Does your staffing and recruiting sales team have a champion?

Every sales team has a champion.

No, this person hasn’t ridden into the office on a white steed to save the princess from an evil witch, but he or she is a hero. An office sales champion is someone in the organization who is able to reel in the big fish clients, who understands the marketplace and thrives in the organization. In terms of the staffing and recruiting industry, every firm must have a champion staffing sales person. This sales leader will bring in the big fish clients and are a trusted resource. Behind this champion staffing sales person is a staffing and recruiting software database that enables them to succeed at the highest level.

Characteristics of a staffing sales champion

According to an article in Staffing Industry Analysts, sales champions are characterized by three primary skills. In the article, author Donna Carroll, vice president of sales, North America, for the Professional Services Staffing business at CDI Corp., stated that sales champions listen to their clients and really take the time and effort to understand the individual needs of the person speaking on the other side. Instead of walking into a meeting with an agenda, a sales champion understands that his or her primary focus should be to learn the objective and desired outcome of the partnership from the client. All of these details are then carefully recorded in a staffing software and recruiting software database to provide a team with the necessary information to find the right person to fit the job.

Once this is accomplished, a true staffing sales champion is able to reiterate the needs of the client and discuss the pros and cons of a strategy or potential solution without negating what the other person is saying. A champion establishes trust between the staffing firm and the client. The ongoing dialogue between a staffing sales person, account management and the client will create a successful partnership.

Importance of developing champions

Champions are not simply born into the world of staffing. The skills and strategies are taught over time, which is why it is important not to become complacent with one staffing sales champion, but to continue to train others to take this role on as well. Harvard Business Review reported on the importance of creating a strong network and multiple sales champions because unexpected things can happen at any moment and it’s not uncommon for people to quit, get fired, take a prolonged hiatus, etc. For example, Aimee, a senior executive at a global financial services firm, recently watched as the contacts she built over 15 years at a company became useless as people left due to corporate restructuring and the dip in the economy during the recession.

“Many of the leadership team whom I had worked with for a number of years changed,” she explained to the source. “You feel you’ve lost the equity you built up over the years – people knowing what you do and how you perform.”

In a staffing sales environment, the loss of a champion professional could have drastic results, which is why it is important to cultivate multiple champions. Talented sales professionals working for a staffing agency can achieve greatness or polish their skills, if the resources are available. In fact, research from Staffing Industry Analysts shows that recruiting agencies that invest in the latest tools like staffing and recruiting software as well as the training and support required to turn a good staffing sales person into a champion experience higher and more consistent profitability.

Want to make champions of your sales team? Give us a call at 800-318-4983 or email us for details on how Bond’s software can energize your sales staff.