In this month's newsletter...

Welcome to our May newsletter

This is our May newsletter featuring a mix of industry news, helpful information from recruitment industry experts, tips to help you improve and grow the profitability of your business and, of course, lots of news from ourselves at Recruitment Matters International about our training courses, products and services.

Well, May 2011 will go down as one of the busiest months on record for us, including sell-out open courses, and a large amount of in-house work including a nice trip to Switzerland for Warren to deliver our Maximising The Use Of Social Media & Online Networking. As a result of continued strong demand for our services, we are now looking to add to our training resources – see our article later headed 'We are hiring.'

In our last newsletter, we reported that the recent Budget had been generally viewed as encouraging, particularly by the private sector. This generally upbeat mood continues - nearly a quarter of employers are planning to expand staff numbers in the next three months with a third following suit in the coming year according to the latest REC research. Meanwhile 64 per cent of those asked intended to keep numbers static.

At the same time, demand for temporary and contract staff remains strong with 93 per cent saying they will either keep their use of agency workers at existing levels or grow them in the short term with another 81 per cent doing the same in the longer term.

"The long-term prospects for the jobs market ties in with forecasts that private sector investment and trade will start accelerating in the second half of the year. However, until then, our jobs market will show signs of volatility until the infrastructure for private sector growth is in place to enable more jobs to be created within it."

Roger Tweedy, the REC director of research, said: "The current figures really do show we have a transitional jobs market borne out by the recent slight decrease in the unemployment figures. Confidence among employers about their hiring intentions has stayed the same level as last month at the same time as their reliance on temporary and contract staff is still strong though easing slightly."

On the other hand try telling that to the latest batch of graduate jobseekers who are about to come on to the marketplace. Rising numbers of graduates are "under-employed" or working in low-skilled jobs rather than degree-level professions, research suggests.

According to a study by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) around 95,000 new graduates in total, are working in jobs that do not need a degree, and this is set to rise to 42% for this summer's university leavers. And for some subjects, like history and philosophy, more than half of new graduates are working in jobs for which they are over-qualified, it says.

The report warns that the proportion of new graduates finding work six months after graduating in low-skilled or menial jobs for which no degree is needed has risen by 10% in the last five years.

It concludes that an estimated 55% of this year's university leavers will find themselves either unemployed or in unskilled jobs.

The AAT is calling on the Government to analyse the quality and returns for university courses, across all subjects and institutions as well as vocational qualifications.

Jane Scott Paul, chief executive at the AAT, said: "If we are asking people to invest £9,000 a year on tuition fees, they should expect a credible return on that investment, yet AAT research shows that over half of graduates are nowhere near benefiting from their degree and the situation is set to get worse. For too long, vocational qualifications have been seen as the poor relation, with poorer employment prospects, when the truth is that high quality vocational courses open doors and create employment."

We'd be very interested to hear your views on one article, in particular, this month – see 'UK jobseekers near bottom of social network table.' The survey, conducted from October 2010 through January 2011, demonstrates that social media is an increasingly important global employment tool that candidates in the UK should exploit more - only one percent of people in the UK have secured a job through social media. So why do you think our jobseekers are lagging behind their international counterparts?

Elsewhere, we have a hugely helpful feature provided by CV-Library, who have provided a download to an excellent report on how to making the most of your job board. CV-Library has over 3.5 million CV's in over 70 industry sectors. The site has approximately 2,700 clients, 49,000 live vacancies and over 745,000 monthly job applications. So, they should know what they're talking about!

We've also got some top networking advice from Andy Lopata, a business networking strategist, who tells us how to avoid the fear of rejection. This is the first of a two part feature which will be concluded in next month's newsletter.

We liked the views of Claudia Hathway, Editorial Director at Callcentre.co.uk on customer service and how it can improve your business – certainly well worth reading this one.

This month, our 'Marketing Mentor' Alastair Campbell shares some of his thoughts on how to make your recruitment company 'slightly unique.'

