Following up with clients can be scary.
Let me put your mind at ease by saying that EVERY SINGLE RESUME WRITER has dealt with one or more clients who didn’t like the resume they received from their writer.
The most successful resume writers have dealt with customer dissatisfaction.
Our clients fall into one or more of these:
- Not aware of what a resume should look like
- Predisposed to older resume writing layouts
- Clients who are under stress (e.g. job loss, uncertainty about their next career move)
- Varying likes and dislikes
The purpose of the follow-up is two-fold.
First, people will sit with their pain (e.g. lack of interviews, dislike with resume, or job-search paralysis).
They’ll continue to feel uncomfortable and frustrated and do little about it.
This is where you step in by simply asking, “how’s it going?”
I’ve had clients say, “I just don’t like the resume.”
In these cases, I simply respond with, “Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that. Do you have time for a brief call this afternoon, so I can get a better idea of what you dislike about it?”
In the call, I attentively listen to the client’s concerns.
I speak softly and I’m never confrontational.
I take complete responsibility for the resume draft being incorrect, even when I know it’s the client’s misinformation that caused the problem.
I sometimes go sentence by sentence through the resume when necessary.
Resolving issues head-on helps protect you from bad online reviews and protects future repeat and referral sales.
Second, following up enables to identify those clients who need added services.
For example, maybe you have clients who only purchased a resume and cover letter.
Now, they are ready for a LinkedIn profile but keep putting it off.
At that point, it’s time to remind them that their LinkedIn profiles are important too.
If they’re conducting an active job search, then having a professionally written LinkedIn profile is also a necessity they can no longer put off.
Being concerned about your clients over the long haul helps you secure repeat client sales.
Many high-performing sales reps will tell you this is where the real money is made.
We’ve had only 2 people in the past decade ask about success rate. It's just not a question that gets asked.
The only authentic answer to that question is, “I don’t know.”
The challenge with tracking stats with clients is that a job search can be short for some and long for others.
The quality of the person’s resume plays a role, but it’s not the complete “formula” for success.
That’s why so many in our industry can’t provide even good guesstimates as to their success rates with clients.
Here's a potential alternative:
There's a spammy resume writing site that boasts something like “93.8% of our clients get interviews within the first 30 days after using our resume writing services.”
That’s about the only type of stat you can provide potential new clients.
You could follow up with clients after a year and ask questions like these:
- How long did your job search last after I wrote your resume?
- Was that shorter than what you’ve experienced in the past, before working with a resume writer?
- Do you believe the resume I wrote opened doors to more ideal job roles with higher salaries or more room for advancement?
- Do you believe working with me positively impacted your job search and career?
But, not all clients respond to survey questions.
So, you’ll never have a full depiction of the quality of your services.
See what we mean?
It’s difficult and near impossible to answer, what is your success rate?
Have you done a courteous review of the resume to see if the individual’s concerns are warranted?
Did he offer any insight as to what was causing him to have the “worst experience of his life”?
You’re in a tricky spot because you made the referral.
However, I don’t believe you owe the client any recourse. Though you made the referral, the prospect should have done proper due diligence before hiring the referred resume writer.
In your shoes, I would ask for a copy of the resume and explicitly tell the individual that I’m reviewing the document as a courtesy.
I would also ask for the details of the person’s experience with the referred writer. I would explain this as, “so I know whether to continue referring business to this person.”
I would also reach out to the writer. As resume writers, we know that some clients can be super difficult. It’s worth hearing the resume writer’s version of the story too.
Of course, even after you’ve done all this, there’s not much you can do. The goal is to smooth over the relationship, reconnect the two parties, and allow them to resolve the resume amongst themselves.
Your role shouldn’t go beyond being a mediator IMHO.
The cost of customer relationship management (CRM) software starts as low as $40/mth and can be as much as $300/mth.
When picking any tech solutions, whether it be a CRM, project management or recruitment/HR solution, be sure to select software that will "talk to your other software."
In tech terms, this means HTTP posts and API requests.
CRMs help with prospect/client communications, track lead sources, offer segmentation, and so on.
CRMs are customizable and can be used to recruit candidates and manage client projects, but the features would have limitations.
Software solutions, such as Infusionsoft and ActiveCampaign are viable choices.
ATS software has grown in sophistication and have CRM functions, such as auto email communications, calendar support, and some workflow automation.
ATS software can be customized and used to support some CRM and PM functions, but wouldn't be a one-stop solution.
JobVite.com is a leading ATS software worth checking out.
Project management software can help with project and client management.
PM software is most often built to communicate with internal project members.
Although, you'll find some that offer rich client communications features with workspace/screen-share features.
Are you seeking an all-in-one solution?
If yes, look into Zoho.com. They offer bundled add-ons (e.g. CRM, workplace collaboration) that might work for you.
They also have recruitment/HR functions as well.
The biggest caveat with Zoho may be the price.
For each add-on, whether it be CRM, project management, or financial administration, your monthly fee grows.
One of the best ways to get positive client testimonials IMHO is to offer something for free to entice action on their part.
For example, you could offer a free cover letter or a downloadable job-search guide.
Avoid a giveaway that takes a lot of time on your part — or, if you do, only do it for a short time until you collect enough positive comments.
But, also be prepared for "flat" or bad reviews too.
Sometimes clients will have issues with a deliverable and not say anything.
This happens to all of us. We always want clients to contact us first when they have an issue with their drafts; but, they don't for one reason or another.
Any merchant, whether it's PayPal, Stripe, or another, you'll be stuck paying a fee.
