Over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing lessons from my work helping agencies and consultants win millions in new business.
Today I’m breaking down one of three essentials for a high performing sales strategy.
2025 presents an opportunity for recruiters to rebalance some of the challenges from last year. Profitable growth is on the cards for those with the right approach but as you know, the legacy approach to BD isn’t working.
No. For high value, high quality, highly committed new business the classic approach to BD “spec and chase” doesn’t cut it.
That’s why we created the 90k in 90 Days Blueprint: The Blueprint offers a step-by-step guide to creating your own end to end sales campaigns based on the exact playbook used by million dollar billers.
In the last 12 months I’ve helped 5 businesses generate over £5M in new business. Today, I’m sharing 4 steps all five of these businesses took - and the exact process you can follow too.
Taking these steps helped my clients generate huge financial returns but that’s not all. In addition to the money they made, these companies built a baseline for BD - a clear system that delivers consistent results and creates confident consultants.
Quick example; one leader, told me that he now has 8 consultants in three markets; comparing all 8 shows similar conversion rates across their calls, emails, meetings, and negotiations. He’s now confident of being able to plug in any competent recruiter to his system and get the same outcome.
That outcome?
Consistently billing £20k+ (perm revenue) per month within their first 9 months.
WHAT SETS THEM APART
SO what did those 5 agencies who bossed new business do differently?
Here are the four lessons you need to know to follow in their shoes:
Escape the Transactional Trap
Prioritise problem prospecting
Become a disco’ diva
Sharpen your Sales stories
The Recruiter Sales Playbook ‘25.
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Escape the Transactional:
To succeed at winning BD in ‘25 you must shift your mindset.
How?
Stop focusing on vacancies, instead aim for client acquisition. Successful recruiters don’t want a job, they want all the jobs, exclusively for ever.
Having the process and the sales approach to win not just the immediate vacancy but the whole account is a key lesson all of the successful businesses I work with embrace.
It can be hard for recruiters to see their value as partners in change - particularly if they’ve been focused on vacancies for a while. But working with your clients to highlight the value of an improved hiring strategy is the first step towards massive wins.
Prioritise Problem Prospecting:
The Vacancy is not The Problem.
Employers don’t fear unfilled roles. They expect - or at least hope - the role will get filled. What worries them is the process. The strategy. The lack of clarity, confidence and certainty they experience with every hire.
Try this question:
“If in 12 months time you look back on the way you hire and feel it as good as it could get, what will have changed and how will you know?”
The answer to that question will shape your mission - and crucially, the solution your client wants to buy.
Become a Disco’ Diva:
A missing step for most consultants.
Transactional recruiters or those simply focused on vacancies have real challenges trying to run discovery meetings. Everything comes back to the immediate hire. The need is too urgent to talk strategy.
However, when you shift focus away from vacancies you unlock the opportunity to run discovery meetings that all-but guarantee commitment.
Properly run discovery meetings see recruiters win 70% more exclusive work and enable most to avoid any form of fee negotiation.
Story Selling:
Ditch the pitch
For decades recruiters have taken a product sales approach to BD. It pretty much always culminates in a pitch. But we know - have known for thirty years in fact - that pitching your product turn buyers against you.
Oh sure, they may give you the role on a contingent basis so long as you match your competitors fees, but… well, that’s the point. A low fee contingent role involves no form of commitment.
Instead, our biggest fee generators replaced their pitches with stories; Examples of how they’ve helped competitors achieve the desired goal, followed with a simple pair of closing questions.
The first question; “Is this the kind of outcome you’d like to see?” verifies the specific goal. The second question; “Is there any reason that approach wouldn’t work here?” seeks objections and obstacles. Together they provide the perfect trial close, for if the outcome is desired and the process could work, it’s probable that all that needs to be addressed is cost.
4 POWERFUL LESSONS
So there you have it, a quick guide to £25M in new business.
Break out of the transactional trap
Prioritise problem prospecting
Become a disco’ diva
Sharpen your sales stories
These steps all work because they run against the legacy approach most are bound to.
But we know that in todays market, it’s how you sell that counts.
Try all four and maybe you’ll make a a mint in new business this year too.
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Our clients consistently report 10-15% increases in new business generation after implementing the insights from their assessment alone.
Click the link to take the assessment and start your journey to exceptional BD performance.
Best regards,
Ben
P.S. If you want support in building your own playbook, or coaching on how to apply The Recruiters Sales Playbook ‘25 to your business then let’s connect on LinkedIn; View My Profile / DM Me
P.P.S. If you want to see how your Sales Strategy compares to the average - and get a personalised report - take the assessment here: resonant.scoreapp.com
If the four which is most valuable?
Embracing problem prospecting will open more doors. It’ll increase your fees and commitment. But only if you run proper discovery.
Those two are the crux of winning new business right now.