In today's business environment, it's critical to bring in the best candidates possible for new positions. Searching for sales and marketing personnel is even more important, since their performance has a direct impact on the bottom line. That's why companies are turning to Culver Personnel Services, the permanent placement division of the Culver Personnel Agency, Inc. Their exclusive service is placing sales and marketing staff.

"We interview between 6,000 and 8,000 candidates a month company-wide, so for a company that's looking to hire someone, we can generally get five quality candidates exactly on spec within 24 to 48 hours," explains Diane Friedenbach, senior branch manager.

They offer advantages to those seeking jobs as well. Culver provides information about their client company, the specific job opportunity, the compensation plan, and more.

"A lot of times, people have the skills but don't get the job because they don't know how to adequately express that through the interviewing process," says Friedenbach. "That's really where we help our candidates."

Culver works with the full range of sales positions, from entry-level positions to sales and marketing management positions. "We just placed a person yesterday as a VP of sales," she notes.

A Record Year

Friedenbach and assistant manager Don Franks are in the midst of a record-setting year for a Culver office.

"Last month, we broke the all-time company monthly sales record, and we will break the company all-time annual sales record with two whole months to go," says Friedenbach.

It's quite a turnaround for the Hacienda office, which wasn't even profitable when Friedenbach took charge over four-and-a-half years ago.

"We're now the most profitable branch in the company and also the largest in terms of both number of employees and sales volume," she adds.

A Team Effort

The process of constantly interviewing applicants gives Friedenbach a unique appreciation for the team she's been able to assemble.

"One of the things that is really key to our success in this branch is valuing our employees," she says. "I think that in terms of running any sort of successful business, if you have good employees and you value their contribution, you're going to build a successful team."

Also in this issue ...

• Zantaz Creates the Electronic "Paper Trail"
• Culver Personnel is Selling in Sales
• Business Bits
• Executive Profile - Marian Stetson-Rodriguez, Charis Intercultural Training Corp.
• Spare the Air Program Kicks Off with Drill Day on June 10
• Pleasanton's Historic Heritage is Evident from Architecture, Landmarks, Place Names
• There's One More ?Una Mas! for Mexican Food in Hacienda
• First Wednesday Street Parties Return to Downtown Pleasanton
• Wheels of Thunder Bike Races Take Place June 5
• Hacienda Index