"Marketing is the delivery of value in advance of the transaction."

The question facing recruiters today is how to ensure that an adequate supply of candidates is available to support future recruiting needs. This is fundamentally a marketing problem. The goal is to build a network of relationships, contacts and information that enables the Recruiter to rapidly respond to the hiring needs of customers. In our shortage environment, this means predicting your hiring needs, identifying an adequate supply of potential candidates and then working to make sure that they remain interested in the possibility of working for your customers. The problem is the same whether the recruiter works inside a company or for a third party agency.

In spite of what you may hear in the media (and it's interesting to note that media stocks are still depressed; the average newscaster's 401K has declined in value by 60% over the last year), the unemployment rate for college educated professionals is under 3% and dropping. This is at the point when the economy is still, more or less plateaued. The slightest hint of growth will create staggering competition for extremely scarce resources. To further compound the crisis, hourly workers will be in the scarcest position ever recorded by the first quarter of 2003. In other words, the time to build an infrastructure of relationships, networks and contacts is now before the market heats up to the unbearable point.

In their traditional markets, CRM systems are designed to add layers of delight to the experience of being a customer. As we mentioned yesterday, it feels good to be called "Mr. Sumser" in the grocery store. It feels good when the airline automatically upgrades a frequent flyer. The whole point of CRM systems is to increase the level of good feelings associated with doing business with your company. CRM systems help companies make their customers feel extra-special.

So, the question is: "How do we apply the principles of CRM to the Recruiting problem?" Interestingly, this problem is not addressed by the ATS vendors who supply so called "CRM" supplements to their offerings. Those tools, as we noted yesterday, are designed to create mailing lists that are the targets of modestly personalized spam.

When we say that "Marketing is the delivery of value in advance of the transaction," we mean that excitement and enthusiasm are best built by giving the target something that they value. While that may include notification of the fact that a job is open, it is much more likely to involve other areas of interest. Combating the labor shortage means building loyalty, desire and enthusiasm in an adequate array of potential candidates

The goal of a recruiting CRM system must be "To create a pool of potential candidates who are actively interested in and excited about coming to work for our company." While resume data (and other profile information) is a useful starting point, excitement and enthusiasm will only come from getting to know the candidates better. This can never be accomplished by sending them email. Rather, it requires the ability to listen, ask the right questions and have a range of things to offer those potential candidates.

Hire.com, with its emphasis on the discovery of Qualified and available candidates is on the right track. Their core emphasis on profiling candidates puts them ahead of the field in terms of the ability to expand the relationship. We think they are likely to move towards the model of adding delight to the experience of being a potential employee.

Much has been written about becoming the "employer of choice". In spite of the awkward wording (which seems to mean "cool place to work"), the idea is on the right track. For a CRM system to work in recruiting, the company must want to be a "cool" place to work. The CRM system can then be used to create coolness and other expectations in the minds of potential employees.

 -John Sumser