Recruiters and recruitment marketers! This is a crucial read if you want to drive this year with a sales-led marketing strategy and “let’s make some money from our recruitment CRM and Recruitment data” plan.
Stats tell us that you can improve productivity by 29% if you use your CRM effectively.
How Can You Make Money from Your Recruitment CRM?
Do you want to make money from your recruitment database (eg. Bullhorn / Adapt), or just spend money on it?
Do you want your marketers to generate leads, or just pretty pictures and mugs?
Do you want to ensure that your sales team are effective online, and not just on LinkedIn and job boards all day and still only place a small % of their jobs?
With the advent of Bullhorn buying Adapt, and Access Group buying Microdec and Volcanic recently, Brexit, and everything else in the recruitment tech and data space, you can be forgiven for wanting to scream…
can I just get on with flipping selling and recruiting?
These are all best in class recruitment systems, and when used well can really drive profit, if you have a strategy for that to happen!
Recruitment Tech – Data in, Invoices Out?
But irrespective of which system you have they all have one thing in common – what you put into them and what you get out of them. I’ve been talking to my clients about data, tech and marketing, with the sole aim of trying to help them make sense of something that has been evading them for some time – they have the same questions:
How do I get my recruiters to improve their placement rates?
How do I get my recruiters to make more phone calls?
How do I get my recruiters to source and place, without spending all day on LinkedIn?
How do I get my marketers and recruiters working more collaboratively? And get marketing to deliver leads?
How do I get candidates to actually come to my website? And how can I get my website to make me money?
How do I improve the value of my recruitment business?
For me, it’s simple. It’s about 3 things: Data, Systems, People
Are People Really Your Most Important Asset?
We are often told that our most important asset is our people… but I beg to differ…
These days, I’d suggest that data is critical, systems are crucial – and process is the glue that joins the three crucial assets together. People make the systems work, systems drive the process.
Hence, people, process AND data are your most important assets.
I realise that whilst recruiters and their leaders are great at rolling up their sleeves and mucking in to hit target, recruitment systems and data still appear to be failing to deliver profitable processes. But are systems and data really the issue? Or are the people to blame?
Are Your Recruiters the Problem Between the Keyboard and Chair (PIBKAC)?
With 2/3 of the UK leavers last year quitting their jobs due to a lack of training, does the recruitment industry suffer the same fate? Does it have a lack of trained recruiters? What is the impact of this? Lost fees, bad reputation, candidates and client-disloyalty? (Currently the average 10-person recruiter blows £10k when someone leaves (contact me to see why).
Or, is your recruitment data still holding you back, even though, with GDPR, you thought you’d shed some significant “weight”?
Is your recruitment software driving recruitment process, or just driving your recruiters insane and they yell “it’s admin”?
Recruitment Process is Key for this Year and Beyond
With the data you have, the systems you use, and the people you employ, you need something that binds them all together. PROCESS!
This is why I have come up with the model below. I call it my “dig up stupid” model. This came to me watching the Simpsons “Homer the Vigilante” episode.

Admit it – as a recruiter you have “enough” data?
But do you have a process for capitalising on it, or simply searching it? Have you divided into 2 of your most important segments (level 2 and 3)? These are the people you have sold to and placed, and those you have met / engaged with but did not convert. What training are you given for effectively using your data and Recruitment CRM?
What recruitment systems and processes do you have for your recruiters and marketers to actively convert / retain this data? Or are you fixated on finding new data, and / or getting distracted with data that you genuinely don’t need?
Recruitment Data + People + Process = Fees
Think about the cash you may be blowing by not training your recruiters to use your systems. And note, that 2/3 of job leavers last year quit through a lack of training.
Ask yourselves what you plan to do this year, with GDPR (and Brexit...) out of the way, how are you going to really monetise your recruitment technology?
