Try Before You Buy!
Clients and candidates have changed. Candidates are looking for a lifetime agent and clients want us to be more consultative and offer them options and flexibility. Your business may specialize in direct hire, retained search or you could be a blended or staffing firm. Clients are requesting the option to Try Before They Buy. In our profession, we instantly think they are referring to a temp to hire arrangement.
When your clients prefer to observe someone on the job before they extend an offer, you have a chance to be creative. You limit yourself to presenting only candidates who are not working which greatly limits your talent pool. You need to share that fact with your clients and giving them an alternative solution.
Your currently employed candidates would be willing to work for a few days for your client, using vacation time. You put this person on your temp or contract payroll or if you only do direct hires, partner with a firm that offers this type of service, or utilize the service of a funding company.
This type of creative arrangement provides your client with the opportunity to experience the talents of your candidate and gives your candidate a chance to experience the company culture of your client. We don’t do this often, in 100% of the cases where we have used this technique, our candidates have received offers. The other good news, we have never experienced a fall off with any of these placements. That in itself is reason to at least consider this creative solution.
On several occasions, after our client interviewed candidates, they decided to make a direct offer without the candidate using vacation time. Our job as recruiters is to get candidates in front of decision makers, this is just one more way to accomplish that goal and make more placements.
It is important to develop an outside/in philosophy in your business. See the services you offer through the eyes of the people you serve – your clients and candidates. There are many valued added services you can offer. One mistake I see many business owners make is to develop additional value added services and then attempt to sell them to their clients. Conduct bi-annual surveys for your clients and candidates to identify what value added services you should offer. When you customize your services to fit the needs of your clients, you have people who are waiting to buy what you’re offering. This type of outside/in thinking is a win/win for everyone.
When you conduct regular surveys, develop an outside/in way of thinking and customize your services, your production, revenues, profits and income will automatically increase. You should identify one source of passive income for your company every quarter, which will help your business retain financial stability regardless of economic conditions.
Obviously, if you’re still reading this, you’re strongly considering starting your own staffing and/or recruiting firm. The good news is there is plenty of opportunity in this business! All you have to do is fill out the form to the right, download your whitepapers, and it will register you for our next webinar titled “Starting a Staffing Or Recruiting Business”. Don’t delay, fill out the form now!