Stop Sending CVs. Start Selling Outcomes.
There’s a recruiter out there right now, proudly sending a tidy PDF to a client.
“Here’s the candidate we talked about!”
And they’re waiting. Refreshing email. Checking phone. Waiting some more.
Meanwhile, the client is glancing at that CV like it’s a boring brochure left on their car windshield.
Here’s the problem: recruiters think they’re in the CV delivery business. Newsflash—you’re not Uber Eats for resumes. You’re supposed to be influencing decisions. If you’re only sending CVs, you’re handing your steering wheel to the client and hoping they drive the car in the direction you want. Spoiler: they won’t.
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## The “But We Gave Them the Info” Trap
You know this one. A client ignores your advice, makes a dumb decision, then weeks later you’re sitting there thinking:
“If only they’d listened to me…”
Here’s the truth: they didn’t ignore your info because you’re wrong. They ignored you because you weren’t trusted enough to influence the outcome.
Most recruiters fire off CVs, salary ranges, market data… logical, accurate, dull. Clients don’t make decisions on facts alone. They make decisions when the stakes are clear, when urgency is high, when they believe you’ve got skin in the game.
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## Outcomes > Documents
Imagine you’re pitching a car. You don’t hand someone the spec sheet first. You put them in the driver’s seat.
“Feel that? That’s the turbo kicking in. That’s you overtaking traffic without breaking a sweat.”
Recruitment is the same. Stop *showing* your candidate’s CV. Start *selling* the outcome they’ll deliver.
Instead of:
> “Here’s Alice. She’s got 5 years in policy.”
Try:
> “Alice will untangle that backlog your policy team’s been sitting on for six months. You’ll finally stop missing deadlines.”
The first is a fact. The second is a future they want.
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## The Lazy Recruiter vs. The Trusted Advisor
Lazy recruiter: “I’ll send over some profiles.”
Trusted advisor: “Here’s the person who will stop your CFO from screaming at you about project delays. Should I book them for interview this week or next?”
One puts the decision on the client’s desk like homework.
The other makes the decision feel obvious.
Which one gets callbacks? Which one gets ghosted?
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## But Eddie, Won’t Clients Push Back?
Of course. Some will still say: “Send me a few more CVs.” And that’s fine. But notice what just happened—you elevated the conversation. You’re no longer the CV courier. You’re shaping how they think about talent.
Recruiters who master this flip—selling outcomes, not documents—are the ones who lock in repeat business. Why? Because clients don’t want to think about hiring. They want the problem gone.
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## Try This in Your Next Submission
1. Read the CV once. Then close it.
2. Ask yourself: “What problem does this person solve for the client?”
3. Write your submission note around that problem and solution.
- Not “10 years of Java.”
- “Delivers projects twice as fast because they actually get along with DevOps.”
4. Pitch with confidence. Stop being tentative. You’re not begging for approval. You’re guiding them to the best outcome.
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## The Big Payoff
When you shift from CVs to outcomes, three things happen:
- Clients stop shopping around. They trust your judgment.
- Candidates stick, because you’ve positioned them for success instead of shoving them into a slot.
- You bill more, faster, because you’re not wasting time sending CV after CV into a black hole.
And that’s the difference between recruiters who survive and recruiters who bill like legends.
So ask yourself: are you a CV courier… or are you the one selling futures your clients can’t resist?
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✨ Top Biller Takeaway: Next time you’re about to send a CV, stop. Rewrite your submission note as if you’re selling the outcome—not the document.