Our own trainer & MD, Warren, has two more tips for you this month – one on 'getting in the mood' and another on 'to do' lists.

We have another extract from Greg Savage's popular blog, this time looking at 8 reasons why your client meetings can fail.

We've also got the next in a series of contributions on SEO advice from eBoss Solutions MD, David Lyons, this month on using technology to get your client to recommend your products and services.

Here at RMI, we're set for a busy summer, so for the latest on what we have got lined up through to August, please read our news section which is just before our current training schedule.

We very much like this to be an interactive newsletter and we welcome your comments and feedback and will be happy to feature your contributions on important industry issues and your advice on how to improve the success and professionalism of our marketplace. As you now know, in return, we show our gratitude by featuring a link to your company, as a contributor to this publication.

We at Recruitment Matters International have a simple underlying philosophy to everything that we do, and that is, by helping each other to improve, we all stand to benefit in this large, dynamic and ever evolving industry.

Please send your potential editorial contributions to ken@recruitmentmatters.com.

We are hiring

Would you like to come and join us to work as part of one of Europe’s leading recruitment training and consultancy companies?

Recruitment Matters International is one of Europe's leading providers of specialist recruitment training, mentoring and advice to the recruitment sector. We provide a wide range of open and in-house recruitment training courses for both external & internal recruiters, consultancy services and products that include online recruitment training via webinars and, shortly, MP3’s.

Simply put, recruitment is our business. Since 1998 RMI has been providing quality recruitment training for recruiters, both external and in-house. We have progressed to become the leading* provider of open courses throughout the UK, with more course dates available than any other recruitment training & consultancy provider. *In a direct comparison of UK recruitment training providers taken from published schedules from July - Dec 2010.

If you are interested in working for us as an employee or on an associate basis, and can show good, solid experience of recruitment training then we would like to hear from you. If you can bring with you areas of specialism and skills that will add to our own, then even better!

Please contact us if you wish to explore this opportunity further or can recommend someone whom we should be talking to. In the first instance, please email your CV to ken@recruitmentmatters.com or call Ken on 0800 0749289 for an informal chat.

Make the most of your job board – Essential Guide

Recruitment experts have worked together to bring you the essential guide on how to make the most of your online job site.

Job boards are one of the most cost effective solutions for all recruitment campaigns and give you instant access to millions of job seekers. They are highly accessible, simple to use and often come with a range of features to enhance your job postings and CV searches.

CV-Library’s new guide explains what features job boards should offer you and how to use their services efficiently. It includes time saving advice and the ultimate top ten tips to posting vacancies and searching for candidates.

Kay Way from Wild Recruitment says "Job boards are a great source of candidates for many recruiters and are a necessity when sourcing candidates from different geographic areas. My team need to the job boards to give choice of candidates for their roles and most of them feel that they now couldn’t work without them!"

Did you know that using the wrong keywords might mean the perfect candidate is overlooked?
And overusing a keyword could trigger your job advert as spam?

Overlooking these small points can make a world of difference when you’re using a job board. With the right guidance and support you will quickly realise how simple recruiting can be. Whether you are new to the recruitment world or you’ve been signed up to a job board for years our top ten tips guarantee to help you get the most of your job board, saving you both time and money.

You can also claim a free trial with the UK’s leading independent job board by downloading this free guide.

Download your free job board guide now

Written for CV-Library by Amanda le Gros. For further information call 01252 810995 or email a.legros@cv-library.co.uk

The ‘Marketing Mentor’ - Marketing Advice for Recruitment Companies

How to make your recruitment company 'slightly unique'
Of course, there’s no such thing as being ‘slightly unique’. You are either unique or not. However, most recruitment companies or headhunters would argue that being unique for them is simply impossible. It’s quite true that many aspects of one high street recruitment company are simply replicated in the next high street recruitment company. So, in this exercise you are seeking out points to differentiate you from the competition, rather than to reinvent the industry.

