Knowing how to sell equipment covers only one crucial part of running a successful agricultural equipment dealership. Another crucial aspect is having a reputable service department. That is why your dealership should never overlook your recruitment strategy for service technicians. Just like you market your equipment to potential buyers, you must market your company to potential candidates with the same efforts. 

By implementing these tactics, you can amplify your recruiting efforts and broaden your reach to get an optimal selection of potential candidates.

Offer Incentives

There is no greater motivation than reward. Offering incentives to new hires will make your offer more appealing. Standing out from other employers in the equipment industry is a must since every dealer is trying to fill their service department with the best techs available. Attractive financial incentives will bring in more talent and increase the odds of them being long-term satisfied employees. Here are some examples of incentives that agricultural dealerships can use to break out of the box:

Tool Compensation

A service tech is nothing without their tools. As an employer, you can make this a selling point by providing or compensating them for their tools. This reduces the applicant’s out-of-pocket expenses and gives them more reason to apply.

Commitment Rewards

One concern that might come up during the recruitment process is picking candidates who are willing to stay with the dealership for the long haul. To increase the odds of longevity from your new hires, offer rewards for hitting certain milestones. 

Education

Job seekers are more likely to apply for jobs they know they can excel in, so when you offer comprehensive education and training for your establishment it’s a win-win for both the employee and the employer. To recruit more young professionals, many dealerships sponsor students from the John Deere TECH program. The JD TECH program is available to graduating high school students and gives them hands-on training to become certified technicians. When your dealership sponsors a school, you can immediately begin the hiring process with graduates and have full confidence in their work ethic. Advertising this program to graduating high school students is an excellent way for your dealership to secure new hires and for the students to secure job placement.

Emphasize Company Culture

When developing your recruitment strategy, be aware that you are not just advertising the position but most importantly, your establishment. This will require you to become more personable in your strategy.

Instead of advertising yourself as a company with multiple dealerships to potential applicants, get specific and tailor your campaigns to specific dealer locations. When you hone in on single locations it makes it easier for applicants to see themselves working there. Getting location-specific also brings the opportunity to use your staff as part of your campaign. This can be done with employee testimonials. 

Employee Testimonials

Employee testimonials allow current employees to share their positive experiences working for the company. The more authentic these testimonials are, the more likely you are to build trust with the candidates. Well-executed testimonials separate your store from the competition and set expectations for new employees before they begin. The format of a testimonial can vary from video, and images, to even text. Once created, they can be distributed and repurposed on multiple channels from socials, and responsive displays, to website content. 

Utilize Multiple Channels

No matter what ideas you want to integrate into your recruitment campaigns, it is vital to know what channels of advertisement work best for your brand. There are a variety of options you have that can all be effective.

Social Media

There are many avenues in social media that you can utilize for your campaign. Organic social media content is a cost-effective way to spread awareness that you are hiring without coming out-of-pocket. Developing content for platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, can get your audience more engaged and broaden your reach to more potential applicants that fit your demographic, thanks to their powerful algorithms. 

To strengthen your campaign, you should also consider a more targeted approach. Facebook ads and Facebook Messenger ads can allow you to geofence users whose interests or demographics align with your criteria such as graduating high schoolers or users searching for recruiting opportunities.

Google Responsive Display

Google has created an innovative ad type that allows you to upload your ad types and Google AI will generate ad combinations that can be displayed across multiple channels such as websites, apps, YouTube, and Gmail. The AI Google uses creates optimal combinations of the assets uploaded based on your performance history. This can be helpful to incorporate into your recruitment strategy 

Connected TV

Connected TV is another effective way to increase your reach. Through Connected TV, you can place your ads within streaming content and reach a broad audience. It also offers more precision than linear TV so you can target individuals in your area and match the characteristics of your ideal candidate.

Show Up

While advertising through multiple digital channels can be quite effective for your recruitment strategy, you still can’t go wrong with the old-school way of showing up and getting in front of potential candidates in person. In-person events like Job fairs and hiring events can be a great way to scout out prospects and answer any potential questions they may have on the spot.

Hiring Events

Bring potential candidates to you and your homefront. Hosting hiring events at your dealership allows applicants to become more familiar with the facility and allows both parties to make lasting first impressions.

Outreach Recruiting Events 

Another option for in-person events is to meet potential candidates where they are. A common tactic for recruiting new technicians is to partner with high schools and colleges for recruiting events on campus. Bring hiring managers and current technicians out to the campus and check out the talent pool while also educating interested students on what they can expect on the job.

To dive deeper into how to take your recruitment strategy to the next level, contact us and let’s start a conversation.