March 29, 2024

Business Development tips for recruiters

John Kim

Co-founder @ Paraform

In this blog

1. Define your ICP2. Personalize your emails3. Content is King4. Social proof5. Focus on quality6. Pick up the phone7. Try Paraform

In recruitment, a steady flow of clients is your lifeblood. But how do you, as a recruiter, consistently build strong relationships with potential clients? The answer lies in mastering the art of business development (BD).

Here, we’ll give you a few business development tips to win more clients.

1. Define your ICP

The foundation of successful BD is understanding who you serve. Ask yourself:

• Candidate: What industries, roles, and skillsets do you specialize in?
• Client: What type of companies do you want to work with? What are their hiring needs and company culture?

Also make sure to define where your ICP is, if you’re recruiting for startup tech companies for example then you may want to immerse yourself with news from Crunchbase or TechCrunch.

2. Personalize your emails

Prospects receive hundreds of emails from recruiters every day, so to stand out in a crowded inbox, you’ll have to make each one unique to your ICP. Here’s how you can do this:

1. Do your homework

Before hitting send, invest some time in understanding your target client.

• Company website: Dive deep into the company's website. Learn about their mission, values, recent news, and the challenges their industry faces.
• Social media: Follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter. See what kind of content they share, what industry discussions they engage in, and any recent hiring trends.
• Industry news: Stay updated on relevant industry news and trends, you can always reference something personal or unique to them.

2. Ditch the generic

A generic greeting like “Dear Sir/Madame” or “I hope this finds you well” screams "mass email." Instead, take the extra effort to find something relevant to them. Use LinkedIn or the company website to find recent news or something you like about their product.

For example, if you’re emailing us, here’s what you could write: I love Paraform's concept of getting paid to recruit for exciting startups on your own terms. It's so cool that you’re revolutionizing the recruitment industry and enabling many recruiters to freelance.

3. Showcase your Value Proposition – but make it relevant

Don't just list your generic recruitment services. Explain how your expertise and experience directly address the client's specific needs. For example, if the company is struggling to find talent in a niche tech field, showcase your success stories in placing similar candidates for other companies.

For example: I placed 4 software developers at Binance during a time when they were struggling to find Blockchain developers with experience.

3. Content is King

Even though you might not be one yet, as the saying goes: aim for the job you want, not the one you have. Put in your LinkedIn bio that you’re an expert and establish yourself as a thought leader by creating informative and engaging content.

Write blog posts, share industry news on social media, or even consider hosting webinars on relevant recruiting topics. Do this consistently and you’ll build a following to get inbound leads

4. Social proof

92% of consumers are hesitant to buy when there are no customer reviews and it’s no different in recruitment. Gather as many endorsements as possible on LinkedIn and showcase tangible evidence that you’re the right person for the job and that others have used your services in the past.

5. Focus on quality

Business development isn't just about closing deals. Focus on building genuine relationships with potential clients and candidates. Recruitment is a marathon, so plant seeds now for future rewards.

Also, if you continue to send emails to irrelevant people and companies, you’re more likely to increase the chances of landing in spam.

6. Pick up the phone

The average person receives 121 business emails each day. And these days, with everything being automated and run by AI, it’s fair to say that prospects’ have been inundated with AI-generated emails and their phone lines have been fairly quiet.

So now may be the best time to roll up your sleeves and make a few outbound calls.

7. Try Paraform

Paraform is a recruitment marketplace where top startups post open job roles and specialized freelance recruiters can select a role and start recruiting–all on their terms.

Apply to become a recruiter and automatically eliminate the need to develop new business so you can focus solely on recruiting.