Flair Business Growth Consultancy's Podcast

Most recruiters want to stand apart from their competitors. Give their clients a positive reason to choose them. This is how anybody can do that. The good news is, it's free, it's quick to implement and no special skills are needed. All you need do is ask your clients what they really think of your people and your service. “Is that it? “ I hear you cry, “you got me all excited just for that?”. I promise it's not what you think – it's soooo much more. Our guest is Gemma Sleight, Group Marketing Director for FMC Talent. We're going to be exploring VOTC, a powerful way to strengthen relationships and lift revenue by getting feedback. Honestly folks, ‘Voice Of The Customer' is not what you think it is. Together we'll be discussing: - ✅ What is VOTC ✅ What are the significant benefits of a VOTC programme ✅ The steps to run a VOTC Programme and who does it ✅ What you do with the feedback ✅ How you can also use it to help you win more sales pitches So, if you want to stand out, boost service levels and send a strong message out to the market, why not join us.

Account management on its own is definitely NOT client care. It's a part of it, but not the most important part. Great client care needs other ingredients. If you want to max out your client revenues and keep your competition at bay, you need an Apex Client Care system. It's where the BIG MONEY is and why some companies keep growing whilst others falter. Let's look at all four parts of such a client care system. ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT Getting vacancies, placing candidates and an escalation point for problems. DELIVERY How good you are at finding and vetting great candidates and placing them in an efficient and convenient way is a big part of client care. ‘Average' is not good enough anymore. QUALITY Finding out what your clients really think about your people and the service they provide and then having a system to process the results. Called Voice of the Customer (VOTC) – so important we have a whole show on it next time. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT Building personal relationships with your key client stakeholders. Moving them from the ‘client zone' to the ‘friend zone'. Absolutely crucial.

Two things: we all need to find candidates and most of us use AI. But how can we bring the two together: use AI to find better candidates? This is the theme of our next MARShow, and we are delighted to welcome Vanessa Raath

Lots of people are using Chat and other AIs to generate copy and search the web but this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recruitment. In this edition of the #MARShow we are delighted to have Nitin Sharma as our guest. He will be exploring a wide range of uses that recruiters can put these powerful AIs tools to: - ✅ Coach you thru difficult business situations with clients ✅ Rate candidates against a vacancy from their CV and any of your notes and emails ✅ Provide powerful Boolean searches for any vacancy type. ✅ Bring job adverts to life, by creating engaging, SEO optimised adverts that work ✅ Help you offer a CV assistance service to help your candidates optimise their CVs. These are only a few of the uses Nitin will explain how to do with AIs. He'll also be exploring many more uses with us that may surprise you. The key is in the way you prompt the machine to do what you want, so we'll also be looking at the best way to do that too. Finally, we'll end up by predicting how AI will affect the rec industry in the future – who knows what Deepseek and its descendants will do! So, please join us if you want to make the most of this very powerful tool. Practical, powerful, and easy to use – a bit like us really. 

We didn't always have job boards, emails, and LinkedIn and yet we still placed people. Want to know how we did it and why you should care? Let's start with the “why”. There are two reasons: - Firstly, your online sources are becoming increasingly expensive. Wouldn't it be great to have an alternative? Secondly, if you only use LinkedIn and the job boards, you're searching for talent in the same place as your competitors. Which means, you'll come up with the same candidates they do – not a brilliant outcome. So, in this edition of the #MARShow, Kirsty and I will be exploring alternative ways to find great candidates your competition won't get. Yes, we will be leveraging LinkedIn but there are other ways too. One thing though, please don't think I am suggesting you turn the clock back 30 years. Dear God, no! What I am saying though, is what would happen if you combined today's modern tech with older but equally effective sourcing methods If you're curious to find out and have a desire to outpace the competition, turn in for more.

On average, UK contingent recruiters get paid for 20% of their efforts. For retained recruiters it's 98%. Fancy learning how to only do retained work? To be clear, switching to retained could boost your profits by 500% (just do the maths). Our next guest on the MARShow is Greg Elton of search firm Day-2, is 100% retained and has been for years. Some of you might be saying “he probably only does mega-deals which is why they are retained” Well, you'd be wrong. True, some of his placements are very chunky, but Greg maintains any salary over £40k can be on a retained basis, if pitched properly. And that's the rub, many recruiters just don't pitch in the right way to win retained work. In this show we'll explore the following: - ✅ Which roles can be retained ✅ How to pitch to win retained deals ✅ How to overcome client objections ✅ The difference between retained and exclusive and why it matters ✅ What to do if the client is unconvinced ✅ How retained searches differ from contingent searches Moving to retained can massively boost your profits, well of course it will if you get paid for every role you work.

On average, UK contingent recruiters get paid for 20% of their efforts. For retained recruiters it's 98%. Fancy learning how to only do retained work? To be clear, switching to retained could boost your profits by 500% (just do the maths). Our next guest on the MARShow is Greg Elton of search firm Day-2, is 100% retained and has been for years. Some of you might be saying “he probably only does mega-deals which is why they are retained” Well, you'd be wrong. True, some of his placements are very chunky, but Greg maintains any salary over £40k can be on a retained basis, if pitched properly. And that's the rub, many recruiters just don't pitch in the right way to win retained work. In this show we'll explore the following: - ✅ Which roles can be retained ✅ How to pitch to win retained deals ✅ How to overcome client objections ✅ The difference between retained and exclusive and why it matters ✅ What to do if the client is unconvinced ✅ How retained searches differ from contingent searches Moving to retained can massively boost your profits, well of course it will if you get paid for every role you work. To join us and learn how to make the switch, just click the ATTEND button. Can you afford to miss this one?  

