Your clients are facing very different hiring challenges right now than they were just a year ago.
They’ll be looking for as much support as they can get during these difficult times, and as an expert recruiter in their niche, you can provide it.
Here are some of the biggest challenges your clients will be facing right now and how you can help them overcome them.
Challenge #1: Too many candidate applications
The more CVs your clients receive, the more time they have to spend sorting through them in order to find the candidates they want to interview.
Employment rates are at their lowest since [date] thanks to the pandemic, so your clients will be getting inundated with applications from every direction – and that includes from recruiters like you.
How to overcome this challenge:
Only send your clients perfect-fit candidates for the roles they’re recruiting for – don’t waste their time by sending too many profiles in the hope that something will stick. In a candidate-heavy market, your clients can afford to be picky, so they don’t have time for CVs that don’t exactly fit the profile.
This challenge also gives you the opportunity to sell in new services too. Offer to take over the job advertising and shortlist process for them so they don’t have to deal with this challenge at all. Providing additional services like this as part of the package will make your fee a necessary expense to the business.
Challenge #2: Market uncertainty
Not only are we in a global pandemic, but UK business are also about to face the unknown impact of Brexit. This has created a lot of uncertainty about the market, and this has a direct impact on hiring decisions and plans for future growth.
How to overcome the challenge:
In an uncertain market, you need to react to your client’s needs quickly and offer different solutions depending on what’s happening right at that moment.
For example, offering temp or contract recruitment is a great way for clients to get the skills they need now, without having to commit to a taking on a permanent member of staff.
Reward loyal clients with special services that will support them during uncertain times, such as a staggered payment structure, extended rebates periods or providing additional support for free in order to secure future business with them. Giving a little back to your best clients now will pay off in the long run.
And with Brexit on the horizon, start looking at what compliance you’ll need for EU workers and help your clients get ready for the new regulations. This will save your clients money and provide a service for them as a business.
Challenge #3: Influx of recruitment cold calls
In this job-short market, it’s no surprise that recruiters are hitting their BD hard. But influx of agency BD calls are a real hindrance to your clients, not a help.
How can hiring managers expect to do their job when they’re being interrupted by recruiters trying to win business every two minutes? Unfortunately, this gives recruitment a bad reputation.
How to overcome the challenge:
Now is the time to sell exclusive and retained contracts to your current clients so they can deal directly with one recruiter (you), instead of twenty different agencies.
And when you are trying to win new business, take a different approach than your competitors so prospects don’t lump you in with all the other recruiters who are hassling them for jobs.
For example, try out some video tools that allow you to embed videos into your spec CV email so you can give your prospects a very brief highlights of a candidate profile. They’ll prefer this to looking through the pile of CVs on their desk anyway!
You also need to ensure you don’t become part of the problem by cold calling every business in your niche. Download the eBook below to learn how to implement a warm-calling strategy that will win you business – even in this difficult market.
