Growing Sales in a Tight Labor Market – Part 1

We are now in a tight labor market. You only need to walk into a fast food operation and wait for service or try to get an electrician on short notice. This broad shortage can be reflected in everything from entry-level low skill jobs to highly skilled trade jobs. This sudden demand offers an opportunity for the innovative salesperson who knows their market and how to uncover new prospects.

Traditionally, employers have used the help wanted ads in the local newspaper to get new employees. That has evolved to national websites like Indeed.com. These national outlets can reach those who are actively looking for a new position, yet they do not CREATE DEMAND.

Radio, and your station, can offer prospective employers a way of recruiting new members to their team. You can create demand by reaching employed people who may not be actively searching for a new job or career change by piquing their interest with a targeted, creative ad that addresses why they might want to make a change.

How do you do this? First, determine the industries and specific businesses that are looking to fill numerous openings. This can include medical centers and local government entities. Who are the largest employers in your market that drive the local economy? They are prime candidates for using Radio recruitment.

Next, you will want to find the decision maker. Most large organizations have a recruitment office. If not, then contact the HR department. Make sure that you have the right person, the one who can say “yes.” Do not be discouraged if your initial touches are met with phrases like:
• “We don’t have a budget.”
• “We don’t use Radio to find employees.”

Your last step in going after recruitment dollars is to make your case for radio and your station. We will discuss ways to do this in Part 2 of the “Growing Sales in a Tight Labor Market” articles.

During your recruitment efforts, you may uncover multiple small employers who need to hire people yet don’t have the budget for a full ad campaign. Think about creating a “virtual job fair” for these local businesses. Drive your listeners to a specially designed web site where each employer can promote job opportunities and take applications. Numerous smaller advertisers can add up to a nice growth in total sales – and a great way to hit your budget!

The expanding economy is creating challenges for businesses that need employees to handle the growing workload. Their challenges are Radio’s opportunities. If you have any success stories to share or need help building your recruiting category, please contact me.