Matthew Codd’s Post

📢 100% Account Management – the job we never get (well that’s a lie, but it makes up for under 10% of those we do). 📢 100% New Business – the jobs no one wants to do (by that I mean the cold calling, bring your own black book with you roles). So as an IT Sales Recruiter how do you square that circle? ❓ The reality is I rarely work either of the job types above ❌ Pure Account Management roles… I might work a couple a month. 100% Business Development done through cold calling, bring your own book… I rarely choose to work. Successful candidates don’t want to do these roles and the drop-out rates are higher ☠ I also find clients who want these roles filled tend to be the most picky, despite it being a less desirable job! So, what jobs am I working on then?... ❓ 💥 Dual roles – a mix of account management and new business, where you’ll be given some accounts to manage alongside doing BD. 💥 Strategic new business roles –working alongside an internal lead generation team or with marketing support that genuinely helps get you talking to prospects. 💥 New sales into existing or previous customers – selling new tech into clients who have bought something before. My advice to any IT VAR, MSP or S.I out there looking to recruit sales staff would be to make your jobs desirable 💗 Trying to pluck the best people from your competition and hoping they bring clients with them is not a sustainable strategy for growth! You might get the odd win, but you’ll end up mostly getting the people who have failed at your competitors 🚮 Spend your time and money creating job roles that good people actually want to do 🏆 You’ll get better people and better results! 🌟 And the beauty is… the people you end up taking on (the successful ones) are likely to have contacts they eventually do business with anyway 💸

Top 5 Reasons to Approach Recruiting with a Sales Mindset 📈 1.)Recruiting as a Sales Cycle: Understanding the hiring process as a sales cycle illuminates the essence of recruitment - it’s about selling the company and the role to potential candidates, just as they present their skills to you. This perspective emphasizes the mutual exchange of value, mirroring the dynamics of a sales transaction. 2.)Value of Qualified Leads: In sales, the focus on qualified leads is paramount; this principle is equally critical in recruiting. Investing time in candidates who match the company’s needs and culture is akin to targeting potential customers who have a genuine interest and the means to engage with your product. It ensures efficiency and higher success rates in both fields. 3.) Nurturing Prospects: The importance of relationship-building is a cornerstone of both sales and recruiting. Engaging candidates with the same dedication as potential clients fosters a connection that could be decisive in their decision-making process. Nurturing these relationships can set the stage for a successful hire, much like it closes deals in sales. 4. )Metrics and Data-Driven Strategies: Adopting a sales mindset in recruiting involves leveraging data and metrics to guide your strategies. This approach allows for a more structured and outcome-focused process, enhancing the ability to track progress and make informed adjustments along the way. 5.) Closing with Conviction: The goal is to progressively move candidates towards accepting a job offer. Each interaction is an opportunity to reinforce the value proposition, ensuring candidates remain engaged and interested. Treating recruiting as a sales process not only streamlines the hiring workflow but also enhances the quality of hires by applying proven sales techniques. This mindset is particularly advantageous in the fast-paced, resource-constrained environment of startups, where each hiring decision can have significant impact. By embracing these sales principles, recruiters can optimize their approach and contribute to their company’s success more effectively.

Last week I had a conversation with a Sales Leader about how are we able to consistently find way better Sales candidates than their internal team. If you you want better Sales candidates you need to provide your HR/Talent Acquisition team with better training and the tools they need to succeed. Let the recruiter responsible for hiring Sales candidates shadow a SDR for a few hours a week. Have them go on a few calls as a silent observer. Explain the KPI'S the SDR has and what they will earn if they meet or exceed them. Have them shadow some Account Executives for a few hours a week. Let them see what their onboarding and training looks like. Have them on some discovery calls/demos/webinars as a silent observer. Explain the territory and KPI's the Account Executive has. Have them shadow a Customer Success person and join them on some calls. Do the same with Rev Ops. Have them spend some time with a Sales Leader. Get them familiar with RepVue, PeerSignal, Glassdoor, Payscale and Indeed. I promise you if your Recruiter spends time with people that are actually doing the position that they are recruiting for they will have a better understanding of the position and the chances of them finding better candidates will increase significantly.

A Company hired a Sales Guy at 22LPA. That guy came with 7 years of experience, a growth mindset, and lots of subject matter expertise in Sales. This individual built a high-performing sales engine and drove massive revenue growth for two years for which he got a decent hike of 15% y-o-y. After 2 years his CTC reached approximately 30LPA. The company made a common but critical error they thought, “Why pay 30LPA when the sales process is set? A 10LPA hire with 2-3 years of experience can do the same job.” So, they replaced the seasoned pro with a cheaper hire to cut costs and boost profits. What happened? "Sh** Show with stagnation, not much revenue and growth" At first, the company thought they made the right decision by cutting costs. But within a few months, problems started to appear. The new hire, though hardworking and enthusiastic, didn’t have the experience to handle big clients or close complex deals. The high-performing sales system started slowing down. Revenue stopped growing, targets were missed, and unhappy clients began moving to competitors. Meanwhile, the experienced sales professional joined a rival company where their skills and leadership were valued. Within a year, that competitor captured a large market share and even won over many of the old company’s clients. The company, now struggling with falling revenue and low morale, tried to fix their mistake — but by then, it was too late. Investing in talented people is not a cost, it’s an investment in your company’s future. Experienced professionals don’t just follow processes; they drive growth, solve problems, and bring innovation. Companies need to understand that cutting costs by replacing top talent with cheaper hires can lead to far bigger losses in the long run. Saving a little money today can cost you a lot tomorrow. As the saying goes: "If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur."

