Winning new client accounts takes more than a good desk.
It takes a system.
In a slower market, good agencies get overlooked simply because they are not in front of the right clients often enough. Our Client Engine helps fix that.
Book a discovery callDesks are busy.
But new client development rarely is.
The market is harder than it has been in years. Perm is down. Clients are taking longer to commit. And the agencies that are holding their ground are not necessarily better at placing candidates. They are just more consistent about staying in front of the right hiring managers before the vacancy lands. Most agencies are not doing that in any structured way.
New client business comes in by chance, not by design
There is no consistent system reaching new hiring managers each month. BD happens when someone has five minutes spare — which is rarely. Consultants are incentivised to fill roles, not develop accounts, and the MD ends up carrying it all.
The lapsed account list is sitting untouched
Every agency has hiring managers and clients who placed through them 12 to 24 months ago and have gone quiet. Not because anything went wrong — timing changed, hiring slowed, priorities shifted. Structured reactivation outreach is one of the fastest ways to generate new billings. Most agencies never do it systematically.
PSL lock-out is getting harder to get around
More companies are consolidating supplier lists and going direct for some roles. Getting onto a new PSL or back onto one you slipped off takes sustained, structured outreach over months. One call and an email does not cut it. The agencies that get there are the ones that have been showing up consistently.
Cold outreach has been tried and it felt like noise
A few emails went out. A LinkedIn message or two. No structure, no follow-up cadence, no list that was built around who the agency actually wants to work with, no copy that spoke to what the hiring manager was dealing with. It felt random because it was.
No visibility of what new business is actually coming in
There is no pipeline for new client development. Quiet months arrive with no warning and no plan. Decisions about headcount and investment are made on gut feel rather than on what is actually in the pipeline.
The agency knows this needs fixing. There is just never a good time to do it.
Building a proper outbound motion takes months. ICP definition, list build, sending infrastructure, sequence writing, CRM setup, testing. That is exactly what we build — so the agency can focus on the conversations rather than the system that generates them.
The agencies holding their ground in a contracting market are not the ones working hardest on live roles. They are the ones who kept showing up in front of the right hiring managers, even when those managers were not actively recruiting.
A new client development system
built around how recruitment relationships actually work.
Recruitment is a relationship business. Everyone knows that. The system we build reflects it. The goal is not to send more emails. It is to put the right agency in front of the right hiring managers at the right point in time, and to keep it there until the moment is right.
ICP definition and target account list
We define your ideal client account — sector, company size, geography, hiring frequency, the personas who control agency spend — and build a verified, segmented list. New logos, lapsed accounts, and PSL targets handled separately from the start.
Dedicated sending infrastructure
Separate sending domains configured and inboxes warmed before the first email goes out. Your agency domain stays untouched. Every email is set up to land in an inbox rather than a spam folder from day one.
Outbound sequences by segment
Different sequences for new logos, lapsed accounts, and PSL reactivation. Copy written around the hiring pain in your niche, not a pitch about your candidate database. You approve every word before it goes live.
LinkedIn cadence to hiring managers and HR leads
A parallel sequence targeting the specific people who control agency spend. Timed to build familiarity before a direct message or email arrives. By the time they hear from the agency, the name is already known.
Long-cycle nurture for PSL prospects and warm accounts
Getting onto a PSL or staying front of mind with a warm account takes time. The nurture system keeps the agency visible to the right contacts over a 6 to 12 month window so that when the review comes around, or when a role lands, the agency is already in the conversation.
New business pipeline in your CRM
Every new account conversation tracked from first reply through to PSL agreement or first brief. Stage logic built around how an agency actually develops a client relationship. Visible to the whole agency, not sitting in one consultant's inbox.
Two ways to work with us.
Both start with the same thorough build.
Every engagement starts the same way. We understand the agency properly — your niche, your best accounts, what a good new client relationship looks like for you, and where the current BD gaps actually are. That discovery work is the foundation. What happens after go-live is what separates the two options.
We build it.
You run it.
The full system is built, tested, and handed over. Everything we build belongs to the agency from day one.
- ✓Two-session discovery process to understand your niche, your best accounts, the types of business you want more of, and what good outreach to a hiring manager in your market actually sounds like
- ✓ICP definition — sector, headcount band, hiring frequency, geography, and the decision-maker titles who control agency spend
- ✓Total addressable market sizing across your target segments so you know how large the opportunity actually is
- ✓Contact list built in Apollo and reviewed by hand — new logos, lapsed accounts, and PSL targets treated as separate segments with different outreach approaches
- ✓Contact verification and email validation before anything goes out, to protect your sending reputation from day one
- ✓Segmented by persona — hiring managers, HR directors, heads of talent — so the right message goes to the right person
- ✓Dedicated sending domains registered and configured with full DNS authentication — SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
- ✓Inboxes warmed progressively over three to four weeks before the first email goes out
- ✓Your agency domain is never used for outreach at any point during or after the engagement
- ✓Five-stage email sequence per segment — new logos, lapsed accounts, and PSL targets each get different copy that reflects where the relationship actually is
- ✓Five-stage LinkedIn cadence running alongside email, targeting hiring managers and HR leads in your niche
- ✓Long-cycle nurture sequence for PSL prospects and warm accounts over a 6 to 12 month window
- ✓You read and approve every word before anything goes live. Nothing is sent until the copy sounds like it came from someone who knows your market
- ✓New business pipeline built in Pipedrive with stage logic mapped to how an agency actually develops a client relationship — from first reply to first brief or terms agreed
- ✓Automations to capture replies and move contacts through the pipeline without manual data entry
- ✓Custom fields and deal view configured before go-live so the whole agency can see what is in progress
- ✓Full handover session — how to read the data, adjust sequences, manage replies, work the lapsed account segment, and keep the pipeline clean
- ✓Thirty-day check-in after handover to review early performance and answer any questions
You want to own and run the system yourself, or you have someone in the agency — a BD director or senior consultant — who can take it on once it is properly built and tested. You are paying for a solid foundation that does not need us to keep running.
