If you're a 'smart cookie' you advertise, you market, you engage the services of professionals to assist in the sale of products and services... But who sells your business to prospective employees?

Now that's a tough one! And it's not something that too many people think about. Recruiting new employees in most industries is done on an 'as needed' basis and therein lies the problem - no future planning, and no 'selling' consideration.

The opener to my column this month raises the point that you likely spend time and resources trying to capture new clients. You make sure that you can (to the best of your ability) service them in a way that corresponds to your sales promise.

--- What do you 'promise' your future employees?

Your sales promise is one of the principle reasons why customers bring their business to you. And so long as your internal reality (the way you perform and deliver on that promise) matches your external reality (the way in which you are perceived) you can expect success.

But again, how do you market and sell to the second most important people in your company - your staff? And don't think for a moment that once you've got them they're going to simply stick around... Do your customers just stay?

You've got to resell and recommit them to you and your business. Just like customers who get up one day and leave, never to return, so do employees. They're people just like you and I and things change. Life is constantly in flux and evolving and as a species we are adapting.

--- Nothing happens until someone sells something...in this case it's you!

Now without getting too 'deep', simply think of it this way, you sell to employees - they buy your money and sell you their time. Alternatively your Clients (or customers) buy your services (provided by your employees) and pay you money. Without a steady and constant stream of buying and selling transactions - you have no business!

Okay, so now that I've established that we need to sell ourselves (or at least our businesses) to prospective employees, so that we have a stream of available resources as we need them, the question becomes how?

Ironically, you can approach the process of selling your company as 'the' place to work in the same fashion that you advertise your business as 'the' place for customers to bring their vehicles: you simply advertise.

--- But this time it's different:

" The market is not the same because the people who will buy your 'job offer' are not the same as the people who would buy your vehicle repair services.
" The advertising mediums will likely overlap a little, but just like a certain bait only works for certain fish, this too will cause things to change. Serious enquirers will likely want quality information so expect to create brochures and other sales pieces tailored to their needs.
" And the message will most definitely be different. TIP - Position yourself a 'leading local business' that's offering a 'unique opportunity' not a job.

--- Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise!

As I suggested, serious enquirers will likely want more information. I'd recommend at least a good employment brochure - a standard tri-fold will suffice. You'll need to talk about the opportunity, explain their benefits, your history and a host of other proven topics.

The content, design and structure of a typical employment brochure is beyond the scope of this article, however if you'd like a template and more information feel free to visit my website and drop me line (I've got one kicking around somewhere...)

Once you've created your employee brochure make sure it's placed on your counter, make it available to potential candidates via email, direct mail and 'take one' displays.

Encourage your staff to suggest referrals. You can use display advertising but again, you'll need to do things a little differently than perhaps your used to. Either way, there are plenty of good resources that can show you how to target market future employees.

In conclusion, don't treat marketing to your employees as an after thought: your future depends on it. And remember, even once they're on board, you've got to give them reasons to stay - and it will need to include more than just money based incentives.

Happy hunting!