With annual growth exceeding 20 percent, the umbrella employement sector is booming, and competition among specialized firms is becoming increasingly fierce.
In 2020, France already had 400 umbrella employement companies (AKTO industry report).
It’s now a competitive race to attract contractors and the most dynamic and professional umbrella companies clearly stand out from the crowd.
Here are our tips for standing out in the umbrella employement market and attracting candidates to your umbrella employement company.
1. Build your reputation
Gather as many opinions and testimonials as possible from your current contractors
Make sure your umbrella company is listed on the platforms used by freelancers looking for umbrella company solutions, such as Google My Business or Glassdoor. This is very important because a freelancer using umbrella employement will instinctively check the umbrella company’s rating and read the reviews posted online by other contractors. Feel free to publish these reviews on your website and LinkedIn page.
Conduct satisfaction surveys
Check in regularly with your contractors to understand their expectations, assess their satisfaction, and identify areas for improvement. This approach is highly appreciated and will demonstrate how much you care about their well-being. It will increase your chances of generating positive word-of-mouth.
Join recognized organizations or professional unions
There are several organizations, such as PEPS (Employment Professionals in Umbrella Employement), FEPS (Federation of Umbrella Employement Companies), and Fedep’s (Association of Umbrella Employement Users). Read our full article on the three umbrella employement associations here.
2. Offer premium support
Simplify Administrative Tasks
Relieve your contractors as much as possible of the administrative tasks they find tedious, such as tax and accounting obligations. To make their daily lives easier, provide them with business management software like VSPortage, which automates administrative tasks and centralizes information.
Provide access to professional training
The opportunity for ongoing training is highly valued by contractors, who often have little time to devote to finding training opportunities. Forge partnerships with Qualiopi-certified organizations to facilitate the financing of training programs. Offer both job-specific modules and modules focused on personal development.
Offer legal assistance
Set up a legal advisory service to assist your contractors when needed. These services are frequently sought after by self-employed individuals and can set you apart from your competitors.
3. Offer flexibility
Be flexible about the type of umbrella employement contract
Freelancers often lack clarity regarding their turnover and the duration of their assignments. Umbrella companies that offer more flexible terms—such as fixed-term contracts —provide freelancers with greater peace of mind.
Clarify the terms of termination
Clearly communicate the terms for terminating the contract and the notice periods.
Ensure short payment terms
Reassure your future employees about the timeframe for paying salaries after invoicing.
4. Be transparent about your fees and costs
Communicate clearly about your management fee
For contractors, this is one of the main factors they consider when choosing an umbrella company. Commission rates and management fees typically range from 5% to 15% of your turnover. Be as clear as possible on your website to avoid unpleasant surprises.
View the included services
Be thorough in your sales pitch by clearly stating what is included in the management fee—such as insurance, administrative management software, etc.
Provide a pricing schedule for additional services
If you want to offer additional services, feel free to highlight them, making it clear that they are paid services. It’s best to prepare a price list that’s available online so that prospective contractors can better envision their collaboration with your company.
5. Ensure insurance and retirement benefits
Offer professional liability insurance
Provide liability insurance with adequate coverage tailored to your employees’ needs. Some of their clients may request proof of liability insurance before approving an assignment under umbrella employement.
Develop a supplemental health insurance plan
Choose a supplemental health insurance provider with whom you have negotiated preferential terms for your employees.
Plan for the Future
With all the debate surrounding pension reform, retirement planning is a topic of growing concern for the self-employed. Help your employees navigate this often-complex landscape and offer supplemental benefits to help secure their retirement.
6. Simplify customer relationship management for your contractors
Support mission management
From lead generation to billing, implement digital management tools to save your contractors time and minimize the risk of errors.
Offer personalized support
Plan ahead and train internal staff to ensure that customer support is readily available to answer your employees’ questions.
Make it easier to enter activity reports
Essential for billing clients yet often tedious to complete, activity reports can be digitized to speed up data entry by contractors. With the VSPortage management software, they can even be entered via the mobile app. In case they are forgotten, you can set up automatic reminders so you don’t have to chase after your contractors.
7. Strengthen your legitimacy
Comply with regulations and let people know
It is your responsibility to comply with the regulations governing umbrella employement. These regulations are constantly changing, and you are required to stay informed in order to protect your contractors. To reassure them, communicate these changes on your website or LinkedIn page: this will demonstrate that your company is professional and trustworthy.
Choose financial transparency
Nothing is worse than financial opacity when it comes to making a prospective employee doubt the financial stability of your company. Provide clear and detailed financial reports using an ERP system tailored to your umbrella company business, such as vsp.
8. Expand your professional network
Take on the role of facilitator for your students
Unlock business opportunities for your contractors by leveraging your professional network. Your relationships with corporate clients can help expand the market for your contractors just as a freelancing platform like Malt or La Crème de la Crème would.
Build Strong Partnerships
In addition to official organizations related to umbrella employement, identify relevant professional organizations or even specialized platforms that will help you increase your visibility among prospective clients. Develop special commercial offers for members of these platforms.
The choice of an umbrella employement company depends on a variety of factors that you can influence to varying degrees.
Leverage the power of VSPortage to attract contractors
In any case, implementing an ERP system tailored to the umbrella employement model will allow you to provide your employees with an optimal umbrella employement experience in order to:
- Simplify administrative tasks for your contractors
- Strengthen the bond with your employees
- Make it easier to access key information
- Streamline the tracking of assignments
And much more! Discover the full potential of the VSPortage software to attract candidates for the portage program and manage your business.
Request a free trial or schedule a demo with one of our experts.