The big battle for all of us these days is getting the attention of people we want to read something we've written: emails, posts, adverts and CVs. Many of your emails you know will be useful to the recipient, are deleted unread. You can have written the greatest LinkedIn post in the world but if people don't read it, then it will die a death. Likewise, a fantastic job will only draw in candidates if the advert promoting it gets the attention of the right people. Or how about CVs? Hiring managers receive stacks of them in their inbox. How can you make yours stand out, so they take the time to read it. All of this comes down to the quality of your written work, often called copy. Well, our guest on this episode of the MARShow is Mitch Sullivan, an expert in writing recruitment copy that gets noticed. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchsullivan/) Mitch explains how to write copy that people are compelled to read. He shares plenty of practical tips and also red-flagging things to avoid. You'll come away knowing how to write better copy that will increase the chances of your email, post, advert or CV being read. -- THE SUMMIT -- To find out more about the Summit click here - https://www.recruitmentpioneers.com/summits -- GET IN TOUCH -- ▹Flair Homepage:- http://www.recruitmentpioneers.com ▹LinkedIn:- - - Mike: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mspames  - - Kirsty: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstyames/

When used properly, email is still a very effective sales and marketing tool. But things are changing, and you need to know how. All the email providers are getting much stricter these days in their drive to reduce the amount of spam in your Inbox. BTW, spam is just unwanted email so if you send marketing emails the email providers may view you as a spammer! Google and Yahoo have recently changed their policies and others are bound to follow. You must keep your spam rate below 0.3%, else you could have your email account blocked. Real bummer. There are several rules that you need to follow to be safe and that's what this edition of the #MARShow is going to focus on. Our guest is email delivery specialist Nick Butcher who'll be explains how to get more of your emails into inboxes. He also clarifies why you get so many opens and click-thrus but very few responses to your emails. Plus, we explore his CTA framework that does NOT require clickable links (which helps in deliverability). So, if you want to avoid being tagged as a spammer and get more of your emails thru, why not join us on the show. Jo Kelly Fundraiser - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jo-road-to-wtg DKMS - click here  

Ever had that call from a client saying, “You've done a great job, but we've got an RPO in place now”? Well, you could be that RPO and here's how. We welcome Jamie Stevenson as our guest because he offers full and micro RPOs to his clients. The benefits are enormous. You can often lock the client into a 12 month or longer contract and you're in control of the vacancies during this time. Also, as the RPO supplier you're often given a long lead-time on planned hires, which makes filling vacancies easier. During these difficult times it's crucial to protect those clients who may be vulnerable to an RPO deal. In this episode Jamie will be shares - ✅ The signs to look for that a good client may be considering an RPO deal ✅ How to pitch an RPO offering to a client. ✅ What you need to do to offer an RPO service to your clients (and new prospects) ✅ The legal implications and preparations ✅ What can go wrong and how you can contain these risks. Bottom line, you can be inside the tent looking out or outside the tent in the rain. I know which I prefer and so does Jamie.

New Year is nearly upon us. Want to shake it up a bit, but not sure how? Well, here are 4 zero-cost ways to boost profits & reduce stress. “Why should I change things?” I hear you cry. Well, the market isn't great, and trading conditions are tough. A less than business-friendly budget, EU and UK growth forecasts revised down, and Tariff Trump in the White House. True, there's more private equity and VC money being injected into the economy, which will benefit everybody. But next year doesn't look to be a bumper year for any of us. If you're happy with the results you're getting scroll on, otherwise you may be interested in the last #MARShow of the year. We're going to look at four zero-cost things you can do to attack the market differently: - 1️⃣ One way to get your clients to choose you over the competition 2️⃣ One marketing technique that actually boost sales 3️⃣ One BD technique that outperforms everything 4️⃣ A change in your thinking – more powerful than the other 3 added together. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got. Be different in 2025. ⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford

Whenever I hear “so and so is a million-pound biller” I always look for the catch. A hot client, huge fees or a team behind them. But our guest on this episode of the MARShow actually was a million-pound biller. His name is Mark Harris and he did it: 

As the market gets tighter one thing to focus on is being better, or at least more preferable than your competition. Here are two ways to do this. Around here we say “Everything you need to be better than the competition is contained in the hearts and minds of your clients. All you need do is liberate it.” In other words, you need to find out from your client community: - ✅ Where you need to improve ✅ What you do that they like ✅ What the competition are up to ✅ How can you add extra value to them ✅ What is going to get their attention But, what's the best way to do this? Well, there are two ways: you ask them informally over a coffee, breakfast, lunch or cheeky half after work. It works very well, providing you know how to do it. The second way is to use your formal client feedback process to do it, often called Voice of the Customer (VOTC). Well in this #MARShow we discuss both ways because the data it gives you is PRICELESS! It's also one of those rare occasions when we have the whole Ames team there – including that rascal Pete Ames. ⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at Rich.Berrisford@giantgroup.com 

