How do staffing agencies get clients?
Staffing and recruitment agencies get clients by choosing one narrow market, finding employers there who already have a role open, and reaching the hiring manager with a specific candidate or a specific way to fill that role. A general pitch about your agency rarely wins the first job order, because the employer can post the role on a job board without you.
Which client to chase first depends on what kind of agency you run. The deciding facts are who signs off on the spend and how the money arrives.
| Your model | How you are paid | Who usually decides | First move this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary and contract staffing | An hourly bill rate, every week the worker is on assignment | Operations, site or department managers with a gap to cover | Call sites in your area that post the same shift roles again and again |
| Contingency permanent placement | A fee when your candidate is hired | The hiring manager, often with HR or talent acquisition | Market one strong, willing candidate to five companies that hire that role |
| Retained or executive search | An agreed search fee; terms vary by firm | A founder, CEO or board member | Ask past contacts for one introduction to a leader building a new team |
| Niche desk inside a larger agency | Either of the above | Depends on the niche | List 50 companies where your best candidates work now or used to work |
The rest of this guide covers how big the market is, how many clients the sums say you need, what to send, and the US rules that apply when you call or email an employer.
How big is the US staffing market in 2026?
It is large, and temporary help employment has been close to flat over the past year, so expect the employers you call to have other options. The American Staffing Association, the industry's trade body, says on its industry statistics page (checked 4 Nov 2026) that nearly 2.0 million temporary and contract employees worked for US staffing companies during an average week in 2025, and that staffing companies hired 9.5 million temporary and contract employees over the year. The same page splits staffing employees by occupation: 36% industrial, 24% office and administrative, 21% professional and managerial, 11% engineering, IT and scientific, and 8% health care.
Competition is real. ASA's page says there were around 27,000 staffing and recruiting companies in the US in 2021, operating close to 54,000 offices.
Federal data show demand drifting. In the BLS series for temporary help services employment (seasonally adjusted, extracted 4 Nov 2026), the industry had 2,486,800 jobs in September 2026, a preliminary figure. Two years earlier, in September 2024, it had 2,564,000. Our arithmetic: 2,564,000 minus 2,486,800 is 77,200 fewer jobs, a fall of about 3.0%. Against September 2025 (2,471,600) it was up 15,200, or about 0.6%.
How many clients does a new recruitment agency need?
Fewer than most founders expect, but more conversations than they expect. Work backwards from the revenue you need. Here is a worked example for permanent placement, with the wage from BLS and the other rates marked as our assumptions; replace them with yours.
| Step | Figure | Arithmetic |
|---|---|---|
| Salary of the role you place | $83,680 | Median pay for accountants and auditors, May 2025, per the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook |
| Fee per hire (assumed 20%) | $16,736 | 83,680 x 0.20 |
| Fee revenue goal for year one (example) | $200,000 | Your number |
| Placements needed | 12 | 200,000 / 16,736 = 11.95, rounded up |
| Job orders needed (assumed 1 in 3 filled) | 36 | 12 x 3 |
| Hiring manager conversations (assumed 1 in 4 gives a job order) | 144 | 36 x 4 |
| Conversations a week, over 48 weeks | 3 | 144 / 48 |
Three real conversations a week with people who hire accountants is a small number of clients and a large amount of calling, because each one needs a hiring manager who picks up or replies, and you can't control how many do.
Temporary staffing works on a spread instead. The BLS median pay for hand laborers and material movers was $18.38 an hour in May 2025. At an assumed 50% markup, the bill rate is $27.57 (18.38 x 1.5), a spread of $9.19 an hour. For a 40-hour week that is $367.60 per worker. Ten workers on assignment for 50 weeks gives $183,800 (367.60 x 10 x 50), and payroll taxes, workers' compensation and insurance still come out of that spread. One warehouse client that keeps ten people on assignment can carry a young agency, which is why temp agencies chase repeat-order sites first.
Where do you find employers who need you now?
Look for a company with a role it is struggling to fill, because that is the moment an agency is worth the fee. Four places to look:
- Job posts that stay up. A role still listed after 30 days, or reposted, may mean the employer's own advertising isn't working, though some companies keep always-open listings. Our guide to reading job postings as buying signals shows how to check a post's real age and who the role reports to.
- Companies your candidates come from. One recruiter in a 2024 r/recruiting thread said they build a new market by listing companies where relevant candidates work or used to work.
- New leaders. A commenter in an April 2026 r/recruiting thread suggested watching for a new CTO, VP of Engineering or Head of Data Science, since in that person's view new leaders start building teams within their first 90 days. That is one recruiter's experience, but a leadership change is easy to spot on LinkedIn.
- Funding and expansion. A company that just raised money or opened a site has headcount to fill. Our guide to how agencies find clients beyond referrals shows where to see new funding rounds for free, starting with SEC Form D filings.
Contact the person who owns the headcount. In the April 2026 thread, a commenter said the people who can sign off on external agencies are usually hiring managers or VP-level leaders, and that talent acquisition teams often say the role is being handled in house.
What should you send a hiring manager?
Send one candidate, described in a few lines, to someone who hires that role. Recruiters call this marketing an MPC (most placeable candidate). It gives the manager something to react to, which a description of your agency doesn't. Get the candidate's permission first, and leave out details that identify them or their employer.
The last question matters. In the April 2026 thread, a recruiter about five months into agency recruitment, doing business development since January, described sending anonymised profiles, getting good feedback, then hearing the role wasn't live. One of the two highest-scored replies ended: "No req, no candidates." That is one commenter's view, but agreeing terms before sending names protects your candidates and your fee.
If you prefer the phone, see our cold call script.
What rules apply when you call or email employers?
