This One Simple Trick Helped Gordon Make Over $100,000 With A Retainer In His Recruitment Agency!

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to today's interview. So today on our client interview, we have Gordon Dudley. And Gordon is based out in South Korea. So welcome, Gordon.

Hi. Hi, James. How's it going?

Yeah, very good, thanks.

So do you want to just tell the listeners a little bit about your background and what your company is and the sector that you specialize in?

Sure. So I am based out here in South Korea, as you mentioned, originally from the UK so I've been out here for about 10 years and I actually set up my business about four and a half years ago. We called RDI Worldwide and we are focusing on both HR and marketing positions for global companies based here in Korea.

Awesome. Great stuff.

So in terms of like, obviously we do work together, Gordon, and you remember if the recruiter accelerator program and a private mentorship program, which we can go into further. But tell us a story around, like how you actually got started in recruitment and tell me a little bit around like what it's been like from recruiting. Yeah. One to where you are now and how the business is going up until before we joined.

So I was working for about 10 years for big companies before I decided to set up my business. And the kind of culmination of being in those big companies and feeling like a frustration that working there is not really great and there's not people are not really excited to come to work was kind of what I felt was there's something that I could do, something that I could help to allow people to enjoy their work and then ultimately work better. And so that was the kind of driving force behind setting up the company here. And that made us look at both kind of a recruiting service and also an HRD consulting service. I think that we were perhaps a little bit naive for the first few years thinking that we could just launch our business, that through knowing a few people from our previous company connections, we would be able to just be up and running and away we would go. And I think that that left us with a business that was functional, a big business that was kind of working and surviving, but just not growing at the rate at which was going to lead to any sustainable and kind of real viable business. And that's when 2020 COVID 19 came around. It was obviously a massive impact to the business and our basically kind of razor thin, thin as ice kind of margins and backup of business just evaporated. And that made me look at basically everything from the top down. And so that's where I came to decide that I need to actually invest more in the Business, both in myself and the business. And that's how I came to join your program and decide that I need to really go in a new direction and incorporate some new tools that can accelerate the growth that was. Was missing before.

Yeah, great, Gordon. So talk us through like initially back then, Gordon, like what was your process in terms of like generating clients and.

How were you operating the agency?

So if I can maybe like summarize it in the most simple way, it was the most manual way, the most kind of like traditional way. Starting every search from scratch, doing any job that came our way and being grateful for client projects, even if they were not great clients and not really particularly viable positions due to various factors. And so we had a very long lead time between winning the new business and being able to place clients. And we also had quite a restricted pipeline in terms of our flow, in terms of moving through the different stages. And that was really just because we were doing everything very manually and without really any kind of clear defined strategic process.

Yeah. Can you remember back then what your actual sales process from like getting a stranger to a paid client, like how you actually getting clients back then?

Well, we, I mean we were still using a range of sources to, to get, to get candidates. So we were relying mostly on recommendations for getting new clients. We were not really doing any significant outbound marketing. We were also very much just relying on me as somebody to meet people face to face, to build a relationship and then be able to get to a place where I'd be able to find out if they have certain needs and discuss some kind of proposal. So it was the kind of the.

Old school.

On a handshake kind of getting to know someone type of business and not. And so we even struggled around the decision making process as to whether they were going to use us or not. Even that, even that was a struggle.

Yeah. So like actually having a key differentiate in your market, like having that unfair advantage we talk around or what makes you different in the market as well, because you were a little bit more generalist as such. Even though you had a sector, you didn't really carve out a specific micro niche as such. Right.

We were trying to be everything to everyone. And we in some sense even tried to take that as our own pride that we gave this exceptional five star service to every client when in fact not every client needs or wants that high touch type of service. And so that of course made us very slow and inefficient.

Yeah. And like, what would you say? Like because you hadn't fine margins you were saying on a knife edge. I know you had a couple of other employees, Gordon, and you had a different arm of the business as well, which I think was a training company. Like, what were you like, sort of doing revenue wise before you joined the program and what's been the difference since you've joined the program?

