Have you ever had a client ask you for a discount after you made the job offer to your client?

Or have you perhaps had a client who after telling you, how urgent the job was, seemingly ignore you, and not take your calls so you cannot line up interviews for your shortlist?

Or have you had a client, who did not tell you when they hired one of your temps as a permanent staff member and therefore did not pay you a temp to perm fee?

Or have you had a candidate refuse a job offer because they were not told by you (because the client did not tell you) that they had to submit to a urine and blood test at the medical in order to secure the job?

When things go wrong with a client, do you “blame” the client and say, that he was unreasonable or that she wanted a discount after you did all the work? Do things escalate out of control and you lose a client?

If you are really honest about it; is it possible that you were to blame?

Every recruitment company is different and will have different terms of business, so it's up to you to clearly explain at the outset what your fees are and get verbal & written agreement before you start the assignment. If you do this every time, you may still get the occasional client ask for a discount, but it will be very easy for you to push back on the question as you can refer to the conversation, you had at the outset.

The point is that if something goes wrong in the relationship with your client, it is more often than not your fault for not setting out the rules of engagement clearly.

Can you imagine if you gathered 22 people to play a game but you did not explain the rules or the objective of the game? Would you be surprised if they actually played their own version and perhaps something so different to what you had in mind that it did not even compare?

Every relationship has certain expectations or rules that both parties have to agree to for them to get the outcome they want. If you do not discuss these rules or expectations, how can you exceed their expectations and hope to add value and delight your client? What you think is important to your client may not be what they want at all.

The “art of conversation” is a very important part of the relationship so you can delight your client and keep on developing the relationship and grow the account.

If you do not, what are the consequences? The client may pay you that temp to perm fee, but never deal with you again. Your candidate may tell others that you are not a good recruiter because you did not prepare them for what the medical. Maybe you did not know, but it is your job to know. That is part of what both the client and candidate should be able to expect from you. The client; that you ask the appropriate questions so you can thoroughly prep the candidate and you display them in a positive light. The candidate; that you can put them at ease by telling them every step along the way what they can expect so they have the best chance of securing the job, they covet.

It is simple but not easy. What you need to do is have a standard conversation around your terms of business and your expectations of what the client needs to do in the process e.g. allocate interview times and stick to them, to ensure you both look professional and allow you to secure the very best candidate for them.

Look at areas where you have had problems in the past; be brutally honest about how you could have prevented the problem.

Prepare and rehearse those themes and make them part of your conversation when you deal with clients. That way you can avoid many heartaches for you and your clients.