Blog Content
Recruitment CRM should be the FIRST system used to drive sales, source candidates, convert leads... but often, it's a dumb system, a data dump, "just another bit of recruitment kit" preventing phone and face time. Our clients agree with our mantra "CRMFirst" and want to ensure that their recruitment software is implemented to deliver the 4Cs - candidates, client, colleagues, and cash.
Recruitment CRM - AKA the Sales-Prevention Software
Maybe you’ve had your Recruitment CRM for longer than you’ve had most of your employees and you’re hearing lots of the same moans and groans:
it’s not working
it’s always crashing
I can’t find any candidates in it
my 1980’s Atari felt more up to date
there is no management info because no one’s using it!
The decision has been made to replace your recruitment CRM. You’ve spent 6 months sourcing a new one, another 6 months implementing it and would you believe it, 6 months later and you’re still hearing the same old moans and groans.
How can you give BAU (business as usual) the best chance of success?
Business as Usual Starts Before BAU
It may sound obvious, but many Recruitment CRM projects struggle at the embedding phase due to inadequate post go live planning. It’s not surprising. There is a HUGE amount to do during implementation and the project team are normally spread thin focusing on getting the new system in a fit state for go live.
There are many strategies to planning and managing BAU (business as usual). My favourite is having a BAU project team involved mid-way through implementation. Their responsibility is to plan, support and manage the embedding of the CRM into business over the next 12 months. Their job is to make sure that your investment returns! (ROI)
“That’s a big investment“, I hear you say. However, what is the cost of a disgruntled workforce being negative or the disruption of losing many people or the lost opportunities of your current and future clients? And with 2/3 of job leavers quitting due to lack of training, and the average 10 person recruiters wasting £100,000 per year on replacing leavers, something has to change.
Investing in the BAU is almost more important that the implementation process itself; underestimate the BAU support requirements at your peril.
Management are THE Key to Success CRM Change
Management don’t need to know how to use the CRM, right? WRONG!
Management / Directors / Team Leaders all need to know exactly how everyone should be using the system so they can support and train their teams at go live and beyond.
All too often, “Super Users” are trained to deliver this message but they tend to be sales administrators, busy consultants or new recruits. They don’t have the status within the business to try to invoke change or persuade the biggest billers why they should change their habits and behaviours!
The adage of “Coming from the Top” really is true when you’re managing CRM Implementation Projects. These are not technology projects, they are Change Management Projects and the only people who can change the business are the leaders and managers of that business.
It’s All About Communicating Expectations
When a recruiter hears the following “We are going to change the CRM”, what they really hear is “Yippee, a new CRM. It’s just like upgrading my car; it will be shiny and faster and way better than what I had, oh and I know how to drive so it will be easy to adapt!”
This can lead to my personal favourite user statement “The previous system was so much better/easier!”. No, the previous system which was built on highly suspect 1980’s technology that continuously failed and you always complained about, was more FAMILIAR. As a project team, you have to prepare users for change and this starts not at Go Live, but much earlier during the implementation phase.
Key Rules when Implementing a New Recruitment CRM
Ensure you tell everyone that CHANGE is coming and everyone needs to get on-board!
The system will not be perfect from day 1, everyone needs to prepare to communicate issues and be ready for CHANGE!
There will be BUGS (potentially a lot and for a lot longer that you’d like!) Live with them whilst the project team sorts them out!
Get SLAs (service level agreements) in place – ensure you respond to EVERY issue and communicate an update or fix to the business (if it warrants it) or the individual on a pre-agreed timeframe.
We work with Recruitment and IT leaders to deliver an ROI and sales-led recruitment technology strategy. Our mantra is “CRMFirst”!
HIIT Us, Recruiters!
Our high intensity interval training (Recruitment HIIT) helps recruiters source, convert quicker and develop healthy pipelines. Recruitment HIIT is an exciting recruitment training platform for recruiters to speedily learn skills to be more successful with Adapt, Bullhorn, LinkedIn, Job Adverts, Inbound Sales, Digital and Email Marketing. Try Recruitment HIIT for free, or arrange a call with me - press one of the magic buttons below.
TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT FOR FREE
READ ABOUT HOW WE DELIVER RECRUITMENT TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY
BOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS RECRUITMENT TRAINING
Extra Content
Blog Image
Extra Content 2
media centre
Read more-
Lisa Jones
Blog
4 Questions for Recruitment Leaders and Marketers Who Need to Generate More Sales
Recruitment Marketers, now more than ever, need to deliver real value. With Covid creating either distraction, furlough, or redundancy, recruitment agencies are focused on lead generation and conversion. But where does and should marketing fit in to this landscape? And how are they prepared for the new normal?The Sales-Led Marketing ChallengeAs chairs of the APSCo Marketing Forum, Niomi and I are keen to ensure that the regular meetups and webinars contain content which drives the members to deliver commercial and relevant outcomes. We surveyed APSCo marketing members to find out answers to the following questions:What were your plans to improve prior to Covid lockdown?What are your biggest challenges during lockdown?Where do you see the biggest wins for you in the next few months?Where do you feel you need additional training / knowledge?The answers were compelling, and a little worrying.1.What were your plans to improve prior to Covid lockdown?The majority said “Brand Improvement”. This is always a red flag for me and tweaks my “colouring-in department” nerve. What were the businesses these marketers worked for doing before Covid… was lead gen / sales already taken care of? I get how important brand is, but in a saturated market, where recruiters are often 360+ and have too much to do, (too much data, systems, and not enough process) I love hearing stories about marketers deliver MQLs (marketing qualified leads) or perfect candidates / colleagues into the sales teams.2.What are your biggest challenges during lockdown?The majority said “Lead Generation”. So, as soon as lockdown happens all eyes go to marketing to do something that may not have been their priority or skillset pre-lockdown. A reaction that we have all had, but one that may have fallen flat due to the lack of skill / expectation of marketing prior to Covid. Some of them don’t even have access to the database that their recruiters use… so how are they supposed to help with the conversion, or reconversion, process?3.Where do you see the biggest wins for you in the next few months?Worryingly, lead generation scored low, and brand and client experience scored high. Kids are back at school, local lockdowns, rules of 6, are the new normal, but to move so quickly away from lead gen feels too soon, or perhaps, inappropriate.4.Where do you feel you need additional training / knowledge?SEO and monetisation of the CRM and data scored high. This is interesting, and predictable, as these two areas drive leads. Does this answer tell us that marketers haven’t got the training (or perhaps confidence) to stick their hand up and say:“leave the leads to me” When I mentor marketers, I lift the lid on SEO and make it a simple task. It’s about:persona-led keyword decks,threaded into content,which is aimed at the data (you likely already have) and assertively used to convert or reconvert. Leads are generated and actively handed over to sales. Easy!So the marketers have spotted their weaknesses… but what next?What else scored low?Automation – this is needed to create space and time to attract and convertInternal comms – this is needed to keep the workforce engaged and motivatedInbound sales – this is just needed.Social media – use this to drive content ROICandidate attraction – I’m worried that recruiters are being bombarded by the wrong candidates and this is preventing best practice.Marketers Need to Generate LeadsGoing back to lead gen and sales-led marketing…Marketers, ask yourself:what are you doing to skill up in SEO and monetising your data and CRM? Recruitment Leaders, ask yourself:what access does your marketer have to your data, and your sales team? What needs to happen to turn your marketing into a sales-led, data-driven, lead generative function?Attend our webinar on 30/09/20 to find out what Niomi and I think you need to do.Book Your Marketing Webinar PlaceTalking of Marketers Generating Leads for Recruiters...Could marketing save your recruiters an hour a day, and make an extra £18,750 a year (or £187,500/month if there are 10 of you?)Our high intensity interval training - Recruitment HIIT- helps recruiters source, convert quicker and develop healthy pipelines with Adapt, Bullhorn, LinkedIn, Job Adverts, Inbound Sales, Digital and Email Marketing. We aim to save every recruiter at least 1 hour per day - more billing time, more fees!TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT 7 DAYS FOR FREEREAD ABOUT OUR MARKETING TRAININGBOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS MARKETING TRAINING
-
Wayne Barclay
Blog
Yorkshire Recruitment! Back to Work, Back to Normal?
Recruitment Leaders. whatever stress you and your business have been under, now that the kids are back at school, and that we are all trying to get back to a new normal, time is more precious than ever. And having a sales-led strategy for the next 3 months is key.Jonathan Sanderson, Chair of the APSCo Yorkshire Business Forum, will be joined at the next meeting by my business partner Lisa Jones.On Monday 28 Sept, 14:00, Lisa will focus on...Yorkshire Recruiters! Back to Work, Back to Normal? Your staff have either been:working as smart as they can throughout the pandemicon furlough, ormade redundant.What do you need to do in the next 3 months to generate more business? Lisa says:Your sales, recruiting, and marketing teams need to get fit, and be desk and time effective – but perhaps they have dirty data, numerous systems that they decide when they engage with, and not the right content and process to generate warm calls?Lisa, with her knowledge of sales, systems, marketing, and recruitment, will talk about how you and your team and business back to “fitness”.Jonathan will then lead a discussion around issues currently affecting the recruitment sector in the region.Register Here It's genuinely the time to take a breath, get ready, and get going.Talking of Recruiters Getting Going...Could you save an hour a day, and make an extra £18,750 a year (or £187,500/month if there are 10 of you?)Our high intensity interval training - Recruitment HIIT - helps recruiters source, convert quicker and develop healthy pipelines with Adapt, Bullhorn, LinkedIn, Job Adverts, Inbound Sales, Digital and Email Marketing. We aim to save every recruiter at least 1 hour per day - more billing time, more fees!TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT 7 DAYS FREE READ ABOUT OUR RECRUITMENT TRAININGBOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS RECRUITMENT TRAINING
-
Downloads
The Adapt Playbook
.png)
