What happens once a year and it has something to do with you
personally. That's right, your birthday. We all know that birthdays
are fun, we are the center of attention and above all we get
presents.
It was my birthday this week and of course that I've received
a lot of messages. Among the senders there were also these messages
from the top 3 recruiting sites in Romania: eJobs.ro, MyJob.ro and
Bestjobs.ro . Now, I don't know how much do you know about these 3
companies but a study made 2 years ago showed that eJobs had back
then a market share of 46 %, BestJobs 25 % and MyJob 10 %, the rest
being other recruiting sites.
Since they all sent me email messages wishing me all the best,
I thought to share them with you as well. You'll see why being the
number 1 in the business isn't always something good. I'd like to
start in the same order as I mentioned them since it reflects
perfectly the podium (backwards).
Number 3:
This is a print screen of the birthday message eJobs.ro
sent.
The good part: - they remembered my birthday
The bad part(s):
- Well, for a company that claims to be the No. 1 recruiting website in Romania this is a message that should never be sent. It's way to short and above all doesn't make me feel special in any way.
In any language you may translate this you'll find out that it
says something like this: "Good morning Christian, We know it's
your birthday so we would like to wish you Happy Birthday, lots of
health and happiness and......good luck in your career !" If I
had a talking dog, I believe he would do a better job than
this.
2. The title is "Happy Birthday" which is way to general. This is something that need to improve if they want to become No. 1. I repeat it's a MUST to change that title and you'll soon see why.
3. I've received this message in my inbox twice. Big no no !
If there was a third message like that I would start thinking that
they might want to spam me.
Number 2:
This came from BestJobs.ro. I cannot show you in this
picture, but the title of the message was "Azi e ziua in
care ne faci cinste, nu? Pai... La Multi Ani :)".
This would be translated in something like this: "Today is
the day you buy us drinks, right ? In that case...Happy Birthday
:)"
It may not seem much, but when I opened my email this was one
of the first messages I saw and read.
The good part(s):
1. The message is a lot more personal and it has humor in it.
Wish no. 1: "Get a raise ! Go into your bosses office, slam the
door, smash your fist into his desk and ask for a raise. Or learn
how to do it in a more elegant way here (link to their
website)"
Wish no. 2: "May you be praised by your colleagues ! Buy
them drinks today, they'll love you all. After that ask them to
write you a recommendation. They couldn't refuse you now"
Wish no. 3: "May you have a great day, every day all year
round! You always told yourself you need to make a change in your
life, right ? Take a look at our latest job offers. One of them may
be yours, as a present from us !"
2. The way the message was created it's both original and
personalized.
The bad part(s): - I didn't see one, of course there is
always room for improvement.
Number 1:
Now my favorite one ! The message for Myjob.ro
The good part(s):
1. The title: "La multi ani, Cristian: ti-am pregatit un
cadou!". That's right, I bet you can translate it yourselves
"Happy Birthday Christian: we got you a present!" . Really?
A present ...for me? Now this should be interesting.
2. The message format. That virtual gift bow wrapped around my
message - if that's not original I don't know what is !
3. Of course they have more or less the same message as the
previous one I showed you, but here starts the cool part. After
that they have a text that says something like this: "I order
for you to do the first steps into fulfilling your wishes, we made
you a present: Especially for you (link to their ebook)". It
was an ebook guide about tips to get hired faster.
I wasn't looking for a new job and most of the information in
the ebook was something I already used, but reading that last
sentence triggered in my mind this: "Wow, a free ebook...just for
me, I better get it fast and see what's in it !". It wasn't about
the information, it was about the fact that I get stuff for free on
my birthday.
After seeing this 3 ways of reaching out to me (their
customer) I guess you can tell what service I will recommend to
others from now on and also what to avoid. Customers want
attention, they want to receive value for their spent time or money
using a service.
The point:
This live example can be used in any industry out there when
it comes to reach out to your customers. Although eJobs may be the
no. 1 by the market share they hold, they are losing big in the
battle with BestJobs and MyJob, because they don't pay attention to
details that make the difference for every individual.
Using customer's birthdays as a good moment to reach out and
build up loyalty towards your brand/company could make the
difference between winning and losing. At this moment in time I
believe that companies, regardless of their size, should realize
that every customer counts and focus their efforts. If you do a
job, at least do it right !
What do you think about all of these?
