Podcast Archives - Superfast Recruitment

As recruitment business owners, we’re all too familiar with the challenges of attracting, retaining, and developing talent.

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Howard Greenwood, a seasoned recruitment expert with over 30 years of experience in the industry.

Howard shared invaluable insights on the current state of recruitment, the evolving landscape of business development, and the role of technology in our sector.

Howard identified three primary challenges that recruitment companies are grappling with:

Let’s delve into each of these areas and explore Howard’s advice on tackling them.

Regarding attracting and retaining talent, Howard emphasised the importance of focusing on behaviours and team fit rather than solely on skills. He pointed out a common pitfall in recruitment: “We recruit for a position, and we recruit based on skills. We remove people from those positions because of their behaviours.”

This insight highlights the need to shift our approach when hiring for our own companies. Instead of fixating on finding someone with the perfect skill set, we should prioritise candidates whose behaviours and attributes align with our team’s ethos and values.

Howard suggested a three-pronged approach to hiring:

By prioritising behaviours and motivation over skills, we’re more likely to build a cohesive team that works well together and stays with the company long-term.

One of the most striking points Howard made was about the need for continuous training and development. He challenged the traditional approach of providing minimal training and expecting immediate results:

“We recruit easy and train hard. And I think we’re going to start to change that around. We’ve got to start to train hard so we can make recruitment easier.”

Howard advocated for a comprehensive training programme that extends well beyond the initial onboarding period. He suggested implementing:

This approach helps new recruits become more effective more quickly and contributes to higher retention rates and increased billings in the long run.

Understanding Individual Strengths And Team Dynamics

Another crucial aspect of developing your team is recognising and nurturing individual strengths. Howard shared an example from his own experience:

“I hated the candidate side of the marketplace but loved opening doors, and I started to really excel. And I got a resourcer because that resourcer took that pressure off me of finding candidates, but opened up, you know, I think I doubled the following year the amount of money I was billing because that person was finding candidates, and I could now concentrate on developing my own clients and developing new business clients.”

This illustrates the importance of understanding each team member’s strengths and allowing them to specialise in areas where they excel. By doing so, we can create more effective teams and increase overall productivity.

Howard’s second major challenge was adapting to evolving business development practices. He stressed that buying habits have changed significantly, and recruitment companies need to adjust their approach accordingly.

In today’s digital age, potential clients often research companies online before making any decisions. Howard pointed out:

“The first thing you do is you go on to Google, you know, I want to buy something, I’ll find it on Google, and then you find a plethora of different prices on Google. So, you look at the cheapest, and then the first thing you look at is the reviews.”

This shift in buying behaviour means that recruitment companies must pay close attention to their online presence and reputation.

Howard recommends something we do with our Superfast Circle clients all the time here at Superfast Recruitment!

While digital presence is crucial, Howard emphasised that the human element remains vital in business development, with many clients craving personal interaction.

“Now they get 20 to 30 email campaigns every single day. And when we went and talked to the end clients and said, right, what is it that you want? They go, oh, we want someone to ring us up and talk!”

This observation suggests that we shouldn’t rely solely on digital marketing efforts. Instead, we should strive to balance our online presence with personal outreach, such as phone calls and face-to-face meetings.

Building Deeper Client Relationships

Howard stressed the importance of developing deeper, more meaningful relationships with clients. He suggested moving beyond the traditional “build the pain” approach and instead focusing on how we can make our clients look good:

“If we change that conversation so right, what can I do? Sharon, to make you look good. How can I make you look good? Well, I need to do this in this project. I need to get that done on this. I need to get these people in here. Right. If I can help you do that to make you look good, that gives you a very different thought process of how you’re working with me.”

This approach helps to position us as partners rather than just service providers, leading to stronger, longer-lasting client relationships.

Howard introduced the concept of viewing client relationships as a flywheel rather than a traditional sales funnel. This approach involves continually engaging with clients at different stages:

We can maintain and strengthen relationships over time by constantly moving clients through these stages, even when they’re not actively buying from us.

The third challenge Howard identified was the effective use of technology in recruitment. He pointed out that many companies aren’t fully utilising the tools they already have:

“You speak to all the CRMs. Most companies only use 20 to 25% of our CRM capability.”

Howard advises that we make sure we’re getting the most out of our existing systems before investing in new technology.

This might involve:

When considering new technology, Howard suggests focusing on tools that can automate repetitive tasks. This will free up time for recruiters to focus on building relationships with clients and candidates.

The Role Of AI In Recruitment

While acknowledging the potential of AI in recruitment, Howard cautioned against over-reliance on these tools:

“AI is, I think, a really good thing, but only if it’s used correctly. And so, if you want to, you know, make all your job specs and, you know, adverts written in AI. Fine. But then you use that element, you use your behaviours, and you lose those behaviours because AI isn’t quite good enough.”

This advice underscores the importance of maintaining a human touch in our processes, even as we embrace new technologies.

As I reflect on my conversation with Howard, several key points stand out:

Howard left us with crucial advice: prioritising and tackling one improvement at a time. He suggested:

“Write them down in a list, then prioritise that list. Do one thing at once. Otherwise, if you try to do ten things simultaneously, you’ll fail all those ten things.”

This approach ensures steady progress without becoming overwhelmed by the many areas we want to improve.

In conclusion, while our industry faces significant challenges, there are also numerous opportunities for growth and improvement.

By focusing on our people, adapting our business development practices, and effectively leveraging technology, we can build stronger, more resilient recruitment companies that are well-positioned for future success.

Remember, change doesn’t happen overnight. Take Howard’s advice and start with one area of improvement. With consistent effort and a willingness to adapt, we can all elevate our recruitment practices and achieve greater success in this dynamic industry.

Thanks,

Sharon

Howard Greenwood, co-founder of Jump Advisory Group, is a prominent figure in the UK recruitment industry with over 25 years of experience.

He has a proven track record of driving revenue and profitability growth, notably at Computer People, where he led the North of England to become the most profitable business unit.

Howard’s leadership philosophy emphasizes people first, focusing on motivating, training, and mentoring individuals to exceed their ambitions.

If you want to learn more about Howard and the team at Jump Advisory, go here.

