How To Stop Losing $100K Fees At The Finish Line
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Audible Key Takeaways
- Ryan Sheppard transitioned from contingency to retained search after losing a massive $100K fee due to a sudden hiring freeze, fundamentally changing how he structures his business.
- Instead of selling CVs, recruiters should sell a structured, rigorous process that guarantees the steps rather than a specific outcome.
- Transitioning to a retained model allowed Ryan to hit his annual target by Valentine's Day and finish the year at 280% of his goal.
- Writing a book and launching it using a targeted executive search methodology established Ryan as an authority and serves as a powerful calling card with industry leaders.
- Deep, 25-minute reference checks can easily turn into valuable business development conversations with decision makers who would otherwise ignore cold outreach.
Ryan Sheppard mapped an entire market for a senior pharma search, tracked down the exact molecule types, built the shortlist, and then got one line back: sorry, we're on a hiring freeze. The fee that vanished was somewhere between eighty and a hundred thousand dollars, and it was not the first time. That was the moment he decided he could not keep working for free.
Before we get into it, Finish The Year Strong kicks off September 28 through October 5. All live sessions are free, and if you want the replays or VIP access, this is your line in the sand for the rest of 2026. Register here: https://recruiters-finish-the-year-strong.heysummit.com/
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Ryan is an executive search consultant in Tokyo placing country managers and senior commercial leaders for US and European healthcare companies. After sixteen years in contingency he made the switch to retained, and as he tells it, he went from barely hitting his number in 2024 to hitting his annual target by Valentine's Day 2025 and finishing the year at 280% of goal. The advice that changed everything came from a retained recruiter he admired: stop selling CVs, sell the process.
He walks through exactly what that looks like. How he priced his very first retainer at 40% having never gone above standard, how the local decision maker signed without blinking while global TA asked who this guy thought he was, and what he said to get it across the line. Why he can now tell a client he cannot guarantee the perfect person but can guarantee the steps, and why that is what clients actually pay for.
Then the book. Ryan wrote Sell Yourself Like a CEO during the six to nine month lull while his first retainers were slowly coming in, and he ran the launch like a search. He wrote down 180 names, scorecarded every one of them, worked the math backwards from twenty launch-day reviews, and ended up with thirty reviews and six endorsements, including one from Marshall Goldsmith. The book has since become his calling card with presidents, with executives' kids, and with people he has never met who show up at events having already read it.
He also shares two things he wishes recruiters would ask him about. First, why reference checks are the most underrated practice in recruitment, and how a 25 minute call that goes well beyond did they work there turns into a business development conversation with a decision maker who would never otherwise take your call. Second, President's Drinks, the no-banner, no-pitch gathering he has hosted for a decade that puts him in a room with the people who actually make hiring decisions.
Along the way he explains why fees in Japan run 35 to 40%, where AI actually makes him more valuable on a search, and what a case study looks like when you build it from a STAR story in under an hour.
If you are still selling the output when you should be selling the process, this one is for you.
🎯 Finish The Year Strong, September 28 to October 5: https://recruiters-finish-the-year-strong.heysummit.com/ 🚀 Atlas: https://recruitwithatlas.com/ 📘
Sell Yourself Like a CEO by Ryan Sheppard, available on Amazon 🔗 https://amzn.to/4gS3lxo
Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-sheppard-search-advisory/
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ryan Sheppard on The Elite Recruiter Podcast?
Ryan Sheppard is an executive search consultant based in Tokyo who places country managers and senior commercial leaders for US and European healthcare companies.
How did Ryan Sheppard successfully transition from contingency to retained recruitment?
After losing multiple large contingency fees to sudden hiring freezes, he stopped selling CVs and started selling a guaranteed recruitment process, successfully landing a 40% retainer by focusing on the methodology.
What book did Ryan Sheppard write?
Ryan wrote 'Sell Yourself Like a CEO', which he launched using a targeted executive search strategy to secure endorsements from top industry figures like Marshall Goldsmith.