We recently conducted a feedback survey of the clients on our farming database, consulting everyone we’ve worked with over the past five years, and it has been really enlightening. It has been great to hear things people have found helpful about the service as well as things we can be doing more effectively.
The good news!
Of those who responded, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive with the majority of respondents indicating that we were able to help them, and that they would recommend us to others.
We also wanted to try and address a couple of things our clients have found less than ideal.
Communication
Some people waiting for a match felt we could be more proactive with communication after the initial registration. We know this can be frustrating; however, we have been taking steps to improve our systems and processes, including follow-up communication, over the past year and we are doing better at this than ever before.
We are currently a small team of three part-time staff – two advisors and one admin. As such, we focus a lot of time on dealing with new enquiries from both providers and seekers. Following up with potential providers, thereby creating new opportunities to match people with, is a vital part of our work.
This does not mean that those who have registered with us previously are forgotten – we constantly review the database to look for potential matches. Please rest assured that you will hear from us if an opportunity becomes available which matches your search criteria.
We would like to appeal to all the seekers on our database (past, current & future!) to be proactive. If you have been on our system for a while and haven’t heard from us, please contact our admin at slms@nfus.org.uk to check the search details we have for you are correct and up to date. Let us know if your circumstances, or location have changed. If you can now explore different regions or have gained experience with different enterprises, this is all crucial in finding you a match, so please reach out and let us know.
“Why haven’t I been matched?”
Another issue which cropped up was that some seekers who have been on our database for some time have not yet been successfully matched. We really do understand their frustration. Again, this can be helped by us having accurate and up to date information, but these things do take time.
The different factors that influence a positive match are very broad and we are limited by the number of opportunities coming forward. This is improving since we started five years ago but we still are operating on a ratio of 3.5 seekers to every 1 provider – it would be great to find everyone who gets in touch with us the farming or crofting opportunity of their dreams, but this is perhaps unrealistic.
Of those providers who contact us, not all decide to proceed after registering, some will find their own match within their local area, or they approach us with their own match in mind and are seeking help in setting up an agreement. We are constantly working hard to promote the service and reach new potential providers. By far the best promotion we could hope for is word-of-mouth, so please spread the word about us. The more opportunities we have available, the more matches we can make.
Other limitations can lie with the seeker. Perhaps they are constrained by location, finances, experience or circumstance. Perhaps they have a very specific arrangement in mind. In all cases, matches have been more possible and have a greater chance of success if both parties are flexible in their approach.
Whether you are a seeker or provider, the more rigid your criteria and expectations, the more difficult it is to find a match.
Unfortunately, where Crofting is concerned, the provider situation is still extremely limited and remains as described in our June update . We are continuing discussions with Crofting stakeholders to look at how more opportunities can be made available. Having gathered the evidence of high demand for crofting opportunities it is important that all of those with an interest in promoting crofting work together to find a way to try and create more opportunities.
Feedback
If you have registered with us at any point over the past five years and would like to complete our feedback survey, we would love to hear your thoughts. You can access it here: https://forms.office.com/e/MRch1d2tH2
Please note that all responses are anonymous so if you would like us to get back to you directly on any of your comments, please include your full name.