Many recruitment leaders I work with want their recruitment CRM to generate fees, but often recruiters are all too happy to jump back into spreadsheets, LinkedIn, notebooks and “going by memory” rather than use their CRM system properly. This blog is a quick 3minute read to create some perspective and give you some ideas for a “CRMFirst” strategy.
The above results in a nightmare for recruitment leaders who are looking to grow their business, become “GDPR-proof” and become more profitable.
It also results in a problem I call “Hairdresser Syndrome” – a term I’ve used for many years to describe a recruitment business that needs to get a grip on its processes and data to see real growth and ROI.
Do You Have a Recruitment Firm, or an Office Full of Desks For Rent?
I have been with my hairdresser for 8 years. He knows my taste in magazines, some of my secrets and all of my roots. A few years ago he was based in a large salon in the city, where he rented a chair.
The rest of the salon staff barely knew I was there, and I didn’t really notice them either – zero interaction. Perhaps if I was lucky my hair would be washed by one of the juniors. I’d pay the girl at the till on the way out, but my hairdresser was my only real contact at the salon.
One day he very quietly commented that he was opening his own salon, and would I like to move with him? I bit his hand off – why wouldn’t I? I had no relationship with the salon. They kept no details on me, perhaps they didn’t even know I existed. Would they miss my business?
For me, he was the salon.
Are Your Recruiters Hairdressers?
Can you see any similarities between your recruitment business and my hair salon?
They have exclusive relationships with the clients. Are you simply the “girl” taking my money at the till?
Do they use stuff in your business, such as hair washers, tea makers, reception (IT, HR, Finance, Admin) that their fees contribute to, but that I am totally oblivious to?
Are your consultants simply logging data at the point of sale to get the cash in but the juicy stuff which is about me, what I like, how I buy is in his/her head?
If they left and took “clients” with them, would you know? And don’t forget you’ll only know what data they’ve taken and who’s migrated with them if they told you about these relationships in the first place.
Even if you had the data on the client, would it be enough for you to continue the relationship going forward?
Are your clients engaging with your business or the consultant? Are their loyalties to the brand or their perceived face of the brand, the consultant (the hairdresser)?
I’m still seeing “30-second recruiters” who enter a candidate in the CRM just to place them and board the invoice. Recruitment consultants are tempted to brush off GDPR as a flash in the pan, carry on as usual and keep billing how they’ve always billed. That may work for them in the short term, but they’re missing out on opportunities to be more effective and profitable whilst putting the business at risk.
CRMFirst and GDPR: Hairdresser Prevention for Recruitment Leaders
2018 was the year of GDPR, and 2019 needs to be about CRMFirst (getting your candidates, clients and consultants addicted to your systems. It needs to be about data hygiene, recruiters building effective, retained relationships and recruitment firms focusing on growth, not just legislation.
A CRMFirst (BullhornFirst / AdaptFirst) culture can create a valuable pool of great data that will put you ahead of your competition and create a hidden asset that your clients (and prospective clients!) want access to.
Your recruitment CRM should be a USP – a unique selling point. Your recruitment software can be an addiction for your recruiters, your clients, candidates, and investors. All of which does the one job you bought it for – to make you more money.
Swap the Salon Culture for CRMFirst Culture…
Instilling a culture of data quality is challenging, but highly rewarding. Define the strategy, instil this into your culture and reduce the risk of bad data impacting the recruitment business.
Get your recruitment consultants engaged with your system and train them on best practice so they understand why great recruitment process is profitable for them, as well as your business. Stop them from simply renting a desk.
Once they can see and feel the benefits of following your processes (improving performance, profit, and ROI for themselves as well as the business) then your CRM can become a business growth tool, rather than an expensive data dump and potential GDPR risk.
So, are you guilty of simply renting a chair to your consultants to allow them to grow a lovely portable client base, or do you do more to grow/protect your brand, relationships, and market share?
HIIT Us, Recruiters!
Our high intensity interval training - Recruitment HIIT - helps recruiters source, convert quicker, and develop healthy pipelines, and recruitment marketers attract, engage, and retain candidates, generate clients, and colleagues (3Cs).
TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT
READ ABOUT OUR RECRUITMENT TRAINING
BOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS RECRUITMENT TRAINING
media centre
Read more-
Blog
Need More Recruitment Sales? Watch This Recruiters!
Recruitment Leaders are focused on stronger BD and Account Management. If you have Bullhorn Automation, or are considering it, there's plenty it can do to help you drive this crucial task. Automated BD and Account Management Recruitment automation isn't just about data hygiene and email marketing.It can also be focused on driving business revenue.It should be focused on optimising (and monetising) relationships.During our speedy 30minute recruitment automation webinar, we talked about:Focusing on what recruitment automation can and should do.How automation can help you train your recruiters, including the ones hired since 2020 who may not have had the best start and may be struggling now.How to improve productivity. How automation can help you turn up and down the volume depending on whether you need to be client or candidate-driven, or both.How automation can help you combat AI - yes it can!How automation can free up recruiters to consult.Plus, Wayne covered 5 key sales-driven automations to help you focus your attention on generating real sales opportunities for your recruiters and your recruitment business.Watch Our Sales Automation WebinarWe have plenty of Automation blogs, and Automation Training on our recruitment training platform, Recruitment HIIT. CLICK TO TRIAL HIITAutomation, Training, Bullhorn1st We're a passionate team of recruitment, tech, training professionals set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses, big and small, improve speed and pipeline.For help with Automation, creating a Bullhorn1st culture, and Recruitment Training...CONTACT US
-
Blog
Sales Tips for Recruiters - Intentional Attraction
Being a recruiter involves being able to attract, engage, source, sell, retain, market, and effectively use tech. Hence the skillset of a modern recruiter is pretty vast. But what runs through the heart of a great recruiter is the ability to sell.But "sales" is often seen as either a dirty word, or a skill reserved for purely business developers. Whereas every recruitment leader knows that sales is what drives recruitment. Whether you need to sell a candidate to a client, a job to a candidate, a process to a colleague, or get buy-in from stakeholders, everyone in recruitment needs to be good at "selling". Sales Tips from An Award-Wining RecruiterI spoke with Rossa Mullally, Associate Director and shareholder in Sigmar Recruitment. He manages the award-winning Sales and Multilingual Division. This vodcast equips recruiters with the strategies and insights they need to win over both candidates and clients. In today's competitive job market, recruiting top talent and maintaining strong client relationships have become essential skills for any successful recruiter.Rossa Mullally and I spoke about: How can recruiters use social engineering in recruitment and sales? How can they avoid "unintentional repulsion"?What's a great message which drives a great sale?Where does tech "fit" in the sales process?Watch the Trailer of my vodcast with Rossa...The full vodcast, along with other great sales and recruitment training, can be found on our training platform Recruitment HIIT.SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE HIIT TRIALAutomation and Recruitment TrainingWe're a passionate team of recruitment, tech, training professionals set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses, big and small, improve speed and pipeline.Contact us for help with Automation, creating a Bullhorn1st culture, and Recruitment Training. We'd love to help.You can even try our recruitment training platform, Recruitment HIIT for free.
-
Downloads
Your Recruitment Training Playbook