Successful recruitment directors are always business builders. It’s a key mindset shift that struggling business owners don’t make.

The thing is when it comes to scaling and building your business there is a fundamental mind shift that has to happen. It’s fine that you are still a stand out salesperson. However, now your business isn’t just about you and with the ambitious goals you have for growth you won’t be able to deliver that if you hold onto everything will you?

It’s about how you move to treat your team like the amazing people they are who will now be the key pillars to your growth.

One way Katy and I explain it is to treat your consultants as you would your clients.; I know a different frame, isn’t it? Let me explain more how this works in this week’s post.

People who are stuck at three or four people or can’t get above ten consultants make it hard for themselves; they have not made this move. No matter how good a biller you are, you can’t do it all.

Not making a conscious decision to become a business builder rather than a big biller that also has a few consultants working with them is a massive block I see that stops people from scaling their recruitment business.

What is happening here?

They can’t step away from the salesperson and the mentality which goes with it.

They think, “If I step away from billing and my team doesn’t step up then we are going to go under.”

This fear makes them stay ‘stuck’ working in the business.

Consequently, they will never scale.

Katy and I see this happening all the time.

I know this trait inside out because this is what happened to me.  When I started working with my coach and mentor  ( Ana please link to the mentor post), even six months into the programme, she was teaching me how to coach high performers in my team.

I said to her, “I cannot do this”, because it took time and patience.  I said to her, “I am struggling.  I have no time to coach because if I do that I have too many other demands and if I do not deal with these other demands we are going to go bust.”

Luckily, she reminded me; “Nicky, you have not got a choice here.  If you do not step up and become a business builder, then there is no point me being here.  You are never going to make it.

The first thing you need to do is to treat your team as your clients.”

 

This changed everything because up until that point I had always put my clients first.  If I had a one to one with my team or I had training, or I was listening in to one of their sales calls, I would drop that at a second’s notice if a client phoned in and needed help.

My team always got put to the back burner; I am still embarrassed to admit that years later.

Fact: If you want to be a business builder you must focus on your team as your future because that is where your billings AND future financial freedom will come from.

When I got this feedback, I knew I had to change.

I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and said, “Who do I need to become to be a business builder?”

I know I am a great salesperson, but I need to become a great leader.  This changed everything for me.  My biggest fear was that if I stopped billing, we would go bust but what I found was when I stepped up, they stepped up too.

 

It is interesting when you start to trust your team and get out of their way, they will step up.

The reason this decision is critical is that it will be the difference between some of you making half a million to a million net profit and having financial freedom.

Being able to go on holiday without looking at your emails or being able to sleep at night or being trapped in a business that is reliant on you being there 24/7.

A question for you; what is it that you want?

If you do not know how to make the shift that is fine, that is something we can show you how to do.  However, there are also some new skills that you must learn, such as:

 

  • How to get consistent performance through your consultants
  • How to set up and run a rock-solid reporting system
  • Strategic planning, goal setting and visioning
  • Inside out Leadership – all about who you need to become
  • How to motivate your staff

 

Here is an example for you of how this will work for you.

Lee is the founder of an amazing tech recruitment company.

When Lee came to us his business was doing just shy of half a million but 80% of those billings were coming from Lee.

Lee and his fellow founder and wife Theresa were working crazy hours!

I wonder if this sounds familiar; buying loo rolls, cleaning the office, doing everything for the business rather than focusing on where their key strengths were.

They worked with us; we rejigged their roles, their focus and they have doubled their turnover from 494k to 1.2 million. You can read their in-depth case study here.

As massive action takers, they then went onto use one of our business building strategies, which doubled their average fee overnight.

The bottom line here is if you are serious about scaling your business you must make that shift to become a business builder.  You won’t be able to do it if you stay a salesperson.  Instead of asking the question “Who am I” try answering the question: “Who am I becoming?”. Decide who you need to be to be successful and then grow into that new character.

All the world’s a stage, and we are merely actors; maybe it’s time to become a business builder?

 

What Next?

Over the past few years, we have helped many recruitment owners to switch into business builders.

Read a small selection of our success stories here. Lee and Theresa, then Dawn who went from £16k to £175k a month in a year and the list goes on.

Then apply for a conversation with one of us here and let’s see how we can help you.

Warm regards,

Nicky and Katy