So we were doing low six figures on an annual basis. And so this is where 2020 has been like a game of two halves. An incredibly slow first half where we were seeing literally business dry up in front of us and then beginning to, you know, develop some of the tools through the program, doing business in a new way. And then now we're running in the second half of the year at a rate that's more than double what we were doing last year. So if we finish this year, next couple of months, we will effectively have still done better than last year, even though we did almost no business in the first half of the year.

Brilliant.

Massive win, Gordon.

So well done.

Congratulations on that.

So, like, what we. What were your key things that you.

Actually struggling with back then that you.

Needed help with originally when you reached out to recruiter, Accelerate and myself?

For me, I think there were two main things which I realized I needed help with. One was just actual sales and marketing. We didn't have a very good strategy. We didn't have a clear way to communicate what we do. We didn't have a way to reach that 3% of the market which are actively looking to hire. And so that left us with picking up kind of business here and there, like I mentioned, the kind of business that might not actually be kind of good business or profitable business. And the second thing again was the very manual way in which we were doing things. And, you know, we were taking far too long. We were losing deals because other, you know, other candidates will be sourced from other places. And we would then lose out, having already spent a significant amount of time in ethics on a particular search. So we were kind of slow. And that was also just killing us in our conversion.

Yeah, got you.

So, like obviously defining obviously the type of clients that you could reach out one to many without having to do the manual cold calling and follow up and just ask them for referrals. And also like, sort of like a candidate sourcing system that streamlined your approach of how you source candidates instead of the. The old school traditional way that's a little bit disjointed and not predictable. So. Okay, and why would you say, like, what was the key thing? Like, why did you join the program initially? And invest in yourself and the business.

So even though I have pretty much every social media account, I try not to spend too much time on social media. You know, it's so easy to just, just constantly flick through. But I guess around the start of the year, I joined a couple of recruiter Facebook groups, you know, open, open groups of people running agencies. And that's where I came across one of your posts, which was where you'd shared one of your videos showing the growth phases that you've been through in the first few years. And I just identified right away that I was already in time, much further along, but in revenue and profit way, way, way behind. And I just realized that I can't keep going on working this hard and earning so little. And that was, you know, because of COVID 19, just, just putting a halt on things. It allowed me to just take that step back and realize I've got to do something dramatic and urgent and just, just really go in a new direction. Otherwise this is not going to continue for much longer.

Yeah, and I think people need sometimes that wake up call, don't they Gordon? In terms of they're doing it, doing it, doing it. You're stuck in your business day to day, you think it's going to get better, then all of a sudden there's a trigger point and then there's a aha moment where you've got like something that falls on your lap and you think actually yes, this is the right time. I actually need this because the pain is, is quite harsh in terms of where the business is at. And you need to come to that realization, don't you? In terms of we need to do things a different way because if we keep doing what we're doing, doing, get what we've always got. So yeah, cool. So like for people listening on the program, like in terms of reservations, like what initial reservations did you have and about joining the program, if any?

Well, I guess for me personally I have been doing, you know, different kinds of programs for clients on the HRD side of the business, some forms of coaching, running workshops. And so as an HR professional in that sense, I almost found, am I somehow kind of betraying the very nature or the very thing that I've been trying to promote in doing this. But in fact what I realized is that I had spent a long time helping others and trying to make work situations and business situations, teams better, but I hadn't been investing in myself. And even I had some kind of grand illusion that even though we were still a small company, that we were somehow bigger than we actually were and that I was on paper a CEO, but in reality I was not, you know, I could not honestly call myself a successful entrepreneur, honestly speaking. And that's what I realized, that if I want to be true to myself, I need to invest in myself and I need to do some kind of massive urgent action and invest in this kind of program in order to try to learn, you know, not feel that I'm a specialist of this, this country or, you know, this foreign market where I'm based. And that's sufficient because it's clear that what, you know, what I've learned through the program, it's not country specific. There's fundamentals around business and recruiting that are universal and apply to any business in any country. And that's why we've been able to implement it so successfully here in our business.

