Do you have all the staffing business with your existing clients? You may know unequivocally that you don’t. You know there are opportunities, but you just don’t know what to do about it. However, many staffing firms choose to believe that you have all the client’s business, but in most cases you don't. You never even consider the opportunities available to grow this client. Whether you think you have all the business or not, always ask yourself “how do we increase business with our existing clients?” This is account penetration.
Schedule annual client review meetings. Ask, “Can we sit down and do an account review with you? We'd like to talk with you about our performance. We'd like to see what your plans are. We'd like to talk about areas we can continue to provide better service to you.” Pull reports like fill rates, time to fill, turnover, etc. to prepare for your meeting. This is an opportunity to learn and be proactice. You can communicate plans for improvements before your client may have changed staffing providers. You can plan for growth together if your client is expanding.
In order to receive more or all of the client’s business, you need to demonstrate that you can deliver consistently. And while that is getting harder and harder in the labor market that we're in, the client needs to be extremely comfortable with your ability to perform consistently for them to put all their eggs in your basket. You must differentiate and show this is a valued partnership.
Ask for a referral. If you are performing well with this contact at the client, ask “Are there other departments, locations, or skillsets that we could support at your company? We would love the opportunity to show them how we have worked with you to improve time to fill (fill rates, turnover, etc.).” In many cases your client doesn’t even know that you provide another service or skillset. It is common in staffing to be associated with a specific skillset or vertical by the client, so it's up to us to educate your clients on all the things you do and remind them on a regular basis. Ideally, your contact is passionate enough about your partnership that they do an introductory email, or better yet and in-person introduction, either through a meeting or something less casual, like lunch or coffee.
Offer volume pricing. Another way to accelerate new business within an organization is to provide incentives for both the existing and new customers. Offer pricing based on volume levels, so combining their spend would benefit both departments. This may even lead to an exclusive partnership, if you impress someone in the organization that has the ability to mandate vendor usage, such as a senior Executive, HR executive, or purchasing.
The quickest way to increase revenue is to maximize your existing client opportunities through account penetration. You need to continue to show your staffing clients the value you bring and will continue to bring their entire organization.
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