Hello, everyone. It’s Denise here. Today, I’m excited to share three specific ways to uplevel your marketing, activities, and potentially the type of response you’re getting.

These strategies are straightforward to implement, and I’m confident they’ll make a real difference in your recruitment business.

Before we dive in, if you’re new to our podcast, welcome! We’re thrilled to have you. If you find our content useful, please give us a shout-out on LinkedIn, leave a review, or share it with your network.

We’re available on iTunes and Spotify, and you can find transcriptions and summaries of most of our podcasts on the Superfast Recruitment blog.

Let’s explore these three leveling strategies that can help you stand out from other recruiters:

Let’s Start With Video.

When I first ventured online about 18 years ago, there was a lot of buzz about how video would take over the world. It grew in popularity, then saw a slight dip during the pandemic when everyone was suddenly on video calls. However, it’s now experiencing a significant resurgence.

Recently, I watched a programme about the BBC, which highlighted an interesting trend: many people, especially in certain age groups, are now more likely to watch videos on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok rather than on traditional television.

This shift isn’t surprising when you consider the immersive experience videos offer. You get to see and hear the person and even pick up on their energy.

One reason video works so well is related to how we process information through our senses: visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic (how things make us feel). Video engages all these modalities, creating a powerful communication tool.

You might think creating videos is more challenging than writing, but the opportunities it brings are well worth the effort. And here’s the good news: getting started’s easier than ever.

Video Technology Made Simple

We have some high-end video equipment at Superfast Recruitment, but we often use our iPhones too. The technology you have in your hand is truly amazing. As Gary Vee, a well-known marketer, pointed out, the level of technology we now have in our phones wasn’t even available in Hollywood 20 years ago.

Smartphone audio quality is generally quite good, but you can enhance it with an inexpensive plug-in mic like the Boya (available on Amazon for about £10-15). Add a simple tripod, and you’ve got yourself a mini studio setup.

For optimal results, film in good lighting – standing facing a window works well. It’s that simple to get started.

Video Content Ideas

Remember, no one expects you to be the next Tom Cruise or Meryl Streep. You’re adding value by helping people develop their careers or improve their recruitment processes. Video will help you stand out because, surprisingly, few recruiters are using it consistently.

Podcasts are an excellent way to reach a certain demographic that prefers audio content, and they elevate your brand.

Remember, iTunes and Spotify are search engines in their own right, increasing your discoverability.

I recorded our first podcast in September 2013, and while it was quite technical back then, it’s much simpler now. You can even outsource the setup process on platforms like Fiverr!

I use Audacity, a free recording software, but there are many options available. You can record directly or capture audio from Zoom calls for your podcast.

Podcast Content Ideas

Offering multiple ways for people to interact with your content significantly affects your reach and impact.

Training sessions are an excellent way to showcase your expertise and add value to your network. As a recruiter, you’re an expert in creating CVs/Resumes, interview techniques, offer negotiations, and talent pipelining.

Why not share this knowledge?

You could create a masterclass on interview skills, for example. It’s as simple as sending an email to your database, inviting them to a Zoom meeting where you’ll cover specific topics.

The impact on your brand can be significant. People remember these sessions and the value they received, which can lead to future business opportunities.

Training Session Tips

Imagine being able to offer candidates a series of helpful videos to boost their confidence before an interview. This level of support sets you apart and encourages word-of-mouth referrals.

Wrapping Up

These are just three ways to uplevel your recruitment marketing, but there are countless others. I encourage you to start with videos – they’re accessible and impactful. When you upload your first video, tag me on LinkedIn if we’re connected. I’d be happy to comment and help boost your visibility.

Remember, upleveling your marketing efforts doesn’t have to be complicated. Start with these strategies, and you’ll soon see the difference in how you’re perceived in the market.

Thanks

Denise

Are you looking for ways to improve your lead generation? If the answer is yes, we can help. To find out how book a quick call with one of us here.

Today’s topic is about a social network, and that is LinkedIn. If you weren’t aware, LinkedIn is the biggest social network for business in the Western world.

It’s approaching 870 million members globally, which will increase before the end of the year.

Most recruiters have a paid membership, but for many people, this is a great free platform to use to get in front of your market.

Now, what’s been happening recently, and to allay anybody’s fears, this happens with every social network. For some reason, our reach on LinkedIn—and I’m saying our reach as members of LinkedIn—our engagement, number of comments, shares, and impressions are down at this point in the year compared to the end of 2023.

Is that disappointing? Yes.

However, it’s not a reason not to use LinkedIn because, for some of us, we’ve got 25- 30% less reach on our posts, and maybe fewer people view from an impression point of view.

It’s not the end of the world, though you would think it, reading some of the posts on LinkedIn

As I mentioned in the intro, you must remember that some of the people talking about this are big LinkedIn “influencers”.

Their business is LinkedIn. They sell programs around LinkedIn and teach people about LinkedIn. They want to be ahead of their market.

They are not small business owners like you and I who want to get in front of our clients and candidates on LinkedIn so people can see we’re there.

Several people have asked us if it’s still worth posting on LinkedIn.

The answer is YES!

Why? Because there are so many advantages to posting on LinkedIn, particularly now, because you’re going to get some people thinking, “Oh, well, it’s not worth marketing on LinkedIn,” and they’ll stop, which means it’s better for you.

So here are eight reasons why posting on LinkedIn is useful and how you can get your mindset around this.

Let’s start with number one: posting on LinkedIn more than once a week. It’s interesting because when we have our demo calls for Superfast Circle and talk to business owners, we have a discovery call with them to see if we can help them understand their goals.

I am fascinated by the number of people who rarely post on LinkedIn. If they do post, it might be a job, or once a week or a couple of times a month.

Data shows that only about 3% or 4% of the LinkedIn population posts more than once a week.

If you look at that as an opportunity, how can you stand out on LinkedIn? Simply posting consistently makes a huge difference because, remember, you want to work with candidates and clients, and people can’t work with you if they don’t know who you are.

Social media is huge, and over 4.6 million people have social media accounts. Social media is key for connecting with people, and with LinkedIn, you’ve got 850 million people plus who have accounts you can get in front of.

Now, number two, posting will get you back in front of past clients again. Interestingly, one of our Superfast Circle members, the lovely Rachel, got an additional CTO role because she had been posting regularly on LinkedIn.