And like, for you as well, Gordon, it was the realization of like, it's an ego check, isn't it? Because every business owner always thinks that the baby in their business is making more money than it is, it's better than it is. And you thrive off a reputation because you survived four years, which most businesses don't even do. But when you actually look behind the bonnet and you get someone else asking those probably difficult questions, because I know I pushed you a little bit, you, you could see, like, you actually realized things from a different angle and thought, hold on a minute, actually we are not where this business should be. And it was really important for you to realize that. And it's important to recognize like, the real truthness and authenticity of where you truly are at and where you actually want to get to and knowing that there's a gap and you need to learn and you're willing to invest and commit because a lot of people would just like keep doing what they're doing and not want to change. And the fact of like, you adapted to that and seeing that you knew you had to do things a different way and change the style of your business because a business is a reflection of the business owner personally. So like how you built that business initially was through like your personality, the way you've designed it. And sometimes you need to re engineer that because it sometimes doesn't fit where your future self wants to get to as well. So how are things like now for you? So like obviously joining and doing things very manually, working in the business, scraping by profit wise. Like, how are things like right now for you?

So what I've been able to do now is double my take home Pay that for me has been, you know, not just a financial win with more money in the bank, but also a literal weight off my shoulders. Like I physically feel lighter knowing that I'm on the right track to build a bigger and better business. I also have been able to. One of the biggest challenges for us was not having a guaranteed income beyond a couple of months out. And so being able to have won some retained business on a multi month long contract has also been absolutely fantastic. To just reduce that uncertainty and also be able to invest more back into the business because of the certainty that we have that revenue coming in beyond a month or two out and it's still working in progress. I think I still have a lot more to learn. I'm still trying to refine it and go further into our niche. But also I would say that the conversations that I'm having with potential clients are also much more on point. They're much more targeted in the sense of knowing what it is that we offer and the value that that can bring, but also in knowing that what we don't want to do or that we can't do how. And so also in some sense being.

More.

Selective on the business and realizing much quicker, well, this is not an actual sale that's going to close in the next week. This is maybe a prospect that we need to nurture for longer time and perhaps in other ways or offer them something else and not continue to chase after and waste time on.

Yeah, and fantastic win by the way as well. Like I think you were saying, that was worth about over $100,000 on the retainer.

Yep, absolutely. It's a fantastic client that I'm really happy to work with. It's multiple positions over the course of six months and we were able to negotiate some really, a really good deal with them. They are already very satisfied with how it's going because we've been able to get our first placement within that deal. So we're now kind of proving ourselves. And so yeah, it just feels like a totally different business for sure.

I think it changes the mentality, doesn't it, where you're in fear and scarcity mindset, where you're on the bread line and you're next on the line to bring home income every month for your family and your payments. And then once you get a bit of financial freedom and a bit of freedom away from actually having more money than you need and doubling in your income, then you can work more on the business, be a little bit more freer, not have too much pressure on closing the next deal or really needing that next client, you can actually think more strategic, build your systems, build the processes and really carve out within your micro niche to be that number one expert within your sector, which is what you're building now. Gordon, the money changes things. And I think that was the key thing that when we worked together was.

I still remember we got you focused.

More on making money. Because sometimes you would think, well, it's all about the customer service, the reputation and everything else. But when it comes down to it in business, like, is your business making money or not? Like, if you haven't got sales and cash flow and money coming through the door, then nothing else matters. Like that is the number one thing first, is put money first and put like your profit first within the business.

Definitely. And you know, if I can nail one of the kind of intangible changes, it's exactly what you just mentioned in terms of the mindset change. I was previously like my things that I was trying to do most was build a bigger business. And that meant having a bigger office and hiring more people. But that was predicated on insufficient sales, insufficient cash flow. And so I was thinking that having a bigger brand by doing more marketing was the way to do that. But actually the bottom line is sales and with a stronger cash flow, a more, not just a bigger one, but also a longer term guaranteed cash flow, then everything else can follow. And that's, I think, for me, rather than trying to be the entrepreneur or the business owner, trying to run harder, run faster, do more, squeeze more time out, you know, because I was, I was working, I was working like crazy hours and not really getting anywhere. And so that has, you know, allowed me to just be a, a lot more strategic and a lot more productive ultimately from seeing sales as being the first and most important thing.

Yeah, that's great. And like, would you say like when you've been in the program, Gordon? Because I know you've been one of the early players in the program. Like, what's it been like coming on the group calls with myself and the rest of the members every week. Like, did you find that a benefit in terms of having accountability in a peer group and a support structure? Yeah.

