preparing for the uptick: webinar recap

Preparing for the Uptick

Marketing & Recruiting for the

‘New Normal’

Sharlene Massie & Fred Yee

● Calgary-based marketing technology and

services company

● Customers across North America

● Completed over 500 successful projects

since 2004

● Specializes in working with B2B industrial

businesses

● Google certified partner

● www.ActiveConversion.com

● Alberta business which successfully places

candidates in temporary, contract, and

direct hire positions

● Established in 1996

● Screen and interview candidates

● Background, credit, and credential checks

● Ensure confidentiality

● Partners with the community to give back

● www.AboutStaffing.com

Presented By

Fred Yee

● Founder & CEO of ActiveConversion

● Accomplished expert in the online

marketing community and marketing

technology industry

● Recognized as one of the Top 50 Most

Influential People in Sales Lead

Management

Sharlene Massie

● Founder & CEO of About Staffing

● Wealth of experience in the recruiting,

staffing, and placement industry in Alberta

● Regularly appears on national news

broadcasts for CBC, BNN, CTV, and Global

● Director of the Better Business Bureau

Southern Alberta

Recruiting for the ‘New Normal’Presented by: Sharlene Massie

CURRENT ECONOMY

● Official statistics indicate that there is currently an unemployment rate of 9% in Alberta as a result of mass layoffs tied to low commodity prices.

● This is one of the highest unemployment in Alberta’s history. ● However, this number does not include people who are living on severance

packages, are self employed, or who have dropped out of the workforce, so the number is likely much higher than 9%.

● On the horizon: In an early September 2016 report, 17% of Alberta business owners indicated that they expect to hire during Q3 of 2016

So Where Do You Go From Here?

● The first thing to do is to understand how much revenue/net you need to sustain your business (burn rate).

● It is then important to get a sense of the current staff workload. What are current employees working on? Are they operating outside of their traditional job descriptions?

● It is important to understand where the workload breaking point is which, when reached, will lead to staff turnover.

You Need An

OrganizationalChart

CURRENT

Organizational Chart

● To properly plan for workforce needs you need a structured org chart. ● If you have one already, pull it out and dust it off. ● If you don’t, there are plenty of free or cheap templates available for

download online. ● Layout your current staff structure and see if there are any obvious gaps

that will need to be addressed. ● As you go forward, having a clear understanding of individual roles will help

plan for business growth and prepare for unexpected changes.

1 year from now 3 years from now

Going Forward

● The next step is to anticipate business needs going forward. ● While this will always be somewhat of an educated guess, it is important to have

some vision of what your team will look like in the future. ● Do you plan to add more customers? Can your current staff meet those demands?

What new roles or skills will be needed to manage the changes? These are questions that need answers in order to properly plan for staffing needs.

● Keep turnover in mind. Employees will move on or go on maternity leave (common during downturns). By properly planning you will know which skills need to be replaced, be prepared to fill new roles, and won’t panic when there are surprise changes to the staff.

Job Descriptions

● Communicate with your team. Ask how they feel about staff changes that are taking place and if they have any stress about new positions being added or past positions disappearing.

● Find out which tasks employees are enjoying and which ones they aren’t. Consider this information when developing responsibilities for a new position.

● Make sure job descriptions are specific and clearly communicate the experience and skills needed to succeed in the role.

● As well, make sure job descriptions are forward thinking. Describe what will be required of the role in the future, since that is the real position you are trying to fill.

Hiring

Things to consider with online job boards:

● Indeed - The most affordable job board, however, as new jobs are added older ones are pushed to the bottom. Paid featured jobs will remain at the top of search results. Good for filling generic and entry level positions

● Monster/ CareerBuilder/ Workopolis - More expensive than indeed but better at filling roles with very specific qualifications and more senior level positions. Jobs will be shown based on the relevancy of a posting to a search, not just based on date posted.

