Breaking Through the Noise: What Staffing Buyers Really Want
With Guest Eduardo Gonzalez, Manager of Workforce Planning at Arvato
In today’s competitive staffing landscape, standing out to potential clients isn’t easy. With inboxes full and phones ringing off the hook, what actually grabs a buyer’s attention—and keeps it? In this episode of Staffing Made Simple, Casey Wagonfield and Rob Geist sit down with Eduardo Gonzalez, Manager of Workforce Planning at Arvato, to dig into what staffing buyers really care about.
Eduardo oversees a contingent workforce of over 1,500 across 10 locations and knows firsthand what makes a staffing agency stand out—and stick around. Whether you’re struggling to get in the door or trying to strengthen existing relationships, this episode is packed with real talk from the other side of the table.
Casey Wagonfield: If you’re in staffing sales, you already know getting a buyer’s attention is tough, and it’s likely your competitors are reaching out to your prospects daily using every method they can, calls, emails, text, social media, dropping in by person. So how do you stand out from all the noise? How do you get your prospect’s attention and start building a real relationship?
Well, on this episode we’re diving into the buyer’s perspective. What really works when prospecting, what makes a staffing agency worth considering and what keeps a great partnership going long term? To help us understand what’s on the buyer’s mind we’re bringing in someone who interacts with staffing firms on a daily basis, and manages a large multi-site contingent workforce, so stay tuned to this one.
Welcome to Staffing Made Simple, brought to you by SimpleVMS, the most vendor-friendly VMS on the market today. I’m Casey Wagonfield, 17-year staffing vet and subject matter expert at SimpleVMS. This podcast is all about tackling staffing’s biggest challenges with real actionable strategies. And with me, as always, is my co-host, Rob Geist, Senior Vice President of Growth and founding member of SimpleVMS.
Rob, this is going to be a fun one.
Rob Geist: Absolutely, Casey. Thanks a lot, man. Super excited to have our guest and I’m really excited to have a sales focused podcast.
Casey Wagonfield: Alright, let’s get to it. Today we are joined by Eduardo Gonzalez, manager of Workforce Planning at Arvato. Arvato is a global services company specializing in supply chain management and logistics. They’re also an amazing SimpleVMS client, and Eduardo uses the tool to manage his staffing partners across 10 locations that ramp up to over 1500 contingent workers. Eduardo, thanks for joining us. And, before we dive in, why don’t you just tell everybody about Arvato and yourself,
Eduardo Gonzalez: Casey, Rob, thank you for having me. So, as you mentioned, Arvato is a leader in supply chain management, we use a high number of contingent labor to sustain our business. For my role, I ensure that we have the right partnerships in place across the US from the west coast to the east coast, making sure that these partners are compliant with laws, processes, procedures that we have established. And in addition, any new partnerships that we need to add to the business, I am responsible for vetting them and making sure that they are compatible with servicing us.
Casey Wagonfield: You know, there’s always a debate on what’s the best way to reach someone these days. There’s so many ways to communicate and salespeople have more ways than ever to do that calls, emails, texts, messaging you on LinkedIn or just showing up at your facility. And I know a lot of salespeople use all of these methods, but in your opinion, out of those, what would you say is the most effective way for a staffing person to get your attention?
Eduardo Gonzalez: So I want to start off with, of course, I do get inundated with a lot of emails and phone calls on a daily basis. Daily, weekly, nonstop actually. And I don’t read all the emails. A lot of them are scripted. They do have some type of template that just, it’s generic, right? They send it out, they hope to receive some type of response.
They’re not going to get a response. If they make it personal, they will receive a response. I do want to share an example; they sent me an email with a joke actually so, if they can make me laugh. They grabbed my attention and so, I will entertain listening to them, and seeing what they have to offer.
So if they can be different, if they can stand out, then they’re going to grab my attention and I’m going to give them an opportunity to tell me about their company and what they have to offer.