A Company hired a Sales Guy at 22LPA. That guy came with 7 years of experience, a growth mindset, and lots of subject matter expertise in Sales. This individual built a high-performing sales engine and drove massive revenue growth for two years for which he got a decent hike of 15% y-o-y. After 2 years his CTC reached approximately 30LPA. The company made a common but critical error they thought, “Why pay 30LPA when the sales process is set? A 10LPA hire with 2-3 years of experience can do the same job.” So, they replaced the seasoned pro with a cheaper hire to cut costs and boost profits. What happened? "Sh** Show with stagnation, not much revenue and growth" At first, the company thought they made the right decision by cutting costs. But within a few months, problems started to appear. The new hire, though hardworking and enthusiastic, didn’t have the experience to handle big clients or close complex deals. The high-performing sales system started slowing down. Revenue stopped growing, targets were missed, and unhappy clients began moving to competitors. Meanwhile, the experienced sales professional joined a rival company where their skills and leadership were valued. Within a year, that competitor captured a large market share and even won over many of the old company’s clients. The company, now struggling with falling revenue and low morale, tried to fix their mistake — but by then, it was too late. Investing in talented people is not a cost, it’s an investment in your company’s future. Experienced professionals don’t just follow processes; they drive growth, solve problems, and bring innovation. Companies need to understand that cutting costs by replacing top talent with cheaper hires can lead to far bigger losses in the long run. Saving a little money today can cost you a lot tomorrow. As the saying goes: "If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur." Credit to Shahjad Khan for the post and experience...

A Company hired a Sales Guy at 22LPA. That guy came with 7 years of experience, a growth mindset, and lots of subject matter expertise in Sales. This individual built a high-performing sales engine and drove massive revenue growth for two years for which he got a decent hike of 15% y-o-y. After 2 years his CTC reached approximately 30LPA. The company made a common but critical error they thought, “Why pay 30LPA when the sales process is set? A 10LPA hire with 2-3 years of experience can do the same job.” So, they replaced the seasoned pro with a cheaper hire to cut costs and boost profits. What happened? "Sh** Show with stagnation, not much revenue and growth" At first, the company thought they made the right decision by cutting costs. But within a few months, problems started to appear. The new hire, though hardworking and enthusiastic, didn’t have the experience to handle big clients or close complex deals. The high-performing sales system started slowing down. Revenue stopped growing, targets were missed, and unhappy clients began moving to competitors. Meanwhile, the experienced sales professional joined a rival company where their skills and leadership were valued. Within a year, that competitor captured a large market share and even won over many of the old company’s clients. The company, now struggling with falling revenue and low morale, tried to fix their mistake — but by then, it was too late. Investing in talented people is not a cost, it’s an investment in your company’s future. Experienced professionals don’t just follow processes; they drive growth, solve problems, and bring innovation. Companies need to understand that cutting costs by replacing top talent with cheaper hires can lead to far bigger losses in the long run. Saving a little money today can cost you a lot tomorrow. As the saying goes: "If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur."

Sales Management Tip #33 Do you know what to look for in each sales role? Note: In lieu of sharing our 52 Sales Management Tips in sequence, we thought we would try a random number generator to mix things up on our Sales Management Tips throughout the year now. So, this week, here is Sales Management Tip #33 - Do you know what to look for in each sales role? As you select which role you need to hire at a particular time as you scale your sales team from yourself to 5 salespeople and beyond, you need to know what to look for in that person before you start looking for them. Consider each of the potential roles: Account Executive - win new business at new accounts Account Manager - maintain and grow existing accounts Sale Development Rep - create new opportunities Sales Data Specialist - build target lists with clean data Consider the Sales Cycle - short or long? Consider the type of sale - relational or transactional? Account Executives need a hunter mentality. They need grit and resilience, a drive to achieve, an optimistic attitude with a bit of skepticism. Account Managers are sometimes called “farmers”, but good account managers need to “hunt” to grow business at the account through cross selling, up-selling and finding new opportunities in new departments. Sales development reps need to be persistent, able to handle lots of rejection. Managing multiple sequences with high activity requires good organizational skills. Sales data specialists need attention to detail, but it helps if they can understand the big picture too. For small businesses, the “lists” are the strategy. We encourage our clients to review the EQFIT sales style and build a Job Performance Model for each sales role, prior to initiating the search. EQFIT Sales Styles, based on sale cycle and relationship vs transactional selling, helps identify key emotional intelligence traits . The Job Performance Model helps define required cognitive needs, behavior traits and interests and it supports the PXT Select Assessment. Define what you are looking for in advance and track your results to improve your chance at successful sales hires. Have you noticed that the most challenging hire for a small business owner is their first, successful salesperson? Take the time to get it right.

