Your relationship with your client ranks as a critical factor to your success. Maintaining a good relationship and keeping your client happy takes hard work and constant vigilance in the face of today’s chaotic employment market challenges. Be alert and aware of the factors important to your present clients so that you can satisfy their employment needs and keep them coming back to you when they need help. Build your client base by cementing your good reputation and developing your communication skills.

The importance of having a good relationship with your client is demonstrated in a recent webinar presented by Eric Gregg of ClearlyRated and Stephen Cerny of CareerBuilder,  in which they noted that: 

“While clients mostly view their staffing firms as key to helping them navigate the past year, half also agree that service and timeliness suffered.”

According to their research, client companies and staffing firms alike struggled to respond to the challenges presented by the COVID pandemic. Issues such as remote working, levels of service, and missed deadlines were significant causes of concern. While most client firms recognized the importance of their staffing firm’s efforts, a majority indicated that they were open to exploring other options or actively considering changing providers. This key finding should ring an alarm bell and lead you to work on your relationships!  

Another key finding cited the three most important factors influencing a client’s satisfaction with a staffing firm to be: strong match of candidates, professional staff, and good customer service, in that order. This finding points out the critical need to make the sound, professional match that you can and work on the “good customer service” part of the equation. Hear that alarm bell and improve your relationships, starting today!

A dialog with your client should be opened so that you can ascertain their level of satisfaction with your services. Ask for frank comments, and don’t worry about having your feelings hurt. Remember that discovering problems early on in the relationship can allow you to take remedial action and perhaps avoid future issues. Don’t assume that all is well. Find out what issues your client has so that corrections are made promptly. It is a small world – your reputation goes a long way towards winning new clients and keeping those you presently have.

When everyone is busy, good customer service and communication skills can save time and make your organization more efficient. Keeping your finger on the pulse of your clients’ needs will allow you to rapidly respond to issues important to them and lessen the probability of their looking elsewhere for staffing assistance. Make sure that your customer service efforts result in a satisfactory transaction in the mind of the client. Phones should be answered promptly, emails and text messages responded to quickly, and care taken that any issue raised is being dealt with and not neglected. Back-up personnel in your office need to be assigned in the event of an absence. Your thoroughness in handling these aspects will go a long way to cement your relationship with your client and help preserve your reputation

Recruiter burnout has become a real issue. Since contract positions may be part of the staffing solution for many employers, you should consider building an inventory of candidates to service this requirement. You might consider bringing on a temp in-house to cover your staff when they are out on a much-needed vacation. If you plan for when someone is out of the office, everyone, your internal and external clients, will be assured that business is being taken care of.

To further improve your relationship with your client, you can partner with a back-office provider such as Evergreen Contract Resources to enable you to respond quickly to your client’s needs. Evergreen will keep up with the requirements of the regulatory jurisdictions, so you do not have to. You can do what you do best: make placements! If you are set up in advance, you can provide services immediately. Call Evergreen today, and we will set you up. There is no cost or obligation. Use us when you need us. You can keep your clients happy if you recognize that RELATIONSHIPS ARE NO. 1 … WITH TEMP AND CONTRACT PLACEMENTS!