Blended Services Might be your Answer!

By: Ken Walsleben
Date: 3/1/2007

Have you noticed the changes brewing amongst funders these days? For years now, financiers that market to the staffing and recruiting industry have tried to bundle valuable services to meet the emerging needs of their clientele. Today you can: (a) work with a funder that specializes in funding only, (b) work with a funder that combines funding-only services with back-office duties (such as invoicing and payroll processing), or (c) work with a funder that combines funding-only services with strategic marketing duties. No doubt there will be future combinations that add value, as the market relationship between funders and clients continues to develop and evolve.

So, what to make of this phenomenon? Simply, financial providers are trying to deliver solutions that are being demanded in your marketplace. This wave of outsourcing (i.e., blending services) will likely continue for some time. The benefits to you, the client, are many. Whether you wish to outsource some of your back-office administrative duties, or energize your marketing efforts, now you can do either one without the substantial up-front expense associated with doing it on your own. Better yet, you will obtain a professional level of service from a party who really knows your business.

By blending these services into your funding program, you now have a way to achieve economies of scale without the gut-wrenching hassles and expense that often accompany those efforts when doing them on your own. The big attraction for you is that this approach better enables you to focus on growing your business, rather than being pulled in unproductive directions.

Why not outsource your back-office duties directly to a service bureau, or your marketing development to a local firm? The reasons are varied. For one, these blended service offerings are specific to your industry, so you can rest assured that the back-office production (or the customized marketing efforts), are directed entirely toward the recruiting and staffing space. These providers know your market intimately. They don't need to learn the vagaries of back-office production amongst temp firms, nor do you have to educate them on the lingo/language of marketing strategies within your industry. Blended service providers possess a presumed wealth of knowledge that already exists for your industry niche.

Another reason is cost. Whether you work with a service bureau for back-office duties, or a general ad agency for marketing, they will normally require substantial up-front retainers to get started. And, the real chance exists that you won't seek their help because you'll never write that big check to get started. Now, with blended services, not only will you work with industryspecific professionals, but their costs will be smoothed out and built-in to your funding expenses. No longer will you need to make a sizable, up-front, financial bet to obtain critical services.

Historically, the blending of funding and back-office duties was a fairly obvious direction to go. The synergies of these two disciplines were quickly realized. Now (as you can read in the cover story of this issue of RSSM), funding can be blended with full-service custom marketing services. The connection between these two dots may not be immediately obvious, but when you think about it, the genius of this idea becomes apparent. You can now realize efficiencies by blending two of the three most important elements to your successful corporate growth! In addition to covering your funding needs, you'll now also have all of your marketing concerns addressed. That just leaves "talented staff" as the third leg of that successful growth triumvirate.

Never before has there been more choice and customization available to you to grow your staffing and recruiting business. Whether you just want funding, or wish to combine backoffice duties, or now include full-service marketing, you have professional, dependable alternatives readily available to you. Not only has business been booming in your industry, but you've never had it this good when you need to obtain industryspecialized services and resources.

Ken Walsleben is the Principal and Co-Owner of The Hamilton Group. He can be contacted at 800.351.3066, or by email at ken@hamiltongroup.net.