How Do Staffing Agencies Get Contracts?

Staffing agencies play a crucial role in today’s job market by connecting companies with qualified talent. However, before a staffing agency can make these vital connections, they must first secure contracts with companies in need of their services.

Obtaining these contracts is no small feat, requiring a strategic combination of sales, marketing, relationship building, and negotiations. 

How Staffing Agencies Get New Contracts?

Staffing agencies rely on a multifaceted approach to getting those initial contracts with new clients. This typically involves some combination of the following techniques:

Direct Sales Outreach 

The most straightforward way for a staffing agency to get a new contract is through direct sales contact with potential clients.

This involves identifying prospects, usually at the hiring manager or HR level, and reaching out to them proactively via phone, email, LinkedIn, and in-person networking.

The outreach focuses on understanding the prospect’s hiring pain points and staffing needs and explaining how the agency’s services can solve those problems.

Presales consultations allow the agency to demonstrate its expertise and ability to provide value in addressing the prospect’s talent acquisition challenges.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing entails creating optimized content to attract prospective clients searching online for staffing and recruiting services. This includes thoughtful website copy, blog posts, case studies, and search engine optimization.

All content must follow best practices of displaying experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

When prospects find and engage with this content, staffing agencies can continue nurturing leads by offering relevant content that provides value and builds trust and credibility. Many prospects will then convert to clients by signing working agreements.

Also Check: How Much Do Staffing Agencies Charge?

Networking Events

In-person networking through targeted events, trade shows, and industry conferences allows staffing agencies to connect directly with prospects.

Business development specialists can promote their expertise face-to-face and exchange contacts for follow up. Joining organizations and associations related to their specialties, like IT or software development, offers additional networking opportunities.

Getting Repeat Business from Existing Clients

While landing those first contracts opens the door, staffing agencies must prove their value over time to gain repeat business with clients.

This requires truly understanding each client’s talent needs, delivering quality talent matches, and providing an exceptional experience throughout the process.

Follow-through, responsiveness, client engagement, and successful placements turn one-off contracts into preferred provider relationships spanning multiple years.

Keys to Getting New Contracts

While sales and marketing activities drive much of the pipeline, converting prospects into clients further depends on these best practices:

• Demonstrating a track record of success through past performance and client testimonials
• Conveying deep expertise around the prospect’s hiring challenges, industry, and company culture  
• Asking insightful questions to uncover the prospect’s pain points
• Identifying urgent yet unmet hiring needs the agency can quickly fill
• Tailoring and customizing solutions rather than a one-size-fits-all all approach
• Explaining the firm’s recruitment process, pre-screening methodology, and quality assurance practices  
• Introducing the specialized recruiting team that would work on the account
• Addressing common purchasing objections around cost, time-to-deliver, and contact details

Conclusion

Getting those initial contracts is a multifaceted process for staffing agencies combining both sales contact and marketing. Direct outreach, inbound content, and networking all play a role.

However, the real work begins after signing, when agencies must prove their value through performance. True success comes from converting one-off projects into long-term clients covering multiple hiring needs.

When staffing agencies demonstrate vertical expertise, recruitment excellence, and business understanding, clients respond with repeat business.