Systems are one thing, getting your recruiters to use them… that’s the key. That's why my team and I have created recruitment HIIT - the only OnDemand Recruitment Training Platform to have both Adapt and Bullhorn (and soon other recruitment software, recruitment best practice, LinkedIn, Job Adverts, Inbound Sales, Recruitment Marketing, and so on...)
HIIT Us, Recruiters!
Our high intensity interval training - Recruitment HIIT - helps recruiters source, convert quicker, and develop healthy pipelines, and recruitment marketers attract, engage, and retain candidates, generate leads, and colleagues (3Cs).
TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT FOR FREE
READ ABOUT OUR RECRUITMENT TRAINING
BOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS RECRUITMENT TRAINING
media centre
Read more-
Blog
Recruiter Productivity Series: Optimise Bullhorn Part 1 ~ Engage, Nurture, Place, and Re-Place
Recruiters! I know that recruitment has never been so competitive— even your own clients are competing with you to place candidates!We're launching a new series of recruiter productivity webinars focussed on optimising your use of Bullhorn and driving speedier sourcing, recruitment, leads, sales, and commission! Part 1 is focussed on managing candidates.Let's show you some tips to engage with candidates effortlessly. Let's build stronger relationships using Bullhorn’s nurturing features: communicate, optimise, protect, PLACE! (And repeat!)REGISTER NOWBullhorn MythsIn today’s fast-paced recruitment world, having a powerful ATS/CRM is essential. It saves time, improves efficiency, and drives a profitable desk. But often, we hear:I use Bullhorn when I get a minute.Bullhorn is just a database, not a business growth tool.We have Bullhorn, but we’re not seeing a return on investment.The data is a mess, so I need to advertise and use LinkedIn too.These statements couldn't be more wrong…Bullhorn:💓 Can be your recruitment Buddy if you let it!😱 Reduces admin workload.💪 Keeps you organised.🕒Helps you source, sell, and place quickly!…and so much more when used effectively!Register Now for Our "Candidate Engagement" Bullhorn WebinarRecruitment leaders! Don’t invest in Bullhorn only to underutilise it and then wonder why you’re not getting results.Recruiters! Don’t create unnecessary "busyness" with messy data, inefficient workflows, and poor adoption, leading to a lack of return on effort (RoE).What You’ll Learn in Our Upcoming Bullhorn Optimisation Webinars:📌 23 April 2025: Engage with candidates effortlessly. Build stronger relationships using Bullhorn’s nurturing features: communicate, optimise, protect, PLACE! (And re-place!) Register Now📌 Date TBC: Leverage Bullhorn to source and track qualified candidates faster with less effort.📌 Date TBC: Maximise lead generation and improve conversion rates with smart Bullhorn strategies.📌 Date TBC: Optimise recruitment workflows for maximum efficiency and profitability.Whether you're new to Bullhorn or looking to refine your ATS/CRM strategy, this webinar series will provide you with actionable tips and real-world insights to immediately benefit your recruitment team.By the end of our 4 Bullhorn Optimisation sessions, you’ll have the tools and knowledge to:⏳ Save time (and sanity) and be more productive.🤝 Engage more candidates effectively.💸 Place candidates faster and increase your sales and commission.Don’t miss out! Register now to secure your spot in this free, must-attend event.We look forward to showing you how Bullhorn ATS/CRM can elevate your recruitment ROI (return on investment) and ROE (return on effort) and drive business growth!REGISTER NOWRecruitment and Bullhorn TrainingWe deliver the best live Bullhorn ROI webinar training, and you'll find other tips and tricks in Recruitment HIIT, our online recruitment training platform.Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.TRY HIIT FREE HERECONTACT US ABOUT BULLHORN ROI
-
Blog
Protect Your Pipeline with this Antidote to Backdoor Placements
