Julia WeeksStaffing Talk lays it out clearly for staffing businesses on how to quickly turn off a business owner. There is nothing worse to a hiring manager or business owner than relying on a recruiter to deliver quality results, only to be faced with broken promises and poor quality.
When you are hiring your team of recruiters, there are 3 things that you need to make sure they understand early on, in their training period. If one of your new recruiters doesn’t seem to “get it” then you need to quickly send him packing because not only will he be unsuccessful, but he will taint your staffing company’s reputation.
1. Focus on building AND maintaining
One of the complaints Staffing Talk brings to your attention is the fact that many staffing businesses approach them as a “sell it and forget it” type of sale. This is a HUGE mistake in staffing and many other industries.
When your recruiters are approaching existing and potential customers, they not only need to be focused on building their new business pipeline, but also focused on maintaining that existing pipeline. Selling for the long-term is what you want them to think about here. The first placement is the beginning of a relationship with each customer. This placement can lead to the second, third, fourth, fifth placement and so on.
Stress to your recruiters the importance of good presentation as well as solid follow through. The better the relationship with each customer, the better the chance of follow-on business.
Keep in mind ways that you can provide incentives to your recruiters to not only focus on bringing in new business, but also on maintaining existing business.
2. Always communicate
Your recruiters should always be accessible. If you have a recruiter who is letting customer calls or emails go by the wayside, it’s time for you to seriously consider next steps with that sales rep.
Customers want to be heard. It’s as simple as that. Recruiters need to have good, verbal conversations with your customers. Your recruiters need to be listening to customer concerns and needs, addressing how your company can best help where it hurts.
Communication is a key skill in any recruiter, especially when in the staffing business.
3. Be accommodating
Understand that your customers are just as busy as you are. However, in order to keep your customers satisfied it is necessary for your recruiters to be accommodating when it comes to scheduling calls and interviews.
Consider various ways to accommodate your customer’s busy schedule. For example, face-to-face meetings are key with customers. If schedules do not align between you and your customer for a face-to-face meeting when you have traveled to their location, consider scheduling a video call instead. Not only will the video call still maintain lines of communication but it will also help to develop that personable relationship that a face-to-face meeting provides.
Likewise, if your customer is unable to schedule an in-person interview with a top candidate, consider suggesting a live video interview versus only a phone interview.
By offering your customer more options, you are providing better customer service, letting your customer know that you want to work with them and accommodate to their needs.
What are some other things that you make sure your recruiters understand when working with customers? Please share your tips in the comments below.
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Spark Hire
Josh Tolan
