Being involved in transport and logistics 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; that is the essence van 24/7 drive. Headquartered in Son, the Netherlands, and with offices across 7 countries in Europe, 24/7 drive is a specialist in the recruitment, selection and staffing of truck drivers.
As you can imagine, it’s quite the operation for 24/7 drive to keep contact with all temps and candidates running smoothly. For Birgit Kwinten, Manager of Marketing & Communications at 24/7 drive, reason enough to contact Textkernel to see how we could help them further. Curious to know the story of 24/7 drive? Then read on quickly!
We see an upward trend in the number of applications via WhatsApp on our website. More and more candidates are finding their way to us!
Birgit Kwinten – Manager of Marketing & Communications
What was the situation like at 24/7 drive before you partnered with Textkernel?
“Contact with the candidates was mainly by phone, email, text or just in person at one of our branches,” says Birgit. “Our texting solution was unfortunately one-way and thus could not be answered by our temporary workers. Our colleagues were therefore often using their business phone for WhatsApp, which is inconvenient when a colleague is sick or on vacation, for example.”
This was reason enough for 24/7 drive to look for a partner who could streamline their communication channels. Birgit: “We started looking for a structural solution for the entire organization in which we are always available for our candidates as well as our clients, and which at the same time is deployable for all our branches in Europe. After all, we are located in 7 European countries. Previously it was not yet possible, for a non-registered candidate, to start the conversation with us via WhatsApp itself. This too is now possible. And through Textkernel’s routing in the Candidate Engagement solution, the candidate is always forwarded to the right branch.”
How did you end up cooperating with Textkernel?
“A must have for us was interfacing with our ATS system Bullhorn. A couple of years ago this was not possible, which stopped us from choosing Textkernel at the time”, explains Birgit. “But when I heard that a connection had been realized, I immediately contacted Luuk (van Neerven, Candidate Engagement co-founder) to resume discussions. Our organization is too big to implement yet another separate system next to the existing ones. That’s why it’s really perfect that we now have the connection with Bullhorn through which WhatsApp can be optimally used on multiple fronts and you can always find the conversations back with the candidate.”
How did the implementation go? And how did your colleagues experience Textkernel’s solutions?
“Honestly, the implementation went very well! Our contact person Gabrielle Hellingwerf was always available for us and responded quickly. If we fired too many questions at her, there was room to schedule a quick online consultation to address them together”, said Birgit.
Do you notice any of the added value of the Candidate Engagement solutions?
Birgit: “Our colleagues at the various branches use the Candidate Engagement solutions quite a lot and really like the fact that they can now communicate with our candidates in a quick and easy way when they don’t pick up their phone or when you want to quickly let them know something. We also see an upward trend in the number of applications via WhatsApp on our website. More and more candidates are finding their way to us via WhatsApp! And that way we are closer to our candidates.”
Do you have any final words for prospective users?
“From our colleagues we receive some comments about the mandatory use of the WhatsApp templates. This makes it a little less personal and you can’t always send the message you would like right away. This is something to take into consideration when considering this solution. Fortunately, the many advantages outweigh the negatives and that’s why we started using Textkernel’s Candidate Engagement after all. We are already busy implementing the next project! We can therefore definitely recommend the various Textkernel solutions!”
