Sailing Through Stagnation: A Guide for Staffing Firm Owners

What is the world is going on?

The unemployment rate rose sharply in August, as the summer of 2023 neared a close with a job market in slowdown mode. As an owner, you recognize that growth is essential for success, and there are many ways to do this effectively.

Along the way, you may realize, to your concern, that your company’s growth has slowed. Entropy can affect any business. How do you continue bringing in new business when the labor market slows down?

It may appear initially that the barriers to growth are external, such as pay rates, regulations, increased competition, or the overall market. But in reality, many issues that stunt growth are internal. Cleaning up and improving internal support comes at no extra cost and yields a massive impact. Is the role of our staff simply perceived as a 9-5 or is it a role that they can believe in?

How Your Staffing Firm Can Support Internal Growth

1. Professionalism

Look at your back office operations and figure out if there are any gaps. Are your clients billed and contractors paid on time? Consider leaning on payroll funding services if you discover that you’re falling behind. 

Ensure that your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate on both a desktop and mobile device. Strengthen your customer service by having FAQs and, nowadays, a chatbot to support any user confusion or queries. Many websites have free versions, such as:

• Intelliticks
• QuickReply.ai
• Engati

Fortunately, there are many tools to help you here, from outside consultants to vendor partners. Consider looking into back office support, a payroll funder, or a staffing-specific consultant. 

2. Hire Internally

As a business owner or manager, you only have much energy throughout the day. You may find you are out of touch with your team and company. The more you grow, the more you add people, and it can be easy to focus on "big picture" stuff. Try scheduling routine 1-on-1s or a semi-frequent employee survey. What are your employees looking for? remember, your salespeople are trying to sell your brand. Don’t get in the way of your own success. 

One of the best parts of running a business is getting to ask for help. You don’t need to do it all alone. There are organizations already put in place to support your staffing firm so that you can focus on growing your team, bringing in new accounts, and enhancing the well-being of the entire company. 

Have you heard of the term redeployment? Check out our most recent blog where we break down this strategy and what it means for your staffing firm. What is Redeployment?

3. Keeping Track of the Right Things

It’s hard to know how your growth stands without monitoring the right metrics. Business decisions should be driven, ideally, by data and not how often your phone rings … although that can be data too.

Conversion and conversion rates are key metrics. Your CRM/ATS is the holy ground of staffing. Are you keeping track of your customer relations and correspondence? 

Action Steps

There are various ways to partner with organizations and mentors to help you stay on track. Your success comes down to the day to day. The Madison Resources team is happy to get you started with a free cash flow evaluation. Schedule here for an honest conversation. 

You need time to visualize your business and where your future lies, whether it’s expansion, consolidating a market, or your five year plan. Outsourcing can be the golden ticket, whether it’s technology, payroll, or boring back office obligations. The fewer headaches you have, the better you are able to focus on what you do best; sales, service and staffing. Growth will naturally follow.

here is much here to consider, and you don’t have to do it alone.  We at Madison Resources have been helping staffing firms just like yours grow for over 30 years. If you’ve been seeking that north star, let’s get connected. Schedule a free cash flow evaluation today.