The first thing to consider is how the client or candidate reacts to all this similarity of service. With nothing distinct to choose from, the only way they can then select is by having a broadly ‘good feeling’ about the person they spoke to or, in the case of the client, how much is charged. Unfortunately, as a business, neither is especially helpful. So perhaps it’s time to make yourself stand out from the competition.

The idea of being ‘slightly unique’ is simply about looking at what you do that is good, unusual, better, faster, cheaper, something that you’ve been doing for a long time or something that you’ve just started doing. In short, things that make you stand out from the competition in some way. Start by making a long list of the things that you do. See if you can get up to 30 items on the list that are in some way unusual.

Now, look back through the list imagining that you are a client or potential client. Do any of them represent something that is different, special or advantageous? If not, try adding ‘which means that…’ to the end of the point and see if you can turn it into an advantage or benefit. For example, "We are open until 6.30pm 3 days a week… (which means that)… we are able to interview and meet people in work that other agencies may not get around to." For a client, seeing more quality candidates already in work may be a tangible benefit. Go through your list and see what existing benefits you already have that you may never have fully articulated to prospective clients before.

Now, still thinking like a client, consider what you want to see from a recruitment company. Also, think about what you may not want to see from a recruitment company. You are bound to be able to come up with points like ‘great staff with no risk of them leaving’ or ‘full money back guarantee if they leave within X weeks’. You could even arrange to speak to companies about what they don’t like about their current recruitment agency. With this as a starting point – how could you change things around and make your offering more customer focused and memorable? Whilst doing this exercise, forget about what is realistic and possible and think about what the client wants as a starting point rather than what you are able to deliver. This is the best way to go about creating something different and special for your client – perhaps even something that’s ‘slightly unique’.

Alastair Campbell is MD of The Ideal Marketing Company and author of The Marketing Launchpad available from Amazon. He is offering a free 1 hour marketing consultation to all readers of this newsletter. Visit www.idealmarketingcompany.com for details or call 01858 44 55 43.

Using technology to generate recommendations

This month we discuss using technology to get your clients to recommend your product or service

How do you get your client to recommend your product or service?

As has always been the case, word of mouth is, even today the strongest form of persuasion. A satisfied customer tells other people about their experience of your service and product, and a new potential client approaches with the reassurance of a friend’s referral.

Now, how does that work with technology? Let’s go back in time, way back to the late nineties... Do you remember the ‘tell a friend’ form, the ‘refer a friend’ or even the ‘send this page to a friend’ links seen on websites?

How many have you ever received or have you even sent one of those? I am guessing not many, the effort was too great and sometimes clumsy technology would render your efforts useless anyway. However, today it is far easier.

The most impressive development on the web, to date, has been, in my opinion the introduction on Facebook of the ‘like’ button. This is an easy task for your visitor, they simply click ‘like’ on your web page, and, for your business the result is good. Facebook publishes your URL a small icon of your website and a small paragraph describing your service to all the friends of the person who 'likes' you. If they like it, they can also spread it amongst their friends. If you make the effort to create something worth liking, you could easily get a lot of free exposure for your business or service.

We have put together an easy to follow guide on how to get the ‘like’ functionality installed on your website. We’ll be sharing this guide on our Facebook page and when you ‘like’ a company or service you can keep up to date with their updates or giveaways such as this. All you have to do to receive it is to visit http://www.eboss.co.uk and, yes, you guessed it, click the ‘Like’ button!

Next Month we discuss the merits of creating a presence for your business on Facebook and other web 2.0 platforms

©2011 David Lyons. Contact david@eboss.co.uk or call 020 7183 0675.

Set the scene and get in the mood

If you were to host a party, you would ideally take time to prepare a list of the right mix of people to invite, send out invitations in plenty of time, check that your guests will be attending, make sure you have the appropriate venue, and ensure you can create the right atmosphere for your guests with decor, lighting, music and food based on what you know your guests will appreciate.

In the couple of hours before, as well as getting yourself ready with the right clothes, you would most likely get yourself in the mood with some music, perhaps a drink or two and a bit of a "mini boogie"(rehearsal) to warm up. During the party you would do your very best to keep everyone happy throughout it, give them a fond farewell, follow up a few days later with a thank you and ask your guests if they enjoyed themselves.