One of her past clients was one of those out-of-the-blue requests that said to her, “Look, I’ve got a CTO role. Can you help me with it?”

Rachel was delighted about this, and logically, as we teach people, she asked, “What was the reason you reached out to me? How did this happen?” She said, “I can’t miss you. You’re all over LinkedIn, and I’d forgotten about you. I thought, oh, Rachel would be the person to contact about this role.”

This is key to remember. We are human beings who live in a very distracted world. Our brains get full, and we forget about things. We forget about people. Have you ever had that experience where you just thought, “God, I’ve not heard from such a body in ages.”

You’ve gone on to Facebook, and you’ve Googled the name. “God, they’re still there. I don’t see a lot from them anymore. I wonder how they’re doing.”

It’s the same in business.

We forget about suppliers that we used to work with. “Oh, they were really good. I should get back in contact. I wonder if they could help me. I wonder if they know somebody.”

It’s the same on a platform like LinkedIn. You start getting out in front of your market again because, remember, we’ll come on to people you’re not connected to in a second, but if you are connected to these people, your first-degree connections, they will see your content again.

This brings me onto, logically, and I’m sure you know where I’m going with this, number three, and posting gets you back in front of past candidates again. We have another Superfast Circle member, the lovely Steve, who has been with us for several years. One of the first things that he noticed as he was posting more on LinkedIn was that he was getting more connection requests, but also, he was back out in front of his candidates again, who were reaching out to him saying, “Steve, you helped me get a job X number of years ago. I noticed you’re on LinkedIn again. Can we have a conversation?”

How could that work for you?

It’s one of the things that lots of people forget about. For those of you who have attended different webinars, we have one particular webinar called the Lead Generation Triad. We talk about how you can work leads. I think one of the things that a lot of people forget is you have a database, and there are people on your database you are not speaking to, and connecting with and posting on social media helps to get you back in front of these people.

Imagine all the followers and connections. I know that some recruiters have thousands of people to whom they are connected on LinkedIn. Suppose you can start to get your content in front of them, which, because they’re a connection, you will do. Then what a difference that can make because it will raise their awareness level about you. That is just purely posting on LinkedIn.

Next, let’s discuss how posting gets your content in front of new connections. We always recommend maxing out the number of connection requests you can make on LinkedIn, and I’m sure you’re doing this anyway.

You want to bring new people into your sphere of influence. You want to be connected to new people. Have you ever noticed that people view your profile when you make several connection requests?

Imagine if they go and view your profile, they see that you’ve not posted in months; they don’t see any content on your profile at all. They’re not seeing much of you. That is possibly a reason not to connect with you, but when they accept your connection requests, they will suddenly start seeing your quality content.

They will validate why it’s important to be connected to you. They will experience your knowledge and expertise in the market they’re dealing with, yet another reason why it’s important to post.

The next one I want to talk about is videos. We have noticed that some of our views on posts have dropped. However, there’s one modality: I love my technical words.

One modality it hasn’t done that with is video. Interestingly, we post some of what are known as short-form videos.

Generally, videos are about a minute long. Sometimes, they’re a little bit less. That way, we can upload them to YouTube and other places. Videos engage people because they give you a visual experience. They’re hearing you and listening to what you’re saying.

The way LinkedIn works, you don’t have to hear the sound because you can see the text across their screen. Videos will help you because not many people do them, and they help you stand out and be recognised.

It’s interesting when we talk to people, and they have a conversation with us, many will say, “Oh, yes, I’ve seen your videos on LinkedIn. I find them useful. They’re just little snippets that get me focused. I like them. That’s one of the reasons why I’m having a conversation with you.”

For recruiters, it’s so important to get your brand out there. If you are considering video, and I hope you are, get them out onto LinkedIn and do it consistently because that will help you.

The next one is content. It is not any content but what I like to call value-added content. Some of you may have seen I posted a version of this podcast as a short post on LinkedIn. It adds value. Many people—and I say people, sometimes other marketers—love to bamboozle and confuse people.

We like to keep things simple. That was one of the reasons for writing this post and recording this podcast: to stop people from worrying and think, “Okay, I know things are changing, but what can I do?”

Here, I am giving you eight things you can do that will help. I think the thing about it is you can write really short content snippets that will help your market.

Be that candidates or clients, give them some value bombs.

You have so much value to share; you will not give away the crown jewels. You are giving away information that will support and help people. So, who do you think that person will go to when they’re ready to move roles or when they want to bring on board a new recruiter to help them?

Content makes a huge difference because it profiles you as the expert.

Relating to something I’ve just said, I wrote a short post and posted it on LinkedIn. I appreciate I am a writer. I have many ideas and am very used to doing them, but this post took me less than 10 minutes to write and post using the LinkedIn scheduling tool.

The whole process probably took me 12 minutes. What if it took you 15 minutes? Imagine doing that, even if you did it three times a week, and what a difference that would make.

People consistently use time as an excuse. We all have the same number of hours in a day, but if you focus and plan your activities, you will achieve more.

Here’s a tip.

If you post something like this on LinkedIn, nothing stops you from posting it again in a few months because people ‘ll have seen other posts and forgotten about it.

Potentially, you could connect with over a few hundred new people each month in your LinkedIn feed who haven’t seen your content. If you post it at a different time of day, a different person will see it.

There are many reasons to post on LinkedIn. It’s interesting that I decided I’d write the post for LinkedIn when I wrote this very short version of this podcast. I needed to do more on this because many people are concerned about what they do next.

It is not about overcomplicating things; it’s about posting more, and you’ll still get views on your content.

I posted a picture of Gabi Preston-Phypers. Many of you will know her from Tooled Up Raccoons, a good connection of ours. I came across Gabi because of a post that she’d made on LinkedIn. I contacted her and asked if she would come on our podcast.

Gabi then presented at our client event last year and did a great presentation. On the back of it, good for Gabi, she sold several people in our membership her Tooled Up Raccoons process and software. I was very pleased because she made a great offer, and clients used it to help with sourcing.

She added huge value, and that came because I saw her post on LinkedIn. Imagine if that was the same for you. Imagine if someone sees you on LinkedIn and decides to reach out to you, and maybe it’s one of those people.

