Client case: experienced IT salesperson with people skills? We found the perfect candidate for Direct in nine days!

Direct, the West Flemish start-up for SME digitisation, was looking for an experienced IT salesperson with people skills to take some of the pressure off its CEO. The ideal candidate could eventually become a sales manager. Despite the Covid-19 crisis, Headlight found the perfect candidate in just nine days.

Who is Direct?

Direct is a start-up from West Flanders whose core activity is the digitisation of Flemish SMEs. Direct shoulders the burden for its customers via cloud services and other IT services, allowing them to work more efficiently. Technology isn’t a goal in itself, but a crucial tool for SMEs to achieve long-term strategic success.

What did Direct need?

Direct was looking for an experienced IT salesperson with the ambition to become a sales manager in the short term. The new colleague would have to relieve CEO Gary Vanbutsele, who, in addition to his duties as CEO, also led Direct’s young sales team.

The new colleague had to feel comfortable in a young start-up, but also be able to empathise with the challenges faced by businesspeople, since a sales meeting at Direct isn’t based on technological features, but the challenges faced by business leaders.

What was Headlight’s solution?

We searched our network for a medior sales profile with plenty of potential and ambition. It had to be someone with lots of technical knowledge, but also communicative and with plenty of diplomacy and empathy. Basically, someone with excellent people skills. Quite an unusual profile!

We didn’t have to look far or for long. We were able to immediately introduce someone from our network who we knew would fit the role perfectly.

At the first introduction, it did indeed turn out to be a perfect match… until the Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown threw a spanner in the works. The candidate decided at the last minute not to take any risks and turned down the job.

No problem, though: after the lockdown, we went back to work and nine days later Headlight again had a great shortlist of 3 candidates ready for Direct.

What was the result?

Direct had also found 2 suitable candidates itself, but the company ultimately chose a candidate from Headlight’s shortlist. This IT sales professional possessed both the skills required and was fully on board with Direct’s values.

CEO Gary Vanbutsele looks back on a successful selection process: “We found it difficult to approach experienced profiles. Headlight, however, with its proven track record and expertise in our industry, succeeded. Although Covid-19 caused a setback for the first candidate, Headlight showed resilience and was able to propose some more highly suitable candidates in a short period of time.”

We are, of course, also very happy with this perfect match. We sincerely hope that CEO Vanbutsele will now find the space to fully concentrate on his duties as CEO. We wish Gary and his new sales colleague the best of luck for the future!

Do you also want to find the right IT sales professionals quickly?

Do you find it difficult to attract the right IT sales profiles? That’s not surprising, because it’s a very specific niche.

Don’t worry, we’ll be happy to help you! With our experience and warm network of sales professionals, we can find one or more ideal candidates for you at short notice.

Would you like to know more? Feel free to contact us. We’ll happily look into how we can help you!