The Challenge
A Series A SaaS company on the brink of scaling needed to hire a Sales and Customer Success Manager for a new pivotal leadership role. This new hire would be tasked with managing an eight-person team while refining and redefining sales processes in a high-volume B2B SaaS sales, data driven environment. Most SaaS sales managers create and manage sales processes for low volume high value environments, so this would be a harder find as there are less of them in SA. The company required a leader who could:
- Grow and scale the sales team while maintaining a healthy performance culture.
- Leverage technical skills to configure and optimize CRM processes (e.g., HubSpot).
- Operate effectively in a data-driven, high-volume sales environment.
- Bring deep knowledge of SaaS business models and sales process within a similar environment to theirs.
- Have a strong background in environments with high cadence of sales to ensure fit and understanding of the strategy and processes needed to scale a team, and improve sales processes in that sort of environment.
This unique blend of skills and experience made the role exceptionally nuanced.
Our Solution
At Progressive Edge Consulting, we specialize in solving complex talent challenges for tech businesses, and this was no exception. We recommended the company take on our Engaged Search services, which would allow us to invest the time and resources necessary to research, plan and execute an accurate and precise process in order to find this needle in a haystack. Leveraging our expertise in SaaS talent acquisition and pre-built research, we embarked on a rigorous Engaged Search process designed to deliver high-quality results efficiently.
- Deep Research & Mapping:
- Tapped into a refined database of 190 SaaS businesses and resellers of SaaS products across South Africa, developed over two years of focused research.
- Narrowed down the search by excluding companies with long, complex sales cycles, instead targeting those with low-value (pricing), high-volume sales environments—a key requirement for this role. This wasn’t obvious for all companies, so those we weren’t sure of were included for further research and would explore while interviewing invited candidates.
- Targeted Outreach:
- Pulled over 200 potential profiles from identified companies and other sources in for review.
- Refined the pool to 67 high-potential candidates, reaching out to each of them through a manual, intentional, and thoughtful outreach. This ensured a strong response rate.
- Thorough Assessment:
- Conducted in-depth interviews with 22 shortlisted candidates to assess technical expertise, leadership capabilities, cultural fit, and enthusiasm for the role. Of these candidates, based on all the layers we were considering, the budget for the role, location and match to the individuals desired career paths, 7 of these 22 were shortlisted for submission and made a very strong, relevant talent pool.
- Presented a curated shortlist of seven top candidates to the hiring team, each offering a unique angle and profile.
- Facilitating Decision-Making:
- The hiring team conducted interviews with five of the presented candidates, narrowing the pool to two exceptional finalists who were difficult to choose between.
- Provided insights and support during the decision-making process, enabling the company to select a candidate who was not only technically and culturally aligned but also passionate about their vision.
The Outcome
The focused, meticulous process culminated in the successful placement of a high-caliber Sales and Customer Success Manager. By providing a robust talent pool, the company had the flexibility to choose a candidate who aligned perfectly with their strategic objectives and company culture.
Key results included:
- High-Quality Candidates: A tailored shortlist of strong candidates, offering a variety of skills and perspectives, all aligned to the requirements of the role and could be motivated for their particular environment.
- Efficiency in Process: 152 hours of focused work from three Progressive Edge team members, expedited by our pre-built research and expertise in the SaaS niche. A lot of time for us, but a quick hire with minimal time investment for our clients, who are busy Executives & Investors. The role was placed in 7 weeks from Discovery meeting to signed offer.
- Strategic Fit: A hire who met all technical, experiential, and cultural criteria while demonstrating enthusiasm for the company’s growth journey – which is often over looked but really important in our view.
- Cost & Value: This process cost exactly the same as it would have if taken through a non specialist, generalist recruitment firm on contingency, with a shallow keyword search and reach out that would likely only draw in those desperate for a new role – which is exactly what a company does not want in a key position. The quality of the process done for the same price, with the only difference being that the company committed the position to us and invested part of the fee upfront to show their commitment and placeability of the role.
- Time to hire: This role was planned, researched, searched, and successfully placed in 7 weeks. Part of what makes this so quick and streamlined, we find is that when the company financially invests in the process, the hiring team are equally committed to a quality, efficient and smooth process. They want iteration on every submission to get to the right person fast, they interview timeously, wasting no time, and feed back immediately after interviews, allowing us to manoeuvre, refocus and recalibrate where needed.
Why Progressive Edge Consulting?
This success underscores our commitment to delivering value-driven, high-touch recruitment services:
- We ensure our clients have choice and flexibility, avoiding the constraints of small talent pools.
- Our process is built on rigorous research, deep industry expertise, and personalized engagement, ensuring precise and impactful outcomes.
Ready to transform your hiring process and find the perfect fit for your team? Contact Progressive Edge Consulting today.