Casey Wagonfield: So no matter whether they call, they email, as long as they’re unique, outside the box, something different to get your attention, you’ll usually entertain it.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Absolutely, yes.
Rob Geist: Probably from what I’m hearing, you don’t want a big mail merge and you’re just one of many. You can tell it’s a prescripted e-mail. That comes across, that’s not going to get your attention, right?
Eduardo Gonzalez: That is correct. So an example, there is this one email that was sent recently actually.
This is exactly verbatim. There’s a running joke internally here that we do our actual jobs for free and that were really paid to do is follow up. So that grabbed my attention. Something so simple, right? And so I give them a response, and we ended up meeting.
They had an opportunity to actually give me some information about their company and what they have to offer.
Rob Geist: I love it. And I think there’s something about being self-deprecating that attracts people as well. What other creative things have people done that have gotten your attention?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Sending pastries and not just any kind of pastries, specialized pastries. Cupcakes with the message, and even a cake with the message or company logo, their information. That stood out, and so that made me want to get to know them a little bit better. So that alone will just immediately grab the attention for them to actually have a chance to talk to me and get to know about our company and vice versa, for us to get to know them as well.
Rob Geist: What about some other things, Eduardo? Like knowing the industry that you’re in, having done some research about, the company that you work for. I mean , those are the little things that I do. There’s a lot of times I read industry publications. If somebody gets quoted in one of those, I’ll say, Hey, I , read you in the Business Courier.
Does that resonate with you at all?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Yes, it does. That stands out as well, because we know that they’ve done their research. They’re not just sending information to see who responds. They actually took the time to get to know us, to get to know something about our company. Or, if they see something
in a press release, saying ” You’re opening up new facilities at this location. That location – we’re here, we have two brick and mortars. This is how we can help support.” Things like that. That does stand out as well, because we know that they’re doing their homework.
Rob Geist: You want to know that somebody took the time and personally reached out to you rather than just a bot that’s sending you an email.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Yes.
Casey Wagonfield: I’d imagine with as many people that reach out to you, Eduardo, the only ones that do stand out are the ones that are personalized, right? And humor I think is huge. I mean, it just goes to show that the salesperson’s a real person.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Absolutely.
Casey Wagonfield: Let’s talk about what not to do. So, those are great things to catch your attention, but there’s I’m sure a lot of things that you don’t like. And I’ve seen a lot of salespeople pitch before they diagnose. They over promise and just sound like everybody else.
And I’ve even heard you mention how some people don’t respect the process when they go around, maybe, what your internal process is for becoming a staffing partner. What are some of the common mistakes that you see staffing people make in their outreach?
Eduardo Gonzalez: So the biggest one is being too pushy, too aggressive, constantly following up.
But then on the flip side, if you’re not following up enough, you’re not going to receive a response, right? But if they’re being too pushy. That’s just a red flag for me. The type of partnerships that we like, they’re relational, not transactional. And sometimes when they’re not personal and when they’re constantly reaching out. They’re just, they’re looking for a transaction. That’s exactly what they’re looking for.
We’re looking for long-term partnerships for years and years. And so being too pushy. That’s not going to give you an opportunity to even get your foot in the door to let us know about your company when you have to offer.
And another mistake is not following the process, right? So ,if they know there’s a certain process within an organization. For us, I am the gatekeeper and essentially the one that initiates everything when onboarding. So, a lot of times they want to bypass that, immediately go to other stakeholders within the organization trying to see if they can get their foot in the door. And that’s the biggest mistake that a lot of potential agency partners have made where they think that they could just, overstep. And so when that happens, they lost that opportunity with us.
Rob Geist: Tell us about people who over promise and does that make you skeptical?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Absolutely. It, I’ll give an example. During the start of the pandemic, right back in 2020. Companies could not find talent to work.
And so there were a few companies that wanted to service us and hey, “we have 50 people in the pipeline.”