If all goes to plan, you will have created a bit of a buzz for a week or two afterwards, made some new friends, really impressed one or two key people and perhaps even have received a couple of invitations in return.

Read this back and tell me if business development or a series of candidate screening calls is so different...

This article was provided by Warren Kemp, MD & lead trainer of Recruitment Matters International - follow Warren on Twitter http://twitter.com/WarrenBKemp . For more information, visit www.recruitmentmatters.com or email info@recruitmentmatters.com.

City talent on the move

Only one in eight (12%) City finance professionals are committed to staying with their current employer this year, according to the latest survey by eFinancialCareers.

More than half (52%) of those polled say they definitely intend to move to a new employer this year, and a further 36% intend to jump ship.

For a third (34%) this means considering working overseas, with Hong Kong and Singapore being the most popular destinations. However, most (52%) say they would prefer to stay in the UK.

However, competition for talent is heating up. 46% of those surveyed said they had received more calls from recruiters so far this year compared to the same period last year, with only 14% saying that the number of calls was down compared to last year.

The 3 day rule

How full is your ‘to do’ list? How many names are on your call back list? At what point do you say enough is enough – or do you?

To do lists are a great way of getting order into your day and week, we all know that. Well, here’s a little tip that might help keep it in order and your days less fraught. Use a 3 day rule. Quite simply, if an item appears on your to do list for a third day in a row, that is the item that you either action or delete. Do not let it be on your list for a 4th day, come hell or high water. Let’s face it – by then, it is either urgent or not that important.

If you have a time management tip you would like to share then email it to ken@recruitmentmatters.com and we will do our best to feature it in a future edition of this newsletter.

Warren Kemp is MD and lead trainer with Recruitment Matters. For more tips, advice and information on Recruitment Matters visit www.recruitmentmatters.com/free.php, telephone 0800 0749 289/ +44 (0)1945 461561 or email warren@recruitmentmatters.com. Follow Warren on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WarrenBKemp

UK jobseekers near bottom of social network table

Social network use to advance careers is not a very British habit according to Kelly Services.

The UK is almost bottom of the global rankings for making the most of social networks for career advancement.

Just one in five people in the UK search for jobs on social media networks, according to the latest survey results from Kelly Services; the UK is in 25th place.

Kelly believes one reason for Brit shyness when it comes to using social networks in this way is the fear that posting the wrong kind of material could have a negative effect on their careers.

A spokeswoman said: "This is borne out in the results with 26 per cent of respondents saying they are worried that material from their social networking sites could adversely impact their careers and one third admitting to deliberately self-censoring content."

Kelly Global Workforce Index, btained the views of approximately 97,000 people in 30 countries, including more than 2,000 in the United Kingdom. The percentage using social media to search for jobs were as follows:-

Indonesia 49%; Africa (excl South Africa) 44%; Malaysia 38%; Portugal 38%; India 35%; Poland 33%; Netherlands 33%; Italy 33%; Hong Kong 32%; Thailand 30%; Puerto Rico 30%; Belgium 28%; Hungary 25%; South Africa 24%; Canada 24%; Switzerland 24%; Mexico 23%; Denmark 23%; Luxembourg 23%; Germany 23%; United States 22%; Ireland 22%; Singapore 21%; China 21%; United Kingdom 20%; Russia 19%; New Zealand 17%; Sweden 17%; Norway 15%; Australia 13%; France 13%; All countries 24%.

The survey, conducted from October 2010 through January 2011, demonstrates that social media is an increasingly important global employment tool that candidates in the UK should exploit more - only one percent of people in the UK have secured a job through social media.

As Katie Ivie, Human Resources Director at Kelly Services UK explains:
"Now is the time candidates should be developing a strong online presence on professional social networks to take advantage of the opportunities they offer and stand out from the crowd. Kelly Services already proactively uses social networking sites such as LinkedIn as a resource and the use of social media in the recruitment industry is only going to become more commonplace with time."

