Did I say that?
If you are a regular reader of SMART IDEAS Weekly, you may recall my “No one needs a temp” story. It was way back in issue 29, from May 2024:
SMART IDEA #29: What is the value of staffing?
And two weeks ago, you may recall the lesson from my EMP instructor, Pascal Finette, titled Dealing with the Pace of Change.
Earlier this week, I was reviewing my notes from Pascal’s class, and I stumbled across this line scribbled in my notebook:
What is the job to be done?
As Pascal taught us, and Steve Jobs famously stated, “When it comes to the pace of change, what is important is not what will change, but what will not change.“
Re-reading that note got me thinking about the value of what we do for a living.
“No one needs marketing,” I thought.
Because marketing is not really what we do. That’s not the job to be done.
If you think about your business, what is the job to be done by your marketing?
- Generate qualified sales leads?
- Improve sales response?
- Capture attention?
- Differentiate your services?
- Keep your company top-of-mind?
- Lower recruiting costs?
- Accelerate growth?
When we think about marketing, we often focus on tactics: writing blogs, posting on social media, creating websites and sales collateral, building automations, etc.
But that’s not the purpose of your marketing.
The real purpose goes back to the tagline we had when we first formed Haley Marketing: Building the relationships that build business.
That’s our job to be done…
Helping companies find better, easier, and less expensive ways to build relationships with employers and job seekers.
The real job of marketing is to provide more effective (and impactful) ways to communicate, convey value, and inspire people to take action.
The real job of marketing is to open doors, start conversations, build trust, and to enable salespeople and recruiters to accomplish more…without working harder.
Our company exists to make it easier to sell staffing and recruiting services to employers and to level the playing field for small to midsize staffing and recruiting companies.
Our real value comes from enabling business owners to achieve their dreams, salespeople to crush quotas, and recruiters to place more qualified talent.
We don’t replace the value our clients provide to their clients…we amplify it.
That’s our value. That’s the job to be done.
How about you?
What’s the job to be done when you provide a temp? Or a direct hire candidate?
Yes, you are providing a person to fill a role within an organization, but what is your value?
In an economy like we are facing right now, your value is more than staffing and recruiting. It’s more than providing talent to fill a role.
In this economy, you are helping your clients drive business results. You are helping them control costs, improve labor productivity, and access the critical skills they need to compete.
You are helping your clients to manage risk (both employment risk and business risk). You are enabling companies to capitalize on new opportunities. And you are making the process of talent management easier, more efficient, and more effective for both employers and employees.
Real staffing is about understanding the job to be done…and the value you provide. And real marketing is about conveying that value to the people who will care the most.
While AI and automation are disrupting the working world, and the economy has reduced the demand for staffing services, the job to be done has not changed.
Understand the role you play for your clients. Once you know that, you’ll make your marketing easier and more effective.
And of course, if you need help figuring this out for your business, we’re just a call (or an email) away. |