And so they did reach out to an executive and sold them to that. Hey, we’re losing these people every day. “We have 50. They can start as soon as tomorrow.” Every week. That list shortened and shortened. So they over promised a high number. During that time when it came for them to actually perform when we brought them on board, about less than five and they did not work out. They ended up pulling out quickly because they could not sustain, they overpromised and under-delivered, just so that they could get that transaction.
Rob Geist: Yeah, I think that’s a really great point.
I do see there being a disconnect at times with sales and operations in staffing, right? And you’re only as good as the recruiter that’s sitting at the desk filling the orders for you guys. So, salespeople promise you the sun of the moon and the stars, and then if the recruiter’s not delivered, it makes everybody look bad. It makes all the salespeople look bad.
To switch gears here. What if somebody actually walks in the lobby and catches you or, gets you on the phone? Tell us some examples of some things people have done to set themselves apart in that situation.
Eduardo Gonzalez: That has happened, and a lot of times they are not prepared.
It’s very common for a lot of agencies to have a hundred no’s and then two yes’ before they’re even given that chance to let them know about their business, right, and what they have to offer, what differentiates them. And so it has happened a few times. Perfect timing, I’m at the front, there’s a potential agency partner there, and I’m the perfect person for them to speak to.
And so it has happened. They’re just not prepared for it. And so what I do, I take them to the lobby, just get to know them, and I let them give essentially their elevator pitch. What do you have to offer? Tell me about your company . And I keep them in my library of potential agency partners actually.
Casey Wagonfield: That’s a good lesson if you’re going in, expect to talk to somebody and know what you’re going to say.
Uh, yeah. Yes. And, and even though, you know, a lot of times for staffing salespeople, there’s a small chance you get to talk to the decision maker, but always be ready in case you do.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Always be ready, yes.
Rob Geist: And this is kind of a reoccurring theme already, but being prepared. So would it be helpful if the person walking in who’s speaking with you knows a little bit about your business, and the potential peak seasonality of it, and can reference other clients that they do business with?
It’s probably a pretty small network of people in the area you’re in, you probably know a lot of the other folks in the same roles that you have.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Yes. So I come from the staffing industry, and so I do have a lot of connections, a lot of individuals in my network that I can reach out to.
They work for other 3PL companies or even in the staffing industry. That is key, being prepared. I think these salespeople just expect to drop off their information. Here’s a brochure, here’s something about our company, but they don’t expect to actually talk to a stakeholder during that time, so that it is always important for them to be prepared.
And that is one of the questions that I ask, what do you know about our company? What do you know about Arvato? If they are not prepared, if they haven’t done their homework, then again, they’re just looking for that transaction. Just, “Hey, I’m checking off this box.” But they really need to be prepared. If they are targeting specific companies and doing their research, doing their homework. And also their reputation, right? I am going to look them up and seeing what the reputation is in the local area.
Casey Wagonfield: That’s a good point. I’ve even had people that when I was in staffing that came into my office because of our Google reviews, we had four and a half star reviews and a couple hundred reviews, and it was better than a lot of the agencies in that area. That was a multimillion dollar client. But your brand and what other people are saying about you goes a long way.
I wanted to talk a little bit about timing because I know timing can be everything, especially in staffing, because I’ve been there. You’re 99% staff today, you’re probably not thinking about meeting a new agency partner.
We all know those scenarios can change fast too in staffing. So how important is timing when a staffing agency reaches out to you?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Timing is everything and timing is key, but once again, it’s always going to be up to that follow up, whether that’s a month, every quarter. I do have an example of a partner that we currently have right now. It took them about four years to reengage with us. They serviced us back in 2018, 2019. They didn’t stop. They continued every year here and there. Once a quarter, “Hey, checking in. Whenever there’s a need, we’re still here.” It’s important for them to give that notice and to just check in because you never know when that time, it’s going to be right, and we’re going to have a need to engage or reengage once again. So 2018, 2019, we stopped working with them. We kind of went our separate ways. And then 2023 we reengaged with them and they have been very successful since inception- reception, I should say, of the partnership with us.