When we start working with people, we often ask them, “How much contact have you made with your first-degree connections?” Often, there’s a blank look, and the question is, “Not a lot. I could do a lot more.”

I hope that’s been useful. Multiple ways and multiple reasons to post on LinkedIn and the benefits it will give you.

Thanks

Denise

As members of Superfast Circle, Sharon and I are your outsourced marketing directors. We help you plan your marketing and determine what will work for you, and we also provide marketing collateral you can use.

If you want to learn more, book a quick call with us here.

Today’s topic of conversation is that uncomfortable one we often avoid: procrastination. Be honest with yourself.

“I wish we had more hours in a day!” We don’t. We have 24. So, we need to think about how we use and invest our time; the second one is the comment: I feel overwhelmed.

So let me take time as the first reason because we can’t escape it. There are just 24 hours in a day. And yet, so many of us spend half our time talking about how busy, busy, busy, busy we are. Having spent thousands over the years, if not tens of thousands, on lots of different mentoring programmes, I know I can no longer get away with using time as an excuse!

And if this is important, it’s about making the time.

So, sometimes I hear people say, “Well, I’m not going to start my marketing until I’ve got more time, or I’ve done this, or I’ve done that.” And yet they’re struggling to do those other things because they haven’t got time.

What I would say to you is when you’re sat down, probably at night, and that thing pops up on Facebook that tells you how long every day you are doing some casual surfing, often for many people, certainly in the kind of circle that we’re in, it can be anything from an hour to two hours.

Over a week, even if we take Monday to Friday, that is between 5 and 10 hours. What if you committed to 30 minutes or a maximum of an hour of surfing time?

The second is the big topic of overwhelm, and this applies to people perhaps who’ve never done marketing before. Yet you’ve been doing lots of research about what you could be doing, and you just don’t know, genuinely, where to start, and you are looking for some help to point you in the right direction.

Well, rather than procrastinating, take some action.

Talk to somebody, somebody like us. Have a conversation with us about where should you start.

Thanks

Sharon

We have multiple strategies that work, including making marketing easy for you, which eliminates the time issue and the impact of feeling overwhelmed.

Let’s discuss using social proof in marketing your recruitment and search company today.

What’s fascinating is many people forget that we live in a review society. When you’re thinking about what marketing strategies you could use, think about your behaviour and how you look at other people’s opinions before you make a purchase.

Several things drive our purchasing behaviour.

What’s fabulous is if you are particularly good at what you do and a good recruiter. I suspect you are; if you listen to this podcast and want to get better at marketing, you must communicate how you help people and the results they will get when they work with you.

There are many service providers out there, and we want to know we are making the right decision, especially if we are spending a significant amount of money with someone or entrusting them with finding us a new role.

This is where using social proof can improve your conversion process.

There are several benefits aligned to using social proof in your marketing.

Because of this, sharing social proof influences the decision-making process.

As humans, we are influenced by how other people have got results. It will enhance your brand reputation and help you differentiate yourself, particularly in the recruitment sector.

Last week, we discussed that there are more recruiters than ever. More search companies want the business, and a great convincer for you is demonstrating to people that you can help them using this strategy.

I always notice that whenever we share testimonials or case studies on LinkedIn, or wherever, or in our emails, then the impressions, the direct messages that we get are always higher than you might imagine because people are interested, people want to know, if I work with this individual, am I making the right move or am I making a mistake?

It’s often known as the horse’s mouth strategy because it’s not you shouting about yourself; your actual clients and candidates are doing this for you.

Three types of social proof work well in the recruitment sector. Let me start with an easy one.

The great thing about Google reviews is that you can ask your candidates and clients, “Would you mind jumping onto Google and giving us a quick review?”

So when people go to Google your name, you will appear on the first page of Google and have a much bigger visual presence.

You’ll notice if you go and Google your name or one of your competitors, and you will see on the right-hand side it’s got all your Google reviews if you’ve got Google Places.

The second one is testimonials or recommendations on LinkedIn.

They’re fundamentally the same. What often happens here is that you do a great service, and people forget to ask for a testimonial. I am sure that, as a recruiter, your business process revolves around how you engage with candidates and clients.

In there somewhere, is there an action that says to ask for a testimonial, ask for a case study, or set that up right at the beginning when I’m first conversing with someone?

If it’s not part of your standard operating procedure when you work with candidates or clients, start doing it now because most people, if they’ve had a good experience, are more than happy to give you a review.

Remember to ask for it. They won’t spontaneously say, “Can I give you a review?” They’re not going to do that. You do need to ask for them. Then, when you ask for them, you have a great piece of marketing collateral you can use.

If you’re not following Sharon and me on LinkedIn, go and do it and look at the testimonials and case studies we share.

It will be an image with text sharing, a benefit a client has experienced from working with us.

We write a short sentence before the image to explain more.

For example, when Paul came to work with us, this was one of his challenges, and through working with us, this is where he is now.

If you want to find out more, drop me a DM or email me.

Simple to create and share.

Here, the client is selling for us.

Imagine if all of the candidates you place and the clients you work with gave you a simple testimonial that you could share. How would this help you and your brand stand out in the market?

The other useful to create when it comes to social proof is a case study.

If you want to look at a structure for a case study, go to the Superfast Recruitment website here.

Many of our clients will come on video and discuss their case study; They’re brilliant that way. Not every client or candidate is willing to do that. Just be aware of that. Always ask. If you can get somebody on video, that’s fantastic.

Look at the types of questions and how we use a page on our website. Imagine you’ve had a conversation and you’re looking at signing terms with someone. You’re sending a follow-up email with your proposal and links to four case studies of clients like them for whom you have provided outstanding recruitment service.

We notice that one of our most visited pages on the website is our case studies and testimonials because people want to know if I work with this individual.

It’s the same for recruiters; will I get a good experience?

That’s the podcast for today. I wanted to share this particular strategy with you because it is useful and easy to use.

Thanks

Denise

Our members in Superfast Circle have a whole section on how to use social proof, including email templates and questions. This is one small part of what we provide. Want to find out more? Then drop us an email or book a call here.

Marketing funnels in the recruitment and search sector? Let’s discuss why they’re important in recruitment and some of the things that you could be doing differently to get better results.

