Today’s consumers are exceptionally impatient and as we become more digitally-connected and globally-minded, we expect companies to follow suit – and operate relevantly to an always-on world.
It’s definitely getting easier to do that and using technology like chatbots, “always-on” businesses are becoming the gold standard.
The bad news is that recruitment businesses have been slower to adapt to this new always-on reality.
Recruitment businesses – where convoluted processes still run rampant – are particularly guilty of not meeting clients and candidates on their terms. And they are probably sick of waiting.
It’s time for a change and here’s how recruitment businesses can adapt to deliver the always-on digital experience clients and candidates expect.
A 2011 Harvard Business Review study found that if sales people waited longer than five minutes to follow up after a person completed an enquiry/contact-us form, their ability to connect with that buyer decreased by a factor of 10. That study also found that only a small percentage of companies responded within that five-minute window.
But a lot has changed since that report was written in 2011. Technology has changed, buyers have changed. We’ve even had a pandemic to deal with.
So if 5 minutes was too slow in 2011, how quick do we need to be today?
Recently, Drift released their latest State of Conversational Marketing report that asked this exact question of buyers.
46% of respondents said they expect a response within 5 seconds or less when using a chatbot; 43% expect the same using online live chat; and 33% when using a phone or video call. In fact, this need for immediacy grew across the board averaging an increase of 25%.
State of Conversational Marketing, Drift
Five seconds or less! We’ll let that sink in for a second.
That’s how fast the consumers of today expect a reply when there’s a chatbot or live chat being used. One-in-three buyers expect the same via a phone or video call.
According to a recent report from Twilio, the 2020 pandemic has sped up digital transformation for most companies by years. And according to McKinsey, more than one-third of your potential clients now prefer digital self-service and engagement over in-person meetings.
Thankfully, recruitment businesses now have greater access to automation and chatbot technology – than years prior. This means that recruitment businesses can now engage clients and candidates without the restrictions of a nine-to-five workday and with the immediacy that they expect.
Using AiRecruiter, recruitment businesses can now wrap their client and candidate journeys in a conversational layer, which not only provides a delightful experience, but increases revenue opportunity through immediate engagement and pushing these users through our ‘ConversationalGrowth’ module.