Networking: How to avoid the fear of rejection

(This is Part One of a two part article from Andy)

Fear of rejection
Why are we so frightened of meeting new people? Personally, I blame my mum! Throughout my childhood years my mother always used to warn me, "Don’t talk to strangers!"

This childhood fear of strangers is very powerful, especially when combined with a fear of humiliation or rejection. Whenever we are put into a position where we are expected to meet new people, the adrenaline starts to flow and the nerves kick in. It may make perfect sense to tell a young child to avoid strangers, but why do we carry this fear into adulthood? The situations faced by children and adults are very different and this advice is certainly redundant in most business or social engagements as an adult.

When was the last time that you went to a networking event and saw someone either being humiliated or being rejected? Have you ever introduced yourself to someone to be met with a scowl and a barbed remark asking, "Who do you think you are?" Have all the people in the room ever turned around and laughed at you for having the audacity to want to speak to someone you haven’t met before?

It’s very unlikely that any of these have happened to you at a networking event. After all, people attend these events because they want to meet new people. Yes, there is a chance that our ego may be damaged if someone we approach shows no interest in us. But we can just dust ourselves off, move away and make it their problem, not ours. After all, they’ve missed out on the pleasure of getting to know us!

So the first tip is to be courageous. Swallow that fear. I know that this is easier said than done. Just remind yourself that most people share the same fear, including experienced networkers like me. I network for a living, I network everywhere, I love talking to strangers, but I still don’t like that feeling of walking into a room where I don’t know anyone. I just have to remind myself why I am there and why everyone else is there and, once I have started my first conversation, I am fine.

Dip your toe into the water
Walking into an event is similar to getting into a hot bath. First you put your toe into the water, and then your foot and you gradually ease your way in. But at some point you’ve got to submerge yourself.

Start by talking to someone you know. It’s fine to speak to existing contacts, particularly if you are looking to develop your relationship with them. The key is not to spend too long with the same people and then walk out complaining that ‘that was a waste of time’.

I remember an event that we held in the head office of a major global bank. There were about two hundred people present, a dozen of whom were representing the host company.

The bank had held the event to showcase their premises to potential customers, impress them with their generosity and provide their sales team with a captive audience to discuss how they could help them.

Throughout the evening there were two groups of people in the room, about 190 small business owners networking with each other and the twelve hosts, huddled in a corner talking to each other, spending their time with the same people with whom they generally spent most of their working week.

After the event we talked to the bank’s representatives about networking. It became clear that the failure to mingle and the associated lost opportunity was a result of their fear of approaching people and the comfort of being in the company of their colleagues.

The power of introduction
Once you have got the feel of the event and feel a bit bolder, you can then ask your associates to introduce you to someone they know. Have you noticed how if we’re introduced to a stranger by a friend who knows him, we don’t see him as a stranger and we don’t have that same fear? So get a friend to introduce you to someone that he knows, or you introduce him to someone you know, and start talking.

The other advantage of this is that your companion, in introducing you, may well talk about how you have helped them, how great you are at what you do or praise you in another way that you would not have been able to do. This will awaken a greater interest in you from the new contact than may otherwise have been possible.

If there are specific people who you want to meet and you are nervous about approaching them, ask a colleague or the organiser if they know them. If they do, ask if they would be kind enough to introduce you. It will also help if you explain why you want to meet them; if they can understand your objectives, they will certainly be happier making the connection.

If you introduce someone else, make sure that you explain why you are making the connection and, if possible, the relevance your two contacts have for each other. Allow a conversation to start flowing before slipping away quietly.

If you and your companion both struggle to approach strangers and neither of you know anyone else in the room, take advantage of security in numbers to approach a group of people together. You will find that, after you have introduced each other, the group will naturally break up into smaller parties and you have smoothly moved into a conversation with a new person.
(Look out for Part Two of this article next month).
To find out more about how to pick the right networks, implement a successful networking strategy or how to generate more referrals, visit www.lopata.co.uk or contact harvey@lopata.co.uk / 01992 450488.

