Benchmarking client satisfaction: What great agencies measure (and others miss)
You know those recruitment agencies pulling in the biggest fees and enjoying the strongest client relationships? They aren't measuring what everyone else is measuring.
Traditional recruitment metrics feel important but they often miss the mark. Time-to-fill, for instance. Yes, speed matters, but what if you're filling roles quickly with candidates who don't stick around? NPS scores suffer from a similar problem. They tell you how clients felt yesterday, not whether they'll spend more with you tomorrow. And how many clients actually respond to those surveys anyway?
Most agencies measure what's easy to track rather than what actually matters. They count placements like trophies without understanding whether those placements created genuine value for their clients' businesses.
Use metrics that tell you more
The standout agencies we work with focus on entirely different metrics. They track what we call “Value Creation Indicators”. These measurements directly correlate with client spend and retention.
Let’s take a closer look at three of the best:
Revenue per placement: This tells a much richer story than volume metrics. When agencies track this, they quickly discover which types of placements command premium fees and why. It's not always about filling the most roles - it's about solving the most valuable problems.
Client dependency ratios: These reveal something fascinating about relationship strength. The best agencies track what percentage of their revenue comes from their top 10 clients versus a broader base. Healthy agencies typically see no single client representing more than 15% of total revenue, yet they maintain deep, strategic relationships with their biggest accounts.
Repeat brief velocity: This measures how quickly existing clients come back with new requirements. This metric captures something traditional satisfaction surveys miss: genuine trust. When clients consistently return with urgent, high-value briefs, you know you've moved beyond vendor status to become a strategic partner.
Predict which clients will stick around
And here’s another code that top-performing agencies have cracked: they track “Client Lifecycle Conversations”. They monitor the types of discussions they're having with clients. Are you talking about next quarter's hiring plans or just this month's urgent vacancy? Are clients asking for market insights or just candidate CVs?
These conversation patterns predict client retention with remarkable accuracy. Clients who engage in strategic, forward-looking discussions stick around. Those who treat you as an order-taker, don't.
The best agencies also measure “Advice Adoption Rates”. This looks at how often their clients actually implement the recommendations they provide. When agencies position themselves as talent strategy advisors rather than CV suppliers, this metric becomes crucial. High adoption rates almost always correlate with increased client spend and longer relationships.
Have those hard conversations
There's a reason most agencies don't track these deeper satisfaction indicators: they require more sophisticated data collection and analysis. They also demand a fundamental shift in how agencies position themselves in the market.
I understand that it's human nature to look for the good news. The problem is this leads most agencies to measure only the satisfaction of clients who’ve had placements, or at least registered jobs, and candidates who have registered and or been placed. But they’re missing out on the wealth of information that can be gleaned from talking to the very people who haven’t engaged with your brand. Figuring out how to do that, and actually focussing on the quality of that engagement, is invaluable. You just have to be ready to hear what they have to say!
To measure conversation quality, your consultants need to be having higher-level discussions. To track advice adoption rates, you need to be giving advice worth adopting. These aren't just measurement challenges - they're business model challenges.
Many agency leaders also worry these metrics are too subjective or difficult to standardise across teams. But the agencies mastering these measurements have found the opposite to be true.
When you track what genuinely matters to clients, your team naturally focuses on activities that drive real value.
Stop guessing! Find out what clients really value
The transition doesn't have to be overwhelming. Start with one or two metrics that resonate with your business model and client base. Revenue per placement is often the easiest place to begin. You’re already tracking both components, you just need to connect them differently.
Consider implementing quarterly "relationship depth" assessments with your key accounts. These strategic reviews will determine how embedded your agency has become in the client's talent planning process.
The agencies making this transition successfully treat measurement as a competitive advantage, not a reporting burden. They use these insights to refine their service delivery, adjust their pricing models, and identify expansion opportunities within existing accounts.
When done properly, better measurement becomes the foundation for premium positioning and sustainable growth. The recruitment industry has spent decades competing on speed and price. The future belongs to those who compete on genuine value creation.
Build trust through insights
I’ve seen first-hand how building trust and brand connection through providing value-based insights translates into high returns over time. One example is by tactically building a base of followers on LinkedIn. If this is done with the right intent and content, it converts directly into significantly higher engagement (I’ve seen it double) and ultimately into business.
Agencies winning the biggest deals aren’t guessing what clients value. They’re employing more sophisticated satisfaction metrics to find out.
