Getting To Know Your Clients
I love getting to know my clients!
In recent weeks I’ve spent time reviewing Vivo’s customer portfolio, understanding how these partnerships were created, and defining criteria and methodology by which to measure how well we are servicing each one. My favorite part of this discovery process – meeting our clients face to face.
Last week I joined our Managing Director for meetings and lunch with our client hiring managers at a Silicon Valley healthcare company. This group of senior IT professionals is particularly creative, driven, focused, and believe in the products their company develops. Now I do as well.
My CEO says that she and our clients have a lot in common: they think they’re interesting and she thinks they’re interesting. If you’ve met Vivo, you know this to be absolutely true. We are genuinely intrigued by the individuals and companies we do business with.
Sitting with our client stakeholders last week while openly discussing their business goals, strategies, culture, product, and candidate’s wish list, made me value the understanding of resource needs and how to deliver strategic solutions. In addition, this company’s meaningful contribution to cancer research and treatment makes me personally invested in their success. Knowing why their interview cycle is so thorough, how they define good communication, where they set their expectations in regard to technical ability, and how individuals should behave in their environment tells me who I am looking for in the candidate pool. I can now translate job requirements to recruiters and candidates in a meaningful, dynamic way. Today, I feel a personal obligation to ensure any candidate I put before them or project deliverables I agree to, will absolutely meet their expectations. I want to help them succeed on their terms.
Now, I realize that we’re not always so fortunate, and that many companies’ VMS provider or their HR, or Procurement departments sit between us and the “client”. When that is the case, those individuals must be considered our clients in every way no matter who the ultimate client may be. The key today is that there can be several individuals representing different departments within a company who have hiring authority or are stakeholders in the staffing process. It makes the process of getting to know our customers a little more challenging. But, a great VMS program manager/ recruiter/ procurement department often knows his or her clients as well as we do. So, we broaden our network and enjoy more relationships with a variety of workforce management personalities. Here again, our common interest – we like their client, and they like their client – helps us build relationships with each member of the hiring chain.
