> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.recruitier.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Finding New Clients

> End-to-end guide: from discovering companies with active hiring needs to building your client pipeline and launching targeted outreach.

## Overview

This guide walks you through the complete business development workflow in Recruitier. You
will discover companies that need recruitment services, evaluate their hiring activity, add
them to your pipeline, identify decision makers, and launch targeted outreach.

## Why This Workflow Matters

Most recruiters struggle with business development because they lack data. They cold-call
companies without knowing if they are hiring, what roles they need, or who the decision
makers are. Recruitier's Client Discovery eliminates this guesswork by analyzing real hiring
activity data across thousands of Dutch companies.

Instead of spraying generic emails, you can approach companies with specific insights:
"I noticed you have posted 5 new engineering positions this month" is far more compelling
than "Are you looking for recruitment support?"

## The Complete Workflow

<Steps>
  <Step title="Define Your Target Market">
    Before searching, clarify your target client profile:

    * **Industry**: Which sectors do you specialize in? (Tech, healthcare, finance,
      manufacturing, etc.)
    * **Company size**: Do you work best with SMBs (10-100 employees) or enterprises (500+)?
    * **Location**: Where are your candidates based? Target companies in the same region.
    * **Technology/Skills**: What skills can you source? Target companies that need those skills.

    Having a clear target profile makes your client search far more effective and your outreach
    more credible. Companies respond better to recruiters who clearly understand their sector.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Search for Companies">
    Navigate to **Client Discovery** in the sidebar. Use the filter bar to set your criteria:

    * **Industry**: Select one or more industries from the dropdown
    * **Skills**: Add the technologies or skills your candidates have
    * **Location**: Set a city and radius to focus geographically
    * **Employee count**: Set a range to target the right company size
    * **Recently posted**: Filter for companies that posted jobs in the last 7, 14, or 30 days

    <Note>
      Staffing and recruiting agencies are automatically excluded from results. These are your
      competitors, not your clients. Companies without an industry classification are still
      shown -- they might be potential clients that simply have not been classified yet.
    </Note>

    Click **Search** to see matching companies. Results show:

    * Company name and logo
    * Employee count
    * Number of recent job postings
    * Hiring intensity indicator (more flames = more active hiring)

    <Tip>
      Save your search parameters for future use. You can re-run saved searches weekly to spot
      new companies entering your target market without rebuilding the search each time.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Evaluate Hiring Activity">
    The hiring intensity indicator is your most valuable signal. Companies with high hiring
    activity are the most likely to need external recruitment support because they are scaling
    faster than their internal hiring team can handle.

    Look for:

    * **High intensity** (3 flames): Company is actively ramping up hiring -- ideal outreach
      target. They likely have multiple open roles and may be struggling to fill them.
    * **Medium intensity** (2 flames): Steady hiring -- good potential client. Worth monitoring
      and contacting when you have a relevant candidate.
    * **Low intensity** (1 flame): Occasional hiring -- may be worth adding to your monitoring
      list for future follow-up.

    Click on a company to see their detail page, which includes:

    * Full hiring trend chart showing posting patterns over time
    * List of all current job openings (filterable and sortable)
    * Company information (industry, size, location, website, LinkedIn)
    * Decision makers and contact details

    <Tip>
      Look for companies with an **upward trend** in job postings. An increasing hiring trend
      suggests growing recruitment needs -- the perfect time to reach out. This data is visible
      in the hiring trend chart on the company detail page.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add to Your Client Pipeline">
    When you find a promising company, add it to your client list. Set an initial status:

    | Status        | When to Use                             |
    | ------------- | --------------------------------------- |
    | **Prospect**  | Ready to research but not yet contacted |
    | **Contacted** | You have made initial outreach          |
    | **Meeting**   | Discovery call or meeting scheduled     |
    | **Won**       | Active client -- deal closed            |
    | **Lost**      | Not interested or deal fell through     |

    The pipeline gives you a structured way to manage all your prospective clients. Use the
    Kanban view to visualize your entire BD pipeline at a glance and quickly identify which
    companies need follow-up.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Research Decision Makers">
    Before reaching out, identify the right contact at the company:

    * Check the **Decision Makers** section on the company detail page. Recruitier
      automatically discovers decision makers from LinkedIn profiles associated with the
      company.
    * Review available contact information (email, phone, LinkedIn URL)
    * Note the role category (HR, Management, C-Level) to target the right person

    The right contact is typically:

    * **HR Director or Head of Talent** for larger companies (100+ employees)
    * **CEO or Operations Manager** for smaller companies (under 50 employees)
    * **Hiring Manager** for specific role-based outreach when you have a matching candidate

    If contact details are missing, you can use contact discovery features:

    * LinkedIn contact search: 50 credits
    * Lusha email-only lookup: 15 credits
    * Lusha full contact lookup: 60 credits
  </Step>

  <Step title="Launch Your Outreach">
    Create an outreach flow from the company detail page:

    1. **Select your channel** -- Email (via connected Gmail/Outlook) or LinkedIn
    2. **Choose a tone of voice** -- Professional, conversational, or direct
    3. **Attach a pitch deck** -- Reference your services and track record
    4. **Create your sequence**:
       * Step 1: Initial introduction email referencing their specific hiring activity
       * Step 2: Follow-up 3-5 days later with a specific candidate pitch or market insight
       * Step 3: LinkedIn connection request with a brief note
       * Step 4: Final follow-up email (day 10-14) if no response
    5. **Personalize your message** -- Reference specific job postings or hiring trends you
       noticed. AI message generation costs 1 credit per message.
    6. **Send** -- Messages go directly from your connected email inbox

    <Tip>
      The most effective cold outreach references specific data: "I noticed you have posted 5
      new engineering positions this month..." This shows you have done your research and are
      not sending generic spam. Recruitier makes this easy by surfacing the hiring data right
      on the company page.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Track and Nurture">
    After initial outreach:

    * Update client status as the relationship develops through the pipeline stages
    * Monitor their hiring activity for new opportunities to reach out (saves re-running
      searches)
    * Log all interactions in the activity timeline
    * Set tag expiration reminders for follow-ups (e.g., "Follow up next week")
    * Track which outreach messages and channels get the best response rates
    * Use the Kanban board to prioritize your daily follow-up list
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Best Practices

1. **Focus on high-intensity companies** -- They have the most urgent need for recruitment help
2. **Specialize by industry** -- Companies prefer recruiters who understand their sector deeply
3. **Reference specific data in outreach** -- Mention their job postings, growth trends, or
   specific roles you noticed
4. **Follow up consistently** -- Most placements come from the 2nd or 3rd touchpoint, not the
   first email
5. **Save your searches** -- Re-run weekly to catch new companies entering the market
6. **Use the Kanban view** -- Visual pipeline management helps you prioritize follow-ups
7. **Track everything** -- The activity timeline is your memory for each client relationship
8. **Use free internal search** -- Check existing indexed companies before running
   credit-consuming searches

## Related

* [Client Discovery Overview](/clients/discovery/overview)
* [Hiring Activity](/clients/discovery/hiring-activity)
* [Client Status Pipeline](/clients/management/status-pipeline)
* [Creating Outreach Flows](/outreach/creating-flows)
* [Decision Makers](/clients/management/decision-makers)