What would you give to spend time with a decision maker in a high value client to find out how to become a preferred supplier? Well now you can. In this episode of the #MARShow we interview Victoria Kirkhope, the ex-Chief People Officer for RSM UK. Amongst her many duties, she was responsible for selecting (and deselecting) recruitment agencies for the firms PSL. She is now an independent consultant and so has agreed to share the knowledge and experience she has built up over her career. We ask her advice on: -

How will AI impact the recruitment industry in the short, medium, and long term? A very interesting question. And we intend to answer it during this #MARShow with our special guest Max Armbruster. Max is the CEO and Founder of Talkpush, a leading-edge recruitment automation platform and the company behind Sam the AI voice recruiter. Over time there have been game-changing inventions: the wheel, harnessing steam, the internal combustion engine, computers and the internet. Each of these inventions created a revolution in their wake. AI is probably going to be more disruptive than all of them. We'll be looking at what's available now in the world of rec AI but more importantly, what's going to come and when. Then, we discuss the impact this tech will have on our industry. The possibilities are very wide from massively enabling rec firms to operate on a skeletal staff to more dystopian outcomes. Previous disruptive technology took a long time to change the world. However, it's likely that AI's impact with be a whole lot quicker. Forewarned is forearmed and one thing is for sure; you can't ignore AI. One last thing, Sam the AI Voice Recruiter (https://www.talktosam.ai/sign-up-for-free) will be calling in to have a live conversation with me on the programme! Don't miss this one guys. ⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at Rich.Berrisford@giantgroup.com

One of the best things you can do to boost revenues and make your business more valuable is launch a Contracts desk. The benefits are enormous: recurring revenue, contractor reuse, bigger profits and a more rounded offering for your clients. We love Perm but you have to reinvent your business every month whereas with a Contract desk you already have some revenue coming in. Right then, in this edition of the #MARShow we're going to explain how to start, grow and run a Contracts desk from scratch. It will also make your business more valuable should you ever come to sell it. We are joined by Tom Giles who already runs a very successful Contracts book and Rich Berrisford to cover how you would handle a much increased cashflow. Together, we'll look at: - ✅ The first things you need to do to get started ✅ How Contract differs from Perm ✅ The risks and pitfalls you will be exposed to (and how to overcome them) ✅ And how you finance the whole thing. Somebody once told me they were bemused why people struggle past the money-pig that is contract to reach Perm. Well, now's your chance to get your snout in the Contract trough.

Technology is a tool and like all tools is only effective when used properly. This is especially true for rec firms. Added to that, I saw one piece of research by Pendo Analytics that said 80% of the features in any piece of software are rarely or never used. When I was at university in the Sevs, one of our lecturers said something similar and when I think of how much of XL I use, I reckon it's true. So, we are spending loads of money and not getting a very attractive ROI. Added to that, what rec tech should owners be buying. There are simply oodles of tech apps out there for the recruitment industry and with AI hitting us at 100 MPH even more options to consider. Well, in this Mike Ames Recruitment Show our guest will be rec tech expert Richard Caldicott. He will be exploring the following: -

Designing a simple, enticing, and profitable commission scheme can be a real challenge. Especially if you worked in only a few firms before setting up your own. Commission schemes, when done right, incentivize teams to go above and beyond. But when done wrong, they can demotivate your team or worse incentivize short-term gains at the expense of doing the right thing. Leading to long-term problems. I have seen this many times in the past, perhaps you have too. So, the first episode of the new MARShow season is focused on all things Commission. Our guest will be Carl Jones of Konquest (  / carl-jones-66093722  ) who will be exploring questions such as: -

I'm going to let you into a little secret on how you can pick up real vacancies from networking events – most likely exclusive or retained. Well, truth be told it won't be me, it's actually our next guest on the #MARShow – Kerry Swift.  Kerry is one of those recruiters who attends networking events and comes away with vacancies, often exclusive or retained. There's a knack to it, you know. On the show, she shared the following: - Which events to choose How to build relationships with the right people  How to get yourself noticed (and yes, that could mean doing a talk) How to pick up vacancies What else you can get from networking groups Are virtual networking groups any good How to overcome nerves and start mixing This show is for those people who want another source of leads and feel networking events are largely a waste of time. It is packed with practical tips and ideas ready for you to take and use. Personally, I have never been a fan of so-called networking events. They always seemed a waste of time to me and I never got much from them. Then Kerry shared her experiences in a recent online forum we were both in and she blew me away with her approach to them. 

Whether you want to change to scale up, become more profitable, win more new clients or attract better employees there are four obstacles you ALWAYS have to overcome. We see it all the time. The owner of a recruitment company is keen to develop their firm but it just doesn't happen. Or it does for a bit, then it peters out and they go back to solely working “in” their business. If you only overcome 3 out of these four obstacles your chances of success are still very remote.  Beat them all and it's harder to fail than succeed. So here they are: - Focus: no clear idea of what you want the business to look like and no plan to achieve it Knowledge: lacking the detailed know-how of what to change and how to change it Time: lack the time to work “on” your business to make the necessary changes Discipline: little or no accountability so discipline wains over time. In today's #MARShow we explore these in detail and how you can beat them all. Having a change framework means you'll build a “habit of change” so the results you want will eventually come. Remember, the more you work “on” your business today, the less you need to work “in” your business tomorrow. 

