Your business must evolve!
In the midst of a challenging economic climate, that has everyone guessing what will happen next. Itâs the ideal time for us to invite Sarah Knight onto the show to talk to us about keeping your head, while all around you are making knee-jerk decisions that could affect the long-term future of their businesses.
As the MD of her own recruitment agency, Sarah has come out stronger from events such as the 2008 Financial Crisis. She is determined to do exactly the same in a post COVID-19 business landscape. She tells us âthere are similarities to 2008…”I came in to work one day to most things being put on hold, withdrawn and pipeline all but disappearedâ and âthere was that utter panicâ. Game Over then, surely?
Actually, for Sarah and her team it was quite the opposite. She tells us, âwe reviewed the services we were providingâ and they secured a ânational contract and it ended up being a positive – the business evolved!â
We asked, does that apply to the current business climate? – the answer is a firm âyes!â. Sarah says, âwhat weâre doing in terms of our energy is looking at our messaging, clients, and looking at what we do. Weâre using this downtime in a really positive way so we come out stronger the other end!â
Itâs about relationships and networks
At such a turbulent time, we ask Sarah about how she continued to engage with her clients, even though they are not hiring. Her reply, âour clients are looking to us to understand whatâs going on in the market. They are looking to us to guide them”. Sarah say’s “they want to continue to engage with talent and candidates already in the interview process”. She also advises that âsavvy recruiters know itâs all about relationships and having connectionsâ.
We ask Sarah how she will approach her own well-being during the partial lockdown weâre experiencing. She responded in saying âIâll be doing more sport to keep myself in a good place so I can make good decisionsâ. Focusing on her team, Sarah says she is âvery open to them developing their skillsâ. Most importantly, she asked them âwhat do you need from me?â. Sheâs also proud to say that she has âa great team of brilliant minds!â
In closing, Sarah tells us, âI donât know what it looks like the other end, but itâs going to be okay!â. We then asked, what would she hope comes out of this challenging time. Sarah’s responded, âmore unity between agenciesâ and âhigher standards and a better way of billingâ. Her final thought, âdo we even need an office anymore?â.
If that wasnât enough, youâll hear Sarah talk about:
- Building long-term client relationshipsÂ
- Connecting with peers and fellow business ownersÂ
- The labour market is still activeÂ
- Is this the end of the contingency model?
- Clients valuing your expertise and paying for it in advance
- Raising the bar in the recruitment industry Â
Watch the replay on YouTube.đđ»
Or listen to the podcast,.đđ»
And be sure to subscribe to get weekly show updates delivered directly to your inbox.