Are you wondering how to get clients for a staffing agency? If YES, here are 10 best ways to get clients for a staffing agency. Staffing agencies and staffing centers are known to recruit work talent on behalf of their clients.
The terms “staffing services” and “staffing firm” are the most comprehensive ways of describing this business, since both of these include all three forms of possible worker recruitment: temporary employment (possibly just a single day); direct hire (the immediate placement of full-time help); and temp-to-full-time.
Unlike many business categories, you won’t always be able to start this business in your spare bedroom. Although you won’t often be inviting clients to your office, you will need room to host prospective workers. You will want to sit across from them to see how they present themselves and respond to interview questions.
Also, depending on the expected volume of applicants per recruitment call, you could receive a lot of visitors at one time. Therefore it is imperative to think of square footage and location (you’ll want to make it as accessible as possible to applicants) when looking to start and run this business.
Your best clients are likely to be those who regularly must hire. This might be because their business is growing so quickly they can’t keep up with hiring, or because their workforce requirements fluctuate day-to-day, or with the rise and fall of business conditions.
In that circumstance, the client is likely to seek temp workers at a moment’s notice. Other motivated prospects include employers who don’t have the time or resources to go through resumes and job applications or feel that they need a third-party opinion.
In this line of business, your agency’s success will be based on your sales ability. If you mostly provide employers with temporary workers, a challenging economy might be most beneficial to your bottom line.
This is because in a weak economy employers are reluctant to make significant long-term workforce investments, especially when they’re unsure of their revenue stream, even a quarter or two down the road.
Therefore, they would rather bring on workers they can immediately discontinue using with no severance costs. Meanwhile, during good economic times, clients might come to you for temp or full-time workers since their hiring needs are so great that they can’t keep up on their own.
Your growth will depend on how you can take advantage of local and national economic trends to provide the services needed.
As a recruiter, you won’t need anyone to tell you that your business won’t survive long without a regular supply of new clients. Outreach can be time-consuming; in an ideal world, clients will approach you for their recruitment needs. But with a globally interconnected marketplace and a mountain of competition, that is unlikely to happen in most cases.
You can, however, improve your own outreach, use a better approach and streamline your business using some publicity and marketing methods. Nonetheless, here are some of the ways to get clients for your staffing agency.
10 Ways to Get Clients for a Staffing Agency
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Know Your Niche
One unique way to strengthen your staffing agency’s reputation is to develop a strong focus in one specific field. Focusing on one staffing niche makes you more knowledgeable about it, which is something clients often look for.
Note that the increased familiarity offered by this consistency makes your firm’s recruitment and matchmaking more reliable, so clients have much higher confidence when you understand their field’s demands.
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Social Media Searching
Indeed, there is no getting away from the fact that social media is here to stay. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and especially LinkedIn are not just for social use. Businesses leverage them as recruitment advertising platforms. Without doubts, that is a large number of followers and potential clients for you to reach out to in building your client list.
In addition, ensure to join professional communities such as pages and groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. They can be great sources for making contacts and clients in the modern age, even those not looking to hire now. In a recent study, 90% of professional marketers believe social media is vital for many aspects of their businesses.
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Understand Company Culture
The other side of the matchmaking coin is understanding the culture of a potential client’s company for your relationship with your workers and your ability to obtain new clients. On one hand, companies are eager for knowledgeable staffing agencies.
If a company sees that you do not understand their culture, they will question your commitment and your ability to find the right workers for them, so they will be wary of contracting you. A company’s culture is also an indicator of whether or not your firm should work with them.
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Use Job Posting Websites
Have it in mind that some recruiters may be put off using these owing to the perception that they are for “low hanging fruits.”
These fears are unfounded as they are now a critical part of the global employment and recruitment marketplace. You’re missing out on some potential big clients by ignoring or under using them.
It is advisable you conduct regular searches; if the same business names come up repeatedly, they may be struggling to find the right candidates for their roles or they are going through a period of rapid expansion.
Note that such businesses may welcome your services. As well as general job boards, consider industry-specific sites too, especially in areas where you might have experience hiring.
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Content Marketing
Too few businesses in many industries use their blog, digital downloads, or regular newsletters as part of their outreach.
That is indeed why they and you should consider it. Position your business as an authoritative and knowledgeable web resource and the chances of clients approaching you will be much higher.
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Email Marketing
In the age of social media and instant communication, it would be a mistake to believe that email marketing is dead. On the contrary, if you use a CRM and its analytics to plan and monitor email marketing, it can still be a wonderful avenue of acquiring new clients in most B2B markets.
Additionally, if you specialize in a certain industry, then spend some time on internet searches for businesses in that field – everything from small to medium businesses (SMEs) up to those with a large market percentage.
Indeed this is the fastest way to grow a marketing list in little to no time. With the right software, you can send mass marketing emails with a standard template.
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Cold Calling
This is, perhaps surprisingly, the most popular method for all recruiters. Have it in mind that it includes high cost and little return when done incorrectly.
Cold calling may have a bad reputation in other areas, particularly in B2C marketing outreach, but in recruiting it is one of the most successful methods. It is important, however, that you use it at the right time and place.
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Networking
Irrespective of if you are an executive or junior-level employee, everyone can benefit from networking. The very first thing most people will consider is the industry or local networking event. But networking can mean far more than this.
It is your college friends, your former colleagues, bosses, and subordinates, fellow contacts, even the local businesses nearby that are not in competition.
Have it in mind that these people may know people or other businesses that may require your services. That is why keeping a strong network and maintaining a good rapport with everyone that you maintain contact with is vital for your outreach.
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Follow Up Calls
This is without doubt one area that recruiters neglect. Email marketing is a useful tool, but many emails are read and ignored or deleted unread.
Most times, the business may intend to contact you to inquire further but the day-to-day business activities mean this falls down their priority list. In some cases, they even forget they ever received your email.
So a follow-up call is necessary. With a polite inquiry, ask if they received your email and would they like to know more? If they refuse, that’s one client off your list.
But if they ask for more information, you can take their query to the next stage. Follow up calls should also include querying existing clients about how happy they were with your service.
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Ask for Referrals
Please note that there is no better or cheaper marketing or outreach method for finding clients for your recruiting firm than word of mouth referrals.
This is when customers or clients have such a good experience working with you that they tell somebody else about it. In turn, you hope that those other businesses appreciate the referral and will seek you out to inquire.
Although a good number of businesses will tell their contacts about you, but others may need prompting about the importance of referrals.
Therefore, do not be afraid to ask for them, either during one of your regular communications or in email marketing or in communication with your main contact.