Let’s start with a definition.

What is a marketing funnel?

A simple top-line overview takes somebody from unawareness about you and your brand to awareness, to a level of engagement, to having a conversation, and to consider working with you.

Finally, hopefully, I will work with you and shout all about you on LinkedIn and everywhere else about how good you are and that you are the recruiter or search pro of choice to work with.

That is fundamentally what a funnel delivers for you.

One of the reasons it’s called a funnel is because we are funnelling potential clients and candidates. We want to work with them from a big area to a smaller one because not everyone who comes across us will want to work with us and vice versa!

Some people will come across you, and they will like you, what you’re about, and your approach, and they will start working with you.

Now, that number will be much smaller than those you first start interacting with.

That’s the reason it’s called a funnel.

That is why it is so important in the current market that you have several marketing funnels where you are conversing with your market. You are funnelling them down to conversing with you and working with you.

It’s pretty straightforward. Let me share with you some of the many benefits of using funnels in your marketing and then explain how they can help you.

Firstly, they help you to avoid sales resistance.

Let me share an example. It has been interesting that we’ve been talking to several people recently who are considering working with us.

We’ve talked about why what they’re currently doing isn’t working.

As recruiters become ‘desperate’ to bring on new clients quickly, they are ‘over pitching.’

Yes, you can overpitch, and that puts people off.

They’re selling to people who are just not ready to buy yet. This is a normal phenomenon in the market because, at any one point in time, only 3 to 7% of people are ready to buy.

This is how we work as human beings. We go from unaware to aware, from thinking about our problems to wanting to solve them, and then to being in a position where we are happy to have that conversation.

This is one of the beauties of using a funnel: You can help move people through the buyer cycle from being unaware to ready to work with you.

I don’t think recruitment and hiring are any different. People have to go through a phase to get to know, like, and trust you before they’re ready to start collaborating with you.

That’s the beauty of a funnel.

Now that we’ve discussed this, 3 to 5% of people are ready to act; however, what about the other 93%?

The benefit of using a marketing funnel is that you can continually be on the radar of the other 93% of people who aren’t acting now and who will be your clients and candidates of the future.

Your particular marketing funnel can take a candidate or client from being unaware of you and your brand to collaborating with you when they are ready to do so.

The upside of having a marketing funnel in recruitment is you have two distinct groups that you need to work with, three if you’re also building your team.

Using marketing funnels in this way means you can nurture these different groups in multiple ways.

You can set your marketing funnels up very easily.

As an example, you might be in one of our marketing funnels.

You may have heard this podcast, encountered us at a networking event, or seen our content on LinkedIn. You might also have entered your name and email address into one of our funnels to receive our marketing checklist.

You are now on our email list, and you receive one or two emails a week from us about marketing, which adds value.

People on our email list will then contact us when they are ready. Of course, we will also reach out and speak to them, helping them make the decisions.

You can see the multiple benefits of having an actual funnel in place that works. Creating a funnel is easy. You can provide something of value. People get into your LinkedIn feed, they become a connection, and they join your email list.

Then, you can start connecting and working as they go through their own buyer cycle funnel about when they are ready to work with you.

Ironically, we were on a call with one of our clients today. Her business model is that she finds really, really good-quality candidates, talks to companies, and represents those candidates.

She has a 12-month funnel, as her market does not jump into action quickly, so she’s nurturing them all the time.

All this is happening in the background for her, and people constantly contact her.

We support her because she’s part of Superfast Circle, and we provide the marketing collateral and consulting she needs.

This is how using a funnel can work in your business, and it has done so for years.

We all know that people do not make snap decisions about career moves. Candidates and clients will work at their own pace, not yours.

A funnel supports this process.

People say, “Ah, but I want to stand out in the market, and funnels aren’t going to do that for me because everyone’s doing them.”

Fact: Let me share that everyone is not using marketing funnels.

Because of my role in our organisation, I will often enter my name and email address on a recruitment company’s website.

And it’s sad that unless I do it with Hays or Adecco or somebody like that, I put my name and email address into forms on several company websites that have significant numbers of recruiters, and I have Zilch.

Nothing!

I’ve not even got an email to say thank you.

I could be somebody that is looking for a job or is looking to hire.

You can see the difference that having a funnel will make and how most people aren’t doing it; they really are not.

They are missing out on so much by not being able to nurture candidates and clients who will get back in contact with you because you are the person who can help them.

Today has been all about funnels, which I encourage you to use.

Thanks

Denise

As a member of Superfast Circle, you can benefit from our support in building your marketing funnels. We provide all the email campaigns and reports you need, and our Tech genius can teach you exactly how to get your first funnel up and running.

If you want to learn more, call us at +44 (01524) 920 700 or book a slot in my diary here.

Today let’s talk Business Development (BD).

BD takes time; not easy for a recruiter to appreciate, especially when it hasn’t been front of mind in the last few years.

Recruiters can be quite impatient; be honest now; hold your hands up. I’m sure that many of you can relate to that.

Here is the thing.

When it comes to BD, people forget that inputs don’t always result in outputs as fast as we want, even though we try to convince ourselves that they will.

Let’s put some context around this and what’s happened over the past few years when it comes

Let me take you back in the day to 2019. Everything was pretty normal before COVID arrived, and BD was something that people did as required, though not necessarily enthusiastically!

When things were not going as well as people wanted, and there weren’t enough jobs on the board, some BD would happen.

This is particularly for micro businesses and smaller SMEs. Some of the bigger organizations have a BD system dialled in; I will talk to you about a system you can put in for you as well.

When we look back in 2019, people did some BD, but it wasn’t anything they did with any great gusto, with any systems in place, and then COVID-19 appeared.

Then suddenly, everyone had this experience of all those really good clients they had stopped working with.

Candidates were being furloughed and being made redundant and laid off. All of those things were happening. I think it just brought BD up to a level of focus for people.

However, what happened then was that the market started to shift.

As we all know, as we moved toward the end of 2020, people discovered video interviewing, and companies started recruiting. There were talent shortages, and many recruiters didn’t need to do a lot of BD.

People were coming to them because there’d been a pause in recruitment and a backlog of vacancies.

Consequently, Recruiters didn’t have to do much BD.

