Choosing an HR consultant is a very personal decision for a small business owner. They want someone whose approach they identify with, who they trust and can relate to, and feel comfortable with, and get on with.
Whilst you can achieve and start to develop all these things from the first meeting or call you have with them, it’s much better to start doing it before you’ve even heard from them.
If you can get to a situation where a potential client feels comfortable with you, feels you have an approach to HR that fits with how they like to work and with their culture, feels confident that you know your stuff and is engaged with you personally before they start the process of instructing an HR consultant, then you’re giving yourself a big head-start in terms of getting the work.
How much more likely is it that a client will contact you in preference to another provider if they already feel an affinity to you and feel comfortable with you? And how much easier will the first client meeting/proposal stage be if you’re a way across the line already before you even get there?
Many HR consultancies feel very anonymous when you look at their website or online materials. You don’t know who you’re going to get. Many of them aren’t very clear about their approach to HR or who they are ‘for’, but even when they are, you can’t develop a ‘relationship’ or affinity with the consultant you’d be working with early on because you have no idea who it will be.
Sometimes there is plenty available about one person working at the consultancy. Sometimes there’s stuff about several people but it’s not clear which one a business owner would be allocated.
I encourage all our consultants to use a blend in their marketing of all the stuff we provide for them and to also show their own personality as well, so that not only do potential clients/referrers have access to plenty of information about how face2faceHR ‘do’ small business HR consultancy, but also can easily tell which consultant would be the one in their area (or in fact can approach any of them if they want to).
Doing this means that the right clients can easily tell whether the consultant is right for them; are more likely to approach that consultant; and the consultant is more likely to get the work. Win win all round!
If you’d like enquiries we get from clients looking for HR services in your area to come to you, do get in touch.