Casey Wagonfield: Yeah. So, I think it goes back to when you said, ” Don’t be pushy, don’t overdo it.” There’s a fine line between staying in touch with you, being persistent, but not being a pest, I guess.
Rob Geist: You know what never ceases to amaze me is. Once someone gets engaged with me, if they’re trying to sell me something. A lot of times I’ll give them a homework assignment, because I want to see if they actually have the capability to follow up.
So once they’re engaged with you, don’t they need to stay on top of it and follow up with you when they say they were going to follow up with you. For example, if they said, “Hey, I’m going to give you some references from some of our clients who are in the same industry”, and then you never get those references. I’m sure that’s not going to help their case and getting in the door next time you guys are adding a new supplier into the program.
Eduardo Gonzalez: That is correct. Yes. So they have to really keep their word and say, “Hey, I’ll follow up with you.” And some of them are very on top of it. I do keep in touch with some potential agency partners if there’s ever a need, just in case we ever do have that need. Uh, they do follow up, check in every month, every quarter. “Hey, are things going?”
It’s not a pushy, aggressive. “Just want to know how the business is. What are we looking at at the moment?” Very friendly, just conversation. But just for them, it’s important because we know that they’re still there. Because when the time comes, right, as timing is key, we will be giving them a call. Especially those that are in the radar.
Casey Wagonfield: Absolutely. And, uh, kind of wanted to talk a little bit now because you gave some great insight on how agencies can stand out to buyers, get their attention. But after an agency gets your attention, what’s the typical next step for you? How do you evaluate whether or not they’re worth working with or meeting with?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Number one is a reference check. I reach out to my contacts, my connections, my network and see if they’ve used this agency before. Even from my experience alone, to see if they are a compatible partner for us.
So some of the things that I’ve done is mystery applicant, right? I’ve done that with some potential agency prospects that we were looking into partnering with. So I wanted to make sure, get some insight on their onboarding, welcoming process, for new applicants.
And so I wanted to see a couple of things. I visited a couple of different offices. I wanted to see how well they treated other applicants, and see what that process looks like. How extensive it is, how easy it is for the applicant. And I came in as a Spanish speaking only applicant to see if they even have processes in place to give them a good candidate experience, and see if they have personnel that is able to help them in the system. And not just, “Hey, you’re going to have to go home and talk to somebody that you know that’s able to translate or help you do the application.”
So I do like to scope out like that and just to make sure, because I have had some bad experiences where sometimes the candidate doesn’t have a great experience, very poor. And if you get treated like that, what’s to say they’re not doing the same with everybody else.
Casey Wagonfield: No, that’s a great point. Great way to see exactly who you’re going to be working with, to your point.
Yeah. If they’re not going to treat the candidates well, how do you know they’re going to work out in the long run.
Rob Geist: First time you told me that, it blew me away. That you, were that passionate about what you do, that you would take the time to do that. Are there any other things you can think of that a staffing firm can do to engage the workforce that they’re going to be able to send out to you that’ll make them better workers for you guys at Arvato?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Engagement is always key. Depends, what does that engagement process look like for them? Once they apply how do they keep them hot and ready, as I like to say. Just ready to go. And so, do they have some type of technology established where they can constantly get their status, if they’re still available or not, and if they’re willing to start as soon as possible, all that information. That is key, always, the engagement piece. From the agency to the applicants, just to make sure that they have that great experience, set them up for success and ready to start with us.
Rob Geist: Yeah, there’s a pizza chain that might already have that, uh, (slogan)
Eduardo Gonzalez: that, yeah…
Casey Wagonfield: .. Eduardo, let’s talk about a success story. Can you share an example of a staffing agency that exceeded your expectations and what they did differently?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Absolutely. So one of our partners really comes to mind when it comes to exceeding our expectations. This partner came to us proposing to create a video, onboarding video for their applicants to see before day one. They’re already assigned to us, they’ve been onboarded by them, but this video would help them loosen that anxiety on day one.
