No one envies salespeople these days. After all, trying to sell anything in this recession -- when everyone is cutting back -- is a huge challenge to say the very least. Deon Haynes, market manager for Burbank CA-based Workway, knows this well. Haynes -- who is based in Las Vegas and is responsible for generating all new business for Workway's Las Vegas office -- says that in her sales efforts she often gets responses like: "We're not hiring" or "We're filing for bankruptcy" or "I don't have any money. I'm certainly not going to pay any of your fees."

In this tough environment, what techniques are working for salespeople, and what techniques aren't? Are salespeople doing anything creative, unique or innovative to get through the economic downturn?

Understanding Your Clients' Issues
Darlene Minatel, VP of national sales for Manpower, says salespeople are successful when they understand their clients' issues. "If you don't understand what your clients' business issues are, then you won't succeed," says Minatel, who oversees a team of 50 salespeople.

Points out Donna Mallard, principal of Staffing E-Trainer: You really need to probe and ask questions like: What's your biggest problem with staffing right now? What's your biggest expense today? What's your staffing strategy?

"Unless you understand where the client is at and their true reality, you're not going to follow through appropriately," says Dawn Garzoli, director of sales for Nelson Staffing. "It puts additional roadblocks in the way that might not even be there. The solution to that is to go to the fundamentals of sales, which is to understand where the client is and create a solution for that. The solution may not be easy to find, but clients are still looking for solutions. Understand where their world is now."

Moving from Selling a Product to Selling a Solution
You want to move from selling a product to selling a solution, says Steven Hinckley, VP of Adecco North America. "Do you want a managed staffing provider that works with you or do you want an outsourcing solution that acts for you?" says Hinckley. "Clients are challenged with that dilemma. All of them are dealing with labor issues. Help people define a labor strategy, a labor forecast and what a global solution might look like. They all want to hear about value. They all want to hear about what we've done before -- here's how the program would work and here's how we'd interact with your senior leadership."

Providing a Dollarized Solution, Then Showing the ROI
Lynne Mesmer, CEO of Creative Management Consultants, says it's all about understanding what your clients need and want, providing a dollarized solution and showing clients the ROI. "Stop selling," she says. "It's not about selling your stuff. It's about finding out what the customer's pain is and providing a solution you can turn into money, so they [clients] can understand the return on the investment. The problem is most salespeople don't know enough about their clients' service or product to dollarize their service. If a client wants to increase their sales by 20%, I'm going to go out and identify a candidate that has done that [somewhere else]."

Adds Mesmer, "You've got to find a candidate that has already achieved what the client wants. Salespeople have got to understand enough about their clients' business to attach a dollar amount. It's understanding what your client wants to achieve instead of shoving your candidate down their throat. They have to start asking their clients what they want to achieve, put a dollar amount on that and show them what the return is on that investment. It's raising those salespeople to a much more sophisticated level."

Utilizing Existing Relationships
Workway's Haynes says that another thing that can help salespeople succeed in this is if they tap into their existing relationships. "Don't be afraid to call existing clients and say, 'Who else do you know?'" she says.

Networking
And to form new relationships, salespeople need to network, points out Alan Schubert, sales manager for Northbrook IL-based Paramount Staffing. He encourages his salespeople to network at breakfast meetings and after-hours events through the local Chamber of Commerce, for example. "Just getting out there and meeting people is going to help your sales efforts, no matter what you're selling," he says. All of Schubert's salespeople are networking on some level, and he'd like to see them do even more, he says.

Cold Calling
Also, salespeople should continue to cold call, says Workway's Haynes. "You can't be afraid to pick up the phone," she says. "The phone is your friend. The business isn't going to come to you. You've got to go out and find it." She adds that, "You need to be proactive versus reactive. You can't sit and wait for the phone to ring. You've got to go out there and get it."

When you're making cold calls, it helps if you can mention to the person you're calling that you were referred by someone he or she knows, Haynes points out.

Paramount's Schubert considers cold calling not just picking up the phone but also physically visiting companies that you haven't been to before. "You have to cold call," he says. "It's very important. You may miss companies in your territory. I don't know how you would find companies unless you cold call. You have to go out in your territory and knock on doors. It's part of selling in a strong economy or a recession."

Focusing on Companies, Industries That Are Growing
Dave Nelles, senior VP for the mid-Atlantic region of Randstad, says success comes from focusing on companies and industries that haven't been affected or impacted by the recession. "The medical industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and the mortgage industry [too]," says Nelles. "Anything related to education [also] is in a growth mode. So are state and local governments and parts of the energy sector, some of the new energy -- solar and wind power. These are industries that haven't been impacted by the downturn."

Creating Awareness of All Your Products and Services
It also helps to make sure clients and potential clients are aware of all the products and services your company has to offer, Nelles points out. For example, if a company says it's not hiring, rather than just leave it at that, make sure whoever you're talking to knows of anything other than staffing that your company might do, such as outsourcing or payrolling. Then you can turn the "no" you got on staffing into a potential "yes" on other business.

Finding Companies That Are Leaving Their Current Provider
Staffing E-Trainer's Mallard says many companies are using the recession as an opportunity to evaluate if they're happy with their current staffing provider. Some are deciding they're unhappy with the staffing company they're working with and want to switch, which presents a good opportunity for salespeople to tap into those companies and try to get their business, Mallard points out.

Letting Clients, Potential Clients Know a Rebound Is on the Horizon
David Lewis, regional manager for Express Employment Professionals, says one thing he's found that works is letting clients and potential clients know that the staffing industry is starting to rebound, and that they should be prepared because their business is next. "It's a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy," says Lewis. "It has been tremendously well-received and a snowball effect in the business."