Keywords vs Fit

● It is easy to search for candidates using keywords relevant to the job, it is difficult to search for candidates based on their fit within an organization

● Fit is more important to an organization● Spend more time determining what makes a good fit with an organization, and then

search for candidates which offer those qualities

Interviews

● Despite the economy, candidates today are still choosey.○ It is important to sell a candidate on a position.○ If a candidate is not sold on a position, they may tell others it is not a good role

or company, and the position may become difficult to fill● Avoid bringing candidates in simply to build your database when there aren’t actually

any positions available. This will annoy applicants and create a bad reputation for your business when the time comes to fill a real jobs

● Your team will be working closely with a candidate. Ask your team:○ What questions would be important to find answers to in an interview○ What types of people they work well with

● Candidates get nervous in interviews○ It is important to determine whether a candidate is nervous, or actually

incapable of doing the job. Asking warm up questions to start an interview can help candidates settle in

Offers

● We are finding in Alberta that many people looking for work aren’t willing to take jobs that pay less than they are used to making. Therefore, job offers shouldn’t be significantly less than in the past simply because of the downturn

● However, employers are under no obligation to give raises to staff during downturns, and job offers should make it clear when potential employees might expect to be eligible for a raise.

● Benefits still need to be provided by employers, but they don’t need to be quite as comprehensive during tough times.

● Aren’t sure? Use job boards to conduct market research & get a sense of what other employers are offering. This will establish a good starting point for similar positions within your company

● Job offers should be presented verbally first, and then after speaking with a candidate, sent officially in writing.

When to Work with a Staffing Agency?

1.CONFIDENTIAL postings

2.Positions that need to be urgently filled

3.Highly specific and difficult to fill roles

4.Temporary positions or unknown workloads

5.Head-hunting from a competitor

6. When seeking expertise

Questions or Clarification?

Sharlene Massie - CEO About Staffing

[email protected]

403-508-9889 (Calgary)

or

780-409-8100 (Edmonton)

mailto:[email protected]


1-877-872-2ROIACTIVECONVERSION.COM

Marketing for the ‘New Normal’Presented by: Fred Yee

THE CURRENT SITUATION


● Low commodity prices have made business opportunities in traditional markets harder to find

● Companies can no longer rely on relationships to generate new business opportunities

● Sales and marketing departments have fewer staff and are operating with reduced capabilities

● Smaller budgets - businesses need to do more with less

WE DON’T NEED MARKETING BECAUSE:


1.‘We know who we sell to’

2.‘Our sales come from our relationships’

3.‘We are very good and people come to us’

4.‘We just schmooze our customers’

5.‘It’s expensive and a waste of money and time’

FIVE REASONS TO CHANGE:


1. Investors and bankers want to see a repeatable sales system

2.Broaden the number of customers

3.Lower the cost of making new sales

4.Identify and penetrate new markets for diversification

5.Having a professional brand keeps prices defensible


Revenue growth at companies with more

advanced marketing and sales capabilities

tended to be 30 percent greater than the

average company within their sector.McKinsey & CompanyMarch 2015, Building Marketing and Sales Capabilities to Beat The Market

“

SO WHAT CAN I DO?


90% of B2B researchers use search

specifically to research business purchases.“GoogleMarch 2015, The Changing Face of B2B Marketing

Start Online:

MAKE SURE YOU CAN BE FOUND


● On Google & Bing when searching for related terms

● Use organic SEO and paid PPC ads to appear near the top of search results

● On both desktops and mobile devices

ONLINE ADS


● Pay-per-click (PPC) ads appear at the top of search results - PPC ads are only charged when a viewer

clicks

● Low cost display appear across the Internet after visitors have visited your website

● Content ads display next to articles, blog posts, etc that are related to your business - highly relevant

audience

INTEGRATE OUTBOUND STRATEGIES


Don’t wait for the phone to ring

USE EMAIL


• Access to markets, near or far, regardless of physical location

• Don’t send brochures, send valuable content that shows thought leadership

and is helpful to buyers

• Contact past customers to see if they have re-entered the market

TIE IT ALL TOGETHER


● Marketing automation tools are an effective way to bring all

marketing efforts together into one system

● Automation can identify visitors on your website, providing

sales teams with interested leads to reach out to

● Automation tracks and manages all marketing efforts,

showing which efforts are having the biggest impact on sales

● Automation improves efficiency, allowing sales and

marketing teams to accomplish more


Follow-Up & Questions Contact

Fred Yee - CEO ActiveConversion

[email protected]

403-508-9889

linkedin.com/fredyee



Thank You!