Of course, because they didn’t have to do it, they didn’t do it!!

Then suddenly, we move into a much tougher time for some people in 2023. Some businesses had over-hired and were shedding staff, laying people off, and making redundancies, and for other people, that assumption that the movement in hiring was going to continue didn’t.

People suddenly thought, “OH, Crickey, I need to start being focused on BD again.”

The thing is, people forget that BD takes time to build and fill a pipeline. Depending on the sector that you’re in, this process can take anywhere from 60 to 180 days or even longer.

Therefore, you must create a system that you implement consistently around it.

Going back to making half a dozen calls here, maybe half a dozen calls next week, and then stopping isn’t going to work for you.

Several famous sayings remind us to do the work.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Do you remember Colonel Sanders? He didn’t get good at what he was doing until he was in his 60s, and we all know about sowing and reaping, but the trouble is we forget that this is how life is and that it does take time to build momentum in anything.

Please do not throw Teddy out of the cot if things don’t work immediately. Instead, keep doing the work.

Instead, create a system and expect it to work for you because it will if you give it the time and the energy!

One of the most predictable methodologies you can use to succeed in your business is to create a BD system.

It works like clockwork as long as you work it.

Now, it does take time to build.

You’re going to get results as you build your system consistently.

Remember, initially, this is a volume game until you build momentum.

Getting four or five appointments might take a hundred calls, but you accept that is how it is. It improves over time because, obviously, your skills get better.

Remember that this is what you must consider when thinking about BD.

I won’t get into too many tactical things regarding BD here. I’d like to give you an overview of the system you must implement.

You need two types of systems, and people forget the first one, which is your current connections.

The second one is your cold outreach. If any company wants to grow, it must keep filling its pipeline with new people because people drop in, drop off, and drop out.

The first one is your current connections. I imagine most people listening to this have a database of candidates and clients, which should be your first port of call.

You’ve already worked hard to connect with those people. Don’t assume that “Oh, they won’t be interested.” Don’t let that crazy brain of yours, that primitive brain, kick in and say, “Oh no, no, no, they won’t be interested.”

You just might be surprised because things change fast.

As a quick and easy start, ensure you are reaching out to all your tier-one connections.

Some people have 10,000 or 15,000 connections on LinkedIn. Are all of them relevant? Maybe not, but I suspect a remarkably high percentage are.

Reach out to those people; that is one area to start with your BD.

You’ve got a database because most people do not mine the gold around their feet because they get lazy and think people won’t be interested.

The other thing you can do with people like that, of course, is ask for referrals.

You can talk to the candidates that you place. Maybe they know somebody. Maybe they’re working in a new organization.

Ask for referrals. Make it a more active process because the challenge with referrals is making them predictable.

Referrals are great, aren’t they? I always like to say that they are the jam on the bread.

However, if you leave them to chance, you don’t know when they’re going to appear, and you cannot rely on referrals unless you take a more active stance in asking for them with people that you’re working with.

If you do that consistently, you will be able to plot the data, and you can see how that works for you. We’ve talked about current connections. That needs to be in your BD system.

Remember, I’m talking about multiple points of contact here. I’m not just talking about emails.

Emails are great. They’re brilliant for creating demand. They are a must-do marketing activity for anybody.

Remember: At the end of the day, picking up the phone and speaking to somebody will make a massive difference to your results.

Remember, this is not a transactional sale we’re involved in here. This is an expensive item. This is a person. This is a human being. This is a team. This is a chief operating officer being placed somewhere. Think about the conversation you will have with people, people you know, and people on your database.

Remember, don’t just rely on email. Help your email work by picking up the phone and speaking to people. The next thing is cold outreach.

You have to fill the pond continually. If you are not reaching out to new connections, you will never grow because you will always lose people, whether you like it or not. You cannot hold on to everybody forever.

Plenty of places exist to reach out and find people’s contact details.

There are multiple connection scraping tools out there you can use. I won’t name any because, to be quite honest, they come and go. I think Apollo is one at the moment, but who knows?

Snov.io is another popular tool, but you only need to go online. Google contact scraping tools, and you will be able to find various tools that will go and get you names, email addresses, and telephone numbers of people you want to reach out and connect with.

A BD tool that is especially useful on LinkedIn is Sales Navigator. You can pull lists of ideal people in your market that you want to reach out to. This is something that you should be doing daily.

You’re continually building a pond to fish into. Don’t just do it when you think, “Oh, gosh, I’ve not got enough business.” Do it now. Make sure that you do this as a regular thing.

You can even go on to some of the freelancer sites and find some real ninjas who will go and create a list for you that you can then work on. Then it is all about consistency and it’s about daily activities.

What are you going to do daily?

How many people will you reach out to in your current database daily?

It doesn’t take as long as you think.

Then, how many people are you going to reach out to on LinkedIn? How many messages are you going to send out? How many phone calls are you going to make?

Map it out daily; do it consistently.

Let’s just start with this quarter. Obviously, I know we’re halfway through a quarter, but just do it for 90 days. Measure your activities and look at the difference that will make for you.

Most people just do not build the volume; They give up. They just make 20 calls and 15 calls, but they don’t consistently do this daily because momentum starts to build.

Then, once momentum starts to build, you will see results.

This is about building that muscle back up. Start somewhere.

Thanks

Denise

As a Superfast Circle member, we help you build your marketing to align with your sales and BD. If you want to find out how, drop us an email or book a call here.

Today, I want to talk about using Meta in your recruitment marketing. Meta is the new name for Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg, and all his colleagues’ companies. I wanted to talk about meta-advertising today because it’s not something that people talk about an awful lot regarding marketing strategies for the recruitment sector.

At the end of January, we ran a social media marketing webinar where I shared data that shocked several people about the number of people who have various social media accounts.

You may or may not be aware there are 8 billion people on the planet, and almost half are on some social platform.

To give you an example, let’s talk about Facebook.

In the UK, there are approximately 67 68 million people. Would you believe that over 34 million of them have a Facebook account? Over half of the UK population has a Facebook account.

The percentage data in Australia is similar, so it’s half the population. In Australia and New Zealand, it’s something like your population is 30 million, and over half of the people have a Facebook account.