They say that what happens in the USA is bound to happen here shortly afterwards. So what is happening in the US recruitment world? If you'd like to know, please tune into our final episode of the Mike Ames Recruitment Show before the summer break. I have leading American recruitment industry podcaster Benjamin Mena on the show to spill the beans.  Benjamin interviews leading lights in US recruitment on his podcast the Elite Recruiter, so is well placed to share what's happening across the pond. Amongst other things we look at: -

Podcasting is everywhere, but have you ever wondered why people bother, and how they make theirs popular in their community. Well, wonder no more because we have Rob Tyson as our guest on the #MARShow this week. Rob is a respected search consultant but also happens to host the number one podcast in the mining sector. He shares with us the following: - ❶ how he became the number one ❷ how often he posts an edition of his show ❸ How he chooses his topics and gets his guests ❹ What it takes to produce and then promote each episode of the show. Many people think we don't like podcasts. Au contraire, we just say they work better alongside a Livestream or other event that people can subscribe to. As you will learn, having a well-known podcast in your sector is a massive benefit especially when targeting new clients. And it isn't as complex and time-consuming as you might think. 

So many people have already, or would very much like to, switch across to a retained recruitment model. But it isn't as easy as it sounds. Sure, the reward is obvious: a massive boost in profits because you convert more vacancies into revenue, usually on higher fees. But there are two problems: how do you persuade people to go retained and delivering a retained service is very different to delivering on a contingent basis. I know of at least half a dozen recruiters who have won retained work but then tackled it like a contingent search with disastrous results. The results I refer to are an empty shortlist, a totally rejected shortlist and more blow-outs than is acceptable. So, we have invited two seasoned search consultancy owners onto the show: Lee DeSouza and Ward Hampton. Both are very successful search consultants in their own right as well as being company owners. We'll be drawing on their experience to answer two simple questions: - ✅ How do you persuade people to buy a retained solution from you ✅ How is a retained service different from a contingent one. I cannot stress how important knowing these two things are. You need to win more retained work, but you also need to be successful in delivering it. 

Part of running a successful business is to have a pipeline of potential business stretching into the future, which is easier said than done! But that's what we'll be discussing in this #MARShow. These are the things we'll be covering: - ❶ The difference between Relationship and Revenue pipelines. ❷ How to keep your pipelines topped up. ❸ How to manage your pipelines to fruition. If you feel you don't have enough future visibility over your upcoming work, this episode is for you. I often talk about the three most important priorities in a business: profit, value and safety. Well, strong pipelines tick each of those boxes. Who wouldn't want to go to sleep at night with all the comfort a soft duvet and a strong pipeline can give you? 

I love talking to successful people especially if they've achieved things I have not. As they say, “If you're the most successful person in the room… … you're in the wrong room” because you'll be the teacher, not the pupil. On thi #MARShow we are privileged to have Justin McGuire founder and CEO of MCG Talent. It's worth just tuning in to hear Justin's journey from a marketing agency specialist to an agency owner with licences in the UAE, KSA, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He shares his story with us but that's not why we're asking him onto the show Justin has done two things I believe many people aspire to do: - ✅ Build a business in four foreign countries. ✅ Convert from a 360 to a Layered Recruitment model (with astounding effects) We ask him how he achieved these feats, the pitfalls he made along the way, and the things he would do differently a second time.  So, much to learn and so much to take away and use immediately. Some of you may have seen Justin on LinkedIn, he is an open, engaging, and very knowledgeable speaker and we're looking forward to interviewing him. What question would you like to ask Justin?

Most recruitment companies fail to scale for the same reason. The owner has a recruiter mentality rather than a scalability mentality. If you own a recruitment company (even if you are a solopreneur), and you have a recruiter mentality you're pushing water uphill. Step one on your journey to scale is to adopt and nurture a scalability mentality. This is the subject of this #MARShow: what is a Scalability Mentality, and how can you get one. A scalability mentality has 7 parts to it, and we'll reveal all of them. I wonder how many of them you already have? Anyhoozle, just to get you started here are the first three: - ❶ A deep belief that your business is there to serve you, and not the other way around. ❷ You are as strategic as you are tactical (you need to be both). ❸ You feel no guilt for working “on” the business and taking time off for yourself. These are the easy ones but there are others you need to know about. Adopt a scalability mentality and I believe it's harder NOT to scale than it is to scale. The thing I am most proud of achieving with my clients is changing them from a recruiters who own a business, to a business owners who just happen to do recruitment. There is a world of difference between the two, and I want you to be the latter. 

