A report by McKinsey revealed that 70 per cent of customers reduce their commitment to a sale following a negative customer service experience. But, customer service isn’t just important for the retail sector. Here, Claire Leigh, director of commercial and financial specialist recruitment agency, Brampton Recruitment, explains why good customer service is essential at every interaction for all businesses.

Recruitment consultants are in constant contact with both clients and candidates and must be aware of the need to deliver outstanding customer service to both groups.

Recruiters often talk about candidate’s communication skills, but it is their own skills that are at the forefront of ensuring customer satisfaction. The importance of managing expectations, alongside staying in touch with clients and candidates, cannot be overestimated. Good customer service doesn’t just have to be a phone call. An email can work just as well in ensuring a customer’s experience is a good one.

Brampton Recruitment’s website’s job alert function means candidates can choose to receive updates within 24 hours of a job becoming available, enabling them to be ahead of the crowd when applying for competitive opportunities. A fast turnaround is also advantageous for the client, who often needs the vacancy filled as soon as possible.

Experience

Although similar skills are used to ensure clients and candidates have positive experiences, how they are used differs.

Excellent client experiences centre on building a relationship with the client to understand their business goals and objectives, which in turn allows us to find the right candidate.

Specific ways in which we provide this at Brampton Recruitment include working later on a Tuesday and Wednesday to ensure we are reachable outside of office hours, in addition to consultants being available even when they are out of the office. These tactics mean our clients are confident they can always get in touch with a consultant if they require advice or need to follow up on an interview.

Candidates

It is not a revelation to suggest the best way to provide exemplary customer service to clients is to provide them with outstanding candidates and vice versa. Building relationships by providing excellent customer service when interacting with candidates is just as important as for clients.

Plentiful resources designed to aid job seekers are found on our brand-new website, including dedicated guides to CV writing and interviews, processes we know candidates worry about. Alongside a powerful search function, allowing candidates to see only the jobs which are relevant to them, either by location or skill set, the website gives a complete solution for job seekers.

Despite a wealth of information online, some candidates prefer to meet recruiters face to face and so running events such as CV workshops and refer-a-friend events are invaluable as they allow us to build a relationship with the candidate. This means we are able to place the candidate in the ideal role, best suited to their individual needs.

Recognising the individuality of each candidate and client is also integral to delivering a positive customer service experience. Some candidates, such as those currently in work, might prefer to carry out as much of their job application online as possible.

This is why, in addition to searches, job alerts and online guides, our new website includes an option for online tests. Traditionally, any online tests required by a prospective employer would have to be completed during an interview, or at their recruitment agency’s office.

With the online test function on the website, a candidate can securely take a test at their own convenience in their own home, reducing the anxiety and inconvenience often associated with testing.

Ensuring both clients and candidates receive a high level of customer service is integral to the success of most businesses, including recruitment agencies.

The ultimate goal to find the perfect candidate for the role as quickly and efficiently as possible, is the holy grail of recruitment and centres around customer service. In order to achieve this, agencies and individual consultants need to have customer service at the forefront of their mind.