Our start up centre partners, New Millennia Group Limited, share their thoughts on the five ways Your startup recruitment agency can ace client satisfaction.
There’s no startup recruitment agency without your clients and, having worked so tirelessly to secure their business, surely you’ll want to keep them happy and secure repeat custom. The question is how do you continue to grow while keeping these vital associates content, engaged and likely to stick around, or better yet, recommend you to their peers and own connections?
Strengthening the relationships you build with clients really needs to start at the very beginning of the connection to establish the bond and respect from the off.
But how do you do it, how can you ensure the way which you interact and present yourself strikes a positive relationship which satisfies the client?
Communicate
A vital component to all successful relationships – communication is key to keeping clients satisfied. It’s important to read clients’ needs, some may like to be more involved and in the loop than others who really just want to outsource their recruitment needs and concern themselves as little as possible with the task. However, all clients should be updated and communicated with regularly and clearly, whether this is via phone call, email or workplace chat apps like Hangout Chat or Slack. This communication needs to to be clear and regular, so both parties are on the same page and know what to expect.
Personalisation
How can you add a personal element to your relationships with clients? Well, making that in-person contact is a good place to start, putting faces to names, both for you and them, gives a better understanding of who you’re dealing with. So even if logistically you can only make a Skype or Hangouts call, it’s a great idea to book one of these meetups in early on to help establish the relationship. You might also like to get personal over the holiday’s like Christmas and Easter, sending personalised gifts or cards and showing that their business is important to you. For startup recruitment agencies working with startups you might make the effort to remember their business anniversaries too.
Be An Expert
Show yourself to be an expert in the field by offering your knowledge and expertise readily, offer insight into the industry and be ready to answer client queries and soothe their concerns. Your online presence can actually do much of this for you. Your social media marketing and website articles or blog content can not only show that you know what you’re talking about and promote your level of expertise in the field but also give you a place to refer clients to for more information should this be appropriate.
Understand Your Clients Needs
This will come from the strong communication you establish with your clients, knowing their needs as if they were your own can help you to do your job to a much better degree and therefore meet their needs in a much more detailed capacity too.
Often we explain something in less detail than we maybe should because we already know the information, forgetting the other party does not. If clients miss out seemingly obvious but important pieces of information this can make a difference to the candidates you will secure for them. Figure out a process to ensure you get all of the possible information you might need from your clients in the most straightforward and convenient way for them, thus avoiding unnecessary follow-up calls and annoying clarification emails along the way.
Be Realistic and Honest
Transparency in the business world is being discussed more and more, it’s something which businesses appreciate as younger generations move up through the ranks; it’s something which they look for and respond positively to. If your client is asking for something unattainable, don’t just agree to it and then fail or disappoint them, be realistic and honest, your client may not realise what they were asking for and be happy with your suggestions and grateful for your insight, and your honesty.
Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
Expanding too quickly and taking on too many clients before you’re ready endangers leaving your current clients in the lurch, forgotten about or on the back burner. Value each of your clients as the vital cog in your successful, growing startup recruitment agency that they are and give each and every one the attention they deserve. Forgetting your first clients when the newer and bigger clients arrive is a sure way to lose their business and acquire a poor reputation.
Treat your client relationships as you would any other relationship that you care about; to ace client satisfaction, communicate effectively, show respect and transparency and show them that they and their business are valued by your startup recruitment agency.
