It goes back to midyear 2009, but it’s still relevant, so here’s a provocative post from a blog by Lisa Amorao, a Silicon Valley professional in the staffing industry, in which see makes a good analogy between – of all things – taking care of children (hers) with flu, and good client service by staffing firms. There’s one key commentary that jumps out for us:

Now, just as no mother will admit to or feel good about not taking care of a sick child, no staffing firm will admit to abandoning their clients in a downturn. But take a look at the survey results conducted by the Staffing Industry Analysts: 30% of staffing companies feel that providing excellent customer service was a key to their success to 2008. In 2009, only 22% of staffing companies feel that providing excellent customer service is a key factor to their success. Seriously? Thirty percent was already an embarrassing number, 22% is simply horrible. The same survey also revealed that 56% of staffing companies feel that “increasing revenue” was their top priority.

Hear, hear, Lisa. We can’t account for it, either; it’s almost more important, in tough times, to help your clients figure out solutions to the challenges at hand. After all…isn’t that part of why they come to you as a recruitment professional?

If a staffing firm is devoted to maximizing revenue at the expense of good service, then let us suggest they’re not really in the business of human resources, or of creating opportunities or solutions where those may not have been obvious before. Instead, they’re in the business of selling widgets. And like somebody shilling aluminum siding or used cars, they’ll follow the path of least resistance to make a sale. Constant and in-depth client service doesn’t figure into their equations.

Not to toot our own horn too much, but our success as a Chicago staffing consultant over the last 10 years has largely owed to client service, pure and simple. We know it’s good business to work closely with our clientele. If you’re just trying to sell widgets, then you’re probably not interested in partnership, collaboration and problem-solving…and to us, that simply doesn’t make good sense.