Hire Strategies Blog

I can see Basecamp

Watching James Cracknell, Ben Fogle and Ed Coats navigate across the South Pole was a damn site harder than implementing Infusionsoft but I know (from my own races) how they must have felt.  Not quite the same elation but I think I can say I have survived the race to the summit and am now back at IF Base Camp ready to start the real journey.

Will the new system work?  Will the new homepage design deliver? Will I overcook the marketing activities? 

As I've said before; buying an implementing a new system is easy in comparison to delivering the results promised.  I can sit back for a couple of weeks and enjoy the views/sun but come the end of August the real battle/journey begins!

This was an interesting article on Cracknell in the Telegraph.

Hire Strategies New Affiliates Programme

As part of our implementation of InfusionSoft CRM we have now added the Affiliates Module to help drive interest for our workshops and seminars whilst paying out to anyone who helps us drive delegate sign-ups.  If you would be interested in joining the scheme further details can be found at www.hirestrategies.co.uk/affiliates.

The scheme can be relevant to ATS vendors, job boards, RPO vendors and even agencies.  Although we are helping employers reduce their reliance on the wrong third parties, those good suppliers will always survive when they add real value to their customer.  If you have a great contact list of HR Professionals this is another way of making some additional sales and keeping in contact with something more than your normal sales pitch.

Additionally, I am testing this functionality as I think it could also be used to automate a company wide employee referral scheme.

We've reached the summit!

We made it to the top, on time and before the rain starts.  We'll take a short breather, admire the view and then head back down shortly.  That's the easy bit done; the real test is what happens from now!

If it all goes to plan I see the use of the same CRM system having a massive place for building a talent pool, attracting and maintaining a niche agency candidate database or keeping your employees engaged/informed.

Watch this space for the next stage of the journey.

I can see the summit.....

My first phase of Infusionsoft is almost complete; I can see the summit.  I reckon I can go live within the next few days.  But, as close as I am to the summit, I find a final crevice out to suck me into the depths of despair.  The Sherpa's offer much support but their offer of a ladder too short just does not help.  We cannot leap the gap yet we cannot go back.

My way or your way! Do software vendors know best?

Getting the process defined is often the toughest job when implementing a new recruitment system. 

I've heard an SAP quote that basically says the buyer should change their process to suit the software and that they (SAP) can prove the value with examples of customers who have followed this route and reaped the rewards.  This may of course be an urban myth but it does resonate with my own experience; both client based and when I have implemented my own CRM systems.

When I see some of the recruitment processes that have been deployed, and have then had the opportunity to streamline them, the SAP approach yet again bears fruit.

So, next time you are reviewing your recruitment process think not how can I change the software but how should I change to make more of the software.  You may not agree but what have you got to lose!?

Summit fever - we're nearly there

From almost nowhere the summit is upon us.  The Infusionsoft Team came back from a long weekend of partying and made great strides to get us moving again.  In hindsight, the break was good and allowed me to sit out the storm and focus on what really needed to be done.

I hear many criticisms about software companies/products/projects and whilst this climb has not been perfect it has been pretty good so far.  And the "challenges" have been more mine than system.  As ever, you think you have everything planned but things do not always turn out as hoped.  Our back-up plans came into play and worked perfectly which have bought us some extra time.  Without these we would be back to base camp, injured, and struggling to get back to where we needed to be without further damage. 

Plan for things going wrong, put in a good back-up plan and be ready to implement it at short notice!

Where'd all the sherpa's go?

I stormed off ahead on the basis of being told "It will be like drinking from a fire hose" and along comes Independence Day.  Having got to a crux move and turned around to check for the right gear I find they all be partying.  To be fair, they have worked damn hard to get this far BUT my pace is dictated by them and due to my impending divorce from Salesforce the pace is not quite as quick as I need.  They also have a lot of people on the mountain to look after so delays and accidents are inevitable.

In an ideal world I would have had a longer time period to work within; I have been in this position before with a client and it was not a great time then either!  As usual, a new system is never easy to adapt to and close hand holding is critical for a smooth journey.  A few bumps and diversions at the moment not helped by everything else that is going on.  Still moving forwards and may be able to get to next camp by the weekend; albeit will need to go back to basecamp to make a few quick repairs next week to be able to make a final assault on the summit.

Beyond basecamp.....

Getting to Infusionsoft (IF) base camp was a pretty easy walk but now we are into unsafe territory.  Data has been transferred BUT we still have leads coming into Salesforce due to web forms still being active on our website.

Moving systems | Moving house

Clearly I don't have enough to do and won't be happy until I lose my head!  I am only 2 weeks away from swapping CRM systems, running the Discovery System Breakfast Seminar (its full!) and moving house from the Midlands to Tavistock, Devon.  On top of that, it looks like I have a major project to implement with a big company based about 3 miles from where I currently live!

Yet the plan is to work less, earn more, exploit technology to allow me to sleep.

Stop changing the menu...

I'm a big fan of the celebrity chefs and indeed like to think I am a pretty good cook.  I always watch Nightmare Kitchens and marvel at the simplicity that Gordon Ramsay instills upon the restaurant owners and am constantly amazed at their stupidity.  I have been going to an Indian restaurant in Leicester (Vishal) for over 20 years and the menu has hardly changed.  I go there for the best chicken tikka and nan breads ever seen on this planet.  I would stop going (it is now 40 miles away from me) if they changed.  They can put up the price, move location, get bigger etc but just don't change the recipe/menu.

So why do some restaurants keep on changing what they do?  Madness.