Client care is one of those topics very much misunderstood by some recruiters. It is NOT the act of getting vacancies off clients. The actual definition is the opposite – client care is what you do with clients when they have no vacancies for you. Research around client care overwhelmingly points to many clients not being happy with the attention they get from their suppliers. This breeds a thing called “perceived indifference” (you do care but your clients think you don't because of your actions). In turn, perceived indifference often leads to clients giving vacancies to other agencies leaving you out of pocket. In this episode of the hashtag#MARShow we'll be explaining what real client care consists of, if you want to be your client's natural first choice agency. This is called Apex Client Care and it's how I made most of my money in recruitment. We'll explore the following: -

Get your commission scheme wrong and you'll either make less money or attract less top talent.  Get it right and it can boost your profits. But what options do you have, and what are the popular schemes out there these days? Our guest on the MARShow is Carl Jones, founder and CEO of Konquest and an expert on commission schemes. Obviously, commission payments are one of the most important motivators for recruiters so you have to get it right. And that's where Carl comes in. He's forgotten more about commission schemes than I ever knew! We'll be exploring such things as: - ✅ What the most popular schemes are these days ✅ Thresholds and accelerators ✅ Paying on GP or Contribution ✅ The most and least popular schemes at the moment for 360s and layered models ✅ What percentage of the GP should you be paying. If you employ recruiters (or plan to anytime soon) this show is for you.  

It's widely accepted that when it comes to recruitment the less you focus on, the more money you make. In other words, you have to niche up. But how do you do this? Well, that's the theme of our next show. We'll be looking at: -

If you use an automailer from your CRM system or a product like Mailchimp, many of your emails won't hit the recipients inbox. Worse still, your current email policies may unwittingly be making the situation worse. This is because the ESPs (email service providers) and ISPs (internet service providers) are desperately trying to reduce the amount of spam their clients receive. Their spam-checkers are becoming increasingly sensitive, and yet you can easily avoid many of their traps. This week's guest on the #MARShow is Nick Butcher whose job is to get more of his recruiter clients emails into the intended recipients inbox. He'll be explaining three massively important things: - ❶ How the ISPs and ESPs decide if an email is (rightly or wrongly) spam. ❷ The common mistakes many recruiters are making in their mass-email policies. ❸ What simple steps you can take to vastly increase the chances of your email hitting the recipients inbox. Email is far a more cost-effective sales tool than any other channel, and yet you could probably make it soooo much more effective. More emails hitting a client or candidates inbox means more revenue. Simple as that.  

One of the big debates in recruitment right now is 360 or Layered. They both have their pros and cons, question is, which is best for you? Well in this episode of the hashtag#MARShow we will aim to shine the torch in all the dark corners of both models. In the red corner will be Max Learmonth a keen supporter of the 360 approach. In the blue corner is my good self, very much a devotee of the Layered model. We'll be looking at the best and worst parts of both models and also how to convert from 360 to Layered. Furthermore, we'll also explore whether it's possible to run both models side by side. This is going to be for you if a) you're not sure which is the best model for you or b) you are dissatisfied with the model you currently use. This is all about building a safe, profitable business that doesn't need you in it all the time and will make you wealthy one day. There's a lot at stake! By the end of the show, I believe you'll have a very clear idea of the implications of both models and which is best for you. PS There is some “frank and honest” exchanges between me and Max.

Would you like to hear how the owner of a recruitment company trebled his profits but reduced his headcount by 20%? He'd been running his firm for 20 years but then made the decision to convert to a Factory model. And that's when things began to change.  He opted for a blended fulfilment function that was part 360 and part layered, and it operates like clockwork. We are honoured to have Matt Ellis of ENG as our guest on this #MARShow.  He's going to share: - ✅ Why he decided to make the change to a Factory model. ✅ How he blended 360s with a layered team. ✅ What changes he made ✅ How he convinced his team this was the right way forward. ✅ A high level view of the salary/commission arrangements ✅ What he thinks caused this enormous boost in profits. Oh, and one more thing. Last year Matt's firm only lost one person from his 40 strong team. So, listen in if you want to boost profits, stabilize your team and be in complete control of a business that needs you less. 

We know that teams that stay together longer become more productive and so more profitable. But how do you do this? Simple, by becoming a sticky employer. This makes it easy for you to attract, retain and motivate the right people. In this edition of the hashtag#MARShow we will be exploring exactly how you do this. The key factors we'll discuss are: - 1️⃣ the type of people you employ 2️⃣ your selection process 3️⃣ your EVP (includes rewards, culture etc) But there's one more thing you can do that costs nothing and yet will give you all you need to become stickier. Create an offboarding experience. By asking the right questions in the right way, you can understand the changes you need to become stickier. This isn't the old exit interview where you tick a few boxes and wish them well. This is encouraging your soon-to-be-erstwhile employee to actively criticise anything they feel needs to change. And what's more, you'll thank them for doing so. To dig deep into this powerful tool, we'll be joined by Jake Holt, a keen advocate of offboarding. Added bonus: offering this service to your clients is a real differentiator!

What makes a great recruiter and how can you discover whether the person you're interviewing is one or not? That's the theme of today'sMike Ames Recruitment Show. Over the years I've employed well over 100 recruiters and estimate I've interviewed over 1000. I've learned some very hard lessons along the way (some cost me a lot of money). But I believe it comes down to a handful of characteristics and some key interview questions to bring them out. So we start by exploring the characteristics I believe all great recruiters have. Then we give you some questions that you can ask in interviews that may help discover whether they will be able to cut it or not. We all know how expensive it is in time, money and distraction if you hire the wrong people – this show should help keep these to a minimum. 

