“Oi, national and multi-national recruiters; you’re just like a supermarket you are!”
It is difficult to really stand out in the recruitment industry. USPs are few and far between and let’s face it; we can all talk the talk as far as selling our services are concerned. It’s fair to say that a lot of recruiters can also walk the walk.
What concerns me is that clients, employers, hirers (whatever you want to call them) simply do not know the difference between a good staffing firm and a great staffing firm. They probably don’t know when they are being given a service that is so far removed from good recruitment practice that it brings into question whether the consultant or business involved would actually be considered a recruiter.
The theme of this blog comes about as a result of a contract I have recently missed out on. I am of course upset, however, I find that some of my most inspired analogies and thought provoking statements materialise as a result of my being a little miffed. (“inspired and thought provoking only to you Paul” I hear you say – please bear with me). To give you a brief outline, Company X utilised my services within a number of different areas of their business for well over a year. Company X received a level of service from me that would shame some Parisian maitre d’s into retirement. Company X was given margins and fees that met their expectations. Company X decided that they were going to implement a sole supplier agreement to streamline all of their recruitment and Company X invited me along to tender.
I am the sort of person that can be as optimistic or as pessimistic as I need to be. I trust my gut and my brain in equal measure. In this particular case, I would have bet my mortgage, wife and child (not the dog) that I would secure this deal, based upon the feedback I had already received.
I can live with rejection. I wouldn’t do very well as a recruitment consultant if I couldn’t take no for an answer. When I struggle with “no”, is when it is accompanied with a “because…” that just doesn’t seem fair.
“So Mr Client, what is the feedback? Am I successful in securing the contract”?
“No. We have decided to work with another recruiter as we feel they are large enough to cope with the amount of recruitment we will be looking to undertake over the next 12 months”
Large enough! I have been large enough to cope for the last 12 months. I am large enough to cope for the next 12 years. Come on!
I see what the problem is. What I don’t have is a nationally recognised brand. Would they be ashamed of me? Would I scare off potential customers of theirs if they couldn’t prove they had procured a suitable staffing business into their supply chain?
Eventually, this leads me on to my point that some of the large agencies out there are just like supermarkets.
I go to one particular supermarket. They have lots of smaller versions of the store dotted around the town and I can go and experience the same nonchalant and uninterested staff, who can’t say please or thank you when serving, whenever I choose. I go there when I haven’t got time to run around the grocers, the fruit shop and the butchers. I genuinely try to avoid supermarkets at all costs. I don’t own any rewards cards or point’s cards at all. I am not interested in their customer retention methods. If they want to retain me as a customer, provide me with a decent level of service and be polite to me. Don’t tell me that there are no packets of biscuits left because you can’t be bothered to check whether they are in the warehouse.
When I go to the local fruit shop, I am always greeted by Ian. He never forgets my name. He even remembers to ask how my week has been. He has always been there and he really knows his products. If I had a really big order, or something he doesn’t normally cater for, he’d go the extra mile and get it for me; somehow. It doesn’t matter that his company is small. Ian also isn’t a salesperson. He is, however, a customer services expert. Ian would probably fall over in a bundle if I called him this. What Ian does without realising it, and I love this, is recommend additional products to me based on my tastes and past purchasing trends. Ian doesn’t need a snazzy bar code reader to interrogate every product it sees, analysing it to let the marketing team know what the buying trends are, and what things people buy along with other products. I think Ian used a much more advanced method than that. He just listened to me when I told him what food I like, that I like trying new things and I have a taste for anything with a citrus edge
At Christmas time, you don’t buy your meat and trimmings from the supermarket do you? I believe most people go the local butcher. I get mine from the butcher, he’s called John. I get it there because you know it is going to be of the highest quality. John wants to retain my business after Christmas so he wouldn’t dream of cutting corners to place a below average product in front of me. As it happens, I always go there because John lets me know if there is going to be any special quality meat coming in. Ok, he’s pushing it a bit; I wouldn’t normally pay that for lamb. He hasn’t offended me by asking though. He just believes his product is the best and is worth the money he is charging.
I specialise in providing superb customer service. If you work with me, I will never forget your name. I don’t need a computer to remember what the candidates I have seen were like because I sat face to face and interviewed them myself. If you call me and ask me a few questions about my candidate, I won’t ask you to bear with me whilst I quickly bring up the CV details and waffle on about someone I haven’t met. Try this next time you get a CV from a recruiter and you suspect they may have just sent the CV without meeting the candidate. Say, “Dave, tell me about Mr. Smith and why he is right for the job with my business.” Listen to him squirm as he doesn’t have time to think or react. Probe him for more information than you need.
I don’t care if you need to call me at 10pm at night to ask me a question because you are still at work. I need to stand out against the big boys whose phones get transferred or switched off after normal hours. Pick the phone up and speak to me.
I understand what you like because I ask great questions when I take your vacancy. An email with a job description is not taking a vacancy. I want to know everything about the role, the person you want, what aftershave the boss likes so I can make sure they smell right. I want to know what your working culture is like and what isn’t on your job spec that should be. I need to know all of this because when I am sat face to face with a human being and not an electronic CV, the human is going to ask me these questions. I am properly qualifying the job with you so I can properly qualify the person for you.
I never ever compromise the level of my service which ensures you keep working with me; I don’t have an endless amount of money to market my business. Retaining you as a client and letting you spread the word is good enough for me. I love referrals. Sometimes I may call you to talk about a “special cut of lamb”. Clearly, I am referring to a candidate but if I know your business well enough, and I have heard there may be a position opening up, please just listen to me. It might be the best hire you ever made, even if it is three months away.
That’s pretty much it. I am disappointed that my brand wasn’t strong enough for Company X. I know we as a business add value to our clients and maybe they just wanted the kudos of working with a national agency.
So, as long as Company X is shopping at the big supermarket, I’ll keep making sure the clients who I work with are given the level of service they deserve. When the supermarket start sending Company X bruised apples and they stop manning the customer service desk, I’ll still be here and they are more than welcome to come and shop with me again.
Paul Thompson - Commercial Division Manager.
Get in touch with Paul at pthompson@westray.co.uk.
