Are we in recession? Some experts say we are already in a recession, some say one is coming, and others predict that our economic future will be something we have not seen since the Great Depression. While all of these scenarios are unsettling, there is always the opportunity to win new business and prosper, even in tough times. Your trading strategy will most likely have to change in a recession, but the steps you take now can help you prepare to emerge victorious when this is all over. It is never too late to prepare for what is to come or, in this case, what is already here.
Before we delve into how you can use your ATS / CRM to find new business, we first need to identify a few key components. The first is to identify which industries are thriving and in high demand. Second, identify the industries in which you have the means and the greatest potential to do business. There may be industries that you have not explored before, there may be industries that you have done business with in the past, and there may be new business opportunities in some of the industries that you currently do business with.
To help you get started, here is a list of some of the industries in high demand:
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Food / Alcohol / Groceries
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Medical staff
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Medical device
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Pharmacist
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Manufacturing
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Delivery services
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Trucks / Railways
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Paper products
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Antibacterial / cleaning products
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Administrative
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Online education and remote learning
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Health and sustainability / wellness lifestyles
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IT / Accounting / Legal
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Printing / Publishing
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Telecommunications / Cable
Looking at this list, do you see potentially new opportunities?
Search for new business in your ATS / CRM
Once you have the list of industries you want to target, it’s time to use the search capabilities in your ATS / CRM to find specific opportunities.
Search by customer industry code, status and location
The first and most basic search you’ll want to perform is by customer’s industry code, state, and location (if you’re looking for staff in a specific area). The industry codes will be the codes that you configure in the software affiliated with each industry. . The status is important, because it will determine whether you are looking for companies that you are working with ‘actively’ or ‘inactively’. You can do both searches. See if there are companies you currently work with that you can contact. Then do the same search with ‘inactive’ clients. These could be clients whose business you lost or never had a chance to work with. In terms of location, you may want to try to help staff from nearby businesses. It can be a way to first limit your search to local businesses. Explore these different searches and see if there are potential opportunities.
If your software has the ability to do a “full-text search,” this is another great search option. A “full-text search” is an advanced search function that searches for key terms in each customer profile. So if you want to search for “doctor”, it will search for all customers who have the word “doctor” somewhere on their profile, be it in an email, text message, note, comment, and so on.
Search by date of last contact
You can also search by date you last contacted a customer. This search can be used in conjunction with the search criteria above. Searching by date is useful if you want to identify customers that you have been in contact with in the last six months. You can also search for clients outside of this time frame, if you want to find clients that you have not been in contact with in a while. This search can be especially useful if you want to find ‘inactive’ customers that you haven’t contacted recently. Perhaps the last time you contacted them they had no staffing needs, but now they do.
Search by work orders
You can also search by work order based on the specific industries you have worked for in the past. This will allow you to identify opportunities you had in the past that match the opportunities in demand that you are looking for today. There may be customers on the list that you haven’t contacted for a while. Contact them and see if they have jobs to fill.
Search by Candidates Employment History
Another unique search is by candidate’s Employment History. You can conduct a candidate search and target specific industries in which candidates have worked in the past. By doing this, you can identify new clients that you may not have in your database. You can start by doing a search for candidates that you have added in recent years. This will give you a manageable list to work with. As you review clients that fit the industries you are looking to dive into, see if they are in your database, if not add them and give them a call. A “full-text search” can also be helpful here to find a candidate’s profile and resume keywords.
Make lists of favorites
As you find customers, you want to add them to a list of favorites. Some software solutions have the ability to add yourself to a favorites list directly in the software. If you don’t have these capabilities, you’ll still want to create a favorites list on a separate spreadsheet. While searching for clients, immediately add them to your favorites list so you don’t lose sight of them. As a best practice, make a list for each industry you want to target so your lists are organized when it’s time to call.
The special offer
You have your favorites lists, you have the industries you want to target, now you have to decide what you are going to offer to these customers. Think about your marketing plan, what incentive can you offer the customer to work together? Depending on the industry, you may need to come up with different packages that incentivize your association. What will attract a client to work with you rather than your competition? Perhaps you can offer special subscription options, fixed fees, free training of some kind, etc.
Divide and conquer
Now that you have your specific lists and your industry marketing plan, it’s time to call! You will first need to decide whether to call all customers or divide it among your team members. If your software has the ability to add clients directly to a daily planner, this is a quick and simplified way to get it right in the software. Otherwise, you can share each list you made with your team members.
Sending follow-up emails and texts after calling
After calling each customer, a good practice is to send a follow-up text or email, whichever is most appropriate for the customer you are working with. Sending a follow-up message will reiterate the conversation that just took place. If you don’t have the mobile phone number of a prospect you’re working with, you can ask if they’d prefer a follow-up email or text message. If you prefer a text message, you can request your mobile phone number.
To streamline follow-up communication, create text and email templates that you can use for each customer, and always remember to personalize it to make it personal. You can easily do this by adding the name of the contact and the company. Some software solutions allow you to create templates directly in the software, and through the software it will automatically customize the name, company, and other fields based on the person you are sending the message to.
The candidates
Customers are just one piece of the puzzle. We cannot forget that we also need to align candidates to fill the opportunities you are providing. As you start marketing to clients, you should also start looking for candidates. Use the search capabilities in your ATS to search by industry, position, skills, employment history, location, and more. And don’t forget about that all-important “full-text search” capability if you have it.
You can also search for “active” and “inactive” candidates. There may be some candidates that you are not currently working with, but are looking for work or willing to make a change. Search your ATS and start making favorites lists so you are prepared to start calling these candidates when new job opportunities arise.
As with clients, remember to follow up on candidates with a text message or email. Have your templates ready to go so you can easily send them a follow-up communication.
In summary
Remember that there is always someone buying in a recession and there are always booming industries. You just need to find those industries and target the ones you have the most potential to work with. From there, use the robust capabilities of your ATS and CRM to find those customers and candidates. You don’t always have to search the web for new businesses or candidates, sometimes they are right in front of you.