U.S. Army Reinvents Recruiting with Salesforce.com Application

Business Challenge

The U.S. Army typically has a greater challenge recruiting in urban areas where entry level jobs and educational choices are more widespread. To counter that trend, the Army decided to test out a new recruiting center called the Army Experience Center (AEC). To achieve their goal of launching this center on time and within budget, Salesforce.com was chosen as the recruitment tracking platform for the launch of the first center.

The Army kicked off the program in Fall 2008 at the Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia. The state of the art facility allows prospective recruits to undergo simulated experiences of an Army soldier in a casual and non-threatening environment. The AEC sits in a retail center of 14,500 square feet filled with video games and three full-scale simulators, including an AH-64 Apache Longbow helicopter, an armed Humvee and a Black Hawk helicopter. For those who want to take the experience deeper, the center has 22 recruiters.

The facility, which opened in August 2008, is the first of its kind. For years, Philadelphia has been a particularly difficult area for recruitment. “It replaces five smaller recruitment stations in the Philadelphia area, at about the same annual operating cost, not counting the initial expenses,” said Maj. Larry Dillard, the U.S. Army program manager.

Solution

To track potential recruits at the AEC, the Army needed a flexible and extendable recruitment tracking system that afforded greater features than the legacy recruiting system. The system would require detailed specifications to track individuals based on their preferences and activities that appealed to them during their experience at the center. The Army chose Salesforce.com as the recruiting tracking platform and Acumen Solutions as the system integrator.

In this role, Acumen Solutions customized Salesforce.com to enable on-site registration including photo capture, badge print, and game play tracking. Army recruiters use Salesforce.com to manage which games receive the most play, invites to gaming tournaments, tracking of facilities usage, handling correspondence with the recruits, and helping recruiters focus on those visitors that have the highest propensity to join the Army.

Return on Investment

The Army’s goal with this new approach to recruiting is not only to increase the number of new recruits from urban areas but also to improve the image of the Army in those areas – a public relations outreach effort. The AEC has been featured in numerous publications and recently covered on NBC Nightly News and CNN. With the extensive media coverage reflecting positively, the Army already has plans to develop similar centers.

Using Salesforce.com, recruiters can track each individual’s participation in specific AEC activities, which allows them to focus on those visitors who have the highest propensity to join the Army. As a result of the comprehensive tracking methods Acumen Solutions implemented within Salesforce.com, the Army saves time and resources by specifically concentrating only on those potential recruits most interested in an Army career path.