Recruitment Agency Sales Pipeline Template
The job-order pipeline, from vacancy to cleared rebate. Built for the fact that recruitment revenue is not safe on placement day.
The stages
Each stage states what is true about a deal sitting in it, and the one testable thing that has to happen before it moves. If the exit criterion is not met, the deal does not advance, whatever the rep believes.
Vacancy Identified
5% probability2 to 7 daysYou know a role exists. You do not yet know whether it is signed off, whether four other agencies are on it, or whether it is a job board post with no urgency behind it.
The hiring manager or HR contact has confirmed the role is budget approved, named who owns the hire, and told you which agencies are already working it.
Terms of Business Agreed
15% probability2 to 10 daysThe client has signed your terms. Until this happens you are doing speculative work that a competitor can bill for.
Signed terms of business on file with the fee percentage, rebate period, and the basis recorded as contingent, exclusive or retained.
Role Briefed
25% probability1 to 3 daysYou have taken a proper intake, not a forwarded job description. You know what the hiring manager will actually reject people for.
You have the salary band, the three must-have criteria, the full interview process with number of stages, and the hiring manager availability for the next two weeks.
Shortlist Submitted
35% probability3 to 10 daysVetted candidates are with the client. This is where a contingent desk finds out whether the brief was real.
Three or more screened candidates submitted with written notes, and the client has confirmed receipt with a date they will come back with feedback.
Client Interviews
55% probability7 to 21 daysYour candidates are in process. Your job here is scheduling speed and managing both sides so nobody drops out between rounds.
At least one candidate has completed the final interview stage and the client has confirmed they are at offer-decision point.
Offer
75% probability2 to 7 daysAn offer is on the table. This is the highest-risk stage in recruitment: counter-offers and cold feet kill more revenue here than anywhere else.
Written offer issued and accepted in writing, the candidate has resigned, and you have their notice period and a provisional start date.
Placed and Invoiced
90% probability2 to 12 weeks (notice period)The candidate has actually started. Not accepted, not resigned: started. Anything before day one is a forecast.
Start date confirmed by the client on the first working day, and the invoice raised against the agreed fee.
Rebate Period Cleared
100% probability4 to 12 weeksThe candidate has passed the rebate window. Only now is the revenue genuinely yours.
The rebate period has elapsed with the candidate still in post, confirmed with the client, and the invoice is paid.
Fields worth tracking
Stages tell you where a deal is. These fields tell you whether it is any good. Add them as custom fields on the pipeline, and make the ones that gate a stage required.
Contingent, exclusive and retained roles have wildly different win rates. Mixing them in one forecast makes the whole number meaningless. Filter by basis and you get two honest forecasts instead of one bad one.
Revenue at risk is not the same as revenue booked. A date field lets you report on cleared versus exposed billings, which is the number your finance team actually needs.
Submissions per placement and interviews per submission are the two ratios that tell you whether the desk has a sourcing problem or a briefing problem.
A contingent role with four agencies on it is worth a fraction of an exclusive one. Track it and you can stop pretending they belong in the same pipeline value.
Drives the actual billing date. A placement accepted in March with a three-month notice is Q2 revenue, and your cash forecast should say so.
Automations worth building
A pipeline that only stores data is a spreadsheet with a nicer view. These are the three workflows that make this pipeline maintain itself.
When a job order moves to Shortlist Submitted, start a sequence to the hiring manager: a WhatsApp or email nudge at 48 hours, a call task at day 4, and an escalation task to the account owner at day 7 if no feedback has been logged.
The moment a deal enters Offer, create daily check-in tasks with the candidate until the resignation is confirmed, and notify the manager if the deal sits in Offer for more than five days. Most lost placements are visible three days before they collapse.
On the confirmed start date, auto-raise the invoice task and schedule check-in tasks at day 14, day 45 and one week before the rebate expires. A candidate who is struggling at day 14 is a problem you can still solve.
Common mistakes with this pipeline
Every desk does it and every desk gets burned. Submitting candidates on unsigned terms means the client can dispute the fee, drop you for a cheaper agency, or hire your candidate direct. Make signed terms a hard gate, not a nice-to-have.
Accepted offers fall over constantly: counter-offers, family pressure, a better competing offer during notice. If your pipeline weights Offer the same as Placed, you will miss your number in a month where nothing visibly went wrong.
A desk that bills $200K in a quarter and has $60K of it inside an unexpired rebate window does not have $200K. Without a rebate field you cannot see the exposure until a clawback lands.