Staffing buyers picked their favorite, and least favorite, responses to requests for proposals submitted by staffing firms Thursday at the Staffing Industry Executive Forum in Lake Las Vegas NV. In addition, three staffing firms won the RFP Showdown for the best response to an RFP.

One of the best lines from an RFP response: "84% of our assigned employees extend beyond the initial stated assignment period or are hired as regular employees by our clients."

Chuck Bollinger, procurement services human resources manager at UPS, said the line got his attention because it backs up the statement with a number. "If you can back up a claim it's always a good thing," Bollinger said.

Among the least favorites: "We want to earn your business." Francine Plushner, senior manager of global staffing at Boeing Co., cited that as a flop. "I don't know what that really means," Plushner said, adding it's a good idea to also avoid using buzzwords as they are too generic and don't provide until detail for buyers.

As for best response to an RFP, Zerochaos Inc. won in the $100 million in revenue and above category in the RFP Showdown, 2 Degrees won in the $10 million to $100 million in revenue category, and TLC Staffing won in the under $10 million category. And an honorable mention went to The Delta Companies.