Fraud Blocker

Article published on: 23/04/19


In a busy, competitive industry, you need to work hard to secure new business while offering the best possible customer service to existing clients.

Impressing customers starts before they become your clients and continues throughout your working relationship with the high quality service you deliver and the aftercare you provide. Clients who have a good experience of working with your agency are more likely to become repeat customers and may recommend your services to others.

Understanding Your Customers

This may sound simple, but many great products and services fail because of a lack of understanding of their target audience. Ask who your customers are, what they do and how they operate their businesses. A basic understanding of these simple concepts will help you understand your own services more clearly and help you devise branding, web and social media content that talks to the people you are pitching to.

One of the best things you can do for your business is to understand your audience. Whether you are communicating face to face, by telephone or through social media channels, you need to know who your potential clients are, what makes them tick and what they expect from you. 

Gathering Information

  • Whether you are just starting out with your recruitment agency or an established business with multiple customers, it is important to gather information on your customers that can inform the way you market your product and communicate with clients. Attend networking events which will enable you to make connections and gather referrals. Engage with people at these events and be sure to make follow-up contact afterwards.

  • If you are an agency offering candidates across multiple industries, gather sound knowledge of the major fields and identify who your customers might be. If you are an agency specialising in a particular industry, you must possess a high level understanding of that industry, from its varied job roles to the major UK laws governing it. You might find it helpful to consult recruitment jobs boards, not only for access to a pool of candidates but also vital information on potential clients.

  • Research who your competitors are working with. Review websites and social media content to gain an insight into your competitors’ client lists and consider how they are marketing themselves to those particular customers. 

  • Engage with your analytics for an insight into how your clients or potential clients are using your website and social media accounts. For example, a periodic review of the keywords that most regularly drive people to your website can help you better understand your customer’s motivations and priorities. 

Engage your Client Community

Once you have one or more clients with whom you work closely, learn more about them and their experience of working with you as a way of gaining further insights into your services from the people who use them. This can help inform your business and marketing strategies and improve your customer service to offer the best possible care.

  • Maintain conversations with customers before, during and after a project is complete. Customer care should extend throughout the entire working contract and after.

  • Once you have established a working relationship with a client, you should gain feedback on their experience of working with you. Provide a survey with some sort of incentive for taking part, but do not overload clients; just a few well defined questions on your product, customer service and aftercare demonstrates that you are serious about offering the best possible customer experience. 

  • Engage with your clients through social media posts, giving you access to information through more informal channels. 

  • Maintain contact with clients by sending out a regular newsletter alerting them to your agency’s news and successes (be mindful of new GDPR legislation). Ensure your content is current with recruitment industry news and make sure it includes direct contact information. 

  • As part of your client aftercare, look to the future. Demonstrate to your clients that you are forward-looking by asking about their goals and how your services can help play a part in their business development.