by Mike Scoville

I recently attended the Annual New Jersey Staffing Alliance conference in Edison, NJ.  What a great opportunity for local organizations to hear top-notch speakers in the staffing industry.  It was also an opportunity to speak with peers about the industry and where they see the economy heading.  Overall, I heard that 2010 looks to be a much, much better year than 2009 (Thank goodness!). 

During the event we heard from Jon Bartos and Neil Lebovits, true leaders in the staffing world.  Their emphasis on competition, commitment, discipline, and goals are the reasons they have found so much success in recruiting, business, and life.

I would like to thank Kathy Warren – Bryant Staffing, Daniel Muhlfelder – L.J. Gonzer Associates, and Jack Wellman – Joule, Inc., for inviting me to join NJSA.  I would encourage all New Jersey staffing companies to get involved with NJSA; involvement can help drive business ideas, network with peers, as well as give us a voice in local, state, and national government.

I look forward to becoming more involved with NJSA moving forward.

by Jason Ortner

Recently, I had the opportunity to take part in the 2010 CSP Owner’s Only Retreat (OOR).  The event was held in a beautiful location tucked away from the hustle and bustle of city life in Southern California.  I was told the weather in southern California is typically warm and dry, well this year brought more rain and cooler weather than anyone expected.  Perhaps the weather flew in with me from Minnesota. . .

The theme at this year’s retreat was The Dawning of CSP’s Age of Aquarius. . . And yes there was even a 60s themed party mixed in with all the other activities.

While preparing for my first ever OOR, I received many tips and expectations from Lynn Ebro and Judy Lawton, who are wonderful to work with.   The OOR environment is very relaxing and laid back but was filled with experienced speakers and knowledge sharing among participants.  Each Owner has the opportunity to contribute ideas and learn from fellow California staffing agency owners.

This year’s retreat featured two “pre-retreat” activities where members could either enjoy a day shopping at a local outlet center or prepare their poker face for an evening of Texas Hold’em hosted by Joe Mackey.  I tried my luck at the poker table with Joe and several other Owners; needless to say I didn’t walk away with the money.  I did however, come away with a night of great conversation and the opportunity to be around friends.  The retreat environment is truly about being with friends and banding together to make the CSP stronger in this challenging economic setting.  I would encourage all members to attend these events and other networking opportunities to informally mingle with fellow California Owners while learning from industry experts.

I enjoyed the entire weekend as it gave me the opportunity to reconnect with individuals I met during the CSP Conference earlier this year in addition to meeting many new people.  During the presentations, I learned a great deal of about the current California market and how they’re focused on making improvements for the good of the industry.  Since the OOR is such an intimate setting, as a vendor I was able to participate in all of activities allowing me to speak with many people and learn more about the local industry.

Overall, the OOR was a success for me (Avionté) as we were able to share our staffing software experiences with many great people.  Thank you to everyone who I had the pleasure of meeting with.  The Poker game, 60s party, and a night out at the casino will be memories never forgotten.

If I wasn’t able to meet or speak with you during the retreat and you are interested in learning more about our dynamic software, please contact me.  It would be my pleasure to share how Avionté can assist your business by increasing productivity and lowering operating costs.

by John Long

I often worry about making sure we are selling to the right companies.  I want to sell to those companies who will make great long-term partners and truly receive benefit from our software.  What I didn’t think I needed to worry about however, was wasting time selling to a competitor.

A couple of months ago, we received a call from Karen Conner from Coats, one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet in the staffing industry.  Although we are technically competitors, we really respect, like and want the best for Karen and Coats.  Anyhow – she called asking if we knew anything about Vic Turner of Talent Staffing in Georgia.  At the time, Vic Turner had already sent out an RFP and requested a demo from both of our companies.  Being based in Georgia, Matt Gallagher handled the call.   Vic and his business partner described themselves as a 15 user, 3 office company based out of Conyers doing a variety of different staffing.  The website WAS http://www.talentstaffing.net/ and the email  vturner@talentstaffing.net.

The reason Karen called, though, is because she wasn’t feeling comfortable with the information she was finding on this company.

Her – and our – suspicions were based on several factors to start:

1)      Just a P.O. Box on the website, no physical address

2)      The phone number just rolled over to Vic’s cell phone

3)      Neither Vic or his partner where ever available to meet Matt in person

4)      3 locations and we have never heard of them

After Matt had literally done hours upon hours of demos with Vic and his business partner Dan Walsh from Talent Staffing, we got even more suspicious.  So – we did a little digging.

Exhibit A:
We found several legitimate and reputable staffing firm websites whose pages were exact matches to the Talent Staffing website.  Clearly an excellent cut & paste job by a talented web designer.
Interesting how shortly after confronting the competitor we suspected, the website has been taken down or released back to GoDaddy.  Odd for an established multi-branch staffing firm that claims to be growing.

Exhibit B:
This Free website template offers the exact same services as Talent Staffing…small world!
Free website templates

Exhibit C:
There is no record with Georgia’s Secretary of State for Talent Staffing, including as a dba.  Nor is there a staffing company with the name of Talent Staffing in the yellow pages for Conyers.

