[cylinder]

Wow that is really interesting, how did you manage to sell them a paid (hourly) service when as you said they had firms knocking down their door doing it on contingency?

[amorphid]

I managed to develop a pipeline of mostly referral business. When people come to you, it's a different kind of sale.

[smaddox]

Not the OP, but commission-based recruiting seems to incentivise the wrong kind of recruiting, i.e. "find someone we can shove down their throat". I would personally rather pay an experienced recruiter by the hour, even if it meant fewer (hopefully higher quality) leads.

[cylinder]

I agree, but the incentive for hourly is to wait as long as possible to introduce the candidate, right?

[amackera]

I think the idea behind hourly is to provide the best "bang for their buck". If your clients feel cheated, they will fire you.

Evidently OP did a good job, and made them feel like they were getting high value.

[amorphid]

And that was basically the pitch... "We aren't magic, we just do what you would do. If you have the tim to recruit yourself, do it. If not, give us a try, and if it's not working, fire us."