As an ATS provider, you know that the competition is pretty stiff out there. The explosion in demand has driven an ever increasing number of companies to enter the market. How can you break out of the pack by boosting your product adoption and increasing the frequency of customer usage?
Here I will present some new, never-before-seen results of how leaders in the recruitment software industry have succeeded in boosting adoption rates. I will use examples from Jobvite, JobAdder and PeopleMatter.
– Jobvite is an ATS that is used by thousands of customers in 160 countries, with a job-seeker database has data from over 49 million candidates.
– JobAdder provides an ATS that enables more than 8,000 recruiters match candidates to jobs, track the candidates’ progress, manage job orders, and more.
– PeopleMatter is a workforce management platform, with a built-in ATS, that has helped more than 42,000 service-industry locations.
Now, here are the four ways that these companies have succeeded in boosting adoption:
1. Eliminate User Confusion
ATS can be complex and confusing – try to remember the first time you saw your dashboard. Now, with so many additional advanced features, many customers may not fully understand how to use these programs. A well-planned user experience has a smooth, resistance-free flow that allows users to use the product with ease and confidence.
With a smooth design, customers will use your product more frequently because of its simplicity and ease-of-use. JobAdder, Jobvite and PeopleMatter all do this by using online walk-throughs, site-maps, pop-ups and other features to help their clients navigate through the dashboard and quickly find what they’re looking for. This eliminates user confusion and thereby speeds up the onboarding process and reduces the volume of service tickets.
2. Promote Self-Service Options
Many users prefer self-help options over traditional customer service. Promoting self-service also saves you money — a customer solving his/her own problem is cheaper than the cost of an employee dealing with the issue.
So how can you optimize your self-service capabilities? First, provide resources that customers can access to understand the product on their own such as how-to videos and tutorials.
JobAdder, Jobvite and PeopleMatter use
online guidance software to let their clients figure out themselves how to navigate the software and thus become self-sufficient. Jobvite pinpointed the most commonly-asked questions and guidance prompts were created to address these queries. Walk-throughs were built around these FAQs, which, when launched, show users step-by-step how to complete these processes. PeopleMatter was able to leverage online guidance to significantly decrease the volume of customer support inquiries that were coming in to their help desk.
Ken Haigh, PeopleMatter’s Chief Technology Officer, said “our customers are better equipped to work on their own and our support staff is much more efficient.”
3. Provide Personalized Interactions
Personalized platforms have been shown to increase sales by over 20%. Provide personalized contextual interactions by segmenting your user audience according to roles or user type. There are a number of simple methods to begin personalizing your product’s user experience.
Create user profiles, differentiate between new and repeat users, recommend relevant products and show custom message boxes. In addition, the product itself can be personalized. Allow for customizable dashboards the client can configure for their specific recruiting process.
PeopleMatter leverages online guidance platforms to segment their user base by type and guide users according to their specific needs. This type of context-specific guidance allows for more relevant help, provided at the right moment in time.
4. Promote Your Most Valuable Features
Design your system to maximize returns. How can your users realize the most potential value out of your platform? Do you offer any third-party integrations or Integrated Talent Acquisition that comes with advanced packages?
Once you identify your most valuable features, emphasize them in your UX design and direct your users towards them in an unobtrusive way. Enhance user engagement by promoting new features and upgrades, which improve adoption of new feature and product rollouts. Through clever design, you can maximize your returns without antagonizing your clients with aggressive marketing.
By cleverly designing your product, or using a
contextual guidance solution, you can set yourself apart from the competition. Great UX, self-help options and personalized interactions all give your users comfort and confidence. Combine this with the practice of directing your customers to your valuable features, and you can ensure your product will satisfy your clients and maximize your returns.