Thinking about prospecting to a new exec? What a COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME! (Hint: There is a better way....) It's one of our most popular sales triggers. And one of the most useless. Here's why: * Newly hired execs have no idea how to buy anything yet. * Newly hired execs are hounded by lazy reps bc they are easy to spot - so a loooooong queue to get their attention has already been formed. * Newly hired execs generally wait at least a quarter (or more!!!) to evaluate anything before putting their name on any significant changes. * Newly hired execs DON'T BUY NEW THINGS WHEN THEY GET HIRED (they generally rely on the vendors they used in their last company!) Convinced? Well, don't despair Closers. Instead of looking for newly HIRED execs, search for newly PROMOTED exces. That';s right - ones that have made internal lateral moves. They are a "different breed of cat." The newly PROMOTED exec.... * Is moving positions with well-defined purpose. * Is already considered an agent of change by their peers. * Has already built strong CxO "air cover" and support. * Has established cross-functional alliances throughout the org. * Has current budget and contract understanding. * Has just been chartered with doing something DIFFERENT. Rarely will a lateral move trigger a press release, so you have to be clever. Set up appropriate triggers in Sales Navigator, (or your fav salestech tool,) as needed. Lateral department moves for executives implies potential Champion-status, Closers. These are our people. Act accordingly. Happy selling, Jeff

Hiring for Specification Sales? Here’s What to Consider - We’re currently running several Specification Sales recruitment drives, with most of our clients either in high-growth start-up phases, expanding into new markets, or building new divisions. Others are adding senior talent to strengthen their routes to market. One big question often comes up: 💡 Does a candidate need to come from the exact same space as your product to succeed? If someone has a strong specification background and can quickly get up to speed on your product range, do they really need to have been selling exactly what you sell? Think about this: someone trusted by architects, developers, GCs, and contractors can open doors and drive results. Product knowledge is teachable. Relationships and trust? Those take years to build. That said, how does it look when someone jumps from selling Product X one week as “the best thing since sliced bread” to selling Product Y with the same pitch? A balanced approach is key—someone with credibility in the market who can also adapt to your brand. What to Keep in Mind When Attracting Top Sales Talent: • The best sales performers aren’t usually actively looking for a new role. They’re earning well, well-respected, and likely working through a strong backlog of commissions. • To attract them, you’ll need to offer something compelling—whether that’s guarantees, sign-on bonuses, or a clear development pathway. • Expect competition for top talent, especially if you’re looking for a proven performer. Finding the right person might take patience, but if you get it right, they’ll deliver long-term value. Trusted relationships and strong routes to market always yield the best results. If you’re looking to bring serious sales talent into your team, let’s have a conversation about how we can help. Lignum Executive The Lignum Group

Sales Management Tip #33 Do you know what to look for in each sales role? Note: In lieu of sharing our 52 Sales Management Tips in sequence, we thought we would try a random number generator to mix things up on our Sales Management Tips throughout the year now. So, this week, here is Sales Management Tip #33 - Do you know what to look for in each sales role? As you select which role you need to hire at a particular time as you scale your sales team from yourself to 5 salespeople and beyond, you need to know what to look for in that person before you start looking for them. Consider each of the potential roles: Account Executive - win new business at new accounts Account Manager - maintain and grow existing accounts Sale Development Rep - create new opportunities Sales Data Specialist - build target lists with clean data Consider the Sales Cycle - short or long? Consider the type of sale - relational or transactional? Account Executives need a hunter mentality. They need grit and resilience, a drive to achieve, an optimistic attitude with a bit of skepticism. Account Managers are sometimes called “farmers”, but good account managers need to “hunt” to grow business at the account through cross selling, up-selling and finding new opportunities in new departments. Sales development reps need to be persistent, able to handle lots of rejection. Managing multiple sequences with high activity requires good organizational skills. Sales data specialists need attention to detail, but it helps if they can understand the big picture too. For small businesses, the “lists” are the strategy. We encourage our clients to review the EQFIT sales style and build a Job Performance Model for each sales role, prior to initiating the search. EQFIT Sales Styles, based on sale cycle and relationship vs transactional selling, helps identify key emotional intelligence traits . The Job Performance Model helps define required cognitive needs, behavior traits and interests and it supports the PXT Select Assessment. Define what you are looking for in advance and track your results to improve your chance at successful sales hires. Have you noticed that the most challenging hire for a small business owner is their first, successful salesperson? Take the time to get it right.