Today’s guest blogger is Josh Gerrard of Bullhorn, the global market-leading ATS/CRM for recruitment companies. Josh specialises in small agencies and has helped hundreds of recruiters take the next step to drive efficiency and growth with their CRM. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn.
I’ve just finished watching Westworld, the latest off the rack of hit HBO shows (don’t worry, no spoilers here). I’m pretty sure I still have no idea what was going on, or whether I enjoyed it, but I definitely know it happened!
Have you ever left a software demo feeling like this? Usually it’s because the salesperson (guilty) is trying to show off the bells and whistles of their product without fully understanding what’s important to you and your business. Wade into 4 or 5 of these things in a week and you’re bound to start questioning your reality.
Typically, the end result is that you’ll walk away with the simplest product, rather than the one that will actually solve your problems and help you achieve your goals. Often, the product you end up with wouldn’t have even made the final shortlist, but two or three of your key criteria have been either glazed over, lost in the shuffle, or not identified at all.
Asking for a demo upfront seems like the logical thing to do, but you should save yourself time, as well as increase your chances of making the right call, by asking yourself these three questions first:
What’s the point?
Okay – this seems obvious. But in over half the conversations I have with people looking to change CRMs, it isn’t as clear as you think. Sure, your current system might be old and slow, or have lots of downtime, or have terrible support. But what do you really want your ATS to help you to achieve? Generally, the list looks like this:
- Make placements faster
- Win more business
- Have happier customers
In all likelihood, we’re after at least two of these to drive efficiency and growth. But it’s important to recognize, because without that, we can’t figure out question two.
What are the barriers preventing that from happening now?
It might be something as mundane as needing to log a bunch of emails. It might be that you don’t know where you should be looking for new business. It might be that you don’t know which of your customers need attention, or why.
Whatever it is, most of the time, it’s stopping you from picking up the phone and having a great conversation with a candidate, customer, or prospect.
If your goal is to be having those conversations, then why see a demo of a system that can’t take away those barriers?
What else could possibly go wrong?
No matter what, your business is not going to look exactly the same in a few years as it does today. Markets change, priorities change, staff change, you change! The last thing anybody wants to do, however, is go through another system overhaul to adapt to different circumstances.
Pick out three key challenges you think you’ll face over the next few years and three you hope you won’t and ask your salesperson, “What happens if…”. If they can’t demonstrate that their ATS is flexible enough to help you overcome those challenges, then they shouldn’t get to demonstrate it at all!
Choosing your new CRM might seem like a maze, but asking these three questions before you enter will help you find your way out. That way, when you eventually ask, “Can I see a demo?” you should be looking in the right place.
