Let’s get the first obvious statement out of the way shall we? The recruitment industry is competitive, very competitive. Companies that need to hire the right person need confidence in their choice of recruiter & candidates looking for jobs need to know which recruiter gives them the best chance of finding the right role. Therein begins the quest for the elusive principle known as competitive advantage. To answer how recruiters can achieve this, we need to look at ways in which they can solve problems more effectively and efficiently than their competitors can.
Let’s think about some common questions a potential candidate would ask a recruiter? Please can you provide some more information about the role? What’s the salary? What’s the deadline for applications? Have you received my application? When am I likely to hear a decision?
How about some common questions a business might ask a recruitment firm? Have you appointed candidates in a similar industry? How do you source candidates? Will you interview them first and only send us the best ones?
The commonality of these questions presumably limits the levels of competitive advantage one company can achieve over another when answering them, right? Wrong. Successful companies often look beyond the simple outcome of their transaction and more towards the enhancement of the process behind it.
Well known entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk talks of successful companies not exclusively selling a service (at least not one that couldn’t be bought elsewhere), rather they’re selling time. Amazon, Uber, AirBnB all sell time, they’re quicker, easier & more convenient, giving their consumers more time to do other things. Go to a shop to buy a book, or use Amazon? Find a taxi number, call the taxi company, wait for the taxi, call them again if it’s late, or use Uber? Find a hotel, check location, check availability, check room rates, or use AirBnB? Amazon, Uber & AirBnB all provide outcomes that can be found elsewhere (in these cases, books, a car journey & a place to stay) but the reason behind their clear competitive advantage is their ability to provide more time to their customers via increased speed and convenience.
So how can recruitment companies bestow the same gift of time upon their customers, be they candidates or hiring companies? Through Live Chat, that’s how.
Imagine your website having the capability of Melu’s managed Live Chat service, where specifically trained operators, familiar with your company’s FAQs and culture can answer customer queries instantly?
Imagine these operators having the ability to handle several website visitor queries simultaneously (so yes, it isn’t just your customers receiving time, you will too)?
Imagine a customer visiting your biggest competitor’s website & having to call a number (and be put on hold while a telephone operator deals with another individual call) or send an email to a generic customer service address? Then imagine that customer giving up, looking at your own website to be greeted with an instant “can I help?” followed by immediate answers to their queries?
Added to this (yes, there’s a great deal more), imagine the vital customer data you’ll receive from every Live Chat customer, subsequently developing a data driven marketing strategy based on who your website visitors are, where they are, what they’re enquiring about and what their email addresses are?
With only 10% of all companies in the UK currently offering a Live Chat service, the opportunity for recruitment companies to establish customer experience superiority is significant. The industry is very very competitive, after all.
Start your 14 day free trial and find out for yourself.