New Year is nearly upon us. Want to shake it up a bit, but not sure how? Well, here are 4 zero-cost ways to boost profits & reduce stress.

“Why should I change things?” I hear you cry.

Well, the market isn’t great, and trading conditions are tough.

A less than business-friendly budget, EU and UK growth forecasts revised down, and Tariff Trump in the White House.

True, there’s more private equity and VC money being injected into the economy, which will benefit everybody.

But next year doesn’t look to be a bumper year for any of us.

If you’re happy with the results you’re getting scroll on, otherwise you may be interested in the last #MARShow of the year.

We’re going to look at four zero-cost things you can do to attack the market differently: -

1️⃣ One way to get your clients to choose you over the competition

2️⃣ One marketing technique that actually boost sales

3️⃣ One BD technique that outperforms everything

4️⃣ A change in your thinking – more powerful than the other 3 added together.

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got.

Be different in 2025.

⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford

Whenever I hear “so and so is a million-pound biller” I always look for the catch.

A hot client, huge fees or a team behind them.

But our guest on this episode of the MARShow actually was a million-pound biller.

His name is Mark Harris and he did it: 

💥 Working on his own

💥 With average fees of £7k (yes, that’s 12 placements a month)

💥 Over 100 clients

💥 Only on a contingent deals

He was quite literally a placement machine, and on the show to explain exactly how he did it.

Of course, there were sacrifices to be made, and he made them, but the achievement in that one year was outstanding.

I want you all to know his secret and he is willing to spill the beans on: -

✅ Winning new clients

✅ Getting the lion’s share of his client’s vacancies

✅ Converting most of his vacancies into fees He also shares with us the price he had to pay to achieve this amazing feat.

Could you see yourself as a million-pound biller?

⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford https://www.linkedin.com/in/richberrisford/ 

As the market gets tighter one thing to focus on is being better, or at least more preferable than your competition. Here are two ways to do this.

Around here we say “Everything you need to be better than the competition is contained in the hearts and minds of your clients. All you need do is liberate it.”

In other words, you need to find out from your client community: -

✅ Where you need to improve

✅ What you do that they like

✅ What the competition are up to

✅ How can you add extra value to them

✅ What is going to get their attention

But, what’s the best way to do this?

Well, there are two ways: you ask them informally over a coffee, breakfast, lunch or cheeky half after work.

It works very well, providing you know how to do it.

The second way is to use your formal client feedback process to do it, often called Voice of the Customer (VOTC).

Well in this #MARShow we discuss both ways because the data it gives you is PRICELESS!

It’s also one of those rare occasions when we have the whole Ames team there – including that rascal Pete Ames.

⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐ To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at [email protected] 

What would you give to spend time with a decision maker in a high value client to find out how to become a preferred supplier?

Well now you can.

In this episode of the #MARShow we interview Victoria Kirkhope, the ex-Chief People Officer for RSM UK.

Amongst her many duties, she was responsible for selecting (and deselecting) recruitment agencies for the firms PSL.

She is now an independent consultant and so has agreed to share the knowledge and experience she has built up over her career.

We ask her advice on: -

💥 How you actually get to speak to somebody in authority

💥 What she looked for in an agency

💥 What characteristics turned her off an agency

💥 What’s the best way to pitch, should you be invited in

💥 What the selection process typically looks like

💥 What should agencies do to be more attractive to larger corporate clients

In addition to the above very important topics she also litters the show with advice and help for agency owners and BD people looking to win more high-value new clients.

Honestly, when I was running an agency, I would have bitten your hand off for this opportunity.

 All you need to do is tune in.

The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance

To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at [email protected]

-- THE SUMMIT -- To find out more about the Summit click here - https://www.recruitmentpioneers.com/summits

How will AI impact the recruitment industry in the short, medium, and long term?

A very interesting question.

And we intend to answer it during this #MARShow with our special guest Max Armbruster.

Max is the CEO and Founder of Talkpush, a leading-edge recruitment automation platform and the company behind Sam the AI voice recruiter.

Over time there have been game-changing inventions: the wheel, harnessing steam, the internal combustion engine, computers and the internet.

Each of these inventions created a revolution in their wake.

AI is probably going to be more disruptive than all of them.

We’ll be looking at what’s available now in the world of rec AI but more importantly, what’s going to come and when.

Then, we discuss the impact this tech will have on our industry.

The possibilities are very wide from massively enabling rec firms to operate on a skeletal staff to more dystopian outcomes.

Previous disruptive technology took a long time to change the world.

However, it’s likely that AI’s impact with be a whole lot quicker.

Forewarned is forearmed and one thing is for sure; you can’t ignore AI.

One last thing, Sam the AI Voice Recruiter (https://www.talktosam.ai/sign-up-for-free) will be calling in to have a live conversation with me on the programme! Don’t miss this one guys.

⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐

To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at [email protected]

One of the best things you can do to boost revenues and make your business more valuable is launch a Contracts desk.

The benefits are enormous: recurring revenue, contractor reuse, bigger profits and a more rounded offering for your clients.

We love Perm but you have to reinvent your business every month whereas with a Contract desk you already have some revenue coming in.

Right then, in this edition of the #MARShow we’re going to explain how to start, grow and run a Contracts desk from scratch.

It will also make your business more valuable should you ever come to sell it.

We are joined by Tom Giles who already runs a very successful Contracts book and Rich Berrisford to cover how you would handle a much increased cashflow.

Together, we’ll look at: -

✅ The first things you need to do to get started

✅ How Contract differs from Perm

✅ The risks and pitfalls you will be exposed to (and how to overcome them)

✅ And how you finance the whole thing.

Somebody once told me they were bemused why people struggle past the money-pig that is contract to reach Perm.

Well, now’s your chance to get your snout in the Contract trough.

Technology is a tool and like all tools is only effective when used properly.

This is especially true for rec firms.

Added to that, I saw one piece of research by Pendo Analytics that said 80% of the features in any piece of software are rarely or never used.

When I was at university in the Sevs, one of our lecturers said something similar and when I think of how much of XL I use, I reckon it’s true.

So, we are spending loads of money and not getting a very attractive ROI.

Added to that, what rec tech should owners be buying.

There are simply oodles of tech apps out there for the recruitment industry and with AI hitting us at 100 MPH even more options to consider.

Well, in this Mike Ames Recruitment Show our guest will be rec tech expert Richard Caldicott.

He will be exploring the following: -

💥 What tech do rec firms need to be uber-effective (and so max-out profits)

💥 How can rec firm owners get more from their existing tech

💥 A peep into the AI crystal ball to see what exciting AI products are coming our way.

Tune in if you feel you aren’t getting enough ROI from your tech stack or are simply confused as to what tech you need.

Do you feel you get enough ROI from your tech stack?

⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐

To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at [email protected]

Designing a simple, enticing, and profitable commission scheme can be a real challenge.

Especially if you worked in only a few firms before setting up your own.

Commission schemes, when done right, incentivize teams to go above and beyond.

But when done wrong, they can demotivate your team or worse incentivize short-term gains at the expense of doing the right thing.

Leading to long-term problems.

I have seen this many times in the past, perhaps you have too.

So, the first episode of the new MARShow season is focused on all things Commission.

Our guest will be Carl Jones of Konquest (  / carl-jones-66093722  ) who will be exploring questions such as: -

💥Is there an ideal balance between base salary and commission?

💥What are the consequences of the different schemes?

💥Should you pay on GP, profit before tax or contribution?

💥What schemes work well in a Layered (non-360) model?

💥What’s the easiest way to run your scheme?

Perfect for you if you don’t have a scheme or feel yours isn’t working. 

⭐ The MARShow is proud to be sponsored by Giant Finance ⭐

To learn more about Giant Finance options for contract, temp and perm placements contact Rich Berrisford at [email protected]

I’m going to let you into a little secret on how you can pick up real vacancies from networking events – most likely exclusive or retained.

Well, truth be told it won’t be me, it’s actually our next guest on the #MARShow – Kerry Swift. 

Kerry is one of those recruiters who attends networking events and comes away with vacancies, often exclusive or retained.

There's a knack to it, you know.

On the show, she shared the following: -

1. Which events to choose
2. How to build relationships with the right people 
3. How to get yourself noticed (and yes, that could mean doing a talk)
4. How to pick up vacancies
5. What else you can get from networking groups
6. Are virtual networking groups any good
7. How to overcome nerves and start mixing

This show is for those people who want another source of leads and feel networking events are largely a waste of time.

It is packed with practical tips and ideas ready for you to take and use.

Personally, I have never been a fan of so-called networking events. They always seemed a waste of time to me and I never got much from them.

Then Kerry shared her experiences in a recent online forum we were both in and she blew me away with her approach to them. 

Whether you want to change to scale up, become more profitable, win more new clients or attract better employees there are four obstacles you ALWAYS have to overcome.

We see it all the time. The owner of a recruitment company is keen to develop their firm but it just doesn’t happen.

Or it does for a bit, then it peters out and they go back to solely working “in” their business.

If you only overcome 3 out of these four obstacles your chances of success are still very remote.

 Beat them all and it’s harder to fail than succeed.

So here they are: -

1. Focus: no clear idea of what you want the business to look like and no plan to achieve it
2. Knowledge: lacking the detailed know-how of what to change and how to change it
3. Time: lack the time to work “on” your business to make the necessary changes
4. Discipline: little or no accountability so discipline wains over time.

In today's #MARShow we explore these in detail and how you can beat them all.

Having a change framework means you’ll build a “habit of change” so the results you want will eventually come.

Remember, the more you work “on” your business today, the less you need to work “in” your business tomorrow.