I insist on the best person being allocated to me
I want YOU to do it - not some lacky
Funny how everyone is quick to say they support youth and new skills development, right up to the point when they’re allocated a junior person to help them.
It’s always a sensitive moment in business relationships when a company advises a valued client that they are now going to be looked after by someone else, rather than the experienced contact they’ve always dealt with. It’s as though you’re forcing them to have their front teeth removed.
“That won’t do at all” is the typical response, “we’re a really important customer, and we need to have the best person for the job. We not going to be fobbed off with some flunky, and still have to pay the for a full service.” No doubt we’ve all been guilty of feeling like this at some point.
Your existing dentist is moving on, but no worries, we’ve allocated you to the new guy, fresh out of college, a bit rough round the edges, but he’ll get there. He’s looking forward to refining his ‘Root Canal’ training on you over the next few weeks.
Zoikes Scooby … let’s get out of here!
Ever been to a decent restaurant and found out the head chef isn’t in the kitchen that day? Or times when they are short staffed, because people failed to show up for work, and the service is poor?
When we have a car serviced, we like to think that the mechanic is a well-trained expert in that make, model, and engine - not some fresh out of school trainee who started work last week.
This happens in so many places – and businesses don’t reduce the bill, because you were unlucky to have the B team looking after you.
Maybe they should?
Prices and tariffs are set by businesses with the expectation that all customers receive a full and excellent service, but so often it falls well below expectation. It’s the same in recruitment when large firms pitch for new clients. The person leading the sale and presenting the company’s capabilities and expertise is the person you might reasonably expect to handle your requirements … right?
Wrong … in the main they’re the show pony. The slick performer who convinces prospective clients of the company’s credentials to do the job. It’s highly unlikely they’ll be the person allocated to your account.
But that isn’t the way it works in a small recruitment firm. It’s one of the reasons why the terms boutique and niche exist, and why so many organisations prefer to use them … because the owner is usually the person doing the work for you.
That’s important because an owner of a business really cares. They’re not about to ruin a reputation built up over many years, by doing a half-hearted, third-rate job.
Like a cosy restaurant owned and run by the chef, or a small garage operated by an experienced mechanic … they are doing the work themselves, not sitting back and creaming off the profit, whilst a junior member of staff, who may be doing their best, fails to cut the mustard!
So if you want to talk to an experienced recruiter, who will own and do the work for you … himself, with his reputation at stake, and a determination to find you the very best person available for the job - you know who to call … me!