How to choose the best Recruitment CRM in 2023
What is a recruitment CRM
By definition, a recruitment CRM (customer relationship management) platform helps you streamline and automate the recruitment workflow in your agency. Sometimes you will hear the term ATS recruitment solution which is more designed for candidate management and then recruitment CRM which is more holistic covering candidates, clients, and jobs. As a recruitment agency what you want is a recruitment CRM for end-to-end management of the full recruitment process.
In today’s digital age of recruiting, the use of a CRM for recruiters is essential. It is the first piece of your tech stack. The quantity of data (i.e CVs) is no longer our problem but managing that data and finding the purple unicorns certainly is.
Spending the time investigating and implementing the best recruitment CRM for small businesses for your agency will absolutely help you place more candidates. There is everything from a free recruitment CRM to high-value solutions to consider.
You want your CRM to manage candidate and client data, track communication, automate tasks and improve productivity. However, with so many options available in the market, it can be challenging to choose the best recruitment CRM software that fits your business needs.
You may already be using a CRM and considering options to change, or this may be your first; regardless this is an important decision and the more you consider your options carefully the harder your CRM will work for you.
In this blog I will mention some specific recruitment CRM providers that I know are popular with my community of recruitment agency owners (globally), but I don’t just want to give you a Top 5 best recruitment CRMs for 2023 because every business is different and what is perfect for somebody else may not be even close to being right for you. I’ll share those I hear most about with favour and then you can take it from there.
It’s going to be more helpful for you to understand the best approach to choosing the right solution for your business. Don’t be tempted to choose a solution just because it’s familiar to you or somebody else recommends it. Do your due diligence and get a perfect fit solution that will power your business in a seamless and logical way.
Choosing your Recruitment CRM Software
Firstly, consider exactly what features you do and don’t want from your recruitment CRM provider. Some examples include automation, email campaigns, job board posting, speed of processing, mobile capability, integration capability, parsing resumes, CV management, candidate management, onboarding, scalability, reporting, analytics, and task management (I’ll dig more into features below).
Secondly, when you have your wish list, do demos with as many providers as you can. This will open your eyes to features you hadn’t already thought about and confirm whether your “must haves” are included with the platforms you are potentially already considering.
Thirdly, after the demos your understanding of your options will be more rounded, and now is the time to make a shortlist and create a list of more in-depth questions for those suppliers based on your current requirements and what you have learned from the demonstrations.
Once you get it down to a couple speak to a variety of agency owners who are using the system to find out why they like it and any issues they have.
The Best Recruitment CRM for a small business
When considering the best recruitment CRM for a small recruitment agency here are some key commercials to be mindful of.
Tech is always changing so whilst you want a solution that will last a reasonable time don’t go bigger than a solution that will work well for you now and into the near future or you will be burning money for features you don’t need. Products such as Jobadder, Loxo, Bullhorn, Vincere, and Firefish are all good examples of products that will grow with you.
Understand the full cost, not just the monthly user cost. The cost of a recruitment CRM can vary depending on the features and size of your team. Beyond that, be mindful of hidden costs such as setup costs, transferring data from your old system, training, and any exit/breaking contract fees. These all vary from company to company.
What updates are they planning for the future? You want to go with a solution that is always planned for tomorrow and has a team working on future iterations as the digital and recruitment landscape changes. Think AI for example.
Customer support. Get clear on how and when you can get help when you run into trouble with the system. Are there fees associated with support? Checking the level of customer support is a great question to ask people already using the CRM.
Key features of Recruitment CRMs
Automation
Check for automation capabilities: A good recruitment CRM should have automation capabilities such as automated emails, follow-ups, and job postings. Automation helps save time and improve productivity, allowing recruiters to focus on more strategic tasks. Being able to customise rules that trigger certain actions based on a candidate’s action (such as an email) will keep them receiving the appropriate communication at the right time and keep them engaged.
Email Campaigns
Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing tools you have at your fingertips so ensuring your Recruitment CRM believes this too and has inbuilt features to help you maximise this important function.
Task Management
Let’s face it recruiters have a lot to do and keeping tasks streamlined and the workflow as logical as possible will help make placements faster. Pick a system that is user-friendly and uncomplicated and one your consultants can customise (ie dashboards) to best suit their way of working. The more you can keep the workflow to as few systems as possible without having to jump from one tab to another the more productive your day will be. Bullhorn prides themselves on this.
How scalable is the solution? Is this going to work as efficiently for 1 or 2 people as it will for 10? You want a CRM that will expand and shrink to match your changing business needs. So consider things such as how easy is it to add or delete a user and integrate new platforms such as payroll for eg if you start doing temp recruitment. Do they offer tiered pricing? It goes without saying these days that consultants must be able to access remotely and on mobile so the speed of accessibility is key too.
Candidate/CV Management
Being able to quickly identify the right person for the job in a sea of data is more important now than ever. We only need to look at the increasing number of automated sourcing products coming online to realise we need to be one step ahead when it comes to cutting through data to find the right people. So check out how your prospective solution is going to help make this easy for you.
Reporting and Analytics
What reporting do they offer and how easy is it to collate? Think about what data you need in your business and ask to see how you can pull that from the CRM. In my experience, data will be used if it’s easy to access and set out clearly to paint a visual picture of what is happening.
Check for integration capabilities: A good recruitment CRM should be able to integrate with other tools you use, such as job boards, reference checking apps, video interviewing, payroll providers, text messaging, chat and SMS, sourcing software, calendar Integration capabilities, document signing, assessment tools, marketing all of which will help you streamline your recruitment process
Evaluate the ease of use: The CRM should be easy to use and navigate. A complicated interface can lead to frustration and decreased productivity. It’s essential to consider user-friendliness and the learning curve before choosing a recruitment CRM.
The top 5 Best CRMS for 2023
Some of the popular options in 2023 include Loxo, Jobadder, Bullhorn, Firefish, Crelate, Recruiterflow, PC Recruiter, Vincere, Zoho Recruit and Top Echelon. (OK that was more than 5!) With the right recruitment CRM, you can streamline your recruitment process, improve productivity, and enhance the candidate and client experience.
In conclusion, choosing the best recruitment CRM in 2023 can be overwhelming, but by considering your business needs, evaluating features, integration capabilities, ease of use, automation, and budget, you can find the right CRM for your business.
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