. You want them to get crystal clear on what they have done so far or previously in other openings that has not worked.

“Well, we had put three recruiters on it.”

“Then why are you talking to me?”

I’m not going to fill it. I am not saying this verbally, but I am not going to fill it.

“If you have three recruiters, why do you need me?”

“Well, they are not really producing anything.”

“Oh, interesting.”

You have to take them through questions to admit what their challenges are. Then, once you do all that, once you find out exactly what they are looking for and what the role is, you determine that their compensation and their selling points would be attractive in the marketplace.

Creating a Search Strategy Without Mentioning Fees

Again, I have yet to quote the fee. I go through it like this:

“Based on your urgency, Mr. or Ms. Hiring Manager, here is what I am prepared to do:

I am going to work with our research team. We are going to put together a list, somewhere probably 70 and 80 individuals in the northwest territory that can do this job. Then, we are going to go through that list over three weeks. We are going to contact each one of those 80 people up to 7 times. Twenty of those people that we target won’t get back to us, even after 7 to 10 attempts. They are pretty much telling us they are not going anywhere.

We will talk to 50 or 60 of those individuals, and we are going to find several types of people. We are going to find people who really want to work for you but do not have the background, people who you would love to have, but based on their compensation and their level of happiness, they are not going anywhere.

Then we are going to come down to about three or four people, maybe five, who have a couple of things in common. We have determined they are in the top 15% to 20% of their industry in the northwest territory. We have identified at least two, if not three, reasons for them to make a change, and we are going to share all those with you when we present them.”

Closing the Retained Search Deal with the Final Investment

“For us to do all that, that represents an investment on your part of 28.6% of the individual’s first year base salary with a deposit upfront of $7,000, which is not refundable, but will be credited in total to that search on the tail end. Now, Mr. or Ms. Hiring Manager, are you the one to approve that or do we have to have a conversation with someone else?”

So, to summarize, it is going to a question-based format and saving the presentation in the end, and then closing with what the investment is. Closing with what the investment is.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you grow your recruitment business:

1. Grab a free copy of my Retainer Blueprint

It’s the exact, step-by-step process of getting clients to give you money upfront. https://get.therecruiteru.com/lm​​

2. Join the Recruiter Think Tank and connect with firm owners who are scaling, too. It’s our Facebook community where smart recruiters learn to make more money and get more freedom. https://www.facebook.com/groups/there​​…

3. Join me at our next event

3x a year, I run a 3-day virtual intensive, sharing the 9 key areas that drive a 7-figure search firm. Click here to check out the dates of our upcoming event. https://get.therecruiteru.com/live

4. Work with me and my team privately

And if you ever want to get some 1:1 help, we can jump on the phone for a quick call and brainstorm how to get you more leads, more placements, and more time. https://get.therecruiteru.com/scale-now​

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