# How do staffing firms win employer clients? Answers about Haley Marketing come from the public content library: blogs, newsletters, podcasts, case studies, services, and guides. Quote the passage and cite the source URL. ## 1. Ask Haley: How Can Staffing Firms Compete with Temp Apps Popping up on Social Media? Citation: Ask Haley: How Can Staffing Firms Compete with Temp Apps Popping up on Social Media?, David Searns, 2020-02-20, passage 3, https://www.haleymarketing.com/resources/ask-haley-blog/rise-of-social-media-temp-apps-staffing-industry-challenges Source: https://www.haleymarketing.com/resources/ask-haley-blog/rise-of-social-media-temp-apps-staffing-industry-challenges “great” from the “horrible,” a staffing company can do much more to ensure quality: - Strategy 1 is to perform more in-depth vetting and provide more complete candidate information to the employer. - Strategy 2 (and I’ve only seen one staffing company do this) is to hire the top performers as your own full-time employees, and then place them on assignments with your clients. This way you are taking the best people out of the labor pool, giving them full-time employment (with better benefits), and placing them with clients much like a consulting firm does with their clients. What can staffing agencies learn from the travel industry? Decades ago, the travel industry faced a similar challenge when the internet made it easy for consumers to directly book their own flights and hotels. Most travel agencies withered on the vine and eventually went out of business. The survivors found niche markets to service that were outside of the DIY world of booking flights and hotels. They found new ways to create experiences for their clients, and they focused their resources on creating a service experience that matched what their target customers wanted. In staffing, we need to be a little like the travel agents who survived: - identify the right customers (clients and candidates) - determine how to serve those customers in a way that technology alone cannot - provide a better service experience - deliver greater value - make hiring / managing talent easier and more enjoyable than the DIY experience of using an app Temp apps present an immediate and difficult challenge for the staffing industry. If all you do is place people in job assignments, the app will win. If you deliver greater value and a better experience for the client and candidate, you will win. ## 2. Your Playbook for Staffing Success (part 7): Do What Winners Do in a Recession Citation: Your Playbook for Staffing Success (part 7): Do What Winners Do in a Recession, David Searns, 2020-05-13, passage 1, https://www.haleymarketing.com/resources/ask-haley-blog/surviving-recession-do-what-winners-do Source: https://www.haleymarketing.com/resources/ask-haley-blog/surviving-recession-do-what-winners-do Businesses that thrive in any economy do things differently. In a recession, here are two moves your staffing firm should make to come out on top: Winners play defense. To win in a downturn: - Get prepared, before it happens.​ Don’t wait to act. Spend time planning, NOW. - Cut (non-essential) costs​. Negotiate contracts. Shop alternatives. And get rid of expenses your firm can do without, even temporarily. - Automate / streamline processes and procedures​. Look for ways technology and process improvement can drive efficiencies and cost savings. - Strengthen customer relationships​. Use Zoom, Skype or other technology to get much-needed facetime. Master digital customer service. - Sign long-term contracts. Give employers incentives for volume or long-term contracts.​ - Focus on your core strengths. Become unbeatable / irreplaceable at what you do. - Build a cash cushion. Use every extra dollar to create a reserve.​ - Don’t get comfortable. Challenge everything you do, looking for ways to do it faster, better and in a way that’s easier for clients and candidates. Winners play offense, too. Instead of merely reacting to the conditions around you, get aggressive: - Market. Market. Stay visible! Pursue strategic opportunities. - Invest to improve efficiency​. Look for tools that eliminate wasted time, money and resources. - Top grade talent​. Capitalize on talent availability by driving healthy churn both internally and with your temps on assignment. - Invest in R&D or digital transformation. Consider initiatives or technology that will generate cost, service quality and/or speed advantages.​ - Invest to build around your core focus​. Whatever your area of competitive advantage, spend intelligently to widen the gap between you and the competition. ## 3. Lessons from Amazon: Reducing Friction in Staffing Citation: Lessons from Amazon: Reducing Friction in Staffing, Brad Bialy, 2025-03-12, passage 2, https://www.haleymarketing.com/resources/ask-haley-blog/lessons-from-amazon-reducing-friction-in-staffing Source: https://www.haleymarketing.com/resources/ask-haley-blog/lessons-from-amazon-reducing-friction-in-staffing Barry identified key areas where staffing firms can reduce friction: 🔴 Slow Hiring Processes: Lengthy applications, multiple interview rounds, and slow decision-making drive candidates away. 