How to: Get (and Fill) More Job Orders

It’s the eternal question: How can I win new clients and get more job orders? And if you’ve managed to do that, how can you actually fill them? We’ve got you covered. Winning a job order is easier than you think.  Follow these helpful tips.

3 Ways to Win New Clients and Get More Job Orders

1) Step up your marketing efforts

Relationships are still the most important asset for your staffing firm, but technology has opened up various other outlets for attracting new clients. Your website presence, your rankings on search engines, and your social media presence are all potential ways to win over new clients and get more job orders.

“It used to be exclusively about having relationships or keeping the same clients. Now, every single day we work with new clients who find us through Google,” says Michael Reichwald, President of Yorkson Legal.

Most staffing firms don’t have a marketing leader in their organization, but a marketing presence can make an enormous difference.

2) Ask for referrals

Your willingness to ask for referrals from previous clients can heavily impact your ability to win over new ones. Remember: you aren’t just limited to your slam-dunk raving fans.

Reach out to clients you have worked with and had a great relationship, but didn’t ultimately buy.  These are the potential clients who weren’t able to move forward with your firm due to timing or budget.

Reach out to points of contact who’ve recently transitioned to a new company but can provide insight into the right person to contact at their new or former company.

Consider going old school and sending out handwritten thank you notes to your clients with a few copies of your business card—one for them and one to pass on to a friend. These personalized touches can go a long way in an increasingly digital world.

3) Research your competition

Who are your biggest competitors? Audit their websites for client testimonials.

Most staffing firms don’t have exclusive contracts with one recruiting or staffing firm anymore. Instead, they likely sign many contracts to increase the probability of filling their vacancies. Even though they may have an existing partnership with your competition, they may still be looking for additional firms to work with.

3 Ways to Fill More Job Orders

1) Leverage your candidate database

Pop quiz: what’s the number one source for successful candidates placements? The candidates who already exist in your database, topping sources like job boards and candidate referrals. Are you making the most out of the existing candidates in your database?  

You may need to conduct an audit on your candidate database. A messy or outdated database is severely limited in its usefulness. Check out these tips for cleaning out your database.

2) Redeploy more workers

Most staffing firms redeploy 10 to 30 percent of their contractors on a new assignment within three months of the end-date of their current assignment. That means up to 90 percent of the time you spend sourcing and placing candidates is lost after a placement.

Timing is one of the most important factors when it comes to redeploying workers. How do you know when to reach out to someone about a new opportunity? You need to know when a worker is finished with an assignment, and you need this information to be visible to and front of mind for recruiters.

The best applicant tracking systems have dashboards that enable this process. Look for applicant tracking systems with a dashboard that helps you see when workers are scheduled to start and end assignments. You’ll be able to start placing workers on new assignments with little downtime in between.

3) Improve your onboarding process

How long does the average recruiter and salesperson take to ramp up? Roughly one out of three North American staffing firms take at least four months to get their recruiters and salespeople up to speed.  Less than a quarter of recruiters are ready in a month or less. Recruiters and salespeople who aren’t performing at full capacity reduce your firm’s ability to be as efficient as it could be.

Invest in your onboarding process. If your recruiters and salespeople can contribute shortly after they’re hired, you’ll have a much easier time filling job orders. Study what works for other firms and incorporate it into your own firm’s onboarding program.

We’re answering your most common staffing questions! Want to learn how you can improve your margins? Check out these tips.