2012: Time to Take Recruitment Online

If you haven’t been pushing your recruitment efforts online then just what is it you've been doing? Weren't the tens of thousands of articles that were written and published in January enough to convince you that if you're not online now, you're missing out on one of the best sources of talent available to you? How about in January 2011, miss them too?

The growing dependence of the recruitment sector on online platforms is well documented and well supported, and there’s a good reason for that. Never have we had more information available to us, never have we had instant access to free, search-able candidate databases without any effort on our parts.

And it isn’t just access to candidates that’s making online such a valuable source. Online tools enable us to improve communication with potential and engaged candidates, improve access to resources and jobs and deliver information through multiple different channels, allowing them access where they want it and when they want it.

Recruitment has long been digital, but more and more of the recruiting world is shifting online. Social media sites like LinkedIn have given us unprecedented access to millions of online CVs and Twitter has given us the ability to push out job listings to thousands of followers, and these platforms are rapidly changing the way that recruiters interact with candidates.

Whilst traditional online job sources (such as job boards) are still being searched and scoured, increasingly it is social media that delivers the best results. This is because it sidesteps the middle man and puts candidates directly in touch with their industries recruiters; recruiters who are actively looking to fill their roles. As the platforms get more advanced, so too will the users, and so their success rates will improve and so they will spend more time using these platforms next time it comes time to find a new role.  

The days of submitting CVs and waiting for a reply are over; the job seekers of today are hungry, web savvy, and know how to find the roles, but perhaps more importantly, the companies and recruiters they need to contact for the role they want. Whatever the industry; whether it's retail, technology, fashion or sales, recruitment platforms and social platforms are active and candidates are already there. They’re out there looking for you; are you going to be there for them to find?

Social CRM Can Help Sales

CRM (client relationship management) software was created to streamline business process and up productivity by stripping out the monotonous and time consuming tasks that the software could automate. CRM systems have evolved an incredible amount, and the software has expanded to improve business efficiency for a range of different departments across a business. There aren’t many sales people today that won’t have come into contact with or have extensive knowledge of sales CRM software.

Older versions of sales CRM software were used to centralise customer data, improve the sales pipeline and automate the sales process, providing a sales team with real time updates of client contact, historic information, correspondence and touch points. The CRM software made the sales process a breeze, simplifying the way they interacted and sold to customers, making sure relationships were formed and maintained and sales and pitches were tracked.

From its inception, it transformed the way that salespeople managed their time and prospects. Businesses that could afford the expensive costs of implementation and installation of the systems prospered and those that couldn’t stuck with the old systems, the spreadsheets, the outlook reminders, post it note after post it note and scribbling and scrawled short hand in their A4 pads.

Recent developments with cloud computing and SaaS (software as a service – essentially software accessed over the internet and charged for by the volume of use) have made CRM cheaper and more obtainable for all and the playing field is levelling off, allowing smaller businesses access to some incredibly powerful tools for a relatively small outlay.

The cloud isn’t the only thing that’s been making an impact in sales departments around the world though. There’s something else that everyone is talking about in the world of sales – social. The internet has changed in the last few years and the way that people interact with brands and products online and the online sales figures going up year on year, it’s now more important than ever for the sales department to start getting social.

Social has transformed the way that employees handle their sales jobs. Knowing what their customers and clients are saying about their business is beneficial in a number of ways, allowing businesses to find shortfalls in a product or service, track their reputation online and push their brand through a diverse set of channels to a diverse set of customers.

Customer service becomes a real time consideration, and businesses can track positive and negative reactions and responding accordingly, reinforcing brand reputation and improving the sales process for the client or customer. Customer service can be taken to the next level using social tools, and the ease at which you can set up a real time customer services hub at little to no cost makes providing the best service for your customers easier than ever.

Leads and contacts can be pulled in through social channels as well, using the social tools to track and pitch to potential customers by finding social mentions and online conversations by users with specific needs that match the profile of your product or service.

A number of industry pundits on both sides of the fence are saying that social is just a flash in the pan. Whether it is or not is still to be seen, but one thing is for sure – social CRM tools can help businesses get the edge in incredibly competitive markets. Suddenly, social isn’t just for the marketing team, now is the time for sales to get social.

Is Employee Demand Back on Track?

Finally I get to write an article that isn’t all doom and gloom, that isn’t all ‘now, with the recession, you’d better be right on top of your sales game because blah blah.’ The month of October has been a good one for everyone in the recruitment game, with demand for new employees up 7% on September according to the Job Index report compiled by Reed. It’s good news for a number of sectors, with demand for new employees in the IT sector by far the highest. Sales also saw a big rise, so we imagine it’s looking pretty chirpy for the IT sales recruitment industry.

The managing director of Reed, Martin Warnes, did however state:

‘But we do need to be careful not to get carried away by one month’s figures...’

I say why not, especially as this brings us back in line with a similar level of employee demand that we enjoyed during spring 2011. Anyway, we all need to be optimistic about something, and if it’s a revived jobs market and a return of confidence of employers and a willingness to invest in new talent, then that’s good news for everyone.

The report did state that salaries remain steady though, so, you know...it’s not all good news!

Getting a Sales Job In These Tough Times

 It's tough out there in the sales world. The recession bit and a good number of companies had no choice but to make cuts to their workforce, lay off good workers and tighten their belts. We all know someone who has been affected and we all know someone who is still being affected.

One of the worse things to happen is that companies are now rethinking their hiring strategies, and a company with a closed door policy when it comes to sales may only hurt itself in the long run. Sales teams should be well stocked, well motivated and well supported - after all, it's the sales team that drive the work into the business.

But spare a thought for those on the bottom rung, the graduates looking to move into sales jobs when companies are doing everything they can to stretch already thinned budgets on maintaining their workforce rather than investing in developing it. 

I recently wrote an article entitled 'How To Get  a Job In Sales With No Experience'. It's a little lighthearted round up of a set of ideas and a mindset that graduates should take note of when applying for entry level positions in a sector that is always competitive and challenging, even when the outlook is looking a little brighter. 

How To Make The Most of LinkedIn

Wrote this cool post on how to improve your chances of getting in with the right sales recruitment company using LinkedIn. Pretty snazzy no?

Link to an article i wrote!

I wrote an article and published it on Squidoo. It's all about how to make the most of your CV and make sure you get the most out of your sales recuitment company.

Hello Everybody!

Hi everyone. My name is Pete and I work in the (IT) sales industry. I set up this blog to start writing some sales advice. It might be sporadic, it might be a little generic, but it's mine and mine alone. If you like anything, show me some love and leave a comment. Hope you enjoy...