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Let’s talk about your marketing message to your candidates and clients and why it’s so important. I’m going to start at the helicopter overview level so you can then do a deep dive into this topic and start thinking about what some of the messages are that you want to start communicating out to your market.
Clients and Candidates Come To You With a Problem
The first thing to consider which will help you is what are our clients’ problems?
The thing about recruitment is it’s complex, isn’t it? Because you have candidates that you need to ‘sell’ to, and you’ve got clients.
The two things I would suggest that you look at are what are our clients and our candidates’ main problems. What are the main problems that we can help our clients and candidates solve? Write that down.
Then secondly, what’s aligned to this, is what are we actually selling?
This is where we have to go back to old-school selling and that training course probably you first went on when you became a recruiter. Think about our service’s features, our recruiting service, versus the benefits it adds to our clients and candidates that solve their problems.
The fact that you have a 24-stage recruitment process is exceptional. However, that doesn’t mean anything to a candidate or a client until you translate it for them.
What exactly does that mean?
It probably means that they can stop worrying about the fact that all the I’s will be dotted, the t’s will be crossed, and they will get a candidate that is ideal for the role.
They’ll get a candidate that other people don’t know about. The fact that maybe you have a database of 20,000 connections means that the individual that is working with you knows that you probably have access to some of the best talent.
That’s going to take a lot of stress away from their recruiting process while speeding it up, and they’re going to get somebody great in the role.
Think about your features versus the benefits. Classically, you’ll remember, “Which means that, so that,” because people don’t really buy because of the features of your service.
Yes, it’s nice to have all the features and all the whistles and the bells and the video interviewing, and most of the time, you need to translate that for the people that you are working with because people will buy solutions to their problems.
The challenge is that a lot of people do tend to communicate the features rather than the benefits.
Think about what your particular recruiting service means for your candidate and for your client. Imagine a candidate they’re unsure about working with a recruiter. You can talk about how you’ll represent them. You will support them to get a new role, and you will help with some coaching for them.
You will help them with their interview confidence and skills.
Because you are representing them, the stress and angst will be removed.
The same for your clients. They’re building a talent pipeline, but you have got access to all of those candidates other people don’t have.
They’re not going to be worried about the fact that, “Oh, if X person leaves, what am I going to do? Are they going to perform in the role?” Because you will have done all that heavy lifting for them.
Your Ideal Avatar: The Candidates and Clients You Want To Work With
The next thing that’s important is thinking about who do you help and how? This is where we talk about a business persona, the trendy marketing term is avatar, or some people call it a business persona.
Who’s that ideal person that you want to work with where you can deliver great results and both you and the candidate or client benefit?
As an example, for us here at Superfast, it tends to be independent, solo, micro, and small SME businesses that really don’t have the marketing capability because they are stretched, they’re small, and they can’t afford to recruit a marketing director that can give them all the ideas and all of the things that they need to do.
They might have a marketing assistant working with them, though not always.
They come to us because they know that they get a bit of a one-stop shop, and they’ve got two ex-marketing directors, and CMOs, that they can work with online without paying their six-figure salary.
It’s thinking about your avatar and how that works for you.
- Is it the fact that you work with SMEs?
- Do you work with other bigger SME organisations?
- Do you help stressed-out business owners that want to scale but can’t find the right people, and you can help them find the right people?
- Maybe you work with startups who are scaling?
- Maybe you work with specialists in the corporate setting?
Now, for many of the people that we work with, we notice they are exceptional recruiters; they’re really good at what they do. However, they don’t communicate it very well.
That is one of the things that if you start to think about being really transparent and honest about, it is critical that your messaging communicates; “This is who we work with, this is who we can help, and I know we can help you and this is how it will support you to build your team or move forward in your career.
It might be that maybe you’re doing a retained service. Maybe you have video interviewing. Maybe you have training webinars that can help candidates.
All the things that you do are part of your package that provides the solution that your candidates and clients have access to.
Your Messaging Must Communicate Why to Buy From You?
The next thing is let’s think about why people would buy from us. How exactly can we persuade people? Why would people choose to buy from you and not others who are doing something similar?
How strong is your offer? What is it about you that maybe is unique?
People come and work with us, for instance, because they know that they’re going to get consultancy, copy, and content. They know that they’ve got two people that have been around a while. We’ve been marketing directors, as I mentioned before. They know that they can tap into us for consultancy and different things.
Why would people buy from you?
Maybe you are originally a specialist in the sector. I know we have some of our clients who are accountants and ex-accountants, and they’re working in the accountancy sector. We’ve got people that are engineers, they’re ex-engineers, and they’re working as an engineering recruiter.
There are all of these different things that will really give you an edge in what you do. It’s thinking about, “How am I communicating that?” and “Am I telling people enough about some of the things that make me unique?”
Lots of different things there to consider when it comes to your messaging. Even if I leave you with this, you’ve got much more going for you than you probably realise that you don’t communicate.
People make their buying decisions and buying criteria on all sorts of different things.
And remember, people will buy other people, and they buy you on a value match.
We have some people that work with us, and they work with us because they say, “I know that I’m going to get access to you. I’m not going to be fobbed off with somebody else or a “minion”-their words, not mine! – in the business, I know I’m going to get actually to speak to Sharon or Denise.
I know that you actually care about our business. I feel really connected that you always have our best interests at heart.”
What is the values match you have with your candidates and clients?
Having a great recruiting service packaged well as an offer for your ideal candidates and clients that solves the problems they have is stage one.
Though next, you have to communicate this through your messaging and consistently.
Thanks
Denise
How We Can Help Get Your Messaging Right
When you join Superfast Circle during your 90-day fast start process, we will help you hone your messaging as you develop your communication strategy. You get our personal time and attention to nail this process. To find out how this can work for you, book a call with us here.
