After you spend long hours reviewing candidate profiles, arranging interviews, conducting those interviews, and putting together formal offers, few things are more disappointing than watching your selected applicant walk away and accept another position. Especially if the position happens to be with one of your top competitors. So what can you do to prevent this from happening, or at least reduce the odds that your top candidates will get way before you can get them in the door?

Close the Deal: Stop Losing Your Best Prospects to Better Offers

1. Take a close look at your review and selection process, and search for bottlenecks and high traffic areas that might be slowing things down. Do you bring candidates in for first round interviews right away (which is great), but them leave them waiting by the phone for weeks (not so great) before you schedule the second round? Does your HR office linger over legal details for days and days after verbal approval but before issuing the formal offer? Find and attack the source of the problem.
2. Keep communication channels open between hiring managers and recruiters. When candidates reach out to recruiters for news about the process or an updated timeline, make sure recruiters have something to tell them.
3. Treat candidates with respect—as in, don’t let them sit in silence for extended periods—but go beyond just simple respect and common courtesy. Actively reach out, invite them to company social events, and go out of your way to make them feel welcome and appreciated before their first day.
4. Watch out for changes of heart. The longer the period of time between the offer and the first day, the more time candidates will spend in the no-man’s-land of their previous positions, and the more time their previous employers will have to sweeten counteroffers and convince them to stay.
5. Try not to make lowball salary offers. If you open the negotiating process with an ultrasafe lowball offer, you might get lucky and land your top prospect for cheap. But you might not, and you’ll have to weigh the risk of losing a great candidate in order to save a few bucks. Great employees can easily find employers who will pay them what they’re worth.

The most important rule is simple: Show respect to your top candidates, and communicate clearly and often. The longer you leave them in the dark, or change timelines without informing them, the more likely they are to slip away. For specific guidance, reach out to the staffing pros at Expert. We can help you keep candidates in the loop and close to home while you put together the last stages of a formal offer.