If the gods decreed all the possessions I'd gathered over the years were to be taken off me, except for one thing it would be this. My network, because with that intact I could get all my other assets back over time. That's the power of a strong network - it makes it easier and quicker to get things done. The problem is, the concept of modern networking has been so watered down that it's hardly recognisable now. In this #MARShow we intend to put that right. I'll be showing you what Real Networking is, not the "attending events and swapping business cards" version that appears popular today. We'll be explaining: - ✅ What a Real Network is and how Real Networking is done efficiently. ✅ How to decide who to add to your network. ✅ How to get people to want to help you so you can profit from your network ✅ How to use all the modern apps and tools to make Real Networking easy. ✅ How to spot tyre-kickers who just want to take from you but won't give in return. BTW if you hate going to so-called networking events, I'll also show you that you don't need to do that to grow a strong network. What we'll be showing you are the techniques used to grow networks used by the ancient Greeks onwards - just with better tech these days. Yes/No answer: do you enjoy attending networking events? PS I'm not a fan myself. 

Would you like to know what you have to do to recruit and retain the best recruitment talent out there? If so, check this out. Lysha Holmes (www.linkedin.com/in/lyshaholmesr2r) is our guest on this week's show. She is a skilled and experienced rec-to-rec professional who has many years' experience of recruiting recruiters. On the show we focus on drawing upon her vast knowledge and experience in 4 areas: - ❶ What is the market like for hiring recruiters and which direction is it going? ❷ What do agencies have to offer to attract the best recruiters? ❸ What are the common reasons candidate recruiters are giving for seeking a new job? ❹ If you want to hire rookies, what professions should you recruit from? I'm super excited about this episode because I know it will make a big difference to recruitment companies who are keen to scale. Let's face it, you can't build a business without hiring and retaining the right team. 

One of the biggest complaints I get from recruitment leaders is “I don't have enough time to do everything”. If this is you, this show is for you.  In the fast-paced world of recruitment, time is our most valuable asset, but the modern world conspires against us. Countless emails flooding your inbox, a never-ending to-do list, firefighting, BD, client care and supporting your team – how can you fit everything in? In this edition of the #MARShow Julia Doherty is going to be sharing five proven and practical tips tailored specifically for busy recruiters to achieve more results in less time. Julia will be exploring the following: - ✅ How to control your inbox (not the other way round). ✅ Social media on your terms. ✅ Practice effective communication and so eliminate procrastination. ✅ How to leverage technology and automation (touching on AI). ✅ The ABC of time management. Work smarter, not harder. These tips allow you to focus on what truly matters: growing your business or spending more “me” time doing whatever you want. So, say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to being in control – you'll achieve more and be significantly less stressed if you do.

When you run a recruitment firm the dream is to sell it but, how likely is this to happen and how much will it be worth? In this episode of the #MARShow we will answer both questions. We'll also share the characteristics of recruitment companies that are particularly attractive to potential buyers. Well, when I say “we” I mean our special guest, Carl Swansbury, founder and Head of Corporate Finance of corporate finance house Ryecroft Glenton Corporate Finance. Carl has bought and sold dozens of recruitment companies on behalf of his clients, so he knows a thing or two about it. In the show we drill into: - ✅ how do you value a recruitment company? ✅ what makes a recruitment company attractive to buyers? ✅ when should you begin to prepare for a sale?  

This is for anybody who hates attending networking events or feels they don't get very much from them. The good news is they are optional. A Real Network is a group of people who are willing and able to help you in your personal, and professional lives. Real Networking is the act of building and maintaining that network. But why bother? Because getting introductions and finding help when you need it, are the easiest ways to grow your business. When I started in recruitment, I was on the phone all the time, but my boss (who never made cold calls) had a steady stream of leads phoned in to him. I asked him how this could be, and he said, “because I've spent years building relationships with people who like me, trust me and want to help me”.  I spent the next few years doing the same, and look what happened! So in this Mike Ames Recruitment Show we are going to dig deep into Real Networking. Our resident Real Networking coach Pete Ames is our guest and he'll focus on three things that will get you started. You have two choices: work hard forever or build a Real Network and let it do the hard work for you. 

Ever considered an MBO as either an exit strategy, or as a way of taking over the firm from your boss one day? Well, our next guest is Alan Shave who several years ago, successfully completed an MBO with his colleagues. The process of a MBO is more complicated than many believe and is fraught with danger on both sides. But Alan and his team steered their way through successfully, and now the business is flourishing. He will talk us thru the process, explain the dangers to watch out for and give as many useful pointers as he can. However, that's not all. Alan's company has a very low turnover of staff, well below the industry norm. Plus, he's also going to share how his Employee Value Proposition (EVP) makes his firm a sticky employer. But that's not all: Alan's team are NOT paid on commission – can't wait to hear all about that then! Wouldn't it be great to know how to attract and keep some excellent recruiters without the distraction of a commission scheme? I love a good case study and this one is going to be a doozey!

