David Searns | Co-CEO
No one needs a temp!
I recall saying that to the owner of a staffing firm years ago.
Now, I want you to picture the situation…
I was speaking in a small room filled with staffing company owners.
I was doing a presentation on sales strategy and asked the question, "Why do people buy your services?"
At that point, one of the owners shouted out, "Because they need temp help!"
To which I replied, "No one needs a temp!"
This gentleman wanted nothing to do with my assertion!
He shouted back, "Then why in the hell do you think they buy my services?"
I responded, "I don't know. But no one needs a temp!"
Now, I want you to really visualize the situation.
I'm about 5'10" and at that time was maybe around 160 pounds.
The person I was speaking with was around 6'4" and probably went 250 or more.
I should NOT have been pushing his buttons!
But I persisted.
"No one needs a temp."
I watched his face turn bright red.
We sparred back and forth about 3 or 4 times with this staffing agency owner telling me that his clients needed temporary staffing services...
To which I repeatedly responded, "No one needs a temp."
Of course, inside, I was thinking I had better shut my mouth before things get out of hand.
Then, all of a sudden, this gentleman blurts out, "They buy from me because they need to keep their F---ING machines running!"
And the lightbulb went off.
He had an epiphany. The value of his light industrial staffing services had nothing to do with temp help. His clients did not need a temp. They needed to keep their machines running!
What is the value of YOUR services?
At a recent conference, I was on stage talking about the value of staffing services, and I used a simple analogy.
I asked the audience, "If you go to Home Depot and buy a quarter-inch drill bit, what is it that you want?"
The obvious answer is a quarter-inch hole...but they do not sell those.
When it comes to staffing, your services are the drill bit. They are the tool that enables your clients to get their quarter-inch holes.
For my friend from the first story, that hole was keeping machines running.
What is the true value you are providing?
Are you helping companies to:
- Hire faster?
- Find more reliable workers?
- Lower labor costs?
- Increase productivity?
- Shorten learning curves for new technologies?
- Reduce employment risk?
- Meet project or production deadlines?
- Expand capacity?
- Take on new, bigger opportunities?
- Free key team members to focus on critical projects?
In staffing, we sell to many different types of decision-makers, and the value of our services is likely to be very different depending on who the buyer is.
The value of staffing to a CEO is very different than the value to HR. And the value to procurement is different than it is to a front-line supervisor.
To sell staffing—without being seen as a commodity—we need to understand the quarter-inch holes that all people we call on need to drill.
When we understand what those holes look like—and the impact of those holes on the client's business or their individual job.
And then we need to understand how staffing (and recruiting) can be used as the drill bit to create those holes.
When we know all of this, it becomes easier to show prospects exactly how you help them keep their machines running! |
