We’ve stopped wasting time on the stuff that nobody cares about, that doesn't add value. Now we can start focusing on the things that actually do add value.
How they use it:
Executive search team gains time to focus on providing a white-glove customer experience by automating low-value tasks.
WittKieffer is a global executive search firm that specializes in the health care, education, and not-for-profit industries. Their team of 100+ recruiters develop strategic partnerships with clients and candidates, providing a white-glove solution for executive recruitment.
An increasing workload on the people who handle appointment scheduling made them look for a way to ease that burden without losing the human touch.
"The personalization, both internal and external, has been and continues to be the most important benefit that we see from YouCanBook.me."Gregory Swedberg WittKiefer
In January 2020 WittKieffer was changing some internal processes. This meant their Executive Search Coordinators (ESCs), who were responsible for coordinating meetings, took on additional responsibilities. So WittKieffer started looking for opportunities to give them back time.
“There was a lot of hand-wringing about how we could relieve the pressure,” says Gregory. “One option was for Associates to do more, but that just increased their workload.
“The low-hanging fruit that was right there was, ‘What can we do about all this back and forth meeting scheduling that's going on?”
At the time, some consultants were using different appointment scheduling software in an ad hoc way but they weren’t convinced it was a good fit.
“They didn’t like the other tool. I mean, they used it, it accomplished the goal at the end of the day, but they didn't like it.”
So WittKieffer embarked on an extensive demo process that saw an initial field of 12 online appointment tools whittled down to three. By the end, they knew that YouCanBook.me was the best online scheduling solution.
“The personalization, both internal and external, has been and continues to be the most important benefit that we see from YouCanBook.me.”
“During the decision process, we had a large group of people telling us about their workflows,” says Gregory. “We've got a bunch of different practices and it’s not uniform. They each have very specific needs.
“So the most important thing was that YouCanBook.me was able to deliver the kind of customization that we really require.
“WittKieffer loves to take something apart and make it its own”, he adds. “There isn't any top-down pressure about how you're going to do your job. YouCanBook.me was able to promise that we could customize everything the way we needed it. And our Account Manager was really instrumental in making that happen.”
Gretchen Schlesinger is Operations Manager at WittKieffer. She remembers the final decision process. “Every single thing we wanted, all of our requirements, YouCanBook.me was the only tool that met all of them.”
Customization for the WittKieffer team comes into every aspect of their workflow. The booking pages are set up exactly how each practice needs them. Some groups use it for an initial candidate phone call, others for interview prep sessions or client update meetings. Other groups have up to 8 different touchpoints where they’re using YouCanBook.me to simplify scheduling.
Each page has its own options, for example, the booker can decide how the call happens, or if they prefer a Zoom meeting.
The teams can ask specific booking form questions depending on their requirements. And, in the interest of privacy, the candidate can decide if they want the full meeting details added to their calendar.
WittKieffer has so many different pages live at the same time that the IT team built a special plug-in for Outlook. Team members can easily select and insert the correct YouCanBook.me booking link into their emails, with the details about the appointment pre-filled.
“The recruiter just types in a topic, and then that goes into the booking page. So it'll say, ‘I'm looking forward to meeting with you, we're going to be talking about x topic,’” says Gregory.
“The plug-in can also load in the job code, which is invisible to the candidate. It goes into YouCanBook.me and then I can use it to link up with my data that comes out of our systems.”
“The plug-in that we built isn’t elegant, but it really works. And it connects so well with YouCanBook.me that it has definitely helped drive adoption.”
“When people start using YouCanBook.me, they love it. It has taken out all that back and forth with finding times. ‘Oh, that time’s booked, now it doesn't work. Oh, okay, we'll go back... ‘ and meanwhile your calendar fills up.”
WittKieffer has almost 100 team members using or testing YouCanBook.me. They’ve taken more than 6,600 bookings in the 9 months that they’ve been using it, with the heaviest user taking more than 550 bookings.
That’s a savings of 10 hours per month for that person alone.
The team isn’t required to use YouCanBook.me, but Gretchen and Gregory see more and more colleagues adopting it every month simply because of the time it saves.
“We get anecdotal evidence from our consultants who tell us that their candidates think this is working,” says Gregory. “We don’t hear any negative feedback.”
Gretchen adds, “We've told people from the get-go that the easy things, the time-consuming things, those are where you will see the most benefit. Let's stop wasting time on the stuff that nobody cares about, that doesn't add value. Now we can start focusing on the things that actually do add value.”
So what are the features that WittKieffer uses to give their candidates and clients a fantastic, white-glove experience while still automating the workload?
The amount of choice offered to candidates is notable on WittKieffer’s booking pages. The team uses different question types on their booking form to help with this:
The Appointment Types feature lets the candidate decide how the meeting will happen. This choice, early in the booking process, allows the correct information to filter through the entire experience, including the confirmation and reminder email.
Pre-filling the booking page with information about the candidate, and the position they’re interviewing for, gives a friction-free booking experience. It also means all data can be synced up in the backend.
The information can be displayed on the booking page, or hidden from the candidate, depending on the data you’re passing through.
“In my email signature I include one of these pre-filled links. People just click on the link and something shows up on my calendar. I like that. I'm being the change I want to see.”
And finally, YouCanBook.me’s native Zoom integration has been a lifesaver for the team during the Covid crisis. But WittKieffer doesn't see it as a temporary solution.
During the pandemic, WittKieffer released a study about changes happening in the recruiting industry. It highlighted that recruiting by video is here to stay, as companies are becoming more comfortable interviewing candidates online. This even extends to hiring a candidate without ever meeting them in person.
“Video will be integral to executive recruiting from here on out,” the report says, “saving time and money and enabling more interaction with potential hires. More than eight in 10 recruiters are already using video interviewing.”
“That just furthers the whole idea of YouCanBook.me,” says Gretchen. “People are reaching out in new ways and we want to connect with them.”
Create your free booking page today. No credit card required.
Featuring
WittKieffer specialize in executive search for the healthcare, education, life sciences, and not-for-profit sectors. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, in the U.S., WittKieffer has 330 employees across more than a dozen locations around the world.
Written by
Kate was an early YouCanBookMe employee and loved supporting our Customers for almost a decade. She's now focused on spreading the word about online scheduling, how to improve productivity, and the Oxford comma.
You can activate a 14 day trial of our paid plan at any time.
After your trial, enjoy our free version — forever.
.png)
-1.png)
.png)
4.7 / 5 — G2