So this video consisted of: what this parking looked like, the break room, where to clock in, what does the facility look like, what are they going to be doing. So that they could really know what to expect on day one. And so I know that has helped a lot with retention especially on day one with those individuals that decide not to take the position, right, and just don’t show up on day one. So that has helped significantly. And so that really exceeded our expectations because no partner has really came to us, “Hey, we want to create this video where we want to make the onboarding experience that much better for all these prospects starting on day one.”
So that really exceeded our expectations. The team was onboard with it, they made it happen. And so far, so good.
Casey Wagonfield: That goes a long way. And I used to do something similar called a job preview. There’s some agencies that don’t do that. And I’ve seen a lot of instances where somebody shows up, they don’t know what door to go in, they don’t know who to ask for, and just kind of feel lost.
So preparing them when they show up, they know they’re going to a warehouse, right? This isn’t data entry. But going through all of the different things they need to set them up for success. And a lot of times you can weed out the people beforehand that might not show up on that first day.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Exactly.
Rob Geist: So it sounds like to me from your staffing partners, engaging the candidates is important. That plays a huge factor in retention and productivity of the workers they send out to you.
Can you tell us a little bit more about that and how important that is to you and your organization?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Absolutely Rob. So engagement is key, and that’s from the applicant process up until they’re an active worker. So we have seen partners that have huge engagement, better retention rates, actually they do have less turnover. Versus, partners that don’t have a lot of engagement, and that’s from the applicant process up until their actual active worker for us. And so if they’re engaging during the applicant process, onboarding process, they have multiple touch points, etc… The likelihood of that individual starting on day one and not ghosting is going to be close to that one hundred percent.
They will show up, and if they are happy with their company, they are going to produce, they’re going to be there every day. And so it’s also going to minimize absenteeism. They’re going to look forward to coming into work, and be a good worker because of that engagement. And so something that stands out from an engagement perspective that one of our partners currently does, they have an actual training center where they are able to upskill workers to become forklift drivers. And so they do incentivize them, “if you are putting in the work and investing yourself and being a good worker, we are going to give you an opportunity to upskill you.” And so that is key. And so upskilling them is going to be a win-win for us because they’re going to upskill them to the forklift driver and we’re going to be able to use them. And that individual, that worker’s going to be receiving more money.
Casey Wagonfield: Yeah, I think that’s huge. Especially nowadays, being able to upskill people, to make sure they have the provided skills that you need at your facility. Because sometimes that can be, especially forklifts, can be a position that’s harder to fill.
And being able to go after different demographics that might not have those skills, and might not have them just because companies don’t want to certify somebody that just doesn’t have those skills. So being able to upskill taps into a whole new demographic that they can recruit for.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Exactly.
Rob Geist: I think it’s super interesting because, when you see the surveys of workers, it’s not just about how much they make. It’s about their opportunity for advancement.
And it’s really an interesting perspective knowing that the staffing agencies are playing a huge part in this process, even though they’re working at the Arvato facilities.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Yes, exactly.
Casey Wagonfield: I mentioned about reaching out to peers to vet agencies, and I think that’s a great way to talk with people that may have already worked with those agencies before. But what are some of the other ways you vet agencies before you start working with them?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Casey, that is a great question.
So one of the things I like to do is my own research. See if there are any news articles on this agency, something that they’ve done that. They have , maybe, crossed the line when it comes to compliance. Maybe they weren’t coding correctly when it comes to workers’ comp. I don’t want to see dirty laundry. I have seen the owners that they’ve been arrested. I have seen some companies doing worker workers’ comp fraud. If I see any of those and you’re coming and asking for business, that is a huge no. You are going to be on the list, but we’re not going to do business with you at all.