When you look at the US, the US at the moment has something 333 million. That figure’s changing all the time. Believe it or not, 243.5 million of those, according to the latest data I’ve got, actually have a Facebook account.

That is fascinating.

We think that over half of the population in various countries has an account on social media.

Because of that, you could say, “Yes, well, Facebook’s different to LinkedIn. It’s not a business platform.” However, your market is there. How you message and communicate with them means you can get in front of them. I wanted to share some thoughts and ideas about using Meta as an advertising platform.

Here, we’re talking about Facebook and Instagram regarding advertising. The user data from Instagram is similar to Facebook.

I think we’ve got something like 35 million users on Instagram. The US is probably a bit less, 170 million, but still approaching half of the population has a social media account, which you could utilize to improve your brand awareness and make offers to people.

Let’s talk through how Meta might work for you regarding advertising. Some things to be aware of are the opportunities you probably don’t even realize and how you might want to use them in your recruitment or search business.

Facebook, Meta, Instagram, and various other things have happened over the past few years. You’ll have heard about the iOS update. We are currently going through the process of cookies on browsers, particularly Chrome changing.

This is all to do with privacy policies. However, don’t worry about it because in your copy and how you write and create adverts on Facebook, that will not be an issue because it enables you to speak into your market.

The other thing about Facebook advertising that I know some recruiters have been put off by is that recruitment, because it’s employment, and there are different legislations around employment, you have to highlight that you are a recruiter or work in search.

You click a button. Does it impact you a great deal? Not really.

You might lose access to some targeting options, but not many. Let’s get all those things out and start looking at the opportunity.

The key opportunity is that half of the population of most countries in the Western world has a Facebook account.

Logically, therefore, there have to be some of your candidates and clients on Facebook.

Don’t assume that people don’t read adverts on Facebook. They certainly do, particularly if they are compelling and you are getting in front of the right person.

Remember that when looking at things like Facebook and Instagram, too. I would suspect that some key decision-makers you want to get in front of could be over 30.

There is a huge population on Facebook that’s over 30. Imagine if you were getting your brand awareness posts and your conversion posts in front of those people. What a difference that could make.

Let’s look at targeting options on Meta.

What I love is there are multiple ways to target people. You can target people through their age. You can target them through gender. You can target them through their interests.

Let’s say you’re an engineering recruiter. You could target people within your local geography. Let’s pluck an idea out of the air here. Let’s say you are based in Scotland and service all of Scotland as a recruiter. You could create some Facebook ads and target people between a certain age and an end age.

You could do that around Scotland, and you could do it to people interested in engineering. How easy would that be?

You are sitting somewhere in Scotland, and something flies past you about engineering opportunities, engineering recruitment, etc. You are much more likely to look at that. That is a huge opportunity.

Let’s say that you are a recruiter, and you are recruiting in Europe, and you want to target people in Germany, France, or wherever. You can do exactly that on Facebook. You may be a UK recruiter who has roles in the US. You can target people within different states of the US.

Of course, you can use images, videos, and all those different media to get in front of your market.

Let’s say that you have a database of clients or candidates.

You can create what’s known on Meta as a custom audience. You can upload your spreadsheet CSV file to Facebook as a custom audience and create your advert so the advert is only displayed in front of those people.

How cool is that?

Taking that even one step further, what can you do because of Meta’s amazing AI capabilities?

You can tell them, “Look, I’ve got a list of my customers here, all my candidates. Can you go out and find me an audience of people that are exactly like this or are a close match?”

Let’s say you’ve got specific clients or specific candidates; you ask Facebook to create a lookalike audience.

Now, this is quite common. You can do this on LinkedIn as well. You can do it on Google AdWords. Creating a lookalike list of people you can advertise to depends on your account size.

In addition, you can target interests and behaviours.

There are multiple behaviours you can use. When we advertise, it’s to people interested in recruitment. They’re a small business owner. They are interested in marketing so that we can display our adverts in front of these people.

You can see all the different opportunities here now.

The other thing that you can do that is incredibly useful is you can use something called the Meta Pixel. You might be wondering what exactly the Meta Pixel is.

They’ve just renamed it, that’s all.

This is where you can retarget audiences and people that have visited your website.

As a reminder of how retargeting works.

You’ve had that situation where you’re buying something for your significant other, and suddenly either the phone or the doorbell rings, or you’ve got your mum trying to FaceTime you or something, and you stop what you were doing.

However, you visit a website, and then, who knows, life happens, and you forget about that particular company.

This is where advertising to people who have visited your website and not taken action works.

As an advertiser on Meta, you can set up the Meta Pixel on your website, which will recognize the IP addresses of people visiting your website. Then, when it comes to targeting your ads, you can say, “Please show my adverts to anyone who has visited my website.”

That could be a game-changer for you.

Imagine that you are a candidate. You’re considering moving. However, you’re not quite ready yet. Consistently, you are seeing adverts from a particular recruitment company. You’re starting to think, “Hmm, these guys could be the ones that could help me. I like the content they share, and it’s helpful.”

Who do you think that candidate will contact when they first decide to move?

Highly likely you if it’s your adverts that have been appearing in front of them for some time. I won’t get into too much of the detailed tactical things about how you do Facebook adverts.

There’s plenty of content online about that; however, this is a quick overview.

You create something called a campaign; You’ll be used to doing that with marketing campaigns.

Each campaign has different sets of adverts, which also have multiple adverts.

Getting the ad together is not as hard as people make it out to be. It’s just a case of starting them and moving forward.

The other thing I like about Meta adverts is that they are inexpensive to start with. Regarding things like Google Ads, they’re a little bit more expensive. LinkedIn ads are a LOT more expensive.

On Meta, you can say, “Okay, I’m going to do this campaign. I’m just going to have a go at it. I’ve never done it before. I will put $/£100 into this campaign.”

Then Meta will distribute that $/£100 amongst your ads. What it will do is it will see which ad is performing better. Facebook is amazing at things like that; see which ads perform better, and you put more money towards that. You can see how you could start advertising on Facebook and the Meta group of channels for a few pounds or dollars a day if you want to test it.

Imagine you’ve got people that are visiting your website. You could retarget them. You’ve got lists of candidates and clients that you could utilize.

You could let Meta go out and do its thing and find people similar to your current audience. There are so many things that you could do.

