AF recruiters introduce new lead management system Published Oct. 30, 2007 By Maj. Sean McKenna Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- 'Closed loop' allows Air Force to pinpoint where, when recruits first became interested Air Force Recruiting Service is improving its method of calculating when and where a person first showed a tangible interest in joining the Air Force. On Nov. 1, the service's closed loop marketing database will begin serving as the main collection and calculation tool for recruiters in the field who routinely collect information from potential applicants at events all across the nation. The new automated system's primary purpose is to give AFRS a better idea of where initial contacts are being made, thus allowing more efficient placement of the service's marketing assets and media products. The closed loop system allows a recruiter to code an applicant's information directly into a central database, thus capturing the date and place the applicant made contact with the Air Force. For example, whether an applicant fills out an information card (known in recruiting circles as a lead card) at a sporting event in Phoenix or in a recruiter's office in Seattle, the system will capture those data points when the card is loaded into the database, ultimately helping AFRS determine the value of recruiting at those locations. "The most important piece of this new system is data integrity," said Col. Tim Hanson, chief of strategic communications at Headquarters AFRS. "We need better insight into where all of our leads come from across the country so we can focus Air Force's limited marketing and advertising dollars." The term "closed loop" refers to a system that uses feedback from the out-putted information to control the input. In this case, the Air Force will use the information it receives from its lead cards to see what communication efforts are working, which ones are not, and what other marketing avenues it might explore. Just as important, it also stands to shorten the timeline between when a potential recruit first provides information and when a recruiter follows up on that lead. "The closed loop system will be much more reliable and accurate than any previous devices we have used," said Col. Hanson.