If you’re selling staffing services, begin with the person who feels the empty seat. Then move to the people who approve vendors. That usually means the hiring manager or operations lead first, then HR or talent acquisition. Procurement or the MSP program office steps in at contract time.
The Three Seats in Every Staffing Deal
Three people matter in every staffing deal. One needs the worker. One decides who can send workers. One agrees on the price. Start with the first and end with the last.
- Need owner (your champion) – hiring manager, plant manager or department head. They have the open job and the extra overtime. Plan to meet them first.
- Process owner (the gatekeeper) – HR manager, talent acquisition lead or HR business partner. The vendor list, onboarding rules and co-employment risk are in this person’s hands. They can say yes or slow you down.
- Contract owner (the economic buyer) – procurement, finance, the CFO or an MSP program manager. Late in the deal, this person agrees to the MSA, bill rate, markup and payment terms. The answer comes fast.
At a 30-person company, the owner fills all three seats. At a large enterprise, three departments and a VMS fill them.
Hiring Manager vs HR: Who Actually Buys Staffing?
Call the hiring manager first, since they feel the empty seat every shift. They want help. HR picks who gets to help. Most recruitment lead generation goes wrong when it skips this step, so bring HR in once the need is real. Then you get on the vendor list the right way.
- When you need to move fast, go to the hiring manager first. This fits shift gaps, project deadlines and busy seasons.
- Call HR first when the company has a vendor approval process. Do the same for direct hire on salaried roles, or when HR pays for the job.
- Don’t skip HR. More than half of companies estimate that up to 20 percent of their contingent workforce spending is outside the approved program. That can get you your first job. After that, repeat job orders go to approved vendors only.
The Decision-Maker Map by Placement Model
We put the biggest groups first. Industrial roles make up 36 percent of staffing employment. Office and administrative work comes next at 24 percent. So light industrial is first on the list. Each staffing agency decision maker gets the same four questions. Who to contact first, who signs, who can block and what opens the conversation.
Light Industrial and Warehouse Temp Staffing
- Contact first – plant manager, operations manager, warehouse or DC manager, production supervisor.
- Who signs – the plant or general manager at one-site companies. Regional HR or procurement at companies with many sites.
- Who can block – the safety manager, who checks workers’ comp class codes and OSHA training. HR, who checks co-employment terms.
- Opening angle – overtime costs, missed shifts, busy seasons, temp-to-hire.
Office and Administrative Staffing
- Contact first – office manager, HR generalist, controller or AP manager, customer service manager.
- Who signs – the HR manager or the department head with the budget.
- Who can block – finance, if your bill rate is too high.
- Opening angle – covering leave, month-end and audit help, a fast fill with no long hiring process.
Healthcare and Per Diem Staffing
- Contact first – director of nursing (DON), nurse manager, staffing coordinator or scheduler.
- Who signs – the administrator at skilled nursing and long-term care. The CNO or VP of nursing at hospitals.
- Who can block – the VMS or MSP at health systems. Also credentialing and compliance.
- Opening angle – shift fill rate, tired staff from overtime, credentialed clinicians ready in days.
One medical staffing agency used this same chain and booked 73 qualified facility meetings in four months.
IT and Professional Contract Staffing
- Contact first – engineering manager, IT director, VP of engineering, project or program lead.
- Who signs – the CTO or CIO for big roles. Procurement for rate cards and SOWs.
- Who can block – the vendor management office, security review, MSP supplier tiers.
- Opening angle – project deadlines, skills the team can’t hire fast enough, contract-to-hire to test the fit.
Construction and Skilled Trades Staffing
- Contact first – superintendent, project manager, field operations director.
- Who signs – the owner or VP of operations at most contractors.
- Who can block – the safety director. Also prevailing wage and certified payroll rules on public jobs.
- Opening angle – crew gaps, delay penalties, certified tradespeople on short notice.
Calling superintendents and project managers got 70 qualified employer appointments for a construction staffing agency in two months.
Direct Hire and Executive Search
- Contact first – the CEO or founder at small companies. The VP of the function at mid-market. The head of talent acquisition at enterprise.
- Who signs – the executive who owns the headcount, often with the CHRO.
- Who can block – an internal TA team that sees outside search as a slight on its work.
- Opening angle – time to fill on hard roles, the cost of an empty leadership seat, the guarantee period.
Enterprise MSP and VMS Programs
- Contact first – contingent workforce program manager, MSP account lead, procurement category manager for indirect labor.
- Who signs – procurement, under the program’s MSA.
- Who can block – supplier tier rules, vendor neutral program design, rate caps in the VMS.
- Opening angle – niche coverage the current tier can’t fill. Then build ties with hiring managers so requisitions come to you.
Who to Contact by Company Size
The bigger the company, the more people are part of the deal. A small company has one boss to call, a mid-size company has two or three people and a large company has a formal program.
- Under 100 employees – call the owner, president or general manager. One call gets you a decision.
- 100 to 1,000 employees – call the department head about the need. Then the HR director for vendor approval and the controller for rates.
- Over 1,000 employees – call the hiring manager about demand. After that, call HR or talent acquisition for access and procurement or the MSP for the contract.
How to Sequence Outreach Across the Buying Group
Work through the group in order of need. Begin with the need owner. Bring in the process owner after the first meeting. Save the contract owner for when rates come up.
- Call the need owner. Send an email that day about one open role. Get started with cold calling scripts built for recruitment agencies.
- Ask the need owner who approves new vendors. That name is your second contact.
- Email HR a few lines about the manager’s need. Leave out the deck. Adapt these cold email templates for recruitment agencies.
- Hold procurement until you are pricing a job order or MSA. Calling early only gets you rate shopping.
- Keep count by account, not by lead. Try to have two or three people engaged before you pitch terms.
If you don’t have a business development team, let outbound lead generation for staffing firms make the first contact. It books the meeting with the need owner. Your recruiters keep filling jobs.
Four Mistakes That Stall Staffing Deals
- Talking to HR alone. HR doesn’t feel the empty seat. The deal has no push.
- Going to the CEO of a 5,000-person company. The CEO doesn’t buy temps. You end up passed down the line with no context.
- Opening with procurement. They ask for a rate sheet and that’s all.
- Skipping MSP accounts. You may miss the supplier tier today. You can still build manager ties before the next review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should I contact when selling staffing services?
Call the hiring manager or operations lead who has the open role. Then talk to HR or talent acquisition for approval and procurement for the contract. At a company under 100 employees, the owner or general manager is often all three.
Who hires staffing agencies at a company?
Three people do. The hiring manager asks for help, HR or talent acquisition approves the agency and procurement or finance signs the deal. At large companies, an MSP program office often decides which agencies get job requests.
Should a staffing agency contact the hiring manager or HR first?
It depends on the job type. For temp and contract jobs, start with the hiring manager. They know if the need is real. HR comes next. For direct hire of salaried roles at mid-size companies, start with HR.
What does the procurement contact do in a staffing deal?
Procurement sets the contract terms. That means the MSA, bill rates, markup caps and payment terms. At companies with an MSP or VMS, they also pick which suppliers go in which tier. Don’t call them first.
How do you sell staffing to a company that uses an MSP?
Ask the MSP program manager how to join the supplier list. Show you can fill a niche the current tier misses. Then build ties with hiring managers so their requisitions come to you once you’re approved.
