Phone Setup Guide
Business Phone System Setup Guide for Staffing Agencies
Setting up your staffing agency phone system correctly ensures you never miss a $10,000 direct hire fee just because you were busy interviewing a candidate. In recruitment, speed is your greatest competitive advantage, and your phone setup must prioritize urgent client needs and no-show replacements.
Choose the Right Number Strategy
For local temp placement and light industrial staffing, use a local area code to build trust with workers in your community. If your agency focuses on executive search or national direct hire placements, a toll-free number provides a professional image that suggests you have the reach to find talent anywhere. Avoid using your personal mobile number, as you cannot separate candidate spam from high-value client calls worth 25% of a salary.
Key takeaway: Use local numbers for regional temp roles and toll-free numbers for national executive search.
Configure Your Auto-Attendant for Priorities
Your auto-attendant should act as a digital gatekeeper to separate client revenue from candidate inquiries. Set up an option such as 'Press 1 for urgent hiring needs' and 'Press 2 for payroll or application status.' This ensures a client trying to fill a sudden 50% markup temp role gets through to you immediately, while a candidate asking about their check can be directed to a recorded message or your admin team.
