With nearly three million fewer Americans participating in the labor force in 2022 compared to 2020, emerging recruiting franchise CPG’s turn-key model provides a new way for businesses to hire and retain employees. By offering a 360º recruitment assessment and prioritizing excellent client service above all else, the brand aims to give its clients a new path to success.
The market size of the employment and recruiting industry in the United States has grown to a whopping $32 billion in 2023 and has grown 3.6% per year on average since 2018. However, when looking up reviews of staffing companies, CPG founder and CEO Christian Saab says it is almost always negative. That’s why CPG aims to do things differently.
“With other staffing agencies, it's impossible to get a hold of anyone on the phone,” Saab said. “We only text and call clients; we refuse to email. We are available 24/7. Another big key is listening to each client’s individual needs. Instead of just doing the same thing over and over, it is important to listen to what our client wants and understand what they need specifically.”
Commonly, staffing is a very transactional business, Saab noted. But CPG’s goal is to change the traditional recruitment paradigm. “Most recruitment agencies refer to employees as bodies,” he said. “For us, everyone has a name. We are determined to create long-lasting relationships with our clients, and work closely with our clients to find the right people that will stay with them for the long haul.”
Born from a Desire to Build Wealth and Leave Corporate Life Behind
Prior to building the CPG brand, Saab felt frustrated by his own job in the corporate world. Not seeing a pathway to building the wealth and impact he wanted for himself, the Saab began to explore other options.
“I didn’t come from the recruiting or HR industry. I was an engineer at Chrysler,” Saab explained. “I hated my job, the environment and corporate American culture. I looked at my boss’s boss’s boss. He had been there for years upon years. I thought of my own dreams. Not only did he not have that success, he had to grind to get there — and there were layers upon layers blocking me from even getting there. That’s when I decided I had to be in business for myself.”
His father was an entrepreneur himself, owning a successful roadside business which became inspiration for Saab when starting his own entrepreneurial ventures. Saab first moved into entrepreneurship by opening a mobile detailing business. “I quit my job to run my first business full-time, but I knew it wasn’t going to be forever,” he said. “It was just to prove to myself I could run my own company.”
During his time working in his mobile detailing business, Saab began looking for his forever business. Hungry for his next idea, he would ask his customers, who were often highly successful business owners, three questions to learn: “How does the money flow in your business model,” “Why do you enjoy doing what you are doing” and “What is the worst part of the business?” His curiosity eventually led him to discover what was plaguing every business owner across all industries: people and employees.
From there, Saab knew he wanted to get into recruiting. More importantly, he wanted to create a brand with a simple value proposition: identify and fix the problems an organization is having when recruiting, training and retaining its employees.
While getting to know his customers, Saab met a successful businessman, Chuck Lavin, whose car he washed every Friday. He became a friend and business mentor over four years. “When I had an idea I was confident in, I proposed it to him and sold him on a partnership,” Saab said. “We started off with a software to train people in the staffing world, but then we found a niche with being a problem solving recruitment company. I asked for $75,000 to start CPG with, and CPG was born.” Lavin is currently a business partner with CPG.
Standing Out With A 360º Approach to Recruitment
The recruiting industry is certainly not short on competition, but there are several ways that CPG stands out among the crowd.
In speaking to different business owners during his time in mobile detailing, Saab discovered that the biggest headache all the business owners had in common was finding employees. “I knew if I could solve that issue, I would never run out of work,” he said. “As someone coming into the industry with a fresh set of eyes, I realized the only way to differentiate was to do things differently. Find out what most of them are doing wrong, and do the opposite.”
Unlike other brands on the market, CPG specializes in finding and solving the root cause problems of recruiting, onboarding, training and employee retention for industry-leading businesses. The company offers a 360º approach for its clients. This includes not only finding the right people, but retaining them.
During onboarding, Saab says he finds out everything about the business, really gets a feel for the working environment, and dives into current problems. “Then I jump into my own research — talking to recruiters, doing research, etc.,” he said. “We have all the tools that can tell us the likelihood of us filling a position. We are honest with clients about the timeline. People don’t want to be surprised. We don’t want to over-sell. Guide the client every step of the way. Don’t email, for example, call or text. We highlight communication every step of the way.”
CPG is more focused on the client than the recruitee, Saab added. “When we sit together, I am becoming the client — I am recruiting on your behalf. You are not paying me for the person you are getting, you are paying me for the work I am doing. If the first candidate didn’t work, I need to know why so I can send you someone better the second time. We are a consultant.”
Notably, each CPG location has only five employees, including owners/operators with recruitment experience or a deep passion for the relationship with their client. Saab emphasized that CPG does not have a corporate structure, and instead clients will be dealing with real humans who care. Additionally, CPG offers a full, top-quality Virtual Assistant Service.
“Staffing companies take on so much business and don’t really care about the client but for us, we balance our work, a unique strategy for every client,” Saab said. “If we don’t feel we can help you fill positions, we won’t work with you because we don’t want to waste your time. It really comes down to operating procedures and actually caring.”
Putting Customers First
Like many large staffing companies, Saab aims to one day have 1,000 locations. However, the difference between CPG and other brands is that at other companies, locations tend to be all-corporate owned. Saab notes that, by franchising with local owners, there is a better chance at quality for customers, ultimately building a better brand name across the country.
When creating meaningful relationships with clients, CPG has always followed a philosophy of “fix the customer’s problem, do not bullshit them,” Saab said. “If we do that, we will never run out of customers. That has really followed us to where we are today. Every system, process and procedure we have was built around that concept. Customer satisfaction is number one. We’ve had 100% loyalty from customers since day one.”