Backdoor placements are often an "invisible" pipeline killer. Yet they are also a great opportunity to recover lost revenue. Silver linings! Are you missing out on smashing target by not actively managing backdoor placements? 20 Years Ago, in a Land Far Away...In Lisa and my younger days (20 years ago), we created a report to track theoretical backdoors, and had a team calling candidates at the employer they'd recently had an interview with. If they answered, they were put through to the recruiter to begin recouping the lost fee.Surely time has moved on and there are more effective and tech-driven ways of doing this? Plus, surely recruiters are better at sales admin and relationship management now, so back doors are less common? I'm not so sure... If anything more data and tech has actually created a less robust process in many firms.Let’s explore why tracking backdoor placements is critical and how to implement best practices and technology for spotting and reducing them.The Financial Impact of Backdoor PlacementsWhen a candidate you’ve introduced to a client is hired without your knowledge or agreement on fees, you lose the fee. This often happens when terms of business aren’t adhered to, or when a client chooses to go behind your back. Consider this: one recruiter we’ve worked with reported uncovering at least one lost fee per consultant annually. For a team of 30 recruiters, that’s a staggering £150,000 in potential net revenue. In one instance, a single backdoor placement resulted in a recovered fee of £32,000. These numbers are too significant to ignore.Additionally, recruiters often spend resources sourcing candidates from external platforms instead of leveraging their databases. Tracking and addressing backdoor placements encourages better use of internal resources while ensuring you recapture fees rightfully owed to your business.Building Trust and Strengthening Your Recruitment ProcessClients: Actively managing backdoor placements helps you optimise your client relationships. Clients who circumvent your terms of business do not value your partnership. Using Bullhorn to flag these incidents creates transparency and helps you spend time on clients who value you.Candidates: Additionally, having a proactive backdoor placement management process complements your silver medalist strategy. Silver medalists are candidates who reached advanced stages of the recruitment process but were not placed. By regularly engaging these high-potential candidates through your tracking systems, you keep them warm for future opportunities while minimising your reliance on external sourcing.Best Practices for Managing Backdoor PlacementsTrack Every Interaction: Ensure your CRM system captures interview stages and outcomes, even for candidates rejected at early stages. Use detailed note types like “Rejected at Interview” or “Rejected at CV Send” to maintain a clear record.Standardise Your Terms: Attach your terms and conditions to every client communication. This ensures clients can’t dispute fees later and provides you with a reliable audit trail.Monitor Data Ownership: Many lost placements are tied to inactive users or former consultants. Assign ownership of these candidates to managers to maintain visibility and accountability.Automate to Remove Human Error: Implement automation to consistently track candidate progress and flag potential backdoor placements. This minimises manual errors and improves data integrity.Automation - The Antidote to Backdoor PlacementsDuring a recent Bullhorn Automation User Group, I was asked about my top 3 ways to use automation. Backdoor placement management is one of those 3 ways. These 2 automations are a must of you are set on prevention and pipeline maximisation:Interview Confirmation automation: If you already use these automations, add a notification step, x months after the interview date. Choose a timeframe which suits your sector the best.Check Past Interviews (Backdoor): If you don't use Interview Confirmation automation, create a stand alone automation that tracks the interview date and does not have placement. Add a wait step x months later to send a notification to your recruiter to check-in with the candidate and check they don't have a new job. You could even do what Lisa and I set up in a previous life and call the employer and ask to speak to the candidate. If they answer... bingo!Process and Tech Is KeyUse tech to prevent them.Use tech to spot them.The bottom line is that backdoor placements aren’t just about recovering lost revenue; they’re an opportunity to refine your recruitment strategy, strengthen client and candidate relationships, and ensure your systems are robust enough to thrive in a competitive market. Take control, and turn these challenges into wins for your recruitment / staffing agency.And if you need help on your processes, your data, and your Bullhorn adoption / ROI - call us - we can help.Automation and Bullhorn1stWe are Automation Buddies and Bullhorn Experts set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.Automation: We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Bullhorn: We optimise, train, and improve RoI from your key recruitment system.READ ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICERead about our Bullhorn 1st Service
-
Downloads
Your Recruitment Training Playbook