In today’s world, we expect everything on-demand and on our terms. Instead of going to the corner for a taxi, we have an app to call a car to wherever we are. No more driving to rent videos, everything is streaming. And the biggest shift of all, we don’t have to call each other for everything, we can just text.
When you try to contact a business and it’s difficult or no one is available, you’ll just move on to the next option. I’m not going to call to wait on hold, or fill out a contact form and wait for someone to email or call me back. I want to connect with you now.
As a staffing firm, if you’re still relying on website forms, phone calls and email, your recruiting experience is stuck in the past. With robocalls, non-stop spam emails, it’s time to think about how to connect with your candidates and clients on their terms.
So how can you provide the one-to-one, on-demand experience your candidates expect? Here’s the story of why we started Staffing Engine to help solve that problem.
The 3 Levels of On-Demand: From Apps to Text Messaging to Bots
Back 2007 when the iPhone first came out I was obsessed. I had already been hacking apps on my Palm Treo and thought the idea that mobile software would change the way we do business.
So I taught myself UI/UX design, and Ted Guggenhiem and I started a mobile development shop called Rage Digital where we built over a hundred apps for startups and big brands.
It was an amazing learning experience in startups and software, but the thing about apps is you have to get people to download and use them regularly, which can be a challenge.
When someone would come to us with an app idea, we would often question if the problem could be solved through mobile web or another channel.
After 2 years of a failed app experience for a client during the Super Bowl, we decided to try and make it even easier and just use text messaging. The simple idea was an SMS concierge which solved our previous engagement issues when forcing people to use an app.
What we ended up learning in reverse is that there are 3 levels on-demand to be available for customers on their terms.
Level 3 = Apps / Mobile Web
Level 2 = Text Messaging
Level 1 = Bots
So in 2015, Ted, Mike Hickman and I teamed to start a text messaging software called TextUs. Instead of building an app for everything, we learned that real-time messaging would be just as valuable of a channel as having an app or website.
With TextUs, businesses can start text messaging with customers for the first time. Not promotional texts though, conversational text messaging to engage people and build relationships.
Once you start texting, you can then send links to open the mobile web or upgrade to download an app for a more advanced experience.
We helped all different types of businesses, including 1000+ staffing firms, communicate faster and place more candidates. We learned how important communication was in the process of getting someone placed in a job.
But we realized there’s another level to uncover to be available on-demand, 24/7 to get even closer to the customer.
Introducing Staffing Engine Bots
At the end of 2020, we started working on the first level of on-demand, bots. As we near the end of the pandemic and millions of people are getting back to work, we saw the need to solve that problem and started Staffing Engine to help staffing firms with the first level of on-demand, bots.
Staffing Engine Bots are put to work on your website, via text messaging, and on social media to help staffing firms become available to candidates 24/7 and get people placed in jobs faser.
Bots ask qualifying questions to route candidates to recruiters, book meetings, use text messaging to reach people on-the-go, and turn Facebook and Instagram direct conversations into contacts in your CRM or ATS.
Recruiters can be brought in at any point into the conversation using tools you already use like Slack, MS Teams, Google Chat, and TextUs so they never need to leave their preferred workflow and don’t have to learn new software.
Here are the 3 primary channels to put Staffing Engine Bots to work.
#1. Website Bots
If someone visits your website, bots can respond 24/7, qualify visitors, and book meetings. Having a bot is another way to capture visitors who would prefer to chat now instead of fill out a form and wait.
#2. Text Messaging Bots
If someone texts your business phone number, the bot can respond with options and route the conversation to the right person. You can also create keywords and promote things like ‘Text “apply” to 720-674-7654’, and your Staffing Engine Apply Bot will qualify and route the lead to the right recruiter.
#3. Social Bots
If someone sends your business a message on social media, bots make sure you respond. You can also create keywords and phrases to promote on social posts like, ‘DM “apply” to get started’ and the apply bot will qualify and add the candidate into your ATS. You’ll increase the ROI of your social strategy and never miss a lead.
Ghosting ?
At the end of the day, ghosting people and lack of responsiveness damages your brand and leads to lost placements. We all know how frustrating it can be when you want to get a hold of someone and you’re not able to, but add the stress of looking for a job, and that creates the perfect storm of unhappy candidates.
How many opportunities are you losing by allowing clients and candidates to leave your website without taking action? Do you have someone following up with social media messages? Do you know who’s texting your business phone numbers?
Staffing Engine Bots are here to help you scale the number of conversations your firm can manage, become available on-demand 24/7 and make sure you never ghost an opportunity again.
P.S. We’re here to help!
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