Vodcast: Death to Spreadsheets: Is Your Agency’s Future Hiding in a Tab?

​In our latest vodcast, which could be renamed as "Keeping Up with the Joneses," I sat down with Carl Jones, founder of Konquest, to tackle a truth that many recruitment leaders are still trying to avoid: the era of "wit and whiteboard pens" is officially over.

If you’re still running your recruitment agency’s most critical processes on disparate spreadsheets, you aren’t just being "old school" - you might be making your business completely uncompetitive in an AI-driven market.

Here are the 3 big questions we posed that every leader needs to answer

1️⃣Is Your Data "Siloed" or Scalable?

Carl highlighted a terrifying reality: as you scale, spreadsheets become "damaging".

They are slow, corruptible, and unauditable.

But the real FOMO trigger?

If your data isn't in a scalable, database format today, you will be "completely screwed" when trying to leverage the AI agents of tomorrow.

❓Ask yourself: Are you building a data asset you can interrogate, or are you just "hoping" your team knows what’s going on?

2️⃣Are You Leading by "Facts" or "Feelings"?

We’ve all been there. We've made decisions based on gut instinct or ego. But in a shifting market with new legislative changes and complex compensation needs, "facts not feelings" is the only way to retain your best staff.

❓The Question: Can you answer why you’re making a strategic change with "unequivocal data," or is it just subjective guesswork?

3️⃣What Are the Most Profitable Agencies Doing Differently?

💡This was the "money shot" of our conversation.

Carl revealed that Konquest has identified a dozen different "signals" that separate the fastest-growing agencies from the rest. These are signals from how they incentivise managers to the specific nature of their commission thresholds. Most recruitment leaders are getting commission wrong simply because the data hasn't been available.

❓Are you overpaying or underpaying your recruiters? Or is your management setup simply years behind the industry standard?

🚨Stop Scrambling and Start Systematising

The goal isn't just to have "shiny buttons" on a CRM/ATS.

It’s about creating an "objective reality" for your business.

As Carl put it, we are entering a period where leaders will soon be "scrambling" to get their data out of spreadsheets. Don't be the recruitment leader left behind while your competitors (which includes your own clients) are already using their data as a high-value weapon.

Want to see how you benchmark against the rest of the industry?

Carl and the team at Konquest have launched a live, free Recruiter Commission Census. It provides a personalised report on those 12 secret signals so you can finally see if your agency is at risk or ahead of the curve.

Ready to spend a speedy 17 minutes thinking about your recruitment data and how to get it powering your recruitment business?

Watch the full 17 minute vodcast now.

​

Bullhorn ATS / Analytics / Automation / AI RoI

We are Bullhorn experts set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses to increase speed and sales.

We help you weaponise your people, data, time, and tech, so you can recruit and sell!

Our Bullhorn Vision and Buddy service helps generate best-in-class processes, adoption, head space, and ROI.

BOOK A FREE BULLHORN ROI CONSULTATION