The Benefits of using a headhunter for Revenue Creating, Business Development & Sales Leadership roles - Part 2.

Part 2. Lower cost to your business through better ROI

The typical belief is that headhunting is the most expensive recruitment approach out there. And of course, this is usually correct, if you only consider the immediate cost to hire; the recruiter fee, and training or onboarding costs. But what also needs to be taken into serious consideration, is the potential costs that may come with not hiring an A player, each time you look to recruit. And we’re not just talking about the financial cost, but also the cost on your company strength, reputation, and ability to grow.

When it comes to recruiting for revenue-creating or revenue managing positions, it's very likely that it will actually cost you more, if you focus mostly on the cost of the recruitment partner, and select one based on the fact their fee is lower. Believe it or not, not all recruiters use the same methodology when it comes to sourcing talent for your business.

As the role you’re looking to fill partly has an impact on the success and growth of your business, ensuring that you hire someone who is highly likely to hit targets, if not overachieve, is critical to your company’s performance. So, the likelihood of them achieving their individual goals or objectives should be one of the most important factors you consider before making an offer, not whether they fit into the budget you set for the vacancy. Quite often this budget will be fixed, and lower than the market rate, and also won’t include the cost incurred in the hiring process. Keeping an open mind on the package and fee will remove any limitations you have to hire the perfect candidate.

And this principle doesn’t just apply to Senior Sales positions, even at the frontline sales level of your business where your area sales or business development managers are responsible for ￡1-5m of revenue, there could be several recurring problems arise in your business if you rely solely on what the job seeker market or agencies have to offer;

Underperformers will struggle to achieve targets, if they are not capable, this will hold back growth and potentially result in your need to hire again, which of course costs time and money. Making a successful hire every time will minimize this scenario playing out. Furthermore, even if you do need to hire, it’s likely that your chosen industry head-hunter will find you a replacement very quickly.

Top performers could also become frustrated with supporting other members or gaps in the team if you don’t bring in good people quickly, and this may affect their ongoing job satisfaction and ability in their own role. Demotivation could also set-in if the team is not confident in their strengths individually and/or as a company. And customers may become frustrated with the lack of support and experience they want from a supplier if you don’t put the right people in front of them.

Even worse, at the next level up, if you’re not always hiring Sales Managers and Leaders who clearly have the capability to keep a sales team constantly motivated and winning business, this can lead to you being very short on what your company could have achieved.

Having to re-hire within less than 24 months will also result in additional recruiting costs, especially if this happens several times over a 5 to10 year period. Although your balance sheet might look better with a ￡15k agency fee instead of a ￡20k head-hunter fee, rehiring just once in 5 years is likely to cost you more in recruitment costs alone, compared to paying once for a headhunted candidate that stays on board for the long haul. Headhunted candidates typically stay with their employer for a longer period of time, and it’s likely they will be ready to take a step up when you need them to.

The time consumed by all in the hiring process is also wasted, should a candidate you invite to join, not work out. This of course is also a loss in time and money that is often forgotten about.

So we’ve considered the cost of repeat hiring fees, we’ve considered the cost to a company by a role being open, and the wasted time that can never be replaced. We then must also consider the missed revenue that you're not achieving, because you didn’t secure the top performer you could have hired in the first place. Sales and Managerial roles being open for just a few months will cause a drop in revenue, and this is a factor that will be far more expensive than paying a few thousand pounds above an agency fee, to guarantee you hire the right people, that will prevent these scenarios arising.

A big contract or new customer with significant revenue potential could mean up to six-figure losses if the individual managing that account isn’t up to the level you need. The competition will also grow stronger if their ability to hire top sales professionals, is better than yours.

Consistently having a selection of proven high hitters at the final interview stage, will increase the chance of you making a successful hire, and decrease the overall cost to your business.

Hopefully, this article has explained some of the reasons why when hiring for commercially focused roles, as with most things in life, the more expensive option, is likely to save you money in the long run.

For other benefits of our methodology, please see further articles and documents on my profile page.