Nolan Painting is, by definition, a small business. But, this Havertown based company with 125 employees has grown to be the largest residential painting company in the United States.
For a local contractor to become that large is especially remarkable when the company only paints homes in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. This year, according to April Torrisi, Nolan Painting's Marketing Manager, "we are on track to do $12,000,000 in sales."
"Our company's founder, Kevin Nolan, has a goal of increasing sales by $1,000,000 every year," says Ms. Torrisi, "To add that much revenue we always need to find and hire more painters. Recruitment advertising on Philadelphia radio is a powerful tool to help us stay fully staffed."
According to Ms. Torrisi, hiring qualified candidates is so vital to achieving the company's aggressive growth goals, that Nolan Painting invests 1.5% of total revenue back into recruitment advertising. This is on top of the 4% committed to traditional brand advertising.
Other Delaware Valley companies, most of which do not use radio advertising, are struggling to find the blue-collar workers needed to grow. More than half of Pennsylvania contractors surveyed say they turn away business because they just don't have enough workers to get the job done.
As Nolan Painting has discovered, radio is the dominant medium for reaching blue-collars workers in the Delaware Valley.
According to Nielsen, Philadelphia radio reaches more blue collar workers every week, than local TV, local newspapers, satellite radio, or streaming media sites like Pandora and Spotify.
Nolan Painting began investing in radio recruitment advertising a little over two years ago. The decision was based in part on the success the company has experienced with radio's ability to generate new business leads from residential customers.
"Advertising on Philadelphia radio," says Ms. Torrisi, "is one of our top four sources of acquiring new jobs. It ranks with repeat business from past customers, referrals, lawn signs, and the advertising on our own trucks. Our return on investment on our radio advertising dollars has been very strong."
"The first time we tried recruitment advertising on the radio, we used one station. Our intention was to try it for three months," says Ms. Torrisi. "We noticed immediate results. So, now we are on all year long. We've even added a second station."
"Our Human Resources people have been very impressed with the results of radio's ability to deliver qualified candidates. They have been given a very demanding challenge by Mr. Nolan to hit a 'feet-on-the-street' goal which averages around 100 painters per month."
"Since we started with our radio efforts, the HR team has not missed a monthly goal," says Ms. Torrisi. "The quality of the new hires have been great."
The ideal job candidates for Nolan Painting are those people who are already employed. "We want to make sure they have the ability to hold a job," she says.
Recruiting Passive Job Seekers In The Delaware Valley
Candidates who are already working and may not be actively seeking a new job are referred to by HR professionals as 'passive job seekers'.
According to the Society For Human Resource Management passive job seekers are "individuals who are currently employed and not actively looking for a new job, but who may be open to a good career opportunity if one came along."
The SHRM website goes on to explain that "many employers target passive job seekers because they are looking for candidates who have positive employment records and who are satisfied with and successful in their work. Employers often target passive job seekers because of the lack of qualified job candidates to fill critical roles. Locating, wooing, and successfully luring passive job seekers are critical for organizations to remain competitive in a tight labor market."
Nolan Painting's recruitment advertising succeeds because Philadelphia radio stations reach significantly more passive, blue-collar job seeker each week than all other media.
More importantly, radio reaches more passive, blue-collar job seekers in the Delaware Valley in just one week than internet job boards reach over an entire month.
Mr. Nolan and his company have been painting homes in the Delaware Valley for 40 years. He often says to Ms. Torrisi that "50% of the lawn signs I see in front of houses being painted say Nolan Painting. I want that to be 100%."
Fulfilling that vision requires hiring more and more qualified painters every year. "Radio advertising," says Ms. Torrisi, "is a powerful way to recruit the team we need."
