Cold Outbound Is Dead – Here’s How to Win US Clients as a UK Recruiter

Francis Larson doesn’t mince words.

“Any kind of cold outbound I think is just dead dead. It’s all just spam now. It’s all devolved to spam. It’s just sludge. I don’t think it works. I really don’t think it works.”

That’s Francis Larson — CEO and founder of Ascen, the Y Combinator-backed Employer of Record platform now part of Upwork — speaking on RecTalk with host Nitin Sharma. He’s spent years working with UK and international recruitment agencies trying to break into the United States. He knows what works. And he knows what wastes your time.

So if cold outbound is dead — what actually works?

Business Development Has Gone Back to the Future

The answer, according to Larson and Sharma, is one that might surprise you: it’s gone back to basics.

“It’s moving back to the old kind of… do you remember our dads would talk about it? Business is done on the golf course. It’s all about networking. It’s all about facetime with clients.”

Sharma described it as “90% chat, 10% business” — the kind of relationship-building that gets deals done because people genuinely like and trust you, not because your automation sequence caught them at the right moment. He sees UK firms increasingly putting on networking events and value-add events to get clients in the room.

For UK recruiters targeting the US market, the implication is clear: there is no shortcut. You can’t automate your way into a new market. You need to build real relationships — and in the US, those relationships start with a very clear answer to one question.

The Question Every US Hiring Manager Will Ask

“What’s your value proposition? Because if your value proposition is ‘I can find CVs faster than other people,’ then get to the back of the queue.”

That’s from Larson’s second appearance on RecTalk, and it’s blunt for a reason. The US staffing market is enormous and competitive — thousands of domestic agencies with existing relationships. If you’re a UK firm calling into the US without a distinctive value prop, you’ll be ignored. Not because you’re British. Because you sound like everyone else.

The UK recruiters who break through can answer the question specifically: “I place fintech engineers with Series A and B startups across New York and Austin, and I have a candidate pipeline US firms genuinely can’t replicate.” That’s a reason to take the call.

“We’re a specialist recruitment firm with 15 years’ experience” is not.

Where to Start: Target the Money

Larson’s most practical tip for UK firms entering the US: go where the money is. Specifically, go where the money just arrived.

“Who do you want to pick as customers? You want to pick rich customers in fast growing markets. You want people who have money and who are growing. The mindset in the US, if you’re going to the US, has to be: who has money, who just got money, who is growing rapidly. Forget about the enterprise clients. Just forget about it for now.”

Enterprise clients have incumbent suppliers, long procurement cycles, and no urgency to try a new international agency. Startups that just closed a Series A or B have an immediate, urgent hiring mandate — and often no established recruiter relationship. That’s your entry point.

How to Execute This

• Track funding announcements on Crunchbase and TechCrunch
• Build a list of companies that raised in the last 60–90 days
• Reach out with a specific, relevant angle — not a generic intro
• These aren’t cold prospects. They have a problem right now.

The Bottom Line

Cold outbound is dead. Enterprise clients aren’t your starting point. Your value prop needs to be razor-sharp. And business development is relationship-first, always.

The UK recruiters billing in the US right now didn’t get there on automation. They got there by being specific about what they offer and relentless about who they target.

This post is based on two RecTalk episodes featuring Francis Larson, CEO of Ascen (now part of Upwork). Watch Episode 1 and Watch Episode 2 on YouTube.

Want to explore the tools and suppliers that support UK recruitment firms expanding into the US? Visit rectools.io.