With 20+ years’ of experience of helping recruiters pick the right tech, our own Louise Triance shares the key things to consider when investing in a new Recruitment CRM and staffing platform for your recruitment business.
1. Does it suit the size, and expected growth, of my business?
It will help if you have a 3-5 year growth plan. However, even if you don’t, ensuring you source a Recruitment CRM which can quickly and efficiently grow with your business is going to be key.
2. Does it have the features I need and may ever need.
Do you even know what features you’ll need? When you look at the market, you’ll see a vast number of Recruitment CRMs, all with varying features. The challenge is to know what the key features are that will offer the most value in terms of time and cost saving. My top ones would be management reports, CV parsing, workflow tracking for individual users/campaign management, easy to connect/record email and phone correspondence, ability to integrate with job boards/multiposter tools, searching capability of LinkedIn network, searching capability of in-house database (ought to be obvious really!), candidate matching and the ability to search external candidate databses.
3. Is the provider able to keep up with new trends and allow the customisation I want?
This is quite important. You aren’t going to know what you’ll need from the system in 12 months but you do want to be sure that your provider isn’t going to leave you out in the cold when your competitors are able to do the next whiz-bang social media thing. Difficult to assess but try and determine how quickly they can respond; in the old days if you wanted a product customised you had to add requests to a long (never to be seen) wish list. Now many providers are more responsive.
4. Can I trust the company and the product?
Is your data secure (i.e., no one else can access it) and is it safe (i.e., it can’t be lost when your/their office burns down) and will the solution provider have the longevity you need (i.e., still be operating in 5 years’ time)? Apart from anything else you have a legal obligation to carefully store the data you collect from clients and candidates.
5. Is the support and training in the format I want when I want?
Do you want/need someone at the end of a phone 24/7 or is 9-5 fine for you? Is desk-based training high on your list of criteria? Maybe you’d suit webinar or online training better.
6. Where and how will I use the database?
Accessibility used to be a big issue – but you really shouldn’t even be looking at a system which can’t allow you to access your client and candidate database whenever you want from wherever you want.
Allowing consultants to set up interviews, search for candidates, update information and email CVs on the move could be the difference between losing and closing a deal.
7. Does it suit my style of business
Quite honestly, a system which suggests it can be all things to all people is unlikely to be much to anyone. Clarify what niche your business holds and then look for a match. Some of the big providers have more than one offering enabling them to be able to serve all elements of the market. When you find a good match consider aligning your processes to the system rather than asking for, potentially expensive, customisation to align it to yours.
8. How does the cost work for me?
Not just the monthly or annual (or one off) fee but support costs, training costs (see above), upgrade, development, etc. costs. Also check for migration costs and de-migration costs should you ever wish to move to a new platform.
9. Do I like it?
If you and your team look at the system and go arrrggggggggggh then maybe think again. If your team hate the system and don’t find it intuitive and easy to use then they won’t. If they don’t use the system properly then you might as well go back to using Excel or a rolodex! Ensure all stakeholders are involved in the decision making and obviously go beyond just how it looks and see the processes; can they minimise manual processes, do they integrate with job boards, websites and the finance solution? Are they going to make your life easier?
In Conclusion
Your Recruitment CRM is a critical (and often undervalued) bit of kit. It can be expensive to buy, setup and run. And to add insult to injury, it can make you little or no profit and be a laughing stock when investors come auditing…Or it can be a USP – a unique selling point. The top recruiters will understand where their CRM sits in their workflow. It is an addiction for their recruiters, and interestingly their clients, candidates and investors. All of which does the one job they bought it for – to make you more money.
Ultimately, you need the right team to manage the solution, not just IT. Someone needs to own it and promote it throughout the business, and it needs to be able to provide key insight, in real-time in the right format to the right people. If Management can’t see the output or if it’s not relevant, then the value will be questioned.
How can we help?
Whether you’re an employer or a staffing agency looking to implement an Applicant Tracking System or Recruitment Agency CRM in your business for the first time, or you’re reviewing or renewing your current technologies, Rectec Compare is your unique opportunity to quickly and easily identify the vendors you should be talking to. If you’d like to find out more please check out our comparison services or get in touch today for a free, no obligation chat. You can also pre-register for exclusive access to Rectec Compare by clicking here.
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Louise Triance, Partner Manager – Recruitment CRM (UK&I)
Changing the way that recruiters buy software…