So I guess maybe it's not unique to our industry. Maybe all industries feel this, that a lot of the time you don't want to speak to other people doing exactly what you're doing. You don't want to be very open and share. I mean, maybe you only want to say the good things and how well you're doing but you don't want to open about the realities. And so being on a program like this, where we were essentially, even though I've been in the business longer, some others were just, just literally starting, I also felt I was restarting in adopting these very new ways of, of doing business and approaching recruiting. And so having that, you know, international network spanning lots of different countries and being able to, you know, go back and forth on the different difficulties. And I even have now connected with some other members, you know, offline personally, one to one, continue to share with them, you know, some of the things which they're going through and also, you know, passing tips on as we do different things at different stages. So it's definitely been a great format and I think that, you know, as it continues to evolve and continue to be new people joining people bringing different viewpoints, then that's definitely really a big benefit of the program for sure.

Awesome. So what would you say, like probably your two biggest wins were that you've took away from working with myself? Gordon.

I think that fundamentally the single biggest win above all else, the first one is the mindset change that I kind of briefly mentioned before. The reality that only through being able to use very incredibly efficient tools to be able to reach out to many and be able to convert a much higher percentage of sales into viable business opportunities, you know, that focus on sales and then ability to convert is definitely the biggest one. The second one is probably then in terms of the video outreach. So for me, I get almost on a daily basis really positive feedback in the way that I reach out to people using personalized videos, whether it's to clients or candidates. You know, I said I do, I do marketing jobs. I get marketing people saying, you blew me away with this personalized marketing approach. And so if I can impress marketing directors with a personalized outreach, then it must be good. I mean if that's not kind of proof, then I don't know what it is. So that continues to. I think those two things are the things which have just most dramatically changed my business.

So with the client acquisition system, the first thing then, Gordon, now you've got that system working really well and it's a well oiled machine and a flywheel. Like how many clients would you say that you've won, that you've had calls with terms of business got jobs on, like since you started the program?

Well, it's been a fair few months now. Maybe if I break it down. So I've now run. We've just started our sixth campaign in new way of working. And we have landed on average three new clients with every campaign. So in that sense, the sixth one's just started. So the first five, it's around 15 new clients that we have landed. And that started from the first campaign. It didn't start from the first email, but it started from the follow ups which come with that. And that's where it just started. And so it's somehow like a kind of jigsaw that each piece fits so well together that it just works. Which it might sound a bit cliche, but I've literally converted that many clients from using the program in this way.

Yeah, that's awesome, Gordon. So what are your plans like for the next 12 months and beyond with your agency? Where do you want to get this business to?

So it kind of going right back to that original video that I saw on the growth curve. So I basically want to continue doubling my revenue. So you know, putting out a plan to, you know, a viable plan where we continue to double, you know, every year for the next three years going out. And that will involve more long term retained clients. It will involve going deeper into our micro niche. And it's already also about growing my team. So I'm now in the process of hiring for my own team because I need more support to be able to deal with all this, this new business. So it's a nice problem to have.

Awesome. Okay, Gordon, well, there's one thing that you would like say to anyone listening on today's session about like maybe being on the fence of joining a program or booking in a call. What would you say to them?

I mean, I would say, you know, you just have to, you know, judge for yourself about whether, you know, this program is right for you. But at the bottom, you know, the bottom line is that, you know, your program is based on a real track record. Over a number of years you have done it in your own business and you know, now others like myself have now been able to to implement the same kind of methods and same kind of approach and it's now clearly working for us. Even though on the other side of the world in Korea doing a totally different sector, it works. And so I think that's the strongest decision maker really that it's about real results.

Awesome, Gordon. Well, thanks very much for that and for everyone watching, thanks again. The show notes will be underneath the description in YouTube. If you just wanted to see Gordon on LinkedIn or we channel, I'll put a couple of links in there and you'll come to your website but obviously thank you very much for today's interview and thanks for sharing your journey so far, Gordon, in the program. I know now we're working one on one with some private elite mentorship and really looking forward to keep doing some awesome work there on the mindset and getting you from six to seven figures over the next few months. And thanks everyone for watching and I'll catch you soon. Thanks, Gordon.

Thanks James. Take care.