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High Placement Fee Is Not Out Of Your Reach

I started my recruitment career competing on price and speed.

It was the worth combo ever but it’s a rite of passage most cannot avoid. You may be facing it now.

Here’s a hack-around it.

Start pitching for higher placement fee. You can’t do the quantum leap if I suddenly ask you to but you can inch forward.

Instead of accepting placement fee that is 1 month salary, ask for 15%, then 18%, 20% and so on.

Is there a ceiling?

Sure there is but it’s not governed by what you think.

Most recruiters say “Don’t go beyond 25%.” because that would put you out of most clients’ budget.

In fact, at 18-20%, you are already out of some clients’ budget.

Your target is not these clients but clients that question Why you are worth 25% or more.

I recently quoted 30% and the rationale is:

• I’m entering a very challenging region (Japan)

• Client has been searching for a long time (from my conversation with them)

• It’s a niche role as they need someone native and a fluent English speaker

In fact, 30% might be a low or a steal for them if I get the placement done successfully. I’m looking at 30 grand for this project.

How high you quote is directly relevant to the value you are able to provide.

If you are doing the same as everyone else and quoting high, what are your odds?

Knowing how to innovate and deliver on your unique services is what will set you for success in high placement or high ticket sales.

A parting question. Would you prefer to handle 20 roles a year to earn 100K or 3-4 roles a year for the same amount? In the former case, you are a touch and go operator. In the latter, you can invest time and energy to deep dive into that few vital roles. It is less strenuous and you emerge with deeper learning and an authority in what you do.

p.s. Just as you trained yourself to handle high volume low placement fee roles, you have the same capacity to rewire yourself for high value placements. Don’t doubt and if you DM me, I will help you.

p.p.s. A warm welcome to everyone who subscribed The Solo Recruiter. You are now a part of this Spartan tribe that achieves great results in recruitment business. I call you Spartans because you mean BUSINESS. Ah-woo~!

Let’s connect on LinkedIn where I share tips for recruitment business. I’m also planning a Live Stream on FB to talk about being a solopreneur because of the overlapping skill sets it takes to be a great solo recruiter.

​About this newsletter: You are receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly TSR (The Solo Recruiter) newsletter. Every other week, you learn the strategies that successful recruiters use to grow their businesses by doing the vital few. If you are interested to launch your own agency, drop me a DM.