Selling requires sniffing out the decision makers at prospective clients

Believe it or not, selling smart within the staffing industry today requires a great deal of detective work. If you’re old enough to remember famous television detectives such as Joe Friday on Dragnet, Columbo or Magnum PI, you’re probably wondering what I am talking about. Of course, our type of detective work doesn’t require guns, shields or DNA samples, but the job of a sales executive certainly has gotten more perplexing in the process of uncovering who the decision makers are at prospect companies.

If you remember Columbo, you probably also remember when midlevel managers at client companies had much more control and clout when determining what staffing firms and individuals they could choose to work with. They typically had budgetary control and often made the final decision on vendors, bill rates and offers, etc. In other words, midlevel managers could usually work with whomever they wanted within our industry. Those were the days!

Today, things are quite different. Even at smaller “retail accounts” where there is no vendor management system (VMS) or managed service program (MSP) to contend with, a great deal of investigation still has to occur. For example, is the human resources department involved? If so, does HR determine the vendor list or what staffing firms receive job orders? Who has a say in the final decision? Does HR allow providers to speak directly with the hiring manager? The list of questions that you need answered is endless. How many times have you heard a manager tell you they would like to work with you but they can’t because their internal corporate rules require them to work through their VMS/MSP program or HR? What about internal recruiters? How many times has a hiring manager said you have to work with the recruiting department? A common scenario is when you build a good relationship with a hiring manager and they tell you they would love to work with you because their internal recruiters can’t find the right talent, but their hands are tied because all staffing vendor relationships must be approved by HR — the department that also manages those internal recruiters.

So, it’s safe to say the procurement of staff augmentation resources at both large enterprise clients using VMS tools and MSP programs and smaller retail clients without such tools can be complex and multi-dimensional. This is where playing detective comes in. Once you have established a beachhead such as a face-to-face visit with a particular manager at a prospect company, sales executives need to qualify what kinds of influence that manager has related to your ability to become an approved vendor, receive requirements and make placements. We need to ask these questions before we ask for an order. What are the “rules of engagement” with regard to working with outside staffing agencies? Here are several questions you may want to consider asking during an initial conversation with a potential hiring manager:

  • What made you decide to meet with me?
  • What are the ground rules for bringing on a new staffing firm?
  • Is the decision made through HR, talent acquisition or can you alone approve a new staffing firm?
  • If the decision has to go through your HR or the talent acquisition department, do you have influence in the decision-making process?
  • Once a new staffing firm is approved, can they call on hiring managers directly or do all contract requirements get run through HR or talent acquisition?
  • Does your company have internal recruiters?
  • If so, do they work on temporary/contract positions, or only on FTE positions?

Successful, experienced sales executives usually understand these intricacies, and ask rules of engagement questions before trying to determine whether or not the manager has job orders to be worked on. The take-away here is to make sure your detective hat is squarely on when engaged in initial discussions.