The only way around this is to accept certified checks (avoid personal checks), but these will require more of your time.
For example, you'll need to provide a mailing address (unless you arrange in-person pickup); wait for the mailed check; deposit to your bank; wait for clearing; and then, start the project.
See what I mean?
It's just best to swallow the merchant fee because any manual alternative is simply too time-consuming. :/
I recommend a combination of WordPress and a paid theme by a provider like ElegantThemes.com or StudioPress.com.
The reasoning for using a paid theme (versus a free one) is because of flexibility.
Paid themes generally have a bunch of features already built into a theme. Another feature-rich addon I recommend is BeaverBuilder.com.
Once you learn WordPress (there's training in RBIZ to help with this), upload your new theme (this takes mere minutes), and learn how to use BeaverBuilder (there are videos on YouTube to help with this), there's no reason why you can't produce your own website.
If you're not very technical or don't have the time to develop a website, a quality website developer can be $1K to $3K, depending upon the features you want/need to be weaved into your site.
If you have a need for a website developer, contact us and we can make a recommendation.
There are cost-friendly alternatives, such as Wix.com, but honestly, sites like those are so restrictive because you can only use the features they offer.
For example, you wouldn't be able to use any of the huge databases of WordPress plugins that add HUGE functionality and expansion opportunities to online businesses.
The goal is to create arrangements with as many recruiters as you can develop.
Your focus is to have many "affiliate" partners who will send you as much business as you can handle.
Have you joined the private FB group yet?
If yes, I suggest posting an update asking for creative ideas on what to name your business.
That could help get your creative juices flowing. 😉
Another option is to use sites like RhymeZone.com and Google searches to help you strategize.
Yes, you can operate your business without a website.
For example, a LinkedIn page can be leveraged to "take the place of" a website.
But, a LinkedIn page does have limitations. For example, you can't add "pages" or "posts" to your LinkedIn page. Sure, you can publish content on LinkedIn, yet you don't have control over some SEO functionality.
Organic traffic is one of the primary reasons for having a website. Adding quality pages and posts to your website, building a solid SEO presence, and using a solid linking strategy, can generate far more leads than what you'd generate from LinkedIn.
If you're creative and keep an open mind, there are other online tools, such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter, that can help you build a resume business without a website.
Many factors can cause a slow website.
The first place to begin is by ensuring the graphics you're using on your website are optimized.
Online tools, such as https://kraken.io/web-interface, can be a huge help.
I also recommend using the free version of WP Smush, a plug-in that compresses images upon upload. The plug-in also enables you to "smush" images already in your media folder.
It's a neat plug-in IMHO.
Automatically compressing images will help keep your site lean and mean. 😉
The second place for optimizing your website is to audit and eliminate any plugins you're NOT using.
Also, look for plugins that haven't been updated in more than a year. Outdated plugins can be a drain on your site's load time (because the backend code isn't getting updated to meet with WordPress updates) and can, therefore, cause increased bounce rates and lost leads.
These outdated plugins can also be a huge security risk for your website/business too.
The third place for resolving a slow website is to assess the quality of the host/hosting plan you're using.
For years, I used GoDaddy's hosting services for my website.
I had major problems for years before I decided to jump ship for a hosting service that caters specifically to WordPress sites.
My sites are hosted with WPengine.com — and love them!
A good hosting service is worth the investment IMHO.
Additional ways to speed up your website include:
- Use a quality caching plugin to reduce page load times
- Utilize a database optimization plugin, such as WPOptimize
- Avoid having pingbacks and trackbacks enabled on your site
- Look into using CloudFlare, a service that optimizes and delivers your content faster (CloudFlare offer free and paid services)
Yes, I have MANY recommendations.
First, does your website show you?
Jobseekers don't usually want to hire a corporation to write their resumes.
They want to hire a real person that they can talk and ask questions to.
Make sure your website has your face or possibly a video of you on the homepage.
Doing this gives visitors to your website more of a reason to know, like, and trust you.
Second, does your website show a TRIO of contact methods on your website; e.g. email address, phone number, and contact form?
You want to make contacting you MEGA EASY!
Having these various contact methods on your website helps cater to each prospect's contact preference.
For example, I find my highly driven clients (e.g. executives) prefer phone calls.
Millenium prospects on the flip side prefer contact forms — and instant messaging. For sanity reasons, I don't provide the latter option. 😉
Third, don't overlook the power of adding a lead magnet to your website.
In fact, we have a lead magnet already prepared for you as an RBIZ member. Click here to read more about lead magnets and download this done-for-you lead magnet.
Fourth, as an RBIZ member, you have access to an in-depth website analysis.
Use it!
We're allies throughout the development of your business. We're here to help you in any way we can.
To boost your skills as a resume writer, I recommend analyzing the award-winning resumes that are online.
For example, TheNRWA.com has made public the resume submissions that won ROAR awards: https://www.thenrwa.com/ROAR.
I find myself reviewing these to see what’s possible. For the average everyday client, however, you won’t want to go as heavily designed as these.
Something else I did at the beginning of my resume writing career was to create mock clients and write resumes for them.
For example, I would say to myself, “This client has been in a sales position for most of his career. He’s worked for this company, this company, and this company. He’s had an impressive sales record; however, the last 2 years have been a struggle.”
Working through different client scenarios is how you get experienced.
The above sounds silly but it helped me immensely in those beginning months/years when I didn’t have an extensive client base to sharpen my writing chops.
Resume writing certifications are also a great way of getting your resume writing skills to the next level.