Probably the most common obstacle to growing a recruitment company right now is a lack of suitable candidates. Just imagine how much more money you could make if you could find more talent and then place them (the easy part). In this #MARShow our guest is marketing expert, James Whitelock who specialises in marketing techniques to attract candidates. During the show, James shares the methods he uses with his clients, to attract more placeable candidates. Amongst other things we discuss: - ✅ How to make your agency more attractive to candidates. ✅ The best way to reach and communicate with candidates. ✅ How personalisation of your messages can boost candidate attraction. ✅ Candidate communities and other places where they hang out. ✅ The use of influencer marketing techniques. ✅ Leveraging AI to reach more candidates. Along the way we also touch on storytelling, the use of video and audio channels and much more.  If you're looking for ideas, tips, tools or techniques to attract more candidates, this is the show for you.

Imagine you had a magic wand that instantly made you better at sales pitches, calls, emails, presentations, proposals et al. There is, and it's called AIDA. AIDA is a simple technique you can use when you want somebody (who doesn't know you very well) to do something you want. Hence, it's brilliant in all things sales and marketing. Anytime you have a “call to action” you want people to accept, AIDA is there for you. It stands for: ✅ Grab ATTENTION ✅ Create INTEREST ✅ Build DESIRE ✅ Agree to ACTION. AIDA was invented by Elias St.Elmo Lewis in 1913 so it's stood the test of time and works as well now as when it was invented. In this edition of the #MARShow, we're going to explain what AIDA is, how it works and how you can use it to be more effective at sales and marketing. In a world where social media and email noise is deafening, you can use AIDA to cut through it all and engage with the people you want to reach. Another real benefit is that it simplifies all sales and marketing activities so even those with less ability can still deliver great results. Anybody like that in your team? If I could only use one marketing technique it would be AIDA!

Recruiters, did you know there are two kinds of BD: strategic and tactical. You need both, they're very different and most recruiters only do tactical. This show is on this subject but let me quickly explain the difference between the two. TACTICAL BD Is either, “giz a job” or “I've got this great candidate…” by message or phone. In other words vacancy scraping or candidate speccing. You need this because when done properly it can make money in the short term. But there are 5 drawbacks with tactical BD: - ❶ It rarely wins high value clients who value their agencies. ❷ It's a treadmill you have to stay on – hunt vacancy, fill vacancy, repeat. ❸ It only works well when demand outstrips supply. ❹ Few people are really good at it. Most recruiters hate and avoid it. ❺ If you make contact when there are no vacancies you get nothing. STRATEGIC BD Focuses on building relationships with buyers who prefer your flavour of recruitment. It works with high value clients regardless of the state of the market and whether there are live vacancies or not. Also, when organised properly, one strategic BDer can feed a medium sized company. Process and tools make it relatively easy to do. On the downside it's a lot longer conversion process so the results take longer to show. Why bother then? BECAUSE YOU WIN MORE HIGH-VALUE CLIENTS WHO FEED YOUR ORGANISATION WITH VACANCIES INSTEAD OF HAVING TO CHASE THEM ALL THE TIME!   

Websites are like food processors, everybody has one, but few of us really know how to use them fully. Yet, learning just a few tricks can deliver some great results. In this episode of the #MARShow we're delighted to welcome Rob Garner, a seasoned expert in optimizing websites. We'll be sharing free or low-cost changes that can bring in more candidates and boost your BD effectiveness. There'll be a mix of changes you can make yourself but, if you have a web developer, we'll also share more technical changes you can ask them to implement for you. Watch the show to learn from Rob how to: - ✅ Boost your credibility making your job as a salesperson easier. ✅ Make your team more prominent (people buy from people). ✅ Attract more candidates and potential clients to the site. ✅ Increased interactions with clients & candidates. ✅ Understand what's working and what needs improving on your site. ✅ An introduction to all the easy-to-use Google tools. So, if you feel you could be getting more from your website then please join us and learn how to make it work hard for you. Like any tool, your website is only effective if it's used properly. Join us and find out how.  

Whether you're a solo recruiter with ambition or have hit that 3 or 4 employee mark and got stuck, you may be wondering how you can scale up. Scaling a recruitment business is soooooo much more than just adding staff and turnover. If that's all you do, there's a very good chance your company will lose its shape as it grows. That means one or more of the following: - ❌ staff motivation and happiness levels drop ❌ client satisfaction falls and competition share grows ❌ profit doesn't grow at the same pace as turnover ❌ a feeling that you're not entirely in control The effect of these symptoms can be higher staff turnover; slower growth, more work, more stress but less rewards. You can even lose clients! The bottom line is you can't create a butterfly by making a caterpillar fatter. It needs to transform and so does your business. In this #MARShow we explain the 5 key things you need to change to make your business properly scalable. Listen to this show if you want to break the link between how much you work and how much you earn. 

Having seen many highly profitable recruitment companies the majority have one really big thing in common. They have stable, empowered, motivated and highly equipped teams. “Get outta here Sherlock”, I hear you cry. Obvious, yes, but since most recruitment companies aren't highly profitable, it's clearly hard to do. There are several factors involved, such as: - 360 vs Layered fulfilment team Management style  The mission, values and culture of your company  How you qualify and hire people  Reward and development of the team In this episode of the hashtag#MARShow my guest will be Ruth Forster, founder and MD of Wagstaff Recruitment. Like me she has worked in stable and unstable teams (her current team is very stable), so we have plenty to discuss. OK, I accept that a stable team is not the only factor in building a highly profitable team, but it's certainly the foundation on which to do so. On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 10 (Key) tell us how important you think a stable team is.

