The end of the year is often a time to reflect on deals won, lessons learned and goals met.
For our customers, top recruiting professionals who spend their days building relationships, year-end is also a time to organize and prepare for the year ahead.
Whether client budgets get put on hold until January, or the holidays delay the interview process, the fall and winter seasons seem to wind down just enough to allow for a day or two of reflection.
Given that time is now, our team wanted to share a few best practices for organizing your recruiting software.
We created Loxo to be simple, clean and highly customizable, by recruiting professionals across the globe. Our customers have shown us the most innovative ways to keep track of candidates and clients using our recruiting software. On the other hand, we have also seen customization get so granular that it can sometimes be difficult to go back and find information that was once stored.
Have you ever put something somewhere special thinking you would definitely remember where it was when you needed it, only to later lose your mind as you traced your steps wondering where you put it?
We set out to create a product that helped recruiting professionals do their job better and faster. After learning from our awesome customers and hearing, “Wow! This is so simple!” from every one of our prospective customers, we thought we would share an ingredient from our secret sauce with you.
In short, simpler is always better.
If you take one thing away from this blog, it should be that a simpler CRM is better than a highly detailed one. Less (process) is almost always more.
Your data exists for you to find it.
If you hide your data in a seemingly brilliant new column or build a list of contacts that quickly becomes outdated, your data is now lost instead of found.
To help you simplify your recruiting database, whether you use Loxo or not, we wanted to share the following tips with you so that you can think on them when you get to preparing your database and processes for the year ahead.
And this list isn’t finite. We’d love to hear your tips and tricks too. Whether you focus on recruiting or business development, or both, we’d love to hear how you keep things simple.
Your tool should be intuitive. Remove everything that you don’t need to focus on all the time. If you can eliminate clutter, you can focus on building relationships instead of managing them.
Your workflow should be 90 percent relationship building and 10 percent management. If you are spending more than 10 percent of your time managing your database, it is too much.
Loxo Tip: See if you can eliminate any special columns or tags in your database.
Get everybody on board. Use your ATS and CRM not only to track candidate and job fulfillment progress, but as an internal communication tool. If the tool helps your team, your team will use the tool.
It always disappoints us to hear prospective customers say they usually export their data from their CRM because it is easier to work in an Excel sheet.
Loxo Tip: If you find yourself working with Excel sheets, email us and we will show you how to revolutionize your workflow.
The number one way to lose control of your information is to create lists. Why? Lists quickly become outdated and unmanageable. If you create a list of candidates today, save that list, email that list, then forget about it — you will end up with hundreds of lists that you don’t know what to do with.
Loxo Tip: Turn your lists into “tags.”
What are tags? With Loxo you can tag your data so that your candidates and contacts are easy to find once they have a home in your database.
Think of tags like labels that never expire. If you use Loxo’s Smart Tags, you can create a ‘labeling system’ that allows you to move so fast through your database, we guarantee you will increase your speed-to-market.
The number one most important way to enhance a data record over time, is to add or remove tags. Tags are very light weight, flexible, and improve your search, but don’t harm your search.
The more you use Tags, the faster you’ll get to the results you want, and the easier your life will become — especially as your database and company grows. There is no limit on the number of Tags you can add to a record and you can add any type of tag you want: Skill. Category. Location. Certification. You name it.
Loxo Tip: Limit your tags too. Just because they are awesome doesn’t mean you need hundreds of them. Create a system that works for you, but simpler systems are better systems. Is there an echo in here?
Data entry is the modern equivalent of paperwork, and let’s get real, NOBODY loves tedious administrative tasks that keep us from getting more work done.
Automating data entry will give you more time to make connections and the best way to automate data entry is to make your CRM work for you. With Loxo, you can sync your email and calendar so that you never have to log a meeting in your database or remind yourself that you already emailed someone. If you send an email, Loxo will log that activity for you. SIMPLE as that.
Loxo Tip: Use an ATS and CRM that allows you to sync your email and calendar.
Are you always on the go? Whether you are a recruiter or an account executive, chances are you spend a lot of time meeting people in person.
Whether that is virtual or face-to-face, being able to use a mobile tool in today’s world is a must. Being mobile allows you to compete in an industry where speed-to-market can make or break your monthly income.
Use an ATS or CRM that is optimized for your mobile browser (like Loxo) or make sure there is a mobile version of your tool; this way you can take notes from your meetings or log a conversation whenever you are on the go. Again, double data entry is tedious so automating administrative work is key.
Loxo Tip: Make sure your tools are mobile friendly and track your progress while you are on the go.
You probably have a unique recruiting process that sets you apart from other recruiting teams. Whether you found a niche industry to hire for, or your sourcing process is second to none, you have a system that works for you.
Still, question your process. The end of the year is a great time to reflect on what you accomplished and plan ahead for what is to come. Chances are, there is always room for improvement. Think about how you can automate the tedious tasks and spend your time doing what you love: connecting.
Loxo Tip: Are you doing anything involving paper or spreadsheets? Does it take you 10 steps to email a highly targeted group of people? Question those processes and think about how to do it faster.
Your technology partner probably sees a lot of data migrations, several paths to the same destination, innovative customizations and really bad ones too.
Ask your technology partner about best practices within their database. Ask them if there are ways to do something faster than the way you are doing it now. Chances are you might be taking the long route if you are trying to implement a highly detailed process.
Your CRM should be easy to use and you should be able to find the data you are looking for quickly. Your CRM is your bread and butter. It should be simple and approachable. If it isn’t, connect with our team to learn how to make it that way.
Loxo Tip: Automate everything that can be automated. From recruitment marketing to keeping track of activities and hiring funnels, automate the tasks that you find yourself doing at your desk, so you can get in front of more people.
That’s it. As you look onward to 2017, we hope we can help you simplify your recruiting CRM. If you’re not sure where to start, email us at support@loxo.co.
Once you’ve chosen a tool to help you manage your relationships, sales processes and internal communication, choosing a new tool seems like a daunting task.
If you are a recruiting professional or agency that is not using Loxo as your technology partner, we challenge you to touch base with us. We built our recruiting software (the ATS and CRM are only part of our recruiting suite) specifically for you, third-party recruiting professionals that need to effectively manage hundreds of relationships a week.
We believe you should be building relationships not managing them. Let Loxo do the work for you. Our smart recruiting tools automate your administrative tasks so that you can make more connections, placements and dollars. Connect with us. Email support@loxo.co to start the conversation.