Hosting Educational Events
At the end of last year, Express began offering free educational events to clients and potential clients, and that has been successful as well, says Lewis. Anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred companies have turned out for the events. The idea is people will remember the events, and when the economy gets better, they'll turn to Express, Lewis points out. "It doesn't give you any business but it strengthens the relationships," he says.

DeDe Myers, marketing coordinator for Workforce Employment Solutions, says her company offers free informational seminars for both clients and potential clients. The seminars have touched on such things as OSHA rules and regulations, the "Employee Free Choice Act," leadership development and a book called The Dream Manager, by Matthew Kelly.

Being Respectful of People's Time
Rose Bartuccio, VP of sales for The Reserves Net-work in Fairview Park OH, says being respectful of people's time is a technique that has worked for her. She tells the account executives she works with to use this technique as well. (See a profile of The Reserves Network on page 70.)

Bartuccio says she drops off such things as sales brochures, Cleveland Browns or Cleveland Indians schedules, or candy bars with TRN's information at the front desk of clients and potential clients. This way, they have the information but she's not being intrusive and taking up their time, especially when they're short-handed, she explains. Bartuccio says she's gotten some calls back from people who have thanked her for leaving the material, and let her know they don't have a need right now, but when they do, they'll call.

Not Being Too Pushy
Another thing that works is not being pushy, says Bartuccio. Bartuccio says clients have told her they appreciate that she isn't constantly bugging them all the time, and that they choose to work with her because she's never pushy.

Reading Sales Books
Reading a good book on sales and sales strategies can help, too. Creative Management Solutions' Mesmer recommends salespeople read the book How to Become a Rainmaker, by Jeffrey J. Fox. "It's like a little handbook," she says. "It's great. It's not a lot of fluffy, philosophical stuff. It's: Here's how to become a top producer. It's wonderful. It's one of the best little sales books out there. It's about getting to know your customer's business." Paramount Staffing's Schubert says he encourages his salespeople to read books by Jeff Gitemore. "He's my hero. He's a great author."

One-on-One Coaching
Manpower -- which has always provided one-on-one coaching for its salespeople -- is doing more of it in the recession and that's been beneficial for both the client and the salesperson, says Minatel. The coaching covers Manpower's overall financial model, how things are priced, and the methodology the company uses, so salespeople are able to articulate to a client why the price is what it is, according to Minatel.

Sales Courses Let Salespeople Polish Their Skills, Learn New Ones
Akraya, a Sunnyvale CA-based IT staffing firm, this spring began enrolling its salespeople in sales-related courses through StaffingU, according to Milissa Ales-Barnicoat, VP of sales. "In a tough time, we have invested in our team," she explains. "We have recognized this may not be a banner year. We're investing in something to say we're in it for the long haul, and we're investing in you. You're going to make it through it. It's okay."

Salespeople are expected to take 12 required courses before the end of the year. They take the 50 minute-classes in Akraya's office on Tuesdays. If there are other StaffingU courses they are interested in, they can take those, too.

"They're doing something in a really tough environment that they feel is going to give them a competitive edge," says Ales-Barnicoat. "We felt like this was kind of a back-to-basics kind of year. It was time for real back-to-basics training." One-on-one meetings are held with salespeople to discuss what they've learned from the courses. There are many sales training experts and courses available to staffing firms, both coaches who will make site visits and programs via e-learning.

Celebrating Success
Manpower has always celebrated success but is doing it more in the recession, even if it's something small, says Minatel. "We want to keep our salespeople motivated," she says.

Minatel, who has been in the staffing industry for more than 23 years and with Manpower for more than 13 years, says the current recession is one of the toughest she's seen. "It's so different from anything else we've seen. When you have tough times, what comes out of that is opportunity. It has given us a tremendous amount of opportunity."

Setting Activity-Based Goals Rather Than Results-Based Goals
QPS Companies -- which normally gives its salespeople results-based goals -- for the first time began giving them activity-based goals this year, says Mark Immekus, executive VP/chief sales officer. "We refer to it as the Johnny Appleseed period. They have to plant seeds right now rather than necessarily achieving results," he says.

This summer, to alleviate and prevent burnout, QPS implemented a program in which salespeople could take Friday off if they had met 80% of their activity metrics by Thursday, Immekus explains. They could go shopping, fishing, play golf -- whatever they wanted to do -- and it wasn't held against them. "We want them to get a little reprieve so that they're sharp and ready to go (when the economy turns around)," Immekus says.

At the beginning of the year, QPS also held a "sales boot camp" for its salespeople, Immekus explains. The two-day event -- which had a military theme -- covered a variety of things including technology, networking and email communication. Participants were graded, and the three with the best grades received monetary awards. The camp was successful, and the plan is to continue to do it next year, says Immekus.

Tapping Into LinkedIn
Scott Ragusa, president of contract business for Winter, Wyman & Co., says his salespeople are using LinkedIn, and that has been effective. "It's a great way to expand your network," he says. "It allows you visibility to a client you might not have otherwise."

What's Not Working
What's not working for salespeople in the recession? Calling clients to check in and keep in touch, and see how they are doing, says Winter, Wyman's Ragusa. "Clients don't have a lot of time for that," he says. "There isn't a lot of time for small talk. People want to get right down to the business at hand."

Another thing that's not effective is trying to sell a client something they don't need, says Adecco's Hinckley. And you don't want to try to sell something you can't deliver or have never delivered before, adds Hinckley. "If you try to deliver something you haven't in the past, you'll run into some problems," he says.

Mass emails and newsletters also don't produce results, says Workway's Haynes. It's a great way to get your name out there, but it doesn't generate sales, she says.

It's tough being a salesperson in these tough economic times. The key is to not get discouraged and to not give up. Even if your team's efforts don't immediately lead to a sale, they've got to keep plugging away, build relationships and look toward the future, which hopefully will be a little brighter.