Getting client advocacy

1 September 2010

On average, I receive five calls a day from recruitment agencies wishing to supply candidates to Capgemini Consulting. If they catch me on a good day, I’ll be patient and will explain the reasons to them as to why we are not currently looking to add to our already overly long list of preferred suppliers and why, as an internal recruiter budget constraints mean we are being asked to focus more and more on direct recruitment.

Over the years I have taken hundreds of such calls and, admittedly, I have succumbed on a small number of occasions, agreeing at least to review the CV of that ’perfect candidate’ for that hard-to-fill role advertised on our careers website.

However, I’m sad to say that on most of those occasions I have regretted the decision. Often the candidate has been way off the mark, the recruitment consultant delivers a service which leaves a lot to be desired, and we have quickly parted company. Why is that? I believe it is down to not having invested the time in building a strong relationship with the individual recruiter. And it’s that relationship which I believe is key.

Why are client relationships important in the recruitment industry and is it the relationship between individual recruiter and client or the client’s relationship with the recruitment agency as a whole that is more important?

I have thought about those agencies that have enjoyed a long-term and fruitful relationship with Capgemini Consulting and what it is about them that has allowed this relationship to prosper and flourish.

What stands out for me is the relationship with individual recruiters and their ability to build advocacy within the client or customer.

For me, what works well and helps to foster that relationship is the following and is what I mean by customer advocacy:
- A partnership approach, taking a longer-term, less deal-centric approach to the relationship. This means taking time to deliver the right candidates for the role, rather than flinging database candidates at the client
- Intimately knowing the market in which we operate and getting to know us as a company. We the client also need to facilitate this
- A good listener listens to what we don’t want, as well as what we do; and sticks to it
- Instinctively ’getting it’ so we don’t need to have a full briefing session every time we have a new role to offer. This also comes down to good listening skills
- Being a professional representative of the client company in the external market, demonstrating good business sense and judgement
- Clearly looks after the best interest of the candidate and the client, for instance if the candidate is not right for the role or client company, then not overselling: this will lead to two unhappy clients
- Straightforward and honest. The recruiter telling us when they don’t think they’ll be able to deliver on an assignment

As a recruitment consultant, if you can see the value in customer advocacy, you will need to consider whether the recruitment agency you are with ’gets’ the advocacy thing because if not, you will never be recognised for it.

For the recruitment agency, I think it’s correct to say that spotting and keeping recruitment consultants who understand client advocacy is important.
In my experience, sometimes these recruiters are not loud, brash and political, but are often easy to overlook in favour of the more obvious salespeople. There’s an investment to be made in allowing such recruiters to flourish because these client relationships won’t happen overnight, but will pay dividends in the medium and longer term, particularly in a changing recruitment market.

Why is this important? In a market where internal recruiters are being targeted more and more on direct hiring, but still see the value the recruitment agency can bring, they will be looking to maintain a small but effective list of recruitment consultants. That means they will want to hold on to the recruitment consultants with whom they have invested time in developing a productive and loyal relationship.

If the recruitment consultant moves agency and has made the decision to go it alone, then that is fine. The client can quite easily move with the individual recruiter, just as soon as those non-solicitation clauses have lapsed. That clause might prevent the recruiter from soliciting the client for a certain period of time, but it does not force the client to stay with the agency they once worked for.

Nicky Winch is head of recruitment at Capgemini Consulting