How Refine Search Built a Partnership with a Global Building Products Company to Transform Their Sales Force

by Mike Whillock on in

Refine Search placed 23 key individuals for this client, maintaining a 96% retention rate.

The Situation

This relationship began when a billion-dollar global building products manufacturer recognized their need to transform their sales force as their business and products became more complex. They needed sales professionals who were strong at “hunting” for business and were adept at selling more technically complex products.

This building products company went to market seeking a long-term recruiting partner with the ability to integrate with their corporate recruiting team and help them find the talent they needed to transform their business. That would require a partner with a “headhunter” mentality and strong assessment skills to evaluate and interview candidates not just for their hard skills and expertise, but for culture fit as well. What they did not want was just an extra set of hands or an RPO focused on process. Their goals meant they needed a search firm that could provide a scalable yet cost-effective solution and approach every job as a “search” providing the same level of sourcing, service, and communication expected at the highest levels, even for individual contributor roles.

With its decades of internal talent acquisition leadership experience, strong experience as external “headhunters” and extensive sales recruiting expertise, Refine Search was selected as their provider.

Our Action

To build the long-term relationship that would transform this client’s sales team, Refine Search launched our performance-based five-step recruiting approach comprised of Discovery, Planning, Sourcing, Hiring, and Follow-Up. We invested the time to conduct site visits and in-depth interviews with the key stakeholders – the CHRO, the VP of Sales, multiple sales directors, and the talent acquisition leaders – to gain a better understanding of the company culture, the direction of the company, and key competitors.

This process allowed us to learn the client’s business and the profile of talent they needed in their sales pipeline. In addition, we were able to build a comprehensive go-to-market strategy that included target companies, target product lines, locations, and the value proposition to attract talent to these key roles.

Ongoing Results

Since 2018, Refine Search successfully placed 23 professionals at the Director level and down, achieving a 96% retention rate with one individual already promoted within the organization and put into leadership succession. We conduct weekly status calls with the talent acquisition leader to provide updates on all jobs we’ve been engaged to fill, market data on competitors, and gain valuable insights on new initiatives, etc. the company is embarking upon.  With that, Refine Search has become this building products company’s exclusive recruiting partner, having created a real relationship that continues to this day.

Our partnership has now expanded beyond sales, today encompassing recruiting for departments that include sales, product marketing, brand marketing, technical services, and specialized corporate roles.

Need a true recruiting partner who understands your needs and delivers the right talent?

 

Email Mike at Refine Search Here