We build it.
We run it for you.
Same thorough build. We take on the day-to-day so the agency focuses on the conversations that come in, not the system that generates them.
- ✓All of the discovery, ICP definition, list segmentation, infrastructure, sequences, LinkedIn cadence, nurture, and CRM pipeline above — all included
- ✓Sequences monitored and adjusted monthly based on open rates, reply rates, and what the data shows is actually working by segment
- ✓A/B testing of subject lines and opening lines run on a rolling basis so performance improves over time
- ✓New sequences written when the agency moves into a new sector, geography, or wants to test a different message angle
- ✓Every reply read and tagged — interested, not now, not relevant, already on PSL, or unsubscribe — so nothing sits unactioned
- ✓Interested replies flagged immediately so the agency can follow up while the conversation is warm
- ✓Out-of-office handling, bounce management, and domain health monitoring throughout
- ✓Contact list refreshed monthly — hard bounces removed, lapsed account list worked systematically, new contacts added as the list gets worked through
- ✓New contacts sourced as each segment gets worked through so outreach never runs dry mid-campaign
- ✓New business pipeline kept up to date every week — deals moved, stalled contacts chased, cold leads cleared
- ✓Monthly pipeline review call — what came in, what is moving, what needs attention from the agency side
- ✓Monthly performance report covering emails sent, open rates, reply rates, conversations started by segment, and pipeline value created
- ✓Honest read on what is working and what we are changing — no vanity numbers, no activity metrics dressed up as results
You want the BD motion running consistently without it sitting on anyone's desk in the agency. Consultants focus on filling roles. The MD focuses on running the business. We handle the system that keeps new client conversations coming in. Most agencies start here and move to self-run when they are ready.
What the agency looks like
when new client development has a proper system.
Not a list of features. What actually changes in how the agency operates when there is a consistent outreach process running in the background every month.
New account conversations every month, not just when an existing client calls with a new vacancy.
Lapsed accounts being worked systematically rather than sitting on a list nobody has time to get through.
PSL relationships being built now, not in a panic when the next supplier review comes around.
Consultants on calls, not on prospecting. The outreach runs in the background whether or not anyone has time that week.
A new business pipeline the whole agency can see, not living in one consultant's head or an inbox nobody updates.
The system belongs to the agency. Domains, sequences, lists, pipeline. Owned outright whichever option you choose.
Questions recruitment agencies
ask us before getting started.
Is this just another outsourced BD service?
+
No. Outsourced BD sells you activity or meetings and takes everything away when you stop paying. We build the system. When the engagement ends, the agency owns the domains, the sequences, the segmented contact lists, and the CRM pipeline. Nothing depends on us continuing to run it. Nothing disappears.
Do you write different sequences for new logos versus lapsed accounts?
+
Yes, always. A lapsed account already knows who you are — the copy acknowledges that and opens a completely different kind of conversation. A new logo has never heard of the agency. Treating them with the same message is one of the most common BD mistakes. We build separate sequences for each segment and brief the copy accordingly.
Does this work better for specialist agencies than generalists?
+
Generally yes. The more niche the agency, the more specific and relevant the outreach can be. A specialist agency in engineering, finance, healthcare, or technology has a much clearer picture of the hiring pain its target clients face. That specificity is what makes the sequences stand out rather than blend in. Generalist agencies can absolutely benefit too — the targeting just needs to be tighter to compensate.
Does this work for owner-managed agencies as well as larger independents with a BD team?
+
Yes to both. For an owner-managed agency where the MD is also the main biller, the system runs the BD in the background whether or not they have time that week. For larger independents with a BD function, it gives that team a structured, targeted outreach process and a pipeline they can actually manage, rather than relying on ad hoc activity and good intentions.
How long before new client conversations start coming in?
+
The build takes four to six weeks. Replies and conversations start from the first month of outreach. New client relationships in recruitment typically take two to four months from first contact to a first brief or terms agreed. Lapsed account reactivation often produces the quickest results because those contacts already have a relationship with the agency — the conversation starts from a warmer place.
If the agency is ready to stop
depending on existing accounts,
let's find a time to talk.
A straightforward call about where the agency is now, who you want to be in front of, and whether what we build makes sense for how you work. We will ask the right questions and give you an honest answer either way.
