Budgets are tight across the staffing industry. Roughly 25% of agencies have laid off recruiters. Everyone is prioritizing investments—trimming the fat and doubling down on “must haves.” 

But which platforms fall into the “must have” category? Put another way, we hear a lot of staffing companies talk about how important candidate and client experience is to them. If candidate experience is so important, why don’t you have a platform to manage it? 

ATSs aren’t built to manage it. Automation platforms aren’t built to manage it. Survey programs aren’t built to manage it in real time. 

Here’s the reality: in 2023, an experience management platform isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s table stakes.

Don’t take our word for it. We’ve spoken with eight staffing industry experts and asked them why experience management technology (specifically Great Recruiters) is an essential line item in their budgets. Read on to hear their responses. 

The challenges (and opportunities) of an uncertain staffing market

Recruiters and agency owners are no strangers to uncertain markets. It seems just yesterday that we were dealing with talent surpluses, whereas now 57% of companies have had layoffs in the past three months, while 56% are looking to layoff employees in the future. 

But an uncertain market doesn’t mean your agency is doomed. Quite the opposite. One of our own partners, Triumph Services, is no stranger to uncertainty: they’ve been hit by the aftermath of 9/11, the 2008 crisis, and the Covid-19 downturn in 2020. During that last crisis, they didn’t just survive, but thrived, scaling their agency from local to national.

According to Triumph CEO Logan Bragg, the secret is to plan for tough times. “There are always going to be ups and downs,” says Bragg. “The key is to have a game plan for when things get tough. That way, you can weather the storm and come out on top.”

Part of that game plan is prioritizing investments. So it says a lot that Triumph has prioritized their investments in experience management. “I can tell you how good we are,” says Bragg, “But with Great Recruiters, I’ve got high-level software developers, DevOps people, Java engineers, etc. saying that my recruiters are the best in the business. That’s helped us get a significant amount of new clients.”

The undeniable benefits of investing in experience management

So why do Triumph and other high-performing staffing firms make sure experience management technology is a high-priority line item in their budgets? It comes down to these three undeniable benefits.

1. Build your referral engine

The first and most obvious benefit is the direct return on investment. High-performing recruiting agencies primarily measure this by tracking referrals. After all, if you’re creating great experiences, people naturally will tell their friends and colleagues about you. 

Scott Shelander, former president & CEO of Amare Medical Network, told us that referrals accounted for their “highest close rate and most valuable lead source.” 20% of those referrals came in through their experience management technology, Great Recruiters. 

Likewise, GIFTED Healthcare saw a 200% increase in hires from referrals within 90 days of adopting Great Recruiters. Next Move, another partner, holds a 13.8% review-to-referral conversion rate. 

Aplin, Canada’s largest staffing firm, has likewise seen a 300% increase in review-generated referrals and a 200% increase in hires from referrals since making investments in experience management. According to Sarah Tokar, President at Aplin, “Before Great Recruiters, we seldom asked for referrals. Now, one referral request after a positive review, and we can place two or three people from one person’s network.”

Finally, Atlas MedStaff increased their referrals from 33% to 50% after adopting Great Recruiters. Not only did they reduce spend on third-party sites, but, “We actually had to change the title of a guy that’s working here. He now only handles referrals that our top recruiters can’t get to any more. That’s how dramatic it’s become,” said Rich Smith, Atlas MedStaff Co-Founder & CMO. 

2. Validate your experiences and service offerings

If referrals are the direct measure of ROI, then brand is the indirect measure. According to Caleb Sykles, Director of Nurse Recruiting at Next Move, just because it’s indirect doesn’t mean it’s not important.

“[Our experience management efforts are] getting people to our website, making them more aware of Next Move and the company and culture we are,” said Sykles. Because of the positive reviews, Next Move has improved their website traffic and SEO rankings. 

As one of our partners recently wrote: “[Experience management] allows providers to go in and validate our work. Much like we ask them for references, they can get some on us to make sure that we are the perfect fit for them.”

This indirect measure of ROI is what Smith calls “return on awareness” or ROA. You can’t always measure it, but you know when it’s working. As we mentioned earlier, their return on awareness became clear when they had to hire an additional employee to manage the inbound business that came in from referrals. 

Shelander, similarly, calls them “unseen dollars”: a direct result of Amare’s positive brand reputation. “Your credibility is won or lost in 32 seconds,” said Shelander, “With Great Recruiters, we have the ability to keep people’s attention longer.” 

Whether you call it indirect ROI, return on awareness, or unseen dollars, the concept is the same: investing in experience management validates the experiences and services you offer. This, in turn, elevates your brand and draws more people to your agency.

3. Retain recruiters & optimize their performance

Uncertain markets can be culture-killers, especially when layoffs are involved. But whether times are good or bad, culture is critical. Virtually all of the industry experts we’ve talked with have said this in one way or another. 

Travel Nurse Across America (TNAA), stands out in terms of retention—their three-year attrition rate is a mere 5%, well below the industry benchmark. “[Recruiters] come here and stay,” said Rose Fulton, VP of Recruiting at TNAA. “And our travelers stay with us at a percentage above the industry benchmark.”

A key component of their high retention rate is their use of experience management technology. “I love seeing these reviews every day,” said Fulton. “As a leader, it helps me build confidence in what we’re doing. I read every single review that comes in—that’s how I start my day. Then I’m forwarding them back to the recruiter and director, congratulating and thanking them.”

Bo Molbert, Manager of Client and Customer Success for GIFTED Healthcare, told us that they had originally measured their experience management ROI in terms of referrals. However, the insights they gained into their recruiter performance and engagement “vastly outweighs the short-term mindset we had going in.”

Next Move has also seen similar results. “Great Recruiters’ real-time feedback lets me know how I’m doing, and what areas I can improve on,” said Skyles. “The reason people stay here is because of our culture. And the reason we have such great retention is because of Great Recruiters.”

Go from “clients” to “raving fans”

One of our users, a COO in healthcare staffing, said it best: “We believe that creating raving fans is critical to our success, and Great Recruiters is a core part of how we measure that, so much so that it has become ingrained in our culture!” 

So ask yourself this: do you have candidates and clients, or do you have raving fans? Only the latter will get you through the inevitable market ups and downs. 

Take it from these industry leaders: you need to invest in experience management technology now. If you want to stand out as a high-performing staffing firm, then it’s not a “nice to have.” It’s table stakes. 

Use the experience management platform that all these industry experts can’t live without. Get a Great Recruiters demo today.