How to win your first five clients as a new recruiting agency
Who to call first when you open a recruiting agency, how to build a target list from your own network, what to offer, and a 30-day plan to five clients.
By the Recruiting ATS team (How we write)Published 6 min read
Your first five clients will almost certainly come from people who already know your work. Not from a launch post, not from the website, and rarely from a stranger you cold call in week one. So the first month of a new recruiting agency comes down to one job: find everyone who has seen you do good work, give each of them a specific reason to talk to you, and turn the ones with a live role into clients who have agreed your terms in writing.
Every number below is an example, not a benchmark. Your network decides yours.
Who to contact first
Work from the warmest relationship to the coldest. The order matters, because an early yes gives you the confidence and the cash to keep going through the colder end of the list.
- Hiring managers you've filled roles for. If you placed people with them at a previous agency or recruited for them in-house, they've seen your shortlists and they know you deliver. Before you call any of them, reread your last employment contract. If it has a non-solicitation or non-compete clause, ask a lawyer what it covers where you work. A dispute with your old employer is a terrible way to spend your first month.
- Candidates you placed who now hire. The analyst you placed four years ago may run a team today. People remember who got them the job.
- People from your career before recruiting. If you worked in finance, nursing or software before, your former managers trust your judgment on those roles more than they'd trust any agency's.
- Companies in your niche hiring for roles you've filled before. You don't know them, but you can say something they'll listen to: you've done this exact search, and you know where these people are.
- Everyone else. Cold outreach works. It's just the slowest path to a first fee, so leave it for when the list above runs dry.
Notice what's missing: friends who "know a lot of people", generic LinkedIn connections and companies outside your niche. Contacting them feels productive. It rarely ends in a signed search.
Build the target list before you call anyone
One spreadsheet, one row per person. The column that matters most is "reason to call". If you can't fill it in, the row goes to the bottom, because a call without a reason ends with "let me know if you ever need anything", and nobody ever does.
Example rows (fictional):
| Company | Contact | How you know them | Reason to call | Last touch | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional logistics company | Head of operations | You placed two shift supervisors with her | She posted a warehouse manager role last week | LinkedIn message, 3 days ago | Call Tuesday morning |
| Payments startup | CTO | Former colleague from your old employer | His team is growing and you have a strong backend candidate | None yet | Get the candidate's OK, then call |
| Accounting firm | Managing partner | You placed his current audit manager | Busy season starts in January | Coffee, six months ago | Email to book 20 minutes |
Then sort the list into three groups. A: warm, with a live reason. B: warm, no reason yet. C: cold. Most people starting out end up with more B rows than they expected. That's normal. A B row becomes an A row the day that company posts a role or loses someone.
What to lead with
Lead with something specific, never with the agency. "I've started my own agency, let me know if you need anything" asks the other person to do the work of finding a use for you. Compare these two:
- "I saw you're hiring a warehouse manager. I've filled that role in this region before and I already know three people who'd take the call. Want me to run it?"
- "I'm working with a backend engineer who's leaving a payments company. Before I introduce her anywhere else, would you want to meet her?"
The first is role-led, the second is candidate-led. The candidate-led version is underrated in the first month, because it gives the hiring manager something concrete to say yes to. Only do it with the candidate's permission, and don't name their current employer until they say you can.
On price, don't open with a discount. The first fee a client accepts becomes the fee they expect next time, and a new agency that charges less is telling the client its work is worth less. If you want the first search to be an easy yes, give on something other than the percentage: a firm shortlist date, a weekly update, a replacement if the hire leaves inside the guarantee. If you haven't set your fee yet, work out your floor first with contingency vs retained: how to price a search.
Have a one-page terms sheet ready before your first meeting: fee, what it's calculated on, payment terms, guarantee and how long a candidate you introduced stays yours. Sending it the same afternoon is part of the offer.
A 30-day plan to five clients
"Client" here means one thing: someone who has accepted your terms in writing and given you a role. A friendly coffee is not a client. "Send over your terms" is not a client until they reply to the terms.
Every number in this table is an example. Use it for the shape, not as a target.
| Week | Focus | Activity (example numbers) | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Target list and terms | 40 names in the sheet, sorted into A, B and C. Terms sheet written. Three candidates you could present, each with their OK. | Every A row has a reason to call. |
| 2 | Warm calls | 8 to 10 calls a day, second tries included, until every A row has been reached. Ask for a meeting or a live role. | Every A row has an outcome and a next step. |
| 3 | Candidate-led outreach | Present 2 candidates to 15 companies that would want them. Follow up the week 2 calls that asked for time. | Each candidate has been in front of the right companies once. |
| 4 | Meetings and terms | Hold the meetings booked in weeks 2 and 3. Send terms within 24 hours of each one. Chase anyone who went quiet. | Five clients have accepted terms, or you know why each one didn't. |
Here's how week 4 might really look, again as an example: from 40 names you had 15 real conversations, booked 6 meetings and sent terms to 5. Two signed that week and one more after a follow-up. That's three, not five, and it's still a good month. The other two are usually sitting in your B rows, waiting for a reason.
Habits that keep the plan moving
- Put a date on every no. "Not right now" usually means exactly that. Write a follow-up six weeks out in the next-step column and call when the date comes up.
- Ask every yes for a name. When someone signs, or turns you down kindly, ask who else they know who's hiring for the roles you fill. A warm introduction moves a C row straight to A.
- Stay in your niche. A role outside it is tempting when you have nothing else. It takes longer, you're more likely to miss, and it doesn't build the reputation the next client will check.
- Call before you build. The logo, the website and the perfect email signature can wait for the first signed role. Nobody hires an agency because of its favicon.
Where software fits
The same goes for tools. You don't need an applicant tracking system to make calls; the spreadsheet above is enough for the first month. You need one the day a client sends a role and candidates start moving, because that's when CVs, interview dates and fee terms start getting lost in email. Recruiting ATS costs $20 per seat per month, billed monthly with no annual contract, and the 7-day trial doesn't ask for a card, so a solo recruiter can start it the week the first search is signed. See pricing.