client relationships

11 Ways to Add Value to Client Relationships

Every business is looking for value today. They review their suppliers regularly to see if they could be getting better value for money elsewhere.

When you think of providing value as a recruitment agency you probably think of supplying the best candidates possible to fill every vacancy entrusted to you. However, it’s much more than that. You want to offer clients more than perfectly matched candidates. Not too many clients have you working for them every week of the year filling vacancies. If you are in contact with them during the down times, you’ll be top of mind when the next vacancy comes up.

1 – Remuneration Benchmarking

Offer your clients information on current salaries just prior to remuneration and performance review time. Management and HR staff can use the information to ensure staff are being adequately remunerated and that market rates haven’t shifted up or down since the last review.

2- Recruitment Software

Remind clients that your recruitment software program holds talent pools and lists of candidates they can benefit from. If a client usually asks you to fill permanent, full-time roles, tell them that you can also fill any short-term, contract requirements they may have from time to time. Contacting candidates in your talent pool is much quicker than a client advertising on a job board.

3 – Tips and Advice

Keeping in regular contact with an e-newsletter can provide valuable information to your clients. If you offer advice on how to handle a range of staff issues and challenges, tips on staff training and skills improvement, your clients will appreciate the value your emails provide.

4 – Partnerships

Most recruitment consultancies can’t supply every recruitment related service but you can set up alliances with providers to fill the gaps. For example, your clients may not require psychometric testing of candidates on a regular basis so you decide not to offer the service.

On the odd occasion that a client asks for the tests, rather than have to explain you don’t offer them say how you can help them. If you meet with a number of providers who do the testing, you can set up an alliance with the provider you think meets the needs of your clients the best. Your client will appreciate the time you’ve spent doing the groundwork for them.

5 – Industry and Government Updates

If you specialise in one or two industries, you are probably talking to far more people working in the same field than most of your clients. Use your knowledge to keep clients informed of industry updates and your observations. Use social media to research your clients’ industry in other markets or countries so you can report on any developments and technological advancements.

Keeping on top of an award, tax and pension changes can be time-consuming and often confuse clients. If you’re deciphering the latest updates in layman’s terms, your clients will appreciate your time and effort.

6 – Network

If an HR manager knows they can give you a call to find a trusted compliance consultant, trainer, freelancer or IT expert, they’ll appreciate your referral. Remind clients in your communications that you have a wide network of trusted suppliers they can call on.

7 – Part Service

When a client decides to go directly to the market to fill a vacancy, tell them you are available to assist should they need help. The client may know they will attract plenty of quality candidates for the role so they will do the recruitment themselves however they may not have thought about how they will cope with the flood of applications.

Offer to sift through the applications and pull out the top five you think they should consider and reply to the unsuccessful applicants if required. Clients often forget how long it takes to read applications and if they try to do it around their daily tasks they may not get to the pile before the star candidates find employment elsewhere. If you can sift through the pile and have it sorted in one or two working days, the stress is taken off the client and the best candidates can be secured for an interview.

8 – Networking

Organise a sundowner and invite clients to attend so they can meet other people from their industry. Introduce people you know could set up alliances.

If you provide contractors to clients, host a contractor-only sundowner to show that you value the work they are doing for your clients. Happy, hard-working contractors who feel valued by their agency make for happy clients!

9 – Seminars and Training

Do some research by asking your clients and prospects what employment-related topics they are most interested in and then organise a seminar or training session. Clients will view you as an expert in the industry if you are delivering quality information they can take back to their workplace and implement.

10 – Payroll

Some clients may be discouraged from employing contractors or short-term employees because of the amount of admin work involved. If you offer a payroll service either in-house or outsourced which covers all aspects of employment such as remuneration, contracts and insurance, clients may be willing to take on one of your contractors or candidates.

11 – Written Material

Writing an ebook and distributing to your clients has a number of potential benefits. If you’re providing timely, valuable information, clients will appreciate the material and may save it for later reference. If you don’t have the time to produce an ebook, one-page checklists and guides can be just as beneficial to a client.

By being a little creative and spending some time working on just one or two initiatives you can impress clients and ensure you retain their business for years to come. Some of these ideas will take time while others can be implemented quickly because you already have the information. It’s all about making your clients aware of what you can offer them.

We hope you get something useful out of these tips.

You can read more about eBoss Recruitment Software on our website or for more general business and tips for recruiters visit our blog

Have you seen eBoss Semantic Search – here’s a short video explaining what all the fuss is about :