The downturn in the economy and lays-off hitting the news mean that business development and building your talent pool keep as the main focus for most Recruitment businesses. However, we know that these actions involve much more than just expanding your clients & candidates base.
A needs analysis can be conducted in more than one way, but they all have one thing in common: Gain insight into the pain points of your prospective client or candidate and address them to the best of your ability so that you can build strong rapport from the get go.
When you approach your contacts from your database, you want to show them not only that you know what they need, but also why they need your recruitment services. As obvious as it may seem, conducting a needs analysis consists of a number of strategies and actions.
This will enable you to identify the most pressing problems facing your prospective client and candidate, so that you can consider solutions during your pitch. Stand out with a media piece that gives your client visibility and highlights their employer brand to candidates - this is where your value proposition comes in.
Building rapport
Building rapport is the first thing you want before starting to pitch your recruitment services to either your candidates or clients. If you build rapport with a new person at the beginning of a conversation, this will often lead to a more positive outcome.
Set a few minutes before you kick things off to get to know the person you’re talking to and create a comfortable atmosphere, whether it's a face-to-face or an online meeting. If you have established a good rapport, they will be more willing to share information and create new opportunities together.
Always remember that first impressions count and that your appearance/ attitudes should help you connect with people rather than create a barrier.
Setting the agenda - you control the meeting
Be sure to make it clear what you’re looking to get out of the meeting as well as what you’re expecting them to get out of it.
Also, provide any relevant information ahead of time. This will serve as a guide throughout your catch up with the client or candidate and also as a track record of what work has been done in the account.
So what should your agenda include?
- Time for rapport building
- Set a meeting goal
- Bullet your points
- Set a (loose) timeline
- Choreograph pauses and time for questions
- Identify what your ‘call to action’ will be
- Schedule your next meeting
What’s the point of performing a recruitment needs analysis
This may seem obvious, but it is important to conduct a recruitment needs analysis for three main reasons:
- Is it actually worth your time?
- Is there urgency and can you actually help?
- What's the best solution for the person in front of you and how can you both make the most out of it?
Remember that building a meaningful relationship with your existing clients and understanding their needs will add much more value to your recruitment business than if you just focus on acquiring new ones and trying to hit new targets every month.
As we go further, we'll cover how performing a needs analysis will help you in conducting a successful meeting with a prospect.
How to get more clients for your recruitment business
The first step in understanding your client is to know the business. Where are they at? What are their growth plans? What does the team look like? What do their leaders value?
Secondly, do some research on their market reputation. What are their strengths and weaknesses? How do they compare to their competitors?
The third step is to review reviews. Are there any negative reviews that might affect them on websites such as Glassdoor?
You should also get a feel for the team and the leaders. What does the culture look like? How do they work together as a team? Is there anything that could impact the way you work with them?
Pad out the role
Is it a new role or a replacement hire?
If they already tried to fill the role (and failed) you want to figure out whether there were any barriers and why it hasn’t worked. Understanding whether this is a new role or just one that hasn't yet been filled by someone internally or through other agencies will help you gain insights into how much effort you should put into filling the role.
Also, If there have been offers made before though, it's crucial that you find out why these weren't accepted and what changes might be needed for your client to accept yours.
Deliver your value proposition
Performing a needs analysis is the first step in determining how to deliver your value proposition, as you'll be able to respond and offer the best solution/ partnership model to your client. At this stage it’s also important to anticipate any objections and assure them that this is the most effective to deliver what they need.
As important as how you view them it’s how impressive you’re to them – and you can only do this when you know to whom you’re talking to and how you can fill their gaps.