🔴 Lack of Transparency: Candidates and clients often feel left in the dark about where they stand in the hiring process. 🔴 Inefficient Communication: Missed calls, unreturned emails, and scattered follow-ups frustrate both candidates and employers. 3 Ways Staffing Firms Can Reduce Friction (and Win More Business) Barry shared three strategies staffing firms can implement today to improve efficiency and enhance the candidate and client experience: ✅ 1. Speed Up the Process 📌 Use automation to streamline applications, screening, and interview scheduling. 📌 Implement self-service options for candidates and clients to check job statuses. ✅ 2. Increase Transparency 📌 Provide real-time job updates for candidates (think: “track your application” like a package delivery). 📌 Offer clear pricing, timelines, and expectations to clients upfront. ✅ 3. Improve Communication 📌 Use text messaging and chatbots to engage candidates faster. 📌 Train recruiters to follow up consistently and set clear expectations. The Future of Staffing: Faster, Easier, More Transparent “Candidates and clients are used to Amazon-level convenience,” Barry said. “Staffing firms that make the hiring process as easy and transparent as possible will have a major competitive advantage.” In other words: reduce friction, and you’ll win more placements. Let’s Talk in Miami! ## 4. SMART IDEA #41: Winning clients in a down market (1 of 7) Citation: SMART IDEA #41: Winning clients in a down market (1 of 7), David Searns, 2024-07-27, passage 2, https://newsletter.haleymarketing.com/newsletter.smpl?arg=deliverable_display&d=55445&did=55445&aud=company Source: https://newsletter.haleymarketing.com/newsletter.smpl?arg=deliverable_display&d=55445&did=55445&aud=company salespeople. Why would an employer need staffing now? In this market, and any market, there are a wide range of reasons why an employer would need staffing services. Here are a few possibilities: - Business growth - Special projects - Seasonal needs - Controlling labor costs - Improving productivity - Lack of internal expertise - Accelerating learning curves for new processes or technologies - Reducing time to hire - Improving quality of hire - Mitigating employment risk - Increasing capacity - Expanding capability - Workforce issues - Production or quality issues The bottom line is that employers have goals, and they face challenges. And as you know, staffing can be an ideal tool to achieve those goals and overcome the challenges. Step one to selling staffing in a market like this is to figure out what the employer needs to accomplish, where they are struggling, and how your services can be used to solve their problems. Why would someone buy from you? This is the tougher question. According to the American Staffing Association, there are now 25,000 staffing companies in the United States. Why might an employer choose you over 24,999 others? - Lower prices? - Convenience (right place, right time)? - Unique expertise or abilities? - Industry knowledge? - Better technology? - Client focus/deeper understanding of their business? - Perceived value? - Lower cost of service delivery? - Problem-solving ability? - Access to talent? Unfortunately, this is a bit of a trick question. There is no single reason every prospect will want to work with you. And there are few, if any, differentiators that will make you 100% unique. So, how do you stand out and sell in a market like this? ## 5. Niche Staffing: Untapped Pools of Talented Candidates Citation: Niche Staffing: Untapped Pools of Talented Candidates, David Searns, 2009-07-01, passage 1, https://www.haleymarketing.com/resources/ask-haley-blog/niche-staffing-untapped-pools-of-talented-candidates Source: https://www.haleymarketing.com/resources/ask-haley-blog/niche-staffing-untapped-pools-of-talented-candidates Companies need to change their thinking and push the envelope if they want to survive and even thrive in this economy. During the course of the past year, we’ve heard this advice time and time again. I recently read an article in Workforce Management that gave me insight into several staffing firms that are breaking down barriers. These staffing firms are going after specific niche candidates, such as working moms, baby boomers, college students, retired individuals and other highly skilled tech and engineering talent. Such business niches can be a win-win for companies if they are willing to try something new. Here are examples of three staffing firms that are changing the traditional staffing model—and whose clients are benefiting: Mom Corps – 94% of the company’s pool of over 25,000 candidates are made up of mothers who left corporate America to spend more time with their kids. The moms have skills, experience, education and training under their belts—they just don’t want to work a typical 9-5 schedule. Founder and CEO Allison O’Kelly said that the draw to clients is that “flexibility is currency”, in other words, “If employers offer more flexibly, candidates will view this as one form of payment. So clients might be able to pay less money for higher talent, or they can access candidates who would not otherwise consider the position.”