It’s nearing the end of the quarter, you look at the numbers board & get an uneasy feeling in your stomach. You know you aren’t going to hit your target. The anxiety builds & you start rehearsing the excuses in your head, they need to be different from last quarters but just as believable. You know you have what it takes to be a good consultant but can’t quite figure out where you’re going wrong.
What can you do?
There are many factors involved in being a successful consultant, but one thing that often gets overlooked is “pipeline”. It’s so simple, yet so common that people get to the end of the month & realise they don’t have enough requirements to work on. Even if they do have a good month, the following month is likely to be a failure without a good pipeline.
While I don’t fully subscribe to the “it’s a numbers game” adage, I do believe it has a large part to play in consistent billing. I promote quality over quantity, you should try and convert as many of your roles as possible, otherwise what’s the point in having them? The reality though is you can’t win them all & that’s ok, as long as you know your average success rate & calculate how many requirements you need in order to hit your average.
For example, if you usually work 10 roles per month & place 4 on average, logic suggests you need to have 10 live roles the following month in order to make another 4 placements. Pretty easy right, well in principle yes, but don’t fool yourself by thinking that just because you have the numbers you’re guaranteed the placements. There are other factors to consider, such as the quality of the roles, time to fill, the fee etc. Connecting the dots will come with experience, but having a solid pipeline will at least ensure you have an important piece of the puzzle covered.
So how do you ensure you have a strong pipeline? Here are the basics:
1. Set reminders throughout the month to do a health check on your workload, try establish when your placements will land so you can plan ahead.
2. When you make a placement, also make a note that you need to replace that role & set time aside for business development.
3. De-prioritise roles that aren’t moving, focus on the ones that are & replace lost opportunities to keep your pipeline full.
These three things alone should help you prioritise & start being more conscious about your pipeline. In the world of recruitment (or any sales role really), one thing that separates the good from the great is consistent billing. Not everyone needs to be a big biller & many recruitment companies would be happy to have a mid-range biller who is consistent & reliable. So if you are struggling with consistency try the above & see the difference it makes.