Exhibit D:
The domain was registered July 2010.  Now…up for grabs if someone wants it!

When confronted with this information, “Vic” or whatever his name actually is, got defensive and couldn’t believe we didn’t think his business is legitimate.

I conversed with a representative from TempWorks who also confirmed their suspicions of this company and that they feel they were shopped.

We have indirect, circumstantial (though convincing) evidence that the competitor in charge of this operation is one of our primary competitors.  I’ll leave it to the reader to figure out who it is.

Should competitors utilize secret shoppers to gain info?

I know there are differing opinions on this subject.  Many businesses, regardless of the vertical, put a lot of emphasis on knowing what their competition is doing.  Certainly companies need to be keeping tabs on what the competition is doing, including pricing, trends and functionality.

The thing is – going undercover to get that information, just isn’t our style.  I would NEVER do something like that.  Besides just how rude it is to ask for hours and hours of demos, wasting someone’s time, I consider it quite shady.  Sure, a person could jump in the garbage can of a competitor to see if they can find a piece of paper with a prospect list.  But, I honestly don’t think my integrity and pride would allow me to do something like that.  I feel the people willing to impersonate a staffing company to get information are the same people that would cheat on tests if they thought they could get away with it.

Here is a definition to try on, that I heard from somewhere (don’t remember where or I’d give them credit) – the definition of Ethics is “Doing the right thing when no one is looking”.

I agree that Avionté needs to be sure we are being competitive in pricing and staying innovate with functionality.  But you know what – we actually LISTEN to our prospects and clients and frankly, that information is better – and more complete – than a functionality list from any of my competitors.

For the competitor that masterminded this – I’m surprised at the great lengths, resources and amount of time you spent setting up this sham.   You’re obviously worried enough that you needed to see what Avionté, Coats and Tempworks (at the very least) has to offer.  While some might take this as a compliment, I don’t see it that way and am basically just ticked off and annoyed.

It’s a similar feeling I had a while back at a gas station.  I’m standing in line one morning, probably getting a doughnut.  In front of me was this punk kid milling around the edge of the register area.  When the clerk wasn’t looking, I watched him reach past the counter and up into the cigarette bin above the counter.  He grabbed a pack and swung it into his pocket.  I couldn’t BELIEVE what I just saw.  I just stared and when he saw me looking AND knew I was about to say something, he pulled the pack out of his pocket, set it on the counter and left.  I understand the world isn’t full of ethical people, but it’s still frustrating.  You and I pay, in some way or another, for the shoplifting and fraudulent acts of others.

Anyway – I feel this secret shopping is on the same level of deceit.

So, no – I don’t think secret shoppers should be used in the software arena.  For our competitors…..feel free to follow our staffing tweets, read our staffing software blog, memorize the avionte website, talk to our staffing clients…but don’t deceive us into thinking you’re someone you’re not while taking hours of our valuable time to take part in your scam.

What now
Certainly we are going to look more closely when a company calls in.  But we are also going to alert more of our competitors of a secret shopping company when we see them.

Anyone with information about Talent Staffing (www.talentstaffing.net) from Conyers, GA – feel free to spread the word or contact me.

By Jason Ortner

Last week I attended the 2010 California Staffing Professionals (CSP) conference.  This year’s event was held at the wonderful Pacific Palm Resort in Industry Hills.

The theme at this year’s conference was; From Survive to Thrive.  It was clear from the start that each person there was looking to make 2010 the best year ever.  Everyone there was such a pleasure to talk with.  As someone new to the CSP conference, I was welcomed into the group right from the start.

For an industry within a state said to have been hit the hardest during this economic down turn, they sure knew how to rally behind each other to promote strength.  The speakers selected for this conference did an excellent job of covering topics relevant to the current economic state of CA along with ways to enhance businesses in both sales and brand awareness.   Craig Silverman kicked off Friday with a strong presentation titled: “Turning 2010 into the best year ever” and Bob Davies got people thinking on Saturday morning with his presentation titled: “The 1.2% Factor: How one small change leads to large results”.

Yes, attendance was down and there were less exhibitors then past conferences, but the energy was high and the atmosphere was lively.  Exhibitors who I spoke with said traffic was great and the people who stopped were focused and motivated.  I (Avionté) experienced a high level of traffic due in part to being the only staffing software vendor to exhibit this year, which I am told is the first in CSP Conference history.

Personally for me I got the most out of the networking events scheduled throughout the conference.  The opportunity to talk with someone in a relaxed setting opened the door to much richer conversations.  The owner / exhibitor reception and the PAC party were well attended and full of excitement.  For future conferences attendees, these are the events you don’t want to miss!

Thank you to everyone who I had the pleasure of talking with.  If we didn’t talk during the conference and you are interested in learning more about our dynamic software, please contact me.  It would be my pleasure to share with you how Avionté can assist your business in making this your best year ever.

A special thank you to the CSP Conference committee for all of their hard work and energy spent making this conference shine.    They set the bar high for all future CSP Conferences.  I look forward to the opportunity to see everyone next year in San Diego!