What Should Staffing Software Do for You?

Has your staffing software been a major disappointment? Is it costing you more time and money than it makes for you? Ever wonder what the problem could be? You did the research, compared products and thought you selected the best software for your needs. How did the project go south?

First, do you know your software? Many companies use just a very small percentage of what a product can do. If you are using your staffing software simply as a file cabinet to store resumes or look up phone numbers you are missing out. Much staffing software today has the potential of being a fully integrated model. We’re not talking about integrated back office here. The front office is where everything begins so let’s make that the focal point.

Marketing and sales should be a huge component when utilizing staffing and recruiting software. CRM begins with marketing and sales but many people make the mistake of thinking that CRM is simply contact management. Although a big part of contacting customers and candidates, CRM is as advertised, “Customer Relationship Management”. The relationship begins with marketing and sales but carries through to onboarding, operations management, payroll / billing and post customer service.

So how can using front office bring about a strong return on investment? Marketing largely relies on collection of data. Without this data it is impossible to take advantage of marketing opportunities in any given sales cycle. Further, data has to be classified and sorted in order to be able to work with it in a meaningful way. That means that data collection is imperative from the very beginning of the relationship with your clients and candidates. It also means that a continuous stream of information will make for effective relationship management throughout the life cycle of working with clients and candidates.

In order to accomplish any sort of CRM all marketing and sales information must hit the system. Importing prospects, electronically onboarding candidates and all contact has to be documented in your staffing software. Last contact dates, call reasons, notes and follow-up information should be recorded, beginning at the prospect level. Information can then be used to increase marketing exposure via emails, regular conversations and other types of correspondence such as targeted mailings. It can also be used to assess the validity and profitability of prospects and sales performance of internal staff.

By utilizing staffing software for sales and marketing the relationship process can be managed from early on. In addition, once the prospect becomes a client, an employee or a placement, you can increase the service aspect to cultivate the relationship. Imagine having access to every conversation, email, interview, resume sent, and all other activities since you first began the relationship? The information is there so that decisions can be made on how to further or perhaps terminate the relationship. Having information available is an immediate window into opportunities that may otherwise be missed. Know your market.

Even back office people can and should use front office. Log the collection calls in front office. This could benefit operations people that may be marketing to delinquent accounts. If using an integrated back office, it may be a good idea to expose front office staff to client profitability, days to pay and other information such as forecasting based upon what a client has ordered throughout the year. Shared sales analysis can help recruiters and operations staff prepare for business.

To increase job order fill ratios, text or email information to candidates about open jobs. To help on the service end, remind candidates when and where they are to arrive for an interview or job assignment by utilizing automated texts and emails. To improve quality control, post job order follow-ups automatically to your daily planner for QC follow-ups.

Of course, in order to do anything productive with your staffing software, the data has to be there. Marketing job orders to candidates cannot occur at any level unless emails and phone numbers are “in the system”. It is also imperative that candidates be classified by positions they are interested in and skills that they have. Otherwise, you are not target marketing to the right people. It’s the same with clients and client contacts. You need information on hand that will allow you to electronically select them by preference. Repetitive marketing is successful.

On another note, all orders should get entered as soon as they are taken. You can also offer clients portals so they can input their own orders if they prefer. Many customers would consider this a great self-service tool, and it will ensure that you will get in orders that may have not even have been expected. The faster orders get into your system, the quicker your staff can begin filling them. Many people enter orders after they are filled, simply for payroll and billing. This represents many lost fills and mismanagement of perfectly good orders. All of that leads to lower profits.

Resumes sent, interviews scheduled, filled assignments and direct hire placements should be input as they occur. Not only will the activity audit trail be fulfilled but management of these activities via planner action items will happen real-time. Send the resume from the system, which automatically documents the activity, preserves a copy of the email / resume sent and sets a date/time for follow-up. This assures that no follow-ups are missed, allows for management activity reporting and helps assess the flow of business for future planning and forecasting. Without this your CRM is broken.

Let’s face it, staff may consider utilizing the system as an inconvenience and may even argue that this takes time away from placement activities. However, CRM utilizing staffing software assures that all information stays with the firm, gives management the information that they need to manage and overall makes every operation more efficient and profitable.

Learn more about Ultra-Staff and what it can do for your company!

This article made an appearance in staffdigest magazine. www.staffdigest.com

Terri Roeslmeier is President of Automated Business Designs, Inc., software developer of Ultra-Staff staffing software for the staffing and direct hire industry. Ultra-Staff is a staffing software business solution with components for front office, back office, mobile and web portal. For more information on Ultra-Staff go to www.abd.net.