And so that’s one thing that’s very important, very key to me when I am vetting these new potential prospects. Of course, reputation, I ask the workers, “Hey, how is this agency? How have they treated you?” and usually I get a mixture of a little bit of everything, right. But if it’s more positive than negative, then hey, they are good.
Casey Wagonfield: How important is the internal staff’s tenure at the agencies you work with? I know a lot of agencies use that as a value proposition when they have tenured staff, and sometimes it can tell you a lot about them, right? If they’ve been there a long time, it probably means their company treats them right and they want to work there.
I think the industry average for an internal employee was 18 months by the ASA which can be cumbersome when you’re trying to train new recruiters every six months. How important is it for your partners to have some good tenure within their internal office?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Casey, I’m glad you mentioned that, because it is common in the industry.
For a high turnover 18 months, that’s very minimal. Right? A healthy employer should have their employees active for a minimum of three years. 18 months is definitely very minimal. That’s constant turnover. They have to start all over. We’re getting to know your business. And so if they’ve been in business for 20 years but their staff is six months, three months,
that they’ve been there with the organization, that’s a red flag. That just shows that their turnover is extremely high. And so I like to hear if they’ve been there for 3, 4, 5 years. We do have partnerships currently where they do have tenured individuals, actually 10 plus years that they have been with the organization. And so that’s something we do appreciate because we don’t have to constantly train them, and make sure that they understand our business. If they’re there long term then they are able to continuously support us to our expectations.
Casey Wagonfield: What about technology? Is that significant when it comes to vetting agencies before you work with them?
Eduardo Gonzalez: The one question I always ask when I am vetting potential staffing partners is, have you worked with the VMS platform? And so there are many common ones out there, but of course the one I like to hear is SimpleVMS because it’s in its name, simple. And so they do have experience and they currently do work with SimpleVMS. That is going to be an easy onboarding for them because they’re already established and have a relationship with the SimpleVMS team. We use SimpleVMS, so we do appreciate if they do have that experience.
Rob Geist: So you mentioned retention. What other metrics are you looking at as keys to success from your suppliers?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Retention is number one, and within retention we separate, overall negative turnover and then also to initial turnover. Initial turnover is key. We want that to be minimal. Initial turnover for us is turnover within the first seven days.
That is very important to us. We invest a lot of time, effort, money, training these new workers coming in. So it’s very critical that they last more than seven days. So initial turnover for us is huge. We want that to be as minimal as possible. Another metric is, time to fill. We do give an SLA of three days to provide labor to us.
Rob Geist: How about reporting, how important is it when you’re working with the staffing agency and what other metrics do you look at?
Eduardo Gonzalez: Reporting is key. Especially thanks to the tool, of course, SimpleVMS. That helps tremendously. Another metric we look at, we call them the drops, right? The, the ghosts. Those individuals that are scheduled, they got vetted, they’re scheduled for day one, and they don’t show up. That can tell you a couple of things, right? If they send 10 people to work and only five show up, something’s going on with the vetting process. And so that, we look at that, that’s key for us. We know that there’s some type of gap, especially if only 50% are showing up. So that is key for us, we want to make sure that they’re doing everything and anything on their end to vet them properly to ensure they schedule 10, 10 are going to show up on day one.
Rob Geist: Interesting.
Casey Wagonfield: Yeah, I think a lot of these things have a trickle effect, right? You mentioned somebody shows up and they don’t know they were going to be unloading. Well, had they been through a job preview before they started, they know exactly what they were getting into, which goes back into employee experience. When you talk about long-term partnerships, something I’ve always felt was huge is communication.
Especially I think in light industrial staffing, have that communication with the branches that you’re working with and them have the communication with you and your supervisors and knowing you know what your needs are.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Absolutely. So I’ll add the analogy of, this is a marriage, right? You have to lay everything there, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and communication is key.
