Blogs by tag - CRM · Barclay Jones

How Can You Ensure your Recruitment CRM Change Project is a Success?

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 SoftwareMaybe 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 workingit’s always crashingI can’t find any candidates in itmy 1980’s Atari felt more up to datethere 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 BAUIt 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 ChangeManagement 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 ExpectationsWhen 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 CRMEnsure 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”!Bullhorn ATS / Analytics / Automation / AI RoIWe are Bullhorn experts set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses to increase speed and sales.We help you weaponise your people, data, time, and tech, so you can recruit and sell!Our Bullhorn Vision and Buddy service helps generate best-in-class processes, adoption, head space, and ROI.BOOK A FREE BULLHORN ROI CONSULTATION

Can You Stop Bad Data Damaging your Recruitment Business?

With the UK Recruitment Sector being worth at least £30billion, and recruitment leaders wanting to monetise their “expensive Recruitment CRM” it’s critical to capitalise on your recruitment tech to improve speed and profit. This is a speedy 2 minute read to get you from “bad data” to “big data”.The Myth of the “30 Second” RecruiterWe see ROI as in the i(nvestment) of the beholder – so what is the average recruitment consultant investing?The average recruitment consultant is sat with two to four screens (including mobile phones) gathering data from wherever they can, but there’s often no practical or enforced policy in a recruitment business as to where that recruitment data should be going or at what point it should be going onto your recruitment database.I’ve come across “30 second recruiters” who enter a candidate in the CRM just to place them and board the invoice. I’ve also met ‘brilliant jerks’ who bill the most yet administrate the least, meaning there’s no useful legacy data on the great candidates they’re placing or their potential pipeline.We don’t see this as a sustainable business model for recruitment businesses.As a recruitment leader, you should be able to use your recruitment database to predict the conversion rate for your consultants, helping them actively manage and improve their conversion rate – which ultimately improves the pipeline and sustainability of your business.It makes them more effective, competitive and successful. It makes you more profitable and sane!Sustainable Recruitment Data is the New SexyMost recruitment leaders I work with are not in the market for selling their recruitment firm in the next 12 months – instead a lot of them are looking to the next 3-5 years, trying to pump up the volume on their business with great tech, monetised recruitment data and ultimately process and talent and pipelines of clients.Doing this will ensure your business becomes a sustainable model and will continue beyond the talent that currently works for you. Market value will increase.When a business is audited to see how buyable it is, often the KPMGs of this world will look at it and say:If the top billers left and the business leaders left… what would be left?So What’s the Solution for Creating a Monetised Recruitment CRM?Get your recruitment consultants and resourcers engaged with the system and train them on best practice so they understand why great recruitment process is profitable (intuitive recruitment systems that need no training are mythical).Once they can see and feel the benefits of following the 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.4 Steps to Fixing your Bad Recruitment Data ProblemDefine and document your process and systemsAgree what great data looks like and communicate your expectations everyday and everywhere!Make managers responsible for the hygiene of their segment of the recruitment databaseReward “personal hygiene”. Clean data, sparkling process and effective placements = clean profitWe deliver training and guidance for recruiters and recruitment businesses to help them create a CRMFirst (AKA Bullhorn1st) culture within their business for sustainable processes, clean data and higher profit!Bullhorn ATS / Analytics / Automation / AI RoIWe are Bullhorn experts set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses to increase speed and sales.We help you weaponise your people, data, time, and tech, so you can recruit and sell!Our Bullhorn Vision and Buddy service helps generate best-in-class processes, adoption, head space, and ROI.BOOK A FREE BULLHORN ROI CONSULTATION