8 reasons why your client meetings fail

For most recruiters, the client meeting is key. It is in a face-to-face meeting that the magic happens. This is where your credibility, and the business, is won or lost. It’s here that a recruiter can win exclusivity, secure multiple temp orders, and resolve pricing and service dilemmas.

In fact a great deal of a recruiter’s time is spent securing the visit. Planning, cold calling, referrals.

Yet, too often, the visit is a wasted opportunity at best, and an unmitigated disaster at worst.

There are many reasons a client meeting can go belly-up, and some of them may not even be the recruiter’s fault. But, too often it is one or all of these reasons that a client meeting is a wasted opportunity.

1. Wrong target market. Firstly, make sure the meeting is worth having at all! Yes, that’s right. Is the potential client in your target market? Do they use recruiters? Are they a long-term prospect with ongoing hiring needs? Are you seeing the decision-maker? A visit for its own sake is a sad waste of time. Think before you meet.
2. Lack of preparation. This is so common, and so avoidable, it almost brings me to tears. We have our huge chance to see the CEO or the Marketing Director of a massive client. It’s our one big shot. So much hinges on it. It has taken months to secure the meeting. And what do we do to prepare? Nothing! You need to do everything you can to give yourself an edge in that meeting. Yes, do the standard research on the company and its products. But also Google search the person you are meeting. Find out their history. If they have given a presentation that’s online – read it. Press releases are to be studied. Check out the LinkedIn profile. But there needs to be more too. Who are this company’s clients? Who are their competitors? How are their trading results? I saw a CEO of a large communications group two weeks ago and I Googled a YouTube video of him being interviewed in the week he started in the role. He explained his vision and his plans. How much do you think that helped me in framing my questions and my comments during the meeting? We got on like a house on fire. And your planning needs to be micro too. How long will it take you to get to the client site? Trivial you think? Not at all. A client meeting is stressful enough without arriving 20 minutes late. Why put the client off-side before you have even met her! Check your database too. Have we worked with client before? Was the client contact actually a candidate of ours once? Knowledge is power. Get the knowledge!
3. Fix your attitude. That’s right. Give yourself a sharp uppercut before the meetings starts. Don’t be subservient. Don’t be apologetic. Yes, your client is a senior executive who is expert in his field. But you are a professional recruiter who is expert in yours! Act like an expert. Not arrogant. But confident. The client relationship is peer to peer. It is a partnership – not slave and master!
4. Structure. Many recruiters conduct a visit like a pinball in a pinball machine. I have seen it a thousand times. All over the place with questions and anecdotes. Trying to sell, then asking questions. It’s a disaster! You have to have a plan. You are controlling the meeting. Subtly, yes, but still you know where it’s going. And you make sure it starts with the client talking about his company and his responsibility, and then you lead it to his team and his staffing mix. Then you guide it on to hiring challenges and his recruiter likes and dislikes. Then on to specific opportunities and finally, only after all this has been done, do you talk about your service and how you can solve the clients issues. Structure. Plan. Agenda.
5. Poor questioning skills. Oh yes! In this industry we are great talkers. I am no slouch myself. Ask anyone at Firebrand! But actually the secret to a great client meeting is asking great questions. Most client meetings fail because the recruiter does not ask questions at all. Or asks the wrong ones. Or wimps out on the important ones.
6. Talking ratios. Guess what? Good client visit? Client talks 80% of the time. You talk 20%. Job done.
7. Missing the needs. Often, we are so anxious to ‘sell’. So quick to leap on a client comment and tell her how we would handle the situation, so desperate to include all our differentiators, that we actually miss the clients ‘hot button’. The pain point. The key need she needs solved.
8. Poor closing skills. Only the other day I had one of my new recruiters tell me they thought asking for the business at the end of a client visit was ‘too pushy’. What?! Why do you think you are actually there? For the cup of tea? A great client visit, well structured, where all questions have been asked, needs unearthed, objections resolved, and our offering clearly sold… must end with you asking for the next order. If you don’t do that, or can’t do that, guess what? You just wasted the whole exercise.

