Opinions & Trusted Referrals Matter!

…HR ideas from Jeffery Giesener – CEO – SourceMob.com

According to a recent LightSpeed Research study, most consumers consult the Internet while researching products and services, with online reviews and referrals playing a vital role.

During the purchasing process price comparison may well be the most popular research activity online, with 75 percent of those surveyed by Lightspeed Research having compared prices online in the last six months. However, the online opinions, referrals and experiences of other consumers play a vital role, too, for many (61 percent).

Consumers expect to find product reviews on shopping websites (72 percent) while around half (47 percent) seek them out on company websites (trusted referral pages) or price comparison sites (43 percent). The majority use search engines to also find reviews and referrals.

So influential are the opinions of others that over two-thirds (67 percent) of consumers would be deterred from purchasing a product or service if they were to encounter two or three negative reviews, found Lightspeed’s online survey.

In fact, a quarter (24 percent) said they had changed their mind about buying a product or service after reading two bad reviews while a further 39 percent said three negative reviews would deter them from making a purchase.

So what are you doing to stimulate “Trusted Referrals?”

How are you displaying your Employee and Candidate Testimonials?

I sense from the number of candidate hires through referrals you receive (probably over 40 percent of your total hires), you are already experiencing the incredible power of reviews and more importantly, “Trusted Referrals.” We know the power of referrals because our social and mobile analytic reporting shares and supports that social and mobile sharing referrals generate strong apply and hiring conversions.

How and why does all of this work so well? For the first time, candidates are in total control of their job search and the relevant hiring content they want to receive. They are now in charge of their permission and as a result have given you — the recruiter — the permission to reach them multiple times a day, 365 days a year wherever they are online: on social channels or on mobile.

Truth be told: Note — they have opted-out of traditional Push-N-Pray hiring efforts and now have opted-into your new world of HR marketing.

All of these options are now easily and efficiently available to participating Talent Acquisition Teams and Recruiting Pros and each provides new social and mobile sharing tools, which immediately open up new exciting opportunities for your organization to engage in facilitating “trusted relationships, which lead to referrals” with your candidates.

Why wouldn’t you want to further engage with candidates who are already shopping in your stores, visiting your career and social sites, receiving your email notifications — not to mention following your hiring communication on their smart phones? These options are all coming as the next waves of referral HR marketing opportunities for your talent organization.

But how engaged are your candidates?

How do you boost your referral Apply percentage?

You know this for yourself: When you are in the market to buy, probably one of the first things you do is seek a “trusted referral.” So influential are the opinions of others that over two-thirds (67 percent) of consumers would be deterred from purchasing a product or service if they were to encounter two or three negative reviews, found the Lightspeed’s online survey.

Using Trusted Referrals with the candidates’ understanding that their hiring experience is safe, private and anonymous, your business will engage and have new levels of social and mobile conversations with not only your candidates, but their friends and family as well. Imagine the exponential leverage of that HR marketing opportunity and its selling power of enlisting your employee network to fill niche positions in a timely manner.

So why not give SourceMob a try and get your social referral program up and running in 90 days or less?

What could be simpler than that? Plus if you give me a call at 952-417-6555 or email me at jeff@sourcemob.com by June 30th, I will also provide a FREE Social and Mobile Consultation Score Presentation for your business.

Check out our May Educational Events by checking our Events Area at SourceMob.com. Also I have recently published my latest white paper entitled “Top 10 Recruiting Department Essentials” and you can receive your complimentary copy by sending me an email at info@sourcemob.com with “White Paper” in the subject line.

 

ABOUT SOURCEMOB: SourceMob integrates Internet, social, talent community and mobile recruiting solutions to help talent acquisition professionals recruit the very best candidates for tough-to-fill positions. SourceMob’s Recruiting Solutions, Analytics and HR Media Services distributes job content and conversations providing a job posting springboard to over 3.5 million candidate profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, mobile and all of the major search engines. We help you engage with your candidates and capture niche Passive candidates. Our solutions also enable Mobile Quick Apply and candidate application management services to create efficiencies, fill jobs faster and lower recruiting costs.

Best,

Jeffery

Jeffery Giesener

CEO/Founder

SourceMob.com

jeff@sourcemob.com

952-417-6955

Twitter: @SourceMob

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jefferyjeffgiesener