One recruiter went from billing $300K to $1.8M after coaching, as Mike Walmsley tells it. Here is what changed, word for word.
Firm Leaders Summit (November 16-18): https://firm-leaders-and-owners-recruiting-summit-2026.heysummit.com
Atlas, the CRM that actually understands context: https://recruitwithatlas.com/
Well Oiled Machine, offshore recruiter hiring with Greg Fischer: https://www.welloiledmachine.co/
Mike Walmsley has trained more than 20,000 recruiters by his count, cashed in a million in his own best year as he tells it, and was the third person in a firm that grew past 100 people before it sold. In part one of this two-part conversation, he breaks down what $1M billers catch on every call that $100K billers walk right past.
You get the reference call talk track word for word, including the 0 to 100 percent productivity question that turns a hiring manager’s frustration into a dollar figure. Mike’s 10-point plan for candidate referrals. The replacement-hire technique for pulling a vacancy out of a client who says they are not hiring. How to close “I’m too busy” before the call ends. And what a coach actually gives a biller doing roughly £2.5M a year.
Part two, the board seat: [PART 2 YOUTUBE LINK]
00:00 Intro
03:27 How Mike ended up on the show
04:23 What $100K billers miss that $1M billers catch
06:04 Who is Mike Walmsley
07:38 Walking in off the street into recruiting
09:05 20 client meetings a month and the exclusivity close
14:24 What a board would have pushed them to do
16:17 Elite Leaders: the board you can’t afford
21:06 What a £2.5M biller gets from a coach
24:23 Why some recruiters win work and others don’t
25:15 How to close “I’m too busy”
26:39 LinkedIn content from your candidate calls
28:27 The reference call as business development
32:54 The 0 to 100 percent productivity question
34:59 Closing the reference call into a meeting
37:46 Candidate referrals: the 10-point plan
45:51 The number one reason recruiters don’t get referrals
46:36 Pulling a vacancy out of a client who isn’t hiring
51:54 What every million-dollar biller has in common
Connect with Mike Walmsley: [GUEST LINKEDIN URL]
Mike’s reference form is free: connect with him on LinkedIn and ask.
Recruitment Training: https://recruitmenttraining.com/
Firm Leaders Summit (November 16-18): https://firm-leaders-and-owners-recruiting-summit-2026.heysummit.com
Atlas: https://recruitwithatlas.com/
Well Oiled Machine: https://www.welloiledmachine.co/
Elite Recruiter Community: https://elite-recruiters.circle.so/checkout/elite-recruiter-community
Newsletter: https://eliterecruiterpodcast.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Connect with Benjamin Mena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmena/