About The Savage Truth. Based in Australia and written by Greg Savage, The Savage Truth is a resource of insights and ideas for anyone interested in recruitment and staffing. To contact Greg please email: gsavage@aquent.com

Customer Service: How it can improve your business in the long run

Investing time and whatever budget you have left in retaining customers will pay huge dividends in the long run, writes Claudia Hathway, Editorial Director of callcentre.co.uk.

Your customers can offer insights into a variety of ways you could cut costs. Try asking your frontline staff how they would do things differently – you’ll be amazed at the inefficiencies they have identified simply by interacting with customers every day.

While it’s an honour to be invited to be a judge this year, it is odd that there should be a National Business Award for a focus on customers in some ways. After all, without customers, there would be no business - so having a focus on them is surely vital for any successful company.

Unfortunately, many businesses concentrate solely on efficiently running the business and making sales, rather than helping customers fulfil a need or desire (which is why it was created in the first place). Customer service is too often perceived as a 'nice to have', rather than a long-term strategy to increase customer loyalty and profits, so it's fantastic that such a prestigious awards programme is putting customer service firmly back on the board agenda.

My top five tips for any type of organisation to consider when designing a customer service strategy are as follows:

1. Make it easier: There is mounting evidence that customer loyalty is based not on how special a customer is made to feel, but on how easy it is for them to interact with your business. This is hardly surprising given how time-poor people are in the modern world, but many businesses still put barriers in the way, such as complicated menu systems or transferring customers around, only for them to have to repeat their query. Keep it simple, or risk losing customers to companies that are less hassle to deal with.

2. Join up your processes: Believe it or not, customers don’t contact you for fun. Many businesses are now realising that customer service queries provide valuable business insight. Instead of just solving it and forgetting it, the nature of the issue can be used to make changes to business processes.

3. Personalise it: At the end of the day, customers just want to be treated like human beings. This can be difficult when you are dealing with thousands of them day after day, but a bit of politeness goes a long way. And if it’s a complicated query or complaint, it’s vital to let customers know that you care about getting it fixed. Take a bit of ownership and be proactive about it and that customer will be loyal for life.

4. Be consistent: There are dozens of ways customers come into contact with your company – whether it’s face-to-face, through social media, on the phone, or on the Internet. It’s tricky to pull off, but if you can give them a consistent experience each time, no matter what the interface, you will give the impression of being reliable. This instils confidence in your brand, making it more likely people will want to do business with you.

5. Try interacting with your own company: Remember, you are a customer. You wouldn’t be happy with poor service, so why allow it to go on in your business? Try calling or emailing your own firm – it can be an eye-opening experience.

Recruitment Matters news

Have you tried our new "text a question" service yet, which is exactly what it sounds like? We receive numerous emails, calls and odd texts asking us for help and guidance and very often it’s a one-off question that can be answered quickly and simply. Hence ‘text a recruitment question’ has been born. For the price of a standard rate text to 07582 711859 we will do our very best to answer any question that comes in. We’ve been helping recruiters recruit better since 1998 and are pleased to offer what we hope you’ll agree is an innovative way to expand the range of support services available to our clients.

As you know, 2011 is shaping up as a year of strong growth for us – and for many of you too, it seems, based on the number of bookings for our Two Day Introduction To Recruitment course. Long may it continue! Before the Bank Holiday weekend, it’s still not too late to book on our Introduction To Management and Successful Head-Hunting one day courses in London during the first week in June.

We continue to experience a significant trend towards many of you investing in in-house training which is something that we enjoy as it gives us the opportunity to develop a greater involvement with our clients. Ideally, do plan a good couple of months ahead if you can. We’ll always do our best to accommodate your requirements and don’t like to disappoint if we can possibly avoid it.

We’re making good progress on a project to make our audio training CD’s available via MP3 download and will have more news on this shortly.

