SMARTER increased the number of interviews by 44% with a chatbot

Results

• Increased the number of interviews by 44%;

• Reduced lead processing time to five minutes;

• Expanded the hiring funnel fourfold with a chatbot.

About the Customer

SMARTER provides contact-center staff and operator-workflow automation services. The company hires 150 contact-center operators every month for remote and office roles across eight Russian cities and the CIS countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Moldova.

Starting Point

Before automation, managers processed every application manually. The company later used an international provider, but when that provider left the Russian market, SMARTER began looking for a domestic solution. The company needed to automate high-volume hiring, respond to candidates faster, and prevent them from dropping out between application and training.

Challenge

• Increase the number of candidate interviews;

• Reduce response time after an application;

• Expand the skills and responsibilities of HR managers.

Solution

SMARTER was connected to Flomni in two months. The chatbot was introduced gradually across job sites, social media, and advertising campaigns. Communication channels included Avito, WhatsApp, VK, Telegram, SMS, email, and a website widget.

For outbound sourcing, SMARTER uses the Flomni browser extension on any website. It reads a candidate's contact details automatically and lets a recruiter send a vacancy invitation to their phone number in one click.

For inbound applications, integrations were set up with hh.ru and Avito. The two-way hh.ru integration automatically sends a WhatsApp questionnaire after a candidate applies and changes their status on hh.ru to “In Progress.” With Avito, the bot starts the questionnaire directly on the platform, with no need to open another channel. An API integration sends successful candidates who advance to training or an interview directly to Flomni, where employees can see the scheduled date and time.

To attract more traffic, SMARTER shares links to the chatbot channel widget in social media groups, Telegram, and advertising. Every link includes a source tag, making it possible to measure channel performance and build a hiring funnel.

Most candidates do not even notice that they are talking to a virtual assistant rather than a person. The initial questionnaire takes 5–10 minutes, while candidate volume has increased fourfold. A human manager could not process this additional volume, but Flomni handles it easily.

Monthly applications increased from 5,000 to 20,000, achieving SMARTER's goal of scaling its hiring process.

Training is mandatory for online roles. Candidates who pass the initial questionnaire are automatically moved to training. Candidates applying for on-site roles move on to an interview instead.

SMARTER chatbot logic:

1. The bot starts when a candidate follows a link from an hh.ru or Avito application response, a cold outreach invitation, social media, or an advertisement.

2. The candidate completes a questionnaire covering their full name, date of birth, citizenship, phone number, and work experience.

3. Suitable candidates are invited to an interview for on-site roles or moved to training for online roles.

4. Unsuitable candidates receive an automatic rejection.

5. Candidates who advance to the next stage receive automated reminders.

Chatbot Reminders:

Training reminders

• Email on the day the training session is booked;

• One day before training;

• Two hours before training;

• Ten minutes before training.

The candidate also receives an SMS or WhatsApp message one hour before training.

Interview reminders

• Messenger notification or SMS one day before the interview;

• Reminder one hour before the interview.

The chatbot handles an average of 11,000 conversations per month.

Future Plans:

• Add analytics and export conversations with candidate answers, making it easier to analyze every stage and improve the initial questionnaires.

• Integrate every candidate source so conversations and channel statistics remain in one system. SMARTER will then be able to re-engage candidates who abandon the questionnaire or initially decline.

• Explore internal HR automation opportunities, adopt best practices, and add more capabilities across the company where needed.

Job offer accepted | Flomni

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