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Air Force Reserve

Company: Air Force Reserve, Warner Robins, GA
Entry Submitted By:
The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC
Company Description: The Brooks Group is a sales and sales management training firm that has helped thousands of salespeople and organizations transform their business practices through practical, down-to-earth skills development in sales and sales management.
Nomination Category: Best Run Sales Organizations
Nomination Sub Category: Recruitment/Staffing Sales Organization of the Year

Nomination Title: Air Force Reserve Consistently the Model Recruiter

  • How many people are in your organization's entire sales department?

    Total of 398:
    • 274 recruiters
    • 74 managers (direct supervisors with regional sales goals and limited
    support staff)
    • 50 staff (headquarters personnel)

  • What were your organization's sales during the eligibility period? If this figure is confidential, simply enter "Confidential" in this space:

    8,494 accessions (106.2% of annual goal)

  • Describe the nominated sales organization's top 3 accomplishments during the eligibility period (up to 100 words):

    • More than 90% of Air Force Reserve recruiters made their individual assigned 
    goals for FY2007.
    • 20 senior recruiters were certified to lead IMPACT Selling training programs
    as part of the Air Force Reserve’s current focus on “owning” the IMPACT
    Selling philosophy and approach organization-wide.
    • The Reserve improved its approach to finding qualified full-time recruiting
    staff, using TriMetrix assessments to screen more than 400 individuals, out of
    which only 37 were invited to attend recruiting school in FY2007. Of the 37,
    28 accepted the invitation, and all 28 graduated. This is a significant
    improvement over pre-assessment graduation rates, which ranged from 50-80%.

  • List the nominated sales organization's top 3 lessons learned during the eligibility period (up to 100 words):

    1.  In today’s military recruiting environment, there is a growing intensity 
    of competition for a smaller group of prospects (customers). The key is to
    successfully differentiate the Air Force Reserve in this increasingly
    competitive marketplace.
    2. People really do commit for their own reasons. Therefore, it’s vitally
    important to have a singular focus on the applicant’s wants and needs and to
    understand the differences between the two.
    3. Alignment of prospecting and recruiting strategy is vital if you are to
    achieve any level of success.

    By doing these three things, the Air Force Reserve has been able to recruit
    target by achieving goal for the seventh successive year, even while
    recruiting in a wartime environment.

  • Briefly describe the qualities that distinguish the nominated sales organization from other sales organizations in your industry (up to 100 words):

    What sets the Air Force Reserve apart from other branches of the military is 
    its understanding that recruiting requires a systematic, non-manipulative
    sales approach, and we’ve continually been impressed at how rapidly the
    recruiting team has taken responsibility for the IMPACT Selling process. They
    have taken a sales system and truly made it their own. To date, more than 100
    recruiters have achieved IMPACT Selling certification, designating them as
    experts in the IMPACT Selling System, and as a team they have achieved what
    then-Acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael L. Dominguez called “…far and
    away the biggest success story in recruiting in the Department of Defense
    today.”

  • Provide a brief biography of the leader(s) of the nominated sales organization (up to 100 words):

    Colonel Mike Mungavin is Commander, Air Force Reserve Command Recruiting 
    Service and the Director of Recruiting, Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air
    Force Base, Ga. He serves as advisor to the AFRC commander, vice commander,
    senior staff and field numbered air force and wing commanders on all matters
    relating to the recruiting functional area within the command. He commands
    and exercises oversight for more than 450 military (Active Guard Reserve) and
    civilian personnel worldwide at 45 main operating locations and numerous
    satellite offices. He is a graduate of Chaminade University (bachelor’s
    degree) and Eastern Kentucky University (master’s degree). Awards and
    decorations include: Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak
    leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force
    Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with hourglass device, Republic
    of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.

  • Briefly describe your organization's customers, including the industry or demographics you sell to, the job titles you sell to (if applicable), and the products and/or services you sell (up to 100 words):

    Air Force Reserve classifies potential recruits into three categories—prior 
    service Air Force, prior members of military services other than Air Force,
    and non-prior service. Generally speaking, eligible prior service members may
    enter the Air Force Reserve, provided they can complete 20 satisfactory years
    of service by age 60--this includes previous service credit. Non-prior
    service candidates may enter the Air Force Reserve between the ages of 17 –
    35. All applicants must be qualified mentally (military test), physically
    (medical standards), and morally (legally) in accordance with governing DoD
    and service directives.

  • Briefly describe how your sales department is aligned with your marketing department (up to 100 words):

    The advertising arm of Air Force Reserve Recruiting Service directly supports 
    recruiters in the field by offering them numerous levels of direct and
    indirect visibility. The advertising objective is to raise public awareness
    about opportunities in the Air Force Reserve. This effort is supported
    through innovative campaigns using numerous vehicles. Outlets used to
    generate leads include print advertising, television Public Service
    Announcements, promotional materials, air show events programs, and a Reserve
    member referral program. Our call to action is to visit www.afreserve.com, or
    to call 800-257-1212, which generates leads for our recruiting team. Once
    people contact us, our highly skilled sales professionals (recruiters) take
    over.