What are the top 1% of recruiters doing differently to win new business in 2026?
That’s exactly what I wanted to find out.
So instead of interviewing one guest, I brought together three Pinnacle Society members for a live panel discussion in front of more than 100 recruiters.
Jen Meyer, Mike Williams and Pree Sarkar each run successful recruiting businesses in very different markets. Together, they shared what’s actually working to win new business in 2026.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why layoffs can create some of your best client opportunities
- The simple accountability system that keeps recruiters doing business development every day
- How to build a 90-day business development plan using Brand, Win and Grow
- Why exclusive search assignments often come from companies that aren’t advertising
Episode Outline and Highlights
- [04:49] Why reputation and relationships won’t build a repeatable pipeline
- [05:28] Jen targets companies that are downsizing, and why it works
- [09:56] Mike on why accountability beats good intentions in business development
- [11:23] The fifteen-calls-a-day spreadsheet system explained
- [14:11] Why Mike builds every prospect list by hand, not with AI
- [16:00] The company size sweet spot for winning director-level roles
- [16:51] Pree’s three pillars: Brand, Win, Grow
- [18:35] Nets, seeds and spears explained
- [25:23] What each panelist would do starting over from zero
- [30:37] Why one hundred calls a day still matters in 2026
- [35:10] Ad calls versus target company calls, and the fee difference
- [45:00] Becoming “the recruiter for all seasons”
- [57:50] The one metric Jen says to measure every Friday
Stop Waiting for Clients to Hire
Every recruiter knows they should be doing business development. Most wait for a company to post a vacancy, then call. By that point, so has everyone else.
Jen Meyer takes a different approach.
She watches for companies going through layoffs, restructuring and acquisitions. Not to recruit their departing talent. To speak with the people responsible for what happens next.
When a company cuts headcount but keeps its revenue targets, the people who remain are suddenly expected to carry more responsibility. Some will struggle. That creates confidential replacement searches, topgrading conversations, and high-value search work that rarely reaches the open market.
“There’s nothing worse in my mind than the ‘I want to introduce myself’ call. That’s about you, not them.”
Jen’s opening isn’t a pitch for a search. It’s a consultative conversation: how do you retain the people you can’t afford to lose? And do the people who’ve inherited bigger responsibilities actually have the skills to succeed in those roles?
She also avoids the standard process pitch altogether. “The first four or five steps are all going to sound the same,” she says. Instead, she focuses on why people succeed in one culture and struggle in another, something clients can’t easily compare across agencies.
The lesson? The best opportunities rarely begin with a job advert. They begin with change.
Accountability Beats Motivation Every Time
Over the past four years, Mike Williams has learned how difficult it is to get recruiters to do business development consistently. His conclusion: motivation isn’t enough. You need structure.
“You will want to do biz dev,” he says. “And you might not do it even if you sincerely believe you want it.”
His solution is a spreadsheet. Fifteen names and numbers per day, Monday through Friday, crossed off as each call is made. Miss a day, make it up the next. At the end of the week, Mike checks. Fifteen calls takes about an hour. Do it first thing and the rest of the day is still intact.
Jen expects a much higher level of activity from new recruiters: one hundred calls a day, with three hours of talk time as the real benchmark. At that level they’re averaging eight to ten real conversations daily.
On list-building, Mike is deliberate. He builds every list by hand because the nuances of a niche require human judgment. He targets companies large enough to have a management structure but small enough not to have an internal recruiting team blocking him out. And he draws a clear distinction between ad calls and target company calls.
An ad call confirms they’re hiring. So does every other recruiter in your niche. A target company call, where the company isn’t advertising the role, is where retained and exclusive work often lives.
“Now you can get thirty percent. Now you can get retained. Now you can get exclusive. No one else is on that search.”
“The harder you work, the more successful you’ll be. What could be more fair than that?”
The lesson? Most recruiters already know what to do. The difference is whether they actually do it.
The Framework Behind Seven of His Last Ten Clients
Most recruiters don’t have a relationship problem. They have a pipeline problem. That’s why Pree Sarkar works to a strict ninety-day business development cycle.
“There’s a rate of churn,” he says. “If you don’t combat that with adding new relationships, you’re holding a leaky bucket.”
Pree’s approach is built around three stages: Brand, Win, Grow.
Brand is about becoming a known name in a specific niche before you ever pick up the phone. Pree uses what he calls Fill: function, industry, level, location. That defines his lane. Each quarter he identifies one hundred to two hundred people in that space and runs them through a structured LinkedIn sequence using tools like Heyreach and Dripify. By the time he calls, most people have already seen his name.
Win is about actively creating new opportunities through three types of outreach: nets, seeds and spears. Nets are high-volume outreach to open new conversations. Seeds are existing relationships that need consistent nurturing. Spears are specific target accounts worth pursuing with precision.
Grow is about expanding the relationship after the first placement. Pree tracks contacts according to four situations: seeking a role, starting a role, scaling or stagnating. He stays in touch once or twice a month.
“Be the recruiter for all seasons.”
Seven of his last ten client agreements came from this approach. Last quarter, one account produced eight searches. A single fee came to $136,000.
The lesson? Stay in touch after the placement. That is often when the next opportunity appears.
If you’re relying on referrals and repeat business, this conversation is a reminder that the best recruiters never stop building a pipeline.
Even when they’re busy.
Especially when they’re busy.
That’s what separates the recruiters who have a great quarter from the ones who have a great career.
Related Podcast You Might Enjoy
- TRR #177 – Recruitment Startup Success: How to Bill $1,200,000 in 15 Months
- TRR #219 – How a $20M Biller Drives Business Development While Leading a Team
- TRR #164 – Is the 120° Recruitment Model More Effective Than the Old 360° Model?
- TRR#201 Pinnacle Panel: Success Secrets of Three Different Million-Dollar Billers
