Something had to be done about rising cost per hire. After comparing several firms, here is the answer we reached.

With group revenue of more than 80 billion yen, Nihon Kotsu is the largest taxi and hire car company in Japan. Its Kansai arm, Nihon Kotsu Group Kansai, had faced growing demand, changing needs and a shortage of drivers through the pandemic.

Responding to their wish to build a system for efficient, steady hiring, we began working together in June 2023. We asked Mr Kishida, team leader in the HR and general affairs department, about the background, what it achieved, and what they expect next.

A shortage of people and a rising cost per hire. What changed it?

First, could you tell us your role and what the company does?
I am Yoshihiro Kishida, team leader of the recruitment team in the HR and general affairs department at Nihon Kotsu.

Nihon Kotsu has been the highest-revenue taxi company in the industry for 14 consecutive years. Nihon Kotsu Group Kansai, where I work, was established in 2014 and now has franchise agreements with many taxi and hire car groups, with more than 1,000 licensed vehicles.

As a company that has led the taxi industry, we want to keep improving the service and also to invest in making the working environment better for our people.

What is your target for driver hires this year?
Our target for new drivers is 450 over the year from June 2023 to May 2024. As of 15 November 2023 we had more than 290, and as of 15 December more than 300.

So more than 60% of the annual target in six months.

If it continues we expect around 500 for the year. As some will know, the taxi industry has a chronic shortage of people. We want to take as large a budget as we can and hire actively.

Not long ago many people had a negative image of driving a taxi, and applications were limited. But with digital tools and the like making it possible to use time more efficiently, more people are interested in the industry. The impression of the job has improved considerably.

What share of applications comes through web advertising?
I do not have the exact figure, but around 40%. Web strategy has become that important to hiring.

Confidence that it reliably turns into applications

What were you doing before coming to us, and what was the problem?
We used almost all the major job sites you see advertised on television. But even taking the same slots, the numbers we could achieve in Kanto were hard to achieve in Kansai.

Meanwhile the average cost per application on the major job sites rose to over 100,000 yen. We recognised it was time to do something.

Looking for a better way, we found that you can build your own landing page and run it across web advertising channels, and began feeling our way into it.

How did you hear about us?
Through the production company that had built our corporate site.

Landing pages and advertising were new to us, so we started by working with several agencies, one per office, and comparing the results. We asked NowVillage in June 2022 to produce two pages, a group-wide recruitment page and one for the Takatsuki office, and to run the advertising, and we have worked together ever since (as of February 2024).

What decided you on NowVillage?
Several things, but above all the rate of growth. We knew converting from our own landing page would not be easy and saw it partly as an experiment, but among several agencies NowVillage reliably turned it into applications, and we are very glad we asked you.
Delivering results in the difficult early period, and continuing to, built a consensus internally that web advertising should stay with NowVillage.

If you want a success story on the web

What were the measurable results?
I will keep the exact figures to myself, but the absolute number of applications has definitely risen, and the landing page work accounts for much of that.

And as I said, cost per conversion on the major job sites was over 100,000 yen when we first came to you; that has settled down too, and I can feel the combined effect of awareness and branding from our own pages. Ideally we keep accelerating hiring on both fronts, the major job sites and web advertising through you.

What do you expect from us next? 　
The taxi industry has a strongly male image, but we want to hire more women. If you have ideas that bring in applications from women, we would welcome them. The work you have done is clearly showing in the numbers, and I hope we work together for a long time.

What would you say characterises us? 　
Low communication cost. The people we work with and those responsible are always close at hand. If a problem comes up we can raise it immediately, which makes it easy to leave things with you.

Which companies would you recommend us to?
I have told people at companies we know several times that the work with NowVillage is producing results.

Beyond the taxi industry, I think many people responsible for hiring do not know this approach – advertising through a landing page – exists at all, so it is worth trying. If you want a success story on the web, NowVillage is the first place I would suggest.

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Nihon Kotsu Group Kansai

HP：https://tokyo-nihonkotsu.net/

Industry: passenger road transport

Service: taxis

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