By Victoria Kenward
Why should you follow up with every employer and job seeker who reaches out to your staffing agency?
Here are four reasons:
1. Staffing is competitive.
If you don’t respond to a customer’s request or complaint in a timely manner, you create opportunities for your competitors to swoop in.
2. Automation is ubiquitous.
Autoresponders, chatbots, social listening tools, and platforms like Sense and Herefish make it simple to follow up.
3. Customers are increasingly impatient.
According to Forrester Research, 77% of customers say that valuing their time is the most important thing your company can do to provide them with good online customer service. And their expectations are high! Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) of social media users expect a response from you within an hour (HubSpot).
4. And following up is simply the right thing to do.
These days, there’s simply no excuse not to respond to a staffing customer promptly (whether they’re an employer, associate or job seeker):
- Automation makes it too easy. With the right tech in place, you can automate time-consuming processes to ensure everyone gets the feedback and help they need. (We’ve developed new Automation Optimization Services to help you maximize the value and results you see from platforms like SENSE and Herefish; you can contact us to learn more).
- There’s too much at risk. Customers who are frustrated by a slow (or no) response are likely to take to social media and vent their frustrations publicly – damaging your reputation in the process.
- The upsides of timely response are too big to ignore. Building a reputation as a staffing firm that listens to its customers – and then follows up promptly – improves recruiting, sales and retention. Great customer follow-up strengthens your employment brand, minimizes candidate drop-off, improves completion and redeployment rates, increases client loyalty, and helps convert more prospects to customers.
Fast, consistent response builds trust and confidence in your staffing agency. It demonstrates that you care about your customers and value their time. But how can your firm determine the right speed for response time? Here are two tips:
- Create minimum acceptable standards. Determine acceptable timeframes for replying to customers through various channels, such as phone, email, support ticket, social media, etc. “Acceptable” could be anywhere from one business day down to one hour – that’s for you to decide. Once you create those standards, share them with your team along with expectations for adherence.
- Determine optimal response times – ones that will really WOW your customers. Then, look for ways to improve your processes and technology to consistently hit those targets.
