Key takeaways
- Job adverts are public evidence of a need you can name in the first line.
- The line manager who owns the vacancy often matters more than HR.
- Search for hiring managers by function and by the location of the role.
- Never send a candidate's CV to a prospect without that candidate's consent.
Who decides to use a recruitment agency
The person who decides is usually the one who feels the empty seat: the hiring manager who owns the vacancy. In larger firms a head of talent acquisition or HR director controls which agencies may work on roles, often through a preferred supplier list run with procurement.
In small companies the founder or managing director decides. Target the hiring manager for a live role and the talent lead for the supplier relationship, and expect each to want a different conversation.
Which signals show a company needs recruitment help
A company needs recruitment help when it has more roles to fill than its team can handle, or roles it keeps failing to fill.
- Adverts that have been open for weeks, or reposted.
- Several roles in one function at once, such as a new engineering or sales team.
- A new office, site or warehouse opening in a region.
- A funding round, contract win or expansion announcement.
- A specialist role that the company has never hired before.
How do you find hiring managers by role and location
Find hiring managers by searching the function and the place where the role sits, not the company's head office. A warehouse manager role in Leeds is owned by an operations manager there, not by the HR team in London; the example is illustrative.
Work from the advert: it names the team, the seniority and often the reporting line. Then search that function at that company and location to find the likely manager, and add the talent lead as a second contact.
What should recruitment business development outreach say
Recruitment business development outreach should name the role, show you understand the market for it and offer a specific next step. One or two lines on how hard that role is to fill locally, and how you would approach it, are more useful than a list of sectors you cover.
If you want to show a candidate, describe them anonymously, by skills and experience, unless the candidate has agreed to be put forward to that company. Sending a CV without consent is a data protection problem as well as a trust problem.
Which rules apply when recruiters contact hiring managers
Contacting a hiring manager at work is personal data processing, so UK and EU GDPR apply and you need a lawful basis, often legitimate interest with a recorded balancing test. In the UK, PECR governs the email itself, and sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals.
In the UK, the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 also set rules on how agencies agree terms with the companies they supply. Confirm your terms and your outreach approach with your adviser.
How to win clients for a staffing agency, step by step
Start from live vacancies in the sectors and regions you know.
- Pick the sectors, roles and regions where your agency already places people well.
- Collect companies advertising those roles, favouring adverts open for weeks or several roles at once.
- Find the hiring manager by function and location at each company, and add the head of talent as a second contact.
- Write to the hiring manager about the specific role, with a short view on the local market and how you would fill it.
- Ask the talent lead how agencies are chosen, and when the supplier list is next reviewed.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsName up to ten companies that are hiring, with a role such as operations manager and the location of the vacancy, and Find fresh leads returns the people as contacts in a segment of the Pebbles Ai CRM, labelled Beta.
- CapabilityResearch & analysisAn assistant can read a company's careers page and recent news and summarise its hiring plans, with numbered citations you can check before you write.
Common questions
How do you get clients for a new recruitment agency?
Start with a narrow specialism where you already know candidates, and approach companies with live roles in it. Your candidate network is the proof a new agency has.
How do agencies get onto a preferred supplier list?
Ask the talent or procurement lead when the list is reviewed and what they assess. Filling one hard role well, outside the list, is often the way in.
Is it better to call or email a hiring manager?
Use both. Email gives them the detail on the role, and a call or LinkedIn message makes sure they saw it.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
