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The topic for today is why recruitment companies need to put their candidates and clients first; let me explain. No sooner does the new year come around, and weeks turn into months, and the questions is – how far along have you made it in your strategy to increase client and candidate leads?
Here is the thing; more than ever your relationship with candidates and clients and your level of customer service will be pivotal to your results this year
So, why should recruitment businesses put the customer at the heart of everything they do?
Here’s the Data
A Harvard Business Review, Analytic Service study, found that 80% of executives strongly agree that customer experience is vital to an organisation’s success.
Yet, only 34% believe that they are equipped to deliver superior customer experiences.
Your customers – your clients and candidates – will see between 500 and 4,000 brand messages per day. Many of these messages do not stick, but the ones that do are the ones which have the most impact on your customers. It is these messages that will become conversions.
It is easy for brands to put out brand-centric marketing messages, but research shows that customers aren’t listening until the idea touches them in a personal way. How can you start to market messages that apply directly to the clients and candidates you want to work with?
The way to do this is to identify your avatar.
Which Candidates and Clients?
Your avatar is the ideal clients and candidates you know you need to work with to grow your business.
Have you ever felt like you are going around in circles, spending hours nurturing relationships for them to eventually come to nothing?
Ideally, we suggest identifying your avatar before you begin marketing of any kind – time, effort and money spent on the ‘wrong’ customers will ultimately be fruitless. We have written a separate blog post on everything you need to know about identifying your avatar which you can read here.
Your ‘putting the customer first’ strategy needs to create delightful brand experiences and provide your clients and candidates with services, communications and free-added value that blows them away.
And even more that than, it should even predict what the customer needs and wants, and deliver it to them before they realise, they even need it.
Predicting Candidate and Client Needs
The way to do this comes naturally after identifying your avatar. Once you understand your customers inherently, you will start to realise what needs you are there to fulfil.
Have you ever been to a café or a restaurant that offers free refills? These are more common in America, but they do also exist in the UK! The waiter or waitress notices your coffee cup is almost empty, so they come and top it up for you before you even have to ask.
It’s an easy task for the server, it costs the establishment next to nothing, but it’s a gesture which goes a long way.
Think about how your recruitment company can start to provide ‘free refills’ for your customers.
Reach out to your clients and have a conversation with them about issues they are currently facing – can you help?
For candidates – provide them with free content that is packed with value about their specific career challenges, in the form of blogs, emails and social media posts.
Or even a CV template or a list of questions they can ask in an interview.
In a busy recruitment market, it’s the customers who are in control when it comes to choosing a recruitment company – they will always choose to work with the one they believe are interested in, and care about their situation.
As a customer-centric recruitment company, you will create products, processes, culture and policies which have the customer at the heart of everything you do.
Finally
‘Putting the customer first’ is the first trend in our recent report containing the 8 critical recruitment marketing trends for 2020, which are already helping recruitment business owners to increase client and candidate leads.
If you want additional information on this topic, and to find out what the rest of the critical recruitment marketing trends are, download the free report by clicking here.
Thanks
Denise
P.S. Would you like help to leverage your marketing this year. Then the first step after you have downloaded our trends report is to book a complimentary marketing consultation here.