In the US, most sales calls to businesses fall outside the federal telemarketing rule, but deception rules, robocall rules and anti-discrimination law still apply. This is a summary of what the sources say, not legal advice; state laws can add more.
- Telemarketing Sales Rule. The FTC's guide to the Telemarketing Sales Rule says most phone calls between a telemarketer and a business are exempt. The current rule text at 16 CFR 310.6 says that exemption does not cover the rule's bans on misrepresentation and on false or misleading statements.
- Autodialers and recorded messages. The FCC's TCPA rule at 47 CFR 64.1200 bars telemarketing calls made with an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to mobile numbers without the called party's prior express written consent. If a hiring manager's direct line is a mobile number, dial it by hand and keep your own do-not-call list.
- Email. The FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide says the law makes no exception for business-to-business email. For how it compares with European rules, see our guide to whether cold email is legal under CAN-SPAM, GDPR and PECR.
- Job orders. The EEOC's guidance on staffing firms (December 1997) says a staffing firm is liable if it honours a client's discriminatory assignment request, and that basing the practice on the client's requirement is no defense. Decline any order that asks for workers of a particular race, sex or other protected trait, and write that into your terms.
What do agency recruiters on Reddit say works?
We read four r/recruiting threads from March 2024 to April 2026: a founder who had met about 15 companies in three months and closed none, an eight-year niche recruiter asking how others win clients now, a thread on starting out today and the April 2026 business development thread above. Together they had 110 comments we could read, after removed posts and moderator notices.
- Marketing a candidate came up in at least 12 comments by our keyword count, 9 of them in the 2024 thread, where one recruiter said it was the only way they were finding new business and another said it had brought them few placements over the years.
- Niche was mentioned in 17 comments across all four threads by our keyword count, though not everyone agreed. The 2026 starting-out post advised narrowing to one or two roles; one reply in that thread said you don't need to be a niche specialist who recruits only one or two types of roles.
- Time. One commenter in the 2026 starting-out thread said a full-desk recruiter may take 1 to 2 years to get going and should spend 80% of their time on business development.
- Fees. In the 2024 thread one commenter said they were pitching 15% to 20%, and another commenter asked what value justifies 25% to 30% when an employer can post on Indeed. Fees vary by market; these are two people's numbers.
Several replies in the 2024 thread were promotions for email tools, so treat these threads as what practitioners report, not as proof.
A four-week plan to win your first job orders
Week 1: pick one niche and one role
Write the role you will fill, the region and the salary band. Build a list of 50 companies that hire it, from job boards and from where your candidates work.
Week 1: line up two candidates
Find two strong people in that role who are open to a move and agree to be marketed anonymously.
Weeks 2 and 3: reach 15 hiring managers a week
Send the MPC email, then call two days later. Log every reply, objection and named competitor in a CRM.
Week 3: agree terms before profiles
When a manager is interested, run the intake questions and get your fee and guarantee terms signed.
Week 4: count and adjust
Compare your conversation-to-job-order rate with the worked example. If it is far lower, change the niche or the candidate before you add another channel.
The list building in week 1 can be automated. Siela's Lead Finder looks for a reason to reach out now, such as someone changing role or a company raising money, scores each lead hot, warm or cold with a one-line reason, and leaves recruiters, freelancers and consultants out of its lists, so you don't end up pitching other agencies.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my first client for a new recruitment agency?
Pick one role in one niche, find two strong candidates who agree to be marketed anonymously, and send short profiles to hiring managers at companies that hire that role. Call two days later. Agree fee and guarantee terms before sharing names. If you ran a full desk at another agency, one 2024 r/recruiting commenter suggested moving those clients over, which only works if your contracts allow it.
Should a staffing agency contact HR or the hiring manager?
Start with the hiring manager or the leader who owns the headcount. In an April 2026 r/recruiting thread, one commenter said the people who can sign off on agencies are usually hiring managers or VP-level leaders, while talent acquisition often says the role is handled in house. That is one view, so test both on your own list and log who replies.
Is it legal for a staffing agency to cold call businesses?
In the US, most sales calls to businesses are exempt from the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, though its bans on misrepresentation still apply. Calls to mobile numbers using an autodialer or prerecorded voice need prior express written consent under the FCC's TCPA rule. State laws can add requirements. This is general information, not legal advice.
How long does it take a new staffing agency to get clients?
Expect it to take months. In one 2024 r/recruiting thread a founder had met about 15 companies in three months without closing one, and a 2026 commenter estimated 1 to 2 years for a full-desk recruiter to get going. Track conversations and job orders weekly so you can see progress before the first fee arrives.
What is MPC marketing in recruitment?
MPC stands for most placeable candidate. You take one strong candidate who is open to a move, remove details that would identify them, and send a short summary to hiring managers who employ that kind of person. It starts a conversation about a real person instead of your agency, and it can turn into a job order even if that candidate isn't hired.
Sources
- American Staffing Association: Staffing Industry Statistics (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Temporary help services employment (CES6056132001) (extracted 4 Nov 2026)
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Accountants and Auditors (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Hand Laborers and Material Movers (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- FTC: Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- eCFR: 16 CFR 310.6, Exemptions (Telemarketing Sales Rule) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- eCFR: 47 CFR 64.1200, Delivery restrictions (TCPA) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- EEOC: Enforcement Guidance on contingent workers placed by staffing firms (3 Dec 1997, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/recruiting: Struggling to find clients (10 Mar 2024)
- r/recruiting: 8 years in agency recruiting with a niche focus (16 Dec 2025)
- r/recruiting: If I was starting out today (21 Jan 2026)
- r/recruiting: Winning new business (14 Apr 2026)
- FTC: CAN-SPAM Act, A Compliance Guide for Business (checked 4 Nov 2026)