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How To Assess A Staffing Firm And Determine If They Are Worth The Time

steel-toe You get their sales email every day of the week. They have you on their social media outreach program. Clearly, they are after you. One firm may be cold calling you so often that you are considering a restraining order. How do you quickly assess a staffing firm and determine if they are worth talking to?. Here’s the quick way to assess that firm’s ability to deliver quality temporary staffing for your company.

Give them a tour!

Hold on, I know what you are thinking…, you don’t want to invest any time with them. You are happy with the status quo. But to know for sure, there is a good way to know if you should take a meeting. You do want to know if they can help your company deliver on your goals and company’s goals. This method also proves to them that they are not the right staffing agency to meet your needs. It is also a way to and stop the sales harassment.

Skip the sales meeting, the PowerPoint presentation, and the usual sales pitch stuff; instead set up a meeting and immediately take them on a tour. Here’s what to look for:

  1. Did they come prepared? Do they have steel toe shoes? Did they bring safety glasses or a hairnet?
  2. Did the account manager bring his or her safety manager on the tour? Did they ask for your NCCI classification code?
  3. Does the sales person’s face reveal that they understand what it is that your firm does? Are they asking questions?
  4. Plan ahead and take them to an area of operation and ask for suggestions on how temporary staffing would improve it?
  5. Describe a challenge you have with labor and regulatory compliance, and ask how their company ethically overcomes it?

During the tour, get the sales person to talk about their understanding of your operation, facility, product(s) and service(s). Do they demonstrate that they know what it is that you do? As a partner providing labor to make your product or perform your service, do they understand your business? Follow up with the final determinant question:

“If my company were to switch to your temporary staffing firm, how would you improve my business, productivity, quality, and ability to drive profit from my operation overall.”

If all the sales person can say is “I’ll save your company 2% mark-up.” you know they don’t know what really drives business for your firm. If all they do is invite you to play golf, but don’t explore and understand the unique challenges your business faces to build competitive advantage in your industry, run away. Look for clarity of purpose and value in answers to these questions. In today’s information-rich world, every sales person should do the research on your company.

If they don’t understand that price is not the only success driver, this may be the staffing agency that directly reduces production and quality in your operation. They may be the firm that increases accident and injury rates that ultimately could drive workers comp rate increases at your facility. Consider the longer-term hit to the bottom line from increased turnover and training costs.

There are many other soft changes to business that don’t show up on a spreadsheet, but in the end cam affect long-term cost significantly more than the 1% or 2% short-term mark-up teaser savings. Your staffing firm should care about these soft factors in your business and price their temporary services according to the whole value delivered. And, likewise, you should care about these factors in the health of your staffing firm’s business. At some point, driving price down in the supply chain can go below an optimal threshold that results in business failure.

Barton Staffing Solutions is keen to deliver a dependable quality service that works for you to achieve your company’s business goals and objectives well beyond penny wise and pound foolish short-term savings. Many managers and human resources professionals have experienced career changes for knowing how to evaluate a staffing firm with these techniques.

Barton Staffing Solutions knows how they add value and help your firm achieve it’s company goals. We don’t do sales gimmicks or loss leaders, we’re there for the long-term. Call us today to discuss how we can help you.

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