A recent Staffing Industry Review article listed the top criteria buyers use when evaluating recruitment suppliers. It is no surprise that the top items on the list of criteria are worker quality, speed, service/quality and cost. Others that made the list were geographic coverage, relationship focus, skills breadth, and industry knowledge, to list just a few. Worker quality was far and away the top criteria, being listed by more than 50% of respondents as their top item and being listed in the top 3 by about 80% of those surveyed.
More interesting than the survey results were the details listed about what most recruitment firms emphasize in their sales and marketing efforts. Only about 18% of firms promote worker quality, while 82% place emphasis on something other than the buyer’s top criteria. Seems like a great opportunity for new recruitment marketing and recruitment sales campaigns.
The same article goes on to evaluate the highest return recruitment sales tactics as listed by survey respondents to the Staffing Industry Analysts in 2014. The top 5 are:
- Penetrating existing accounts (56%)
- Telephone cold calling (14%)
- Focus on recurring business (11%)
- Hiring local staff (10%)
- RFPs/RFIs/RFQs (2%)
So if you are pursuing new business using one of the listed techniques, it would be wise to elevate the quality of the worker solutions you are providing. It seems to be what is motivating clients!
What is working when promoting your recruitment firm? Please share some fresh ideas that are producing results!