Remember, in order to optimise your learning experience, most of our courses are purposely run with small delegate numbers and are generally capped at 12. Book now to avoid disappointment! See our June - August 2011 training dates below.

We hope that you enjoyed Warren’s new tips for this month – you will find many more on our free tips page which is regularly updated.

Finally, remember, if you can’t come to us, we can come to you to deliver an in-house version of any of our courses to meet your specific objectives. Contact ken@recruitmentmatters.com for more information or call 0800 0749289 or, if you’re overseas, 0044 1945 461561.

RECRUITMENT MATTERS INTERNATIONAL: June - August 2011 Open Training Schedule Attending an open course is not only a highly cost effective way of learning, it also gives you a chance to interact with your peers from other organisations, taking on board their viewpoints and experiences. In order to optimise your learning experience, most of our courses are purposely run with small delegate numbers and are generally capped at 12. Book now to avoid disappointment! NOTE: All our courses come with a 100% money back guarantee if not fully satisfied. If an individual books for a 'refresher' session on a previously attended one day course, then the cost is just £85+VAT.   SUCCESSFUL HEAD-HUNTING (one day) Europe's No 1 course on executive search Jun 3rd - London Jun 28th - Manchester Jul 5th - London Aug 9th - London Aug 23rd - Manchester Aug 31st - Birmingham Investment £299+VAT 'Bring A Friend' £229+VAT Link   RESEARCH TECHNIQUES & METHODOLOGY FOR RECRUITERS (half day) "It's not the client who pays your fee. He only writes the cheque. It's the candidate who pays your fee" Jun 22nd - Manchester Jun 24th - London Aug 10th - London Aug 12th - Manchester Running time 9:30am - 1:00pm NOTE. Same dates as 'Interview & Screening Techniques' - come along to both and make a day of it! Investment £149+VAT 'Bring A Friend' £99+VAT Link   INTERVIEW & SCREENING TECHNIQUES (half day) Learn how to screen & interview candidates both face to face and over the telephone Jun 22nd - Manchester Jun 24th - London Aug 10th - London Aug 12th - Manchester All sessions run from 2:00pm - 5:30pm. NOTE. Same dates as 'Research Techniques' - come along and make a day of it! Investment £149+VAT 'Bring A Friend' £99+VAT Link   MAXIMISING THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE NETWORKING (one day) Learn practical techniques that work and don't need a degree in IT! Jun 14th - London Jun 29th - Manchester Jul 8th - Birmingham Jul 14th - London Aug 19th - Manchester Aug 24th - London Investment £299+VAT 'Bring A Friend' £229+VAT Link   SELLING EXECUTIVE SEARCH AND WINNING RETAINED & EXCLUSIVE ASSIGNMENTS (half day) Jun 10th - Birmingham Jun 15th - Manchester Jun 23rd - London Jul 26th - London Running time 9:30am - 1:00pm Investment £149+VAT 'Bring A Friend' £99+VAT Link   TWO DAY INTRODUCTION TO RECRUITMENT (two days) 'Induction for new recruits' Jun 7/8th - London Jul 19/20th - London Aug 17/18th - Manchester Investment £495+VAT £425+VAT Link   BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT SKILLS (one day) "Opening up and building upon key client relationships" Jul 12th - Manchester Jul 15th - London Investment £299+VAT 'Bring A Friend' £229+VAT Link   INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT (one day) 'Managing Teams and Motivating People' June 1st - London Investment £299+VAT 'Bring A Friend' £229+VAT Link   For more information on these courses and our other services and products, visit www.recruitmentmatters.com, email info@recruitmentmatters.com or call Emma or Ken on 0800 0749289 or, if you're overseas, 0044 1945 461561. Contact us Recruitment Matters International 2 Oakfield Road Coventry CV6 1ED UK Tel: 0800 0749289/0044 1945 461561 Fax: +44 (0)2476 591326. Email: info@recruitmentmatters.com   Unsubscribe To unsubscribe from this newsletter please click here.

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