If you're a solopreneur recruiter or own a small recruitment firm and want to break the link between the hours you work and what you earn then this show is important. Virtual teams are a great way to grow your business without committing to permanent staff, plus you can now hire people anywhere on the planet. But this approach does come with some risks, which is why we are covering it in today's  Mike Ames Recruitment Show. Our guest is Ward Hampton who successfully runs a virtual team. He's an English search consultant, lives in Peru, services clients in North America, EMEA & Asia-Pacific and employs zero staff. However, he has a team of 5 people spread across the globe. We will ask him the following questions: - ❶ Why did he choose to run a virtual team and what are the benefits? ❷ Who's in his team and what do they do? ❸ Where does he find his people from? ❹ How does he manage the team? ❺ What lessons has he learned along the way? Bottom line here is, virtual teams can help you grow quickly, but it needs to be done in the right way. Do that and you can easily break the link between hours and money. In other words you can scale up. 

For some years now, the only people who did cold calls were the ones that liked doing it or were forced into it. The market was good, active clients were feeding in new vacancies, email marketing was working OK and LinkedIn was also very productive. But two things have happened to change that: - ❶ the market tightened up ❷ AI started generating a lot more content (including cold intro emails) In other words, there's more sales activity but less work to win – something has to change. And, ladies and gentlemen, that change is to pick up the phone more. Now, some companies out there have based their growth strategies on calling prospects, so no change for those guys. But many other recruiters have either not done very much calling or have done it badly. 2024 means more calling people you want to work with. “But surely this is cold-calling and you hate cold calling Mike”, you may be thinking. I do but everything is not what it seems – who said they have to be cold calls? Well, on this #MARShow Kirsty and I are joined by famed recruitment trainer Kate O'Neill (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateoneill-recruitment-coaching/) to talk about making outreach calls to prospective clients. ✅ How you can make a cold call into a warm call (much more productive) ✅ How to get sales people to make more outreach calls ✅ The structure of an outreach call ✅ Getting round gatekeepers ✅ Getting the recipient to give you time to speak And much more too.  Simple question for you: do you like outreach calling? 

We all want to improve our profitability and one way to do this is build offshore people into your team, but how do you do this successfully? Well, that's the topic of our next Mike Ames Recruitment Show: offshoring for beginners. It's also for those who've tried it, and it didn't work out. On this, we'll be exploring the reasons offshore projects often fail, so you can avoid them yourself. Like most things, there's a way to approach using offshore people that will significantly increase your chances of success. So, we've invited Ketan Gajjar, (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ketangajjar/) founder and MD of RPO Arena to share the secrets of a successful outsource project. This is what we cover: - ❶ Why offshoring often fails to work. ❷ Tasks and roles you can move offshore and the results you can expect. ❸ The commercial arrangements. ❹ How to measure and manage offshore people. ❺ Taking the first steps. With harder times expected, now is a great time to embrace offshore and see how it can support your business. When done properly, you not only get great results for less cost, but getting experienced people is considerably easier than finding equivalent people in the UK.   

360 recruiters have been the mainstay of the industry for years, but things are changing now because as a model it's unreliable. How can this be? I hear you cry. Well, 80%+ of the recruitment companies out there have less than 10 staff, growth is clearly a problem. Good 360s are hard to find, hard to make yourself and hard to keep. And if they go, they're going to take a big chunk of your revenue with them. This creates yoyo companies that grow and shrink as people come and go. Plus, they say they're 360s in the interview, but only later do you discover that they are weak in BD or client care (not 360s at all). The alternative is called a Layered Model. Forget the old 180, 270, 360 malarkey and get into layers instead. In next week's edition of the #MARShow we are going to delve into: - ✅ In most cases why the 360 model is broken ✅ What a Layered Model looks like ✅ How this affects your comms structure ✅ How you convert from pure 360 to a blend of 360 and Layered Sure, we've had some very big successes with layering larger companies (doubling or even trebling their net profit) but it's ideal if you want to start or grow a small business too. If you're fed up of hiring 360s who aren't really, and losing people then seeing your revenues dip – this show is for you. LAYERED = more profit and less stress. What's not to like? CHALLENGE: if anybody who believes in the 360 model wants to join us on the show to debate it with me, just DM me.

Every now and then you meet somebody who achieves great things but think themselves ordinary. Wendy Merricks is one such person. This is her story. A story that just culminated in the successful sale of her business to an investment company. Wendy has more recruitment experience than anybody I know, including me! She worked for Software Knowledge, my first Recruitment company, in the 90s and was not only a brilliant recruiter and businesswoman but was also great fun too. After the sale of SK to Modis she left to build her own business, Jumar, and what a success that turned out to be! We'll be discussing her career, what has made her so successful and the key lessons she has learnt along the way.  I guess we'll also talk about the sale of her business too. Lot's to learn there! You may be particularly interested in the way she developed from being a recruiter to becoming a businessperson – a transition we all have to make to be successful. She's a brilliant guest and I'm so looking forward to having her on the show. What a great way to start the year! So, if you're looking for inspiration, ideas or just a few simple tips, this is a must listen!