Software as a Service (SaaS) companies are known for being relentless at attracting clients, nurturing relationships, generating revenue and scaling fast. So how do they do it? Well, customer centricity plays a major part. This blog explores how you can build customer-centricity into your business to win new clients, no matter how challenging the landscape.
It feels like the recruitment industry has been in a whirlwind of chaos since the Covid-19 pandemic. Recruiters have had to tread carefully with a shortage of vacancies, no shortage of candidates, AI tools, and inflation causing havoc.
The ‘standard’ move for many companies when times are tough is to move to a smaller office and make redundancies, but everything else stays the same. But tough economic times – despite how scary they are – provide an opportunity to strengthen client relationships because they’re most likely feeling the pressure too!
Building ‘SaaS-like’ Customer-Centricity Into Your Recruitment Agency to win new business
SaaS companies take a ‘build, test, optimise, and continuous improvement’ approach to everything as It helps them tap into what customers really want. They know what’s good for customers is good for them, so they regularly test the waters to get feedback on ideas before building them.
1. Deep Dive Into Client Feedback Every Week
Addressing feedback can be scary, like looking at your finances when you know you’ve had a rough quarter! But feedback should be relished as it reveals what’s working and what’s not. Every week, book a meeting and invite everyone who engages with clients regularly to get a 360° view of feedback.
The benefits of reviewing customer feedback:
- Spot bottlenecks in your process.
- Identify trends early to avoid them catching you by surprise.
- Get a better understanding of clients’ needs.
- Learn from data to make data-driven decisions.
- Keep employees engaged, as it’s rewarding seeing the impact of their efforts.
2. Develop Buyer Personas
It’s common for buyer personas to be created and then left to gather dust. Often, the only time they get viewed by staff is on their first day as part of their onboarding process! SaaS companies don’t make this mistake. They revisit and update buyer personas regularly to help them stay focused on who their ideal customers are, where to find them, what their pain points are, etc.
Any time you’re addressing feedback, considering a new feature/service, or creating a marketing campaign – have your buyer personas at hand. They will help you make business decisions that are aligned with your customers' needs.
If you haven’t created a buyer persona yet, you can create a buyer persona here.
3. Sell Clients ‘The Bigger Picture’
Poor marketing copy only explains the features. While it’s important to learn about features, it leaves prospects thinking ‘So what… how does this help me?’. A good SaaS company has case studies, testimonials, and ties a benefit to every feature that they talk about. These are powerful as they show people exactly how they can help them. They don’t leave them wondering.
Remember you offer much more than just placing someone into a role. Picture your best client right now, the one that you’ve helped the most. If you stopped working together, think of everything that they’d have to do without your help…
- Hours would be spent every week looking for suitable prospects.
- They’d be looking through hundreds of CVs, screening people, booking interviews, and it could take them many months of trial and error to find the right tools.
- Stacks of time, energy, and focus would be taken away from their most important objectives.
- And once they’re done, would they be happy with the person they hired?
Sell the bigger picture, the outcome, the benefits, the impact. Your service should never be seen as a ‘nice to have’ – you can help businesses grow by placing top talent into roles while managers keep their time, energy, and focus for their most important tasks. A 15-30% commission is a small price to pay in comparison to the alternative.
4. Leverage Client Success Stories to Generate New Business
If there was a ‘gift of the gab’ award, the recruitment industry would win it every year. So take full advantage of your extroversion and client success – use them to generate business:
- Referral programs – offer cash incentives and future discounts, etc. to clients.
- Build social proof – include testimonials and case studies and make them EASY to see on your website, not buried at the bottom of a page that nobody views! Social proof builds authority and makes it a no-brainer for prospective clients to contact you. It proves that you can deliver on what you promise.
- Host networking events – everyone benefits from networking. Host events and make a habit of inviting clients along. Not only will you strengthen relationships and meet new people who could turn into clients, you will also learn a lot. And taking photos at your events gives you lots of content to share on social media to help you attract more clients.
- Engage clients on social media – bookmark your clients’ social media channels and make time to see what they’re up to. Comment and reshare their posts and start conversations. New business often starts with a chat.
- Create a follow-up process – don’t let your success be a secret between you and your clients. Create a process to follow up with the client and get testimonials and case studies. The smoother your process is, the more likely you are to secure some.
5. Leverage Your Impact to Identify Upsell Opportunities
It’s normal for clients to start small as they get used to working with you. But when you’re doing all you can to be customer-centric and you have proved that your services return an impressive ROI, you’re in a perfect position to secure bigger opportunities with your clients.
You should have a great understanding of how their business works and the pain points they face. Check in with your clients and introduce some ideas such as temp-to-perm programs, training and development programs, etc. These could be difficult to sell to new clients but they become much easier once clients know that your services have proven a solid ROI again and again.
Every business owner knows that just one new client can give them a major boost in motivation, giving their company some oomph to keep performing through tough times. And building customer-centricity into your business is a powerful tool that will help you win many new clients.
