The Importance of Client Control

461990045In my last post, I discussed the tremendous false sense of security job orders provide industry professionals. Far too often, staffing companies have more orders to work on than they know what to do with. Aside from gross profit, the most import metric in my opinion, is the company’s fill ratio. How many orders does your firm actually fill compared to the numbers of orders brought in and worked on? This particular statistic should be measured and evaluated frequently. I also recommend these percentage ratios be segregated by traditional staff augmentation and direct hire. How many “C” orders has your firm filled in the last 12 months for staff augmentation or direct hire?

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What I constantly tell owners and sales executives is the relationship one has with the end-users is just as important as the job order itself. There is a direct correlation between the strength of the relationship with a hiring manager and fill ratios. The better the relationship, the higher the fill ratio. I ask sales executives to look for end-users with whom they can build a solid business relationship before even worrying about acquiring job orders. If your sales team is getting job orders from simple cold calls, chances are the end-user is giving the job order to everyone else that cold calls into that manager as well. Have you ever heard recruiter say they have spoken with a solid candidate who had already been submitted for the same job order by a different agency? The hiring manager is likely giving the job order to everyone and anyone who manages to get through to him.

A remedy for low fill ratios starts with client control — letting the end-user know how you work and what you expect from them in return. Obviously, there needs to be some subtle nuance in your communication, but the majority of time, the manager will do what you ask. An example would resemble something like this: “Ms. Manager, will you review the two resumes I sent you and get back to me with feedback by the end of the day, Friday?” Wouldn’t it be great if the hiring manager said she would and actually did? Even if it was not the greatest of news, we would probably be thrilled that a hiring manager did get back to us. Remember folks, we work for free. Many hiring managers know it and take advantage it. The least a hiring manager can do is be true to her word. The little secret is, those managers do exist, you just have to go out and find them. Happy hunting.

MORE: How to handle the employment gaps on resumes

Chris Cosmos

Chris Cosmos
Chris Cosmos is founder and managing director of Cosmos Sales Professional.

Chris Cosmos

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