A furnishing supplier we'd recruited for before rang us with a problem.

After a project was handed over, nobody was calling the client to talk about the extras they could still buy.

What the role needed

They wanted an account executive to take that on. On paper it's an easy brief, because the customer already knows you and has just seen the work go well.

But it can go wrong in two directions. Press too hard and the goodwill disappears. Go too softly and you get a pleasant chat that finishes without an order.

Every delivered project was a customer nobody followed up with, and the range they hadn't bought stayed unsold for as long as the gap lasted.

The person we needed had to be good company for customers and still ask them for the business. That's a matter of temperament, and a CV doesn't record it.

Where the job was based made the search harder. It was remote enough that we expected the pool to be thin, and the right people were not likely to be actively looking. An advert in a place like that can sit for a while with few readers who fit.

Where we looked

Our sales recruitment team advertised the role, since that shows quickly who's interested. We then worked our own network and asked contacts whether they could recommend anyone.

A recommendation answered the question the advert couldn't. People who've worked next to a candidate know how that person behaves with customers, and they'll tell you in a sentence.

The person we eventually placed came from one of those recommendations. We interviewed them in full anyway, because so much of the role was about personality and a good reference doesn't replace the conversation.

In the interview we listened for three things. Do they ask questions before they suggest anything? Can they stay warm and still steer towards a sale? And what do they say about a customer who turned them down?

Two candidates can look identical on a CV. One won't ask for the order, the other makes people feel chased, and only the conversation shows which is which.

Four weeks after we started, the client had a new account executive. They're still enjoying the role, and by the last report they were doing it very well.

Our part and the client's

For those four weeks we took care of writing the job advert and approaching people on LinkedIn, managing every reply, enquiry and phone call that came in about the job.

By the time the client met the person we'd chosen, we had already thoroughly screened them.

The client told us what they wanted on the first call, and because they knew us already, the brief was clear from the start.

After that, their only job was to decide whether to hire the person we put forward.

How much of the process you keep is your choice. Some clients want to be in the room at every stage, and others only want a call once there's a shortlist.

This one took four weeks. Our average time to hire across our business is 29 days.

If you have a sales vacancy and a full diary, book a call and tell us how much of the hiring you'd like to keep.

Or use the green Tell Us About Your Role button to send us the role in about a minute, and we'll come back to you within 20 minutes during UK office hours.