Casey Wagonfield: And it sounds like overall you’re looking for a partner, right? A partner that’s going to bring different ideas and things to the table.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Exactly.
Rob Geist: One other thing I was curious to ask you, we did a quarterly business review with a client of ours not long ago, and one of the requests they had from their staffing agencies was they wanted to have a relationship with someone that wasn’t a recruiter. They wanted somebody more strategic.
So do the salespeople that come in and sell to you, do they maintain the relationship with you? Would you prefer that they do because there’s high turnover in that recruiting role? So, you might need a person to bridge that gap when that turnover happens.
Eduardo Gonzalez: So that is an expectation for us to have, that accessibility to all levels within that agency, right? From the recruiter all the way to the top executive. We want everybody to be involved. We want everybody to get to know us, and that really shows that they value our partnership as well, because everybody’s involved, not just that sales person that made the sales and then they’re gone.
Rob Geist: Yeah. I think it’s so important for the sales person who actually came in, told you something, promised you something, they stay in front of you and follow up that they’re continuing to provide the service that you expect.
So to me, that’s an essential part of sales.
Casey Wagonfield: Eduardo, how do you define a successful partnership with a staffing agency? Like what separates a good partner from a great one?
Eduardo Gonzalez: That is a great question, a great partner is a partner that puts everything on the table.
What I mean by that, a lot of times these agencies, they are scarred by certain clients. And I’d be the first one, in my experience, I was scarred by some of these clients. Where sometimes that scar prevents you from putting certain things on the table with certain clients. For us, I welcome everything on anything.
Just because one of your clients, it was a hard no for them for a certain ask, ask us. We can say yes, we can say no, but that is something that stands out a great partner from a good partner. Somebody that comes with ideas and somebody that is not afraid to ask if something could be done. If we can go a certain direction, if they can try something new, we are open. We may say no, but somebody that comes to the table with other ideas, suggestions, we really value that and appreciate that.
Casey Wagonfield: So somebody with good communication, good thought leadership, bringing outside of the box ideas to you.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Yes.
Casey Wagonfield: Awesome. So basically everything you’ve been talking about for the past 30 minutes combined into one, uh, that’s a great partner.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Absolutely. I’ll share a story actually, one of our partners, during the pandemic, we just could not get labor. We couldn’t fill the positions. They brought this idea, “Hey, let’s bus people from 45 minutes away.”, and they made it happen. Actually they came to us, and so that’s what we, when we are having struggles, challenges, certain departments, certain areas, bring ideas to the table. That bussing strategy really helped us out. We rolled it out for two years actually, and that really helped us through, during peak times.
Casey Wagonfield: And that probably strengthened that relationship with that agency too, right? Because they’ve helped you.
Eduardo Gonzalez: Absolutely. Yes.
Rob Geist: Eduardo, this has been great and can’t thank you enough for all the insight you’ve given us. One of the last questions, is there any advice you’d give to salespeople trying to build lasting relationships with buyers like yourself?
Eduardo Gonzalez: My last piece of advice is don’t be afraid to spend money to make money.
What I mean by that, not a lot of companies are willing to make that investment. A lot of times companies always look at the short term games. They may make a loss now, but that is small compared to the long-term relationship and the long term return that they will be receiving. That is my biggest piece of advice; sometimes that sacrifice and investment is worth it, especially with a huge company like Arvato because we are here for the long term, not the short term. So you may have a loss for a certain quarter, maybe two quarters, but then in the long term you’re going to be making a ton of money. So that, I would say that’s probably the biggest piece of advice. Don’t be afraid to take that risk.
Rob Geist: So what it sounds like you’re saying is you want partners to be proactive instead of reactive when they’re doing business with you, which is business 101.
Casey Wagonfield: Eduardo, this has been an awesome conversation. Rob and I, with decades of sales experience, we were super excited to talk with you today.
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Casey Wagonfield: Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time on Staffing Made Simple.