| Candidates in the database | start | — |
| Still reachable (contact-data decay) | × 40% | — |
| Genuine re-engagement interest | × 15% | — |
| Raw pool math, supply side only | × 4% | — |
| Bounded by your order book & desk capacity | ≤ 10–25% of your run-rate | — |
The single-placement test: whatever the range above says, the build that resurfaces these people costs less than the fee on one placement. Everything past the first one is margin.
How this is calculated, and why it's deliberately smaller than other calculators
Most "database value" math stops at the supply side: candidates × percentages = a huge number. That number is a fantasy, and any recruiter who has actually run a desk knows it. Placements only happen where there's a live client order and the hours to work the pool. Candidates alone place nobody.
So this calculator does two things differently:
- Conservative supply math: reachable-rate at the low end of published B2B contact-decay studies (Landbase); 15% re-engagement = the bottom of the 10–30% industry benchmark (Adonis Media); 4% = a standard warm-pipeline conversion, not an optimistic one.
- A demand cap: the result is limited to 10–25% of your own annual placement run-rate, because your order book and your desk's hours are the real constraint, not the size of the database.
What a system actually does with this: it doesn't invent demand. It makes sure that when an order lands, the right person from your own base surfaces in seconds, instead of you paying to source someone you already have. Half the value is extra placements; the other half is faster ones, made before the role goes cold. For the full workings, including when database reactivation fails entirely, see the long-form math with sources.
This is an estimate. Your database knows the real one.
The first thing the systems I build compute is exactly this: live, from your own data, on your own Microsoft 365: who in your base is placeable, who's gone quiet, and who's worth a call this week. If you'd like me to run an honest read on your numbers, or show you the system that does it weekly, send a short note. No obligation, and the math above is yours to keep either way.
Get your real number →