Running a recruitment business entails a variety of activities, ranging from writing job ads to interviewing individuals. While being able to execute these things properly is essential for the success of your consulting, you won’t get very far if you don’t know how to acquire new client contracts.

It can be tough to obtain big contracts with businesses in the competitive employment and recruitment market. When there are so many temp services accessible, there may be no reason for a business owner to deal with just one. To overcome this thinking, you must demonstrate to the hiring manager why your agency is the best or only choice. The people in charge need to understand that it takes both talent and experience to locate the right person to fill an open position.

Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to prove to employers that your company can adequately meet its staffing needs.

Create Your Niche

In the early days of temporary employment agencies, people were most often needed to work in an office or factory. As changes in the economy forced more employers to consider using staffing agencies, companies within the industry had to come up with new ways to compete. One way to differentiate your company from other temp services is to focus on a specialty niche.

For example, an agency specializing in placing nurses exists solely to serve the healthcare industry. In order to be successful in your niche, you must research the industry and the geographical area where you intend to do business. You then need to recruit in areas where people in your specialty are looking for work, which would be nursing colleges, hospitals and clinics in this example.

It makes hiring managers feel more secure when they know that your staffing organization understands their industry. The more you can demonstrate specific knowledge about the niche you have chosen, the greater the likelihood of signing long-term contracts with prominent employers.‍

Demonstrate How Your Temp Agency Recruits the Right Candidates

‍ It is one thing for you to boast that you have the candidates to fill an employer’s staffing needs, but it is another thing entirely to show how you go about finding those candidates. You need to describe your company’s recruitment efforts to employers in order to demonstrate how and where you find applicants for specific openings. You should also be certain to explain the following to potential clients:

• Your placement service’s screening process. This should include information about the types of information you check on before offering an applicant a position, such as a criminal history, drug use, verifying credentials and speaking to past employers about job performance.
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• The typical interview process your agency uses with candidates for the specific type of job the employer is trying to fill. Your interview questions should demonstrate your skills in weeding out applicants who are not a good fit for the position.
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• How your company follows up with job applicants and those who have completed an interview. Include your typical time frame and the type of language used to convey acceptance or rejection.

‍Demonstrate a Proactive Approach to Finding Job Candidates

The most successful staffing agencies have mastered the art of headhunting to find the right candidates for a job. Describe to your potential client how your organization reaches out to potentially qualified people rather than waiting to receive resumes in response to a job posting. You then need to take it a step further by describing one or more instances of your successful headhunting techniques resulting in filling a position for your clients.

Results Matter

If you can’t produce evidence that your agency can get results, your presentation ultimately won’t be very convincing. Your prospective clients need to see visual proof that you can produce results. You can win their confidence by arriving at the appointment with charts, graphs and reports that show tangible results. Be sure to provide the hiring organization with detailed numbers on your business volume and placement rates.

Read Also: How do I Approach a Staffing Agency?

You also want to discuss the types of industries you work with in-depth and be prepared to meet any objections your potential client may raise. For example, assume that the hiring manager is concerned that workers from your agency won’t complete the entire assignment. You need to empathize with this concern and show how you proactively address it.

Some possible solutions to this problem are offering completion bonuses to employees or reducing the amount of money a client has to pay if the original employee doesn’t complete the assignment. When you are proactive about solutions upfront, it increases the client’s trust in the event the problem actually transpires.‍

Bring Letters of Recommendation

Satisfied clients are the best possible form of advertising for your staffing agency. After you schedule an appointment to see a potential client, be certain to secure several letters of recommendation from people who have done business with your organization in the past. In addition to printed testimonials, solicit input from past and current clients for your company’s website. You can print these out and bring them to the meeting with you or direct the hiring manager to the homepage of your business.‍

The economic recession of 2007 to 2009 has made many employers gun-shy about taking on new permanent workers. Between 2009 and 2013, the number of people working at a job through a temporary employment agency increased by 53 percent. As of July 2013, there were 2.7 million people employed as temporary workers in the United States. With the demand for skilled temp workers higher than ever, agencies within the industry must be prepared to attract new clients by staying one step ahead of the competition.

Linda Blakemore, President and Owner of the Atlantic Pacific Group in Laguna Beach, is excellent at creating client relationships, which has helped her to build a profitable contract staffing business alongside her direct hire placements.

