Lunch & Learn Boston: Lessons to Future-Proof Your Recruitment Marketing & Technology Strategies - April 9, 2025

At our recent Lunch & Learn in Boston, four industry leaders shared how staffing firms can take a smarter, more strategic approach to growth. From AI to marketing, technology to websites, one theme kept coming up: get focused, get aligned, and get strategic.

Here are the biggest lessons from the day—and what they mean for recruitment marketers and ops teams on the front line:

I'm glad you liked it! Here's the revised version with a compelling key quote from each speaker to bring their insights to life:

FAIling forward: getting daily results with Ai through trial and error

Speaker: Brendan Robinson (Founder, Broad & Madison - Transformational staffing technology solutions) 

Brendan broke down the hype around AI and replaced it with actionable advice. His approach is simple: don’t try to master AI overnight. Start small, test ideas, and refine them—just like you would train a new team member. His team uses tools like ChatGPT and signal-based outreach to generate personalised messaging that scales their efforts without inflating headcount.

Brendan made it clear that AI isn't here to replace recruiters—but it can free them up to focus on the high-value parts of their work.

“AI is like an intern—it’s not perfect, but it gets better the more you work with it.”

Key takeaways:

• Treat AI as a junior teammate, not a magic bullet.

• Start with one clear use case and scale slowly.

• Use AI to spot market signals and drive smarter outreach.

• Prioritise tools that deliver repeatable, measurable wins.

Building Smarter Marketing Strategies for Staffing Firms

Speaker: Vinda Souza (CMO, RefAssured - Automated referencing technology)

In a candid fireside Q&A, Vinda challenged staffing marketers to stop obsessing over surface-level tactics and start focusing on strategy, brand, and retention. She warned that firms focused only on capturing attention—with no plan to retain or engage—are operating with a “leaky bucket” and wasting valuable budget.

Her rallying cry was for empathetic, value-driven marketing that builds trust and loyalty. She encouraged marketers to put the customer at the centre, ditch vanity metrics, and focus on the full funnel.

“All marketing is customer marketing—when you lead with empathy, the results follow.”

Key takeaways:

• Stop chasing clicks—build trust over time.

• Retention matters as much as acquisition.

• Ditch tactics that don’t deliver ROI.

• Marketing should solve problems, not just make noise.

Tech-Driven Growth: How Staffing Firms Can Future-Proof Their Business

Speaker: Patrick Davis (VP of Technology, The DAVIS Companies - Manufacturing, engineering, & IT staffing agency)

Patrick offered a refreshing take on recruitment tech: go slow to go far. He shared how The DAVIS Companies avoided tech overload by focusing on measured, need-based innovation. His advice was clear—don’t buy tools just because they’re trendy. Instead, identify real problems through feedback from recruiters, then solve them with the right tools.

He also cautioned against information overload, encouraging firms to narrow their focus to a few meaningful metrics and ditch the noise.

“Innovation doesn’t have to be fast—it just has to be right.”

Key takeaways:

• Tech should solve problems, not create new ones.

• Build trust by including your team in tech decisions.

• Simpler metrics drive better decisions.

• Real transformation starts with listening.

How To Convert More Clients & Candidates Through Your Marketing & Recruitment Websites

Speaker: Christian Coley (VP Sales, SourceFlow - Recruitment websites, careers sites, & marketing tools)

Christian wrapped up the day with a straight-talking reminder: your website should be your hardest-working recruiter. Too many recruitment websites look good but fail to convert traffic into actual leads. He urged firms to treat their website like a strategic sales asset, not just a design project.

He also highlighted how important it is to align marketing, sales, and ops around shared goals—and ensure those goals are reflected in CRM and analytics setups.

“If your website isn’t generating leads, it’s just a digital business card.”

Key takeaways:

• Websites should attract, convert, and support growth.

• Great design is nothing without clear goals and CTAs.

• CRM and marketing tools must work in sync.

• Think of your site as a pipeline builder, not a placeholder.

SourceFlow do WAY more than industry-leading recruitment website design. We build recruitment websites and marketing tools that amplify ROI and provide transparency with state-of-the-art data insights.