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
Total of 398:
• 274 recruiters
• 74 managers (direct supervisors with regional sales goals and limited
support staff)
• 50 staff (headquarters personnel)
8,494 accessions (106.2% of annual goal)
• 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%.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.