Referrals… The Bottom Line

After 10 years with my former company, I decided it was time to take my career to the next level.  I have been with my new company, NSS RPO for almost two months and have the challenge of building from scratch. I had to sit back and think about what made me successful  in my last role.  The answer was building relationships that created referrals.  After all, recruiting is a relationship business. I look back over the last several years, it’s apparent the #1 reason for my success was referrals.  In 2014, 92% of my hires came from referrals and subsequently this was my best year as a recruiter, bringing in around 8 million in gross revenue to my company.   While other recruiters are always reacting and reinventing the wheel with every new position by going straight to job boards, I like to be proactive using the network I’ve built.  As a recruiter, we always talk about the “passive candidate” and the best place to find a passive candidate is via referrals.  The question you may ask is how does one build this referral network?

Referrals come from relationships.  Relationships start with your first contact and they’re cultivated throughout the entire recruiting process.  If you take interest in your candidates’ needs, and listen to their goals, this will go a long way in building the trust.  When you help a candidate reach their goals, you build trust.  Trust is necessary for any successful relationship.

Once you’ve begun the relationship, what do you do? How do you cultivate it? This is where most recruiters fail.  Instead of creating a system through e-mail lists, skill sets, etc. most recruiters just update their ATS (Applicant Tracking System) and move on. That approach fails as the recruiter loses track of the candidate and the relationship they just spent weeks or months building.  Recruiters need to have a system, which helps them continue to be in contact and uses these relationships to continue to grow your network and, in turn, help you receive referrals.  The bottom line is relationships,  which lead to referrals.  Statistically speaking, referrals are better candidates and are more likely to accept your offer.

As we recently celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends and families, think about the relationships you have with them.  If a friend or family member were to give you a referral, wouldn’t you trust that referral and do your best to help that referral?  On the other side, if you could give that friend or family member a referral, wouldn’t you do so without a second thought?  Instead of treating candidates like a number and just smiling and dialing for an end result, start creating a relationship you can trust that will help you now and in the future.
-John Motley is the Director of Professional Services at NSS RPO, a consulting firm that provides on-site and virtual recruiting professionals. Contact NSS RPO to learn about how we can help your organization meet and exceed its hiring goals.