Here are some of her most effective methods for obtaining staffing contracts:

• Be a “Talent Acquisition Partner.” LISTEN to clients. Find out what their biggest staffing pain points are and recommend the best solution. That solution could be a direct hire, or it may be a contractor. It could even be a contract conversion by way of contract-to-direct hire. By focusing on their specific staffing challenges, you can become what Blakemore calls a “Talent Acquisition Partner” rather than just a vendor.
• Choose a Strong Niche. The strongest niche for you to succeed in contract staffing is probably the one you are already in. This was the case for Blakemore, who works the human resources, accounting, and finance niche. She had a strong client base and she already had a stable of candidates. The pool of candidates was important because recruiters need to be able to present contract candidates quickly. Most niches do have a need for contractors. However, if you struggle to generate contract staffing leads in your current niche, you may want to explore other hot industries for contract staffing, such as Health IT Staffing, and Manufacturing/Engineering.
• Go to the Right Source. Recruiters trying to figure out how to get recruitment contracts have traditionally gone to hiring managers or department heads for contract placement opportunities because they were the ones with the staffing needs. However, as contractors play a more integral role in the workplace as part of the new blended workforce model, HR is becoming the front line for ALL talent acquisition in medium to large size companies. They tend to know where the open positions are throughout an entire organization, and they are often in charge of selecting approved vendors, so if you want to get on that list, you need to go through them. Even if you are working directly with the hiring manager, Blakemore says to keep HR in the loop. “If you try to go around HR, you are not going to win any brownie points.”
• Introduce Contracting Early and Often. From your first conversation with a potential client, make it clear that you offer contract staffing services. “I typically introduce myself to clients from a search perspective, but during the first meeting, I also let them know that I provide contractors in that specific niche,” Blakemore said. Also, be sure to tell your existing direct hire clients. Recruiters typically get 80% of their contract business from their direct hire clients. “Keep reminding them. They will forget you had that conversation three or six months later,” she added.
• Follow-up with Marketing Information. To keep contract staffing fresh in a client’s mind, Blakemore recommends following up initial conversations with a marketing document. The marketing information simply tells them that in addition to direct hire, she offers contract staffing, pay-rolling, and contract-to-direct hire. The document also references a simple weekly process for contracting, along with some key information on insurance coverage.
• Client and Candidate Referrals. If you position yourself as THE source and expert in your niche, your clients will refer other companies to you. Candidates can be a great source of referrals for other candidates, making referrals a great example of how to get staffing contracts, especially if your pay your candidates well and offer them quality benefits. “I’ve learned that professional contract candidates want a great contract employee benefits package,” Blakemore said. It is common for contract recruiters to offer back-office support solutions. “My back-office offers them medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, plus a 401(k). The benefits not only attract quality candidates, they help you to retain them and place them on one contract assignment right after another. Your clients and candidates can be one of your best lead generators.”

What is an Example of Contract Staffing?

Contract staffing is a type of recruiting strategy in which firms recruit talented employees based on a particular contract that describes the terms and requirements of their agreement. When people are expected to work for a set duration of time or until a specific project is completed, this sort of recruiting is employed. 

This contract provides the advantage of allowing employees to work more freely, with greater flexibility and more time. When a third-party agency supplies non-permanent employees for a particular client company, this is referred to as contract staffing. It relates to a naturally occurring structure in so many nations’ recruitment practices, rather than a term prescribed by the law or regulations. There are three main phases of contract staffing:

A service contract is not like an employment contract: 

When a firm employs by using contract staffing, the firm does not hire individuals as employees. Instead, the firm enters into a business-to-business agreement with a staffing agency that offers specialized services.

Set term or project-based recruit, not permanent employment:

This contract staffing relates to a connection of a fixed time period, such as for a specific month, 3, 6, or 12 months, or a contract as a specific project-based. When the period expires or the specified project is done, the contract finishes. These jobs are not like permanent jobs with full-time responsibilities for the employees.

A third-party agency:

A staffing agency generally hires or assigns employees to their client firm. These staff may be employees of the staffing agency or, in certain situations, contractors of the staffing agency, which is also known as a ‘labor-hire business,’ a ’employee leasing company,’ or a ‘contract service company.’

The following are the various types of staffing contracts offered by a contract staffing agency:

Part-time contract

A part-time contract is a type of contract staffing in which a person agrees to work for a specific number of hours. He or she is given the chance and guarantee of being hired as a full-time employee. The part-time contractual worker is legally obligated to work a certain number of hours and is paid properly for those hours. Typically, school and college students or those who wish to learn and get experience from such occupations choose this form of contract.

Fixed-term contract

Contracts with a fixed term are ones that are limited by conditions. These contracts are usually signed for a single project, and after the project’s needs have been fulfilled, the contract is ended. This sort of agreement may be renewed for a longer length of time. It provides workers with a set of benefits including insurance, but it requires advancement.

Agency staff

Employees will be employed by IT contract agencies, but they will work for firms in this type of contract staffing. This occurs because many firms collaborate with staffing services to acquire individuals and complete their tasks. Although the employees work for the company, they are compensated by the staffing agency or their direct recruiters.

Zero hour contract

This sort of contract staffing does not have a time limit basis or any certain time or longer term of work, such as a work project. In this sort of contract staffing, the staff is needed on an ‘on-call’ basis. When a certain task has to be accomplished, these employees are called in, and after the task is over, they are free to work or look for other opportunities.