Louise Archer from Retrained Search has a goal to empower every single recruiter to realise their potential. Through education and training the UK based facilitator has equipped countless RCSA members with the skills, knowledge, confidence and materials to transition their relationships to retained. In May at Talent X, she will join Director & Executive Search Coach Jordan Taylor on the stage to talk about the future of recruitment.
“I was a contingent recruiter for many years before I transitioned to retained so I absolutely understand the struggles that consultants face working on a contingent basis, explains Louise.
“I know how frustrating it is when fees fall out, how it feels to be used by clients and how hard it is to grow a business where revenue forecasts are so unpredictable.
“Once I discovered how to move my clients to retained, I helped my former company, Airswift, to build their retained function from scratch and that today sees over $12 million come from retained business.”
The Retrained Search Team have been offering support to RCSA members through online training by helping them build a retained offering, improve sales of existing retained services and ensure a 95-100% delivery of retained assignments. Her students have the benefit of becoming part of a community through twice weekly coaching sessions with the Retrained team. While RCSA has webinars planned for July and September, in May, her skills and expertise will be shared live on stage.
At Talent X, Louise and Jordan will delve into the future of recruitment. It’s a session to benefit everyone. Whether working contingently or dabbling with retained work – the focus will be on helping recruiters win more retained business.
“We will ask a lot of leading questions. For example, have you calculated your team’s fill rate recently? How many jobs are they working on versus how many they are actually filling? says Louise.
“A typical contingent fill rate across Australia is 20-25%, but a typical retained fill rate is 95%. You only need to do a simple math sum to work out the difference to your revenue if you learn the right skills.”
Louise says the session with Jordan will provide an overview of what it means to work on a retained basis and how to position and sell it to clients. The topics covered will include;
- Positioning retained in the current climate
- Understanding the sales process and how it differs
- Current tips on closing clients in 2024
- How to handle tough objections from clients
“Recruiters often come to us frustrated with the limitations of the contingent model, which often results in a lower fill rate, uncertainty of payment, a surplus of transactional clients, limited time and energy for each role and unpredictable revenue, explains Louise.
“Having predictable, forecastable revenue is a game-changer. It alters your behaviour and transforms the way you feel about your day, week, and month because everything starts to become calmer, more assured, and more confident.”
To see Louise and Jordan speak in person, make sure you grab your tickets to Talent X today.