For our clients, when we talk about advertising, we would always suggest that you get your basics done first, get a website that is communicating value, have your offer nailed down, know who your audience is, know the messaging that you want to put out there and then start doing advertising like this so that can make a difference, particularly when you’re a micro business.

Thanks

Denise

As a member of Superfast Circle, we can teach you multiple marketing strategies that will work in your sector. We even have a tech expert who can teach you about Facebook advertising; if you want to find out more, book a call with one of us here.

Lessons from 2023

Every year I sit down and write my observations from the year.

I like to call them ‘lessons’ in the valiant hope that I can do something about them or accept that life throws us the odd curve ball we aren’t always prepared for or expecting. What I have learnt then gives me the option to do things differently.

This is what I am taking into 2024; I do a deeper dive into each one on the podcast

1. Put your health first always.

2. We have life AND business seasons; know when you are moving to the next one.

3. Always do more for your clients than they expect; such an easy win.

4. Stop having expectations of people; otherwise, you will always be disappointed.

5. Always have expectations of yourself.

6. It all starts with your vision.

7. Be a badass at the basics. Foot to the floor and be a huge action taker.

8. Some business years are harder than others; be prepared.

9. The answers are in the data.

10. Keep raising your standards.

11. Take more holidays.

12. Document the journey and update the spreadsheet.

13. People see things differently from you, AND that is OK.

14. Good and bad times never last.

15. Most of the thoughts you have aren’t true

16. Remember the rule of 100 inputs.

17. Put down the device.

18. Get 7 hours of sleep every night.

19. You will get things wrong, and in the words of Dawn French, some days you will be an absolute T!*%!! forgive yourself.

20. Work hard; you know how much you enjoy it.

Thanks

Denise

If You want to do ‘marketing differently because you want better results. Then, book a quick chat here.

In this post and podcast, we are continuing our series where we answer the burning questions we have been asked during the year related to how to create more demand for your recruiting service.

Today’s topic is email marketing.

Why am I a big fan, and why do people in our Superfast Circle Membership get so many email campaigns written by me that they can use?

Because it still delivers the highest ROI of any marketing strategy you can use.

I am sure many of you listening to this podcast will have been bombarded in your email with offers from multiple stores or places where you buy your food, telling you why you must get this particular ham joint or nut roast or whatever, especially over the last few weeks.

This strategy is well-known and well-versed in the B2C environment.

However, many people don’t realize that business-to-business email marketing is vital for B2B marketing.

Why? Because conversion takes more touchpoints.

High-value purchases take a lot longer for people to say yes; of course, a human being is a high-value purchase. Therefore, it can take longer for someone to decide to work with you as their recruiter.

Email marketing works well in the recruitment and search sector because it lets you be at the forefront of your candidates’ and clients’ minds.

I’m sure many of you have seen some of the content Sharon and I posted about the need to nurture and how candidate AND client relationships are important, and email marketing will help you with that.

What are the main email campaigns that we would recommend that you use? These are the ones that are going to make the biggest difference for you. There are four that I would suggest you start with and move towards having all of these in place in 2024.

Let me start with the easiest one, which gives amazing results. That is a re-engagement campaign with people already on your database who may not have heard from you for a while.

People come to us, saying;  Oh, yes, I’ve got 4,000 people on my database. We’ll say, How often have you been contacting them? And they will respond with; not very often.

Which is a lost opportunity.

This is a gold mine for you.

Imagine, have you got a group of either clients or candidates you have not been in contact with for some time? They’re on your database, but you’ve not had an email interaction with them. That is your first starting point. It’s called a re-engagement. Clue in the title. It’s a re-engagement campaign. Make sure that you are sending content out to re-engage. When I say re-engage, it’s not like, “Have you got any roles?” or, “Would you like to re-upload your CV?” or, “Are you interested in this job?”

I’m talking here about a campaign that checks in with people and gets them to consider having a call with you in a very different way. It’s not in a promotional way; you start by adding value.

If you were on our list, you would have received an email from me a few days ago saying, “Do you need to audit your marketing? When did you last do it?

It was a short, value-added email suggesting you click a link.

That is the style of email that you can use in a re-engagement campaign. That’s number one.

Next year, you need two other types of campaigns for clients and candidates. These are nurture campaigns. These are where you offer something valuable, such as a report, a checklist, or something of value for your clients and candidates.

They are then on your database, and you nurture them until they are ready to buy.

You consistently send them emails that add value to their journey so that they get to know and understand you as an individual and appreciate that you are the recruiter who can help them.

These nurture campaigns are about sending regular communication out to your list consistently. It’s drip-feeding about you, how you can help them, how they can develop their career, how they can build a talent pipeline, depending on whether it’s a client or candidate.

For those of you who have been on our list for some time, every Friday, you might get one later, earlier on in the week as well, you will receive an email from us, and those emails will have a link, say, to our latest blog, our latest podcast, a snippet of information, something that’s useful for you.

Imagine doing that consistently with your candidates and clients; you would have a completely different relationship with them.

You’ve got the re-engagement campaign, a nurture campaign for clients, and a nurture campaign for candidates. Then there’s the other one that many people forget about a cold outreach campaign.

Who hasn’t received an email from someone you don’t know well, and you get engaged? Yes, some of you might delete them, depending on how poorly written they are. Cold outreach is the way forward, guys, particularly in 2024, when BD, particularly client BD, will be at the top of your agenda.

You need to create and implement a cold email campaign.

Within GDPR and all the regulations you need to adhere to, you can get a cold email list that you can use. It might be that you have 100 people on it, and you’re emailing them through your Outlook, whatever that might be, depending on the size of your organization.

You can implement your cold outreach strategy in multiple ways, which we cover in Superfast Circle; having a cold email outreach campaign works. You will be amazed at how well it works.

There are four campaigns for you to implement next year, which are not hard to set up.

Good Luck!

Denise

If you are a solo, micro or small SME recruitment or search company that wants to create more demand for your service in a cost-effective AND impactful way, we can help.

We have been working with our recruitment and search clients for over sixteen years, providing them with the clarity and direction they need to stand out in their sector.

To find out more, read our Superfast Circle case studies here and testimonials here, and then book a call for a chat.