We received the first ever Applause AND Firing Squad Guns votes in the show history. Hint: Cheese got it completely wrong...and I mean completely wrong!
July 26 2019
PODCAST : StaffUpApp on the Chad & Cheese FIRING SQUAD
Here are my responses to the down vote(firing squad guns) from Cheese. Cheese got it completely wrong...and I mean completely wrong! So I felt that I needed to respond in a little more detail.
1. Cheese: You have a lot of things going against you...
REPLY: Of course we do, we are a start up killing it in the staffing industry. With multi-million dollar investments in mobile by Indeed, and others means staffing firms better pay attention-- Indeed and other competitors are out to eat your lunch!
2. Cheese: Firms having to promote it, market it and maintain it is a problem...
REPLY: This is why that statement is so off the mark: Marketing the app is no extra work. Firms include a “Download our app” link at the bottom of job posts, in their LinkedIn and other social media posts, as
well as sending out a broadcast text message or email to all profiles. Most firms do these things already to market their available jobs to candidates. The app is essentially a digital business card.
3. Cheese: Job seekers get annoyed with alerts, like email alerts today…
REPLY: FYI, Cheese, Email is DEAD as a marketing tool. It's all about texting and even more effective, push notifications now. Our app never sends notifications for random jobs. The candidate adds keywords for very specific jobs they are interested in and only then will they get a push notification alerting them to your jobs -- first! before they see it from your competitors.
4. Cheese: Asking the candidate to download an app is an obstacle...
REPLY: Like downloading the Uber or Lyft app is an obstacle? Are you saying getting on the phone and calling a taxi and hoping it shows up is better? Come on Cheese, it’s a simple ask of a person engaged with your firm to download your own fully branded app to stay engaged with your firm. Staffing & Recruiting firms are relationship based, a candidate is not going to have a relationship with more than one or two staffing firms. Asking them to download the app at the bottom of your job posting, linkedin, facebook or twitter posts is a no brainer, no extra marketing at all, for a huge gain.
5. Cheese: You have never done employment before, it would be easy to go back and do something else.
REPLY: Huh? Cheese come on, can’t you say that about any company? Some of the greatest companies in the world have made a pivot to provide the market exactly what they want. We are laser focused on staffing & recruiting, period, full stop. There was nothing in the interview that would indicate we would turn around and run home if the business got tough. Business is great, but even if it got tough, you
could say that about nearly every staffing vendor in the market today. There are very few large staffing vendors, most are relatively small.
My Wrap Up: To wrap up my response, first I love the show and appreciate the feedback, but Chad got it exactly right, with Indeed and other big players making it even harder for staffing & recruiting firms to compete against them, a firm needs to stand out. Having your own mobile app that strengthens the engagement with active and passive candidates is essential. Allowing them to apply for your jobs faster and send you friend and colleague referrals with just a couple clicks is a must. I think the Indeed acquisition of Syft is a canary in the coal mine for firms. Indeed is saying “We are in the marketplace space now”, competing with that will be tough without your own mobile app.
Thanks again guys for the interview Chad & Cheese.