How to use online reference checks for business development
30 Mar 2021 by Chris Hunter
For as long as recruiters have existed, reference checks have been used as a business development opportunity because they are a way to both search for new job opportunities at the referee’s business and an opportunity to grab a high-value candidate.
At Referoo, it’s a common challenge we run into: The fear that using online and SMS reference checks will mean the end of business development. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth!
Referoo still includes phone references
Our software is designed to enhance the way you work, not change it. It gives you options to turnaround reference checks faster with more checks and balances, like fraud detection, included in the final result. However, you don’t need to throw away your phone just yet.
Like anything work related, it’s horses for courses. If you feel that you have a particularly high-value referee who could provide more work opportunities, then call them as per your normal process. Referoo handles phone references too and allows you to include them in your client reporting. So in reality, you don’t have to change, you just have a better reporting outcome for your client.
More options mean better workflow management
Once you’ve addressed your high-value referees, you’re still going to have referees that perhaps don’t represent a great business development opportunity. In this situation, our advice is to automate!
Using a tool like Referoo means you can automate reference checks that would normally be time consuming for you to manage. Online checks allow you to fire off a reference check request and see it turned around up to ten times faster than a phone reference. We repeatedly see this happen with our clients and have a ton of stories highlighting how this has improved their reference checking process.
You can use online for business development
That said, we have plenty of clients who have embraced online reference checking and found that it not only improved turnaround times, compliance, and reference quality, it also presented more business development opportunities.
That was the situation for Referoo client, The Anderson Partnership (TAP). They found that online reference checking didn’t stop business development; in fact, it had quite the opposite effect. TAP noticed an increase in business development opportunities, all while seeing faster and more accurate reference checks.
It’s stories like this that led the team at Referoo to develop our business development module. The module is designed within the product to make online reference checks a full business development opportunity. During the process, the referee is engaged around their current open roles and/or interest in moving to a new opportunity.
Similar to a marketing process, we ask your referee to opt-in to opportunities by simply selecting an option to alert the recruiter that there’s more on the table. It effectively allows Referoo to do the heavy lifting in business development with your referees.
We’ve been trialling this tech with a number of clients over the past few months and the results have been staggering. We’re seeing a huge response rate, with client’s loving the option to save time and money on reference checking, while also leveraging all-important business development opportunities.
Choose your own adventure
Ultimately, you can decide what works best for you, but my advice is not to write off reference checks because you feel it won’t work for you. Instead, trial it for yourself; we offer a free 21-day trial of the full Referoo product, including the BD module.