Recruitment business development plan: a 90-day template

Most recruitment BD plans live in a slide deck from January. By March the desk is busy, BD stops, and by May the pipeline is empty again. A plan only works if it survives a busy week.

This is the 90-day business development plan I'd give any recruitment agency, built around one idea: BD should run every week, not only when the desk is quiet.

1. Pick a niche you can own

"IT recruitment in the UK" isn't a niche. "Data engineers for fintech scale-ups in London" is. A tight niche makes everything else easier: your list is smaller, your messages are sharper and your candidates are more relevant.

• Which roles have you placed most in the last 12 months?
• Which clients paid fastest and came back again?
• Where do you have candidates that other agencies don't?

Write your niche in one sentence. If it takes two, it's too broad.

2. Build a target list from signals

A list of every company in your niche is a directory, not a BD plan. Narrow it to companies showing a reason to hire right now.

• Hiring signals: new job posts, reposted roles, roles open 45+ days.
• Growth signals: funding rounds, fast headcount growth, new offices.
• Leadership signals: new leaders, especially around 90 days into the role.
• Pain signals: key people leaving, rehiring after layoffs.

For tech recruiters, there's a full list in 12 hiring signals for tech roles.

3. Choose your channels

Start with two channels and do them well. Email plus LinkedIn is the usual pair.

4. Set a weekly rhythm

This is the part most plans skip, and it's the part that matters most. Block the time like you'd block an interview.

• Monday: refresh the signal list and pick this week's targets.
• Tuesday to Thursday: send first messages and follow-ups, and call warm replies.
• Friday: log everything in your CRM, review replies and note what worked.

Set a weekly number you can keep even in a busy week. A smaller number you hit every week beats a big one you hit once a month.

5. The 90-day plan

1. Days 1 to 14: set upWrite your niche sentence. Set up separate sending domains and start warming them. Clean your CRM and mark existing clients so they're never cold emailed.
2. Days 15 to 30: build and testBuild your first signal list. Write three versions of your first message. Start LinkedIn connections while the email domains finish warming up.
3. Days 31 to 60: run every weekStart email at safe daily limits. Follow the weekly rhythm. Change only one thing at a time, like the subject line or the opening, so you know what worked.
4. Days 61 to 90: double downKeep the messages and signals that get replies and drop the rest. Ask happy clients for one referral each. Plan the next 90 days from real data.

6. What to measure

• Positive replies per 100 people contacted. Better than open rates, which are unreliable now.
• Meetings booked per week. The number your BD plan exists to move.
• Meetings to job orders. Tells you if you're reaching the right people.
• Which signal each meeting came from. So you know where to focus next quarter.

Want this plan running without doing it all yourself? That's what Zorexo builds for recruitment agencies. And if you're comparing options, here are the best client acquisition agencies for tech recruiters.

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