The "Poach & Save" hiring method

Read time: 3 minutes

Welcome To The Clever Letter!

Every Saturday, we’ll share an actionable lead generation guide that’ll help get your first (or next) 100 customers so you can take your business to the next level. This newsletter will remain Free forever. We hope you enjoy!

At Cleverly, we’ve helped 7,500+ customers book 224,700+ sales qualified leads generated with cold outreach. If you are struggling to grow your business, click here to learn more about how we can help.

Tired of paying ridiculous recruiter fees for mediocre talent?

Here's how I landed our rockstar marketing director (and saved $20k+)

(You can read below or watch a video here)

1️⃣ Build a hyper-targeted list

Use Sales Navigator ($100/month) to create a list of 500 ideal candidates. Filter by role, company size, and experience. Pro tip: Include people from companies you admire.

Let's break this down further:

• Start with Sales Navigator: This LinkedIn tool is worth every penny of its $100/month cost. It allows you to search for candidates with incredible precision.

• Set your filters: For our marketing director search, we used these criteria:

• Role: Marketing Manager or Director

• Experience: 3-7 years

• Company size: 50-500 employees

• Industry: B2B SaaS or Digital Marketing
  

• Look beyond the obvious: We also searched for specific skills like "media buying" and "content strategy" to find candidates with diverse expertise.

• Target admired companies: We made a list of 10 companies we respect in adjacent industries and specifically searched for candidates from those organizations. This helped us find people who already understood our market.

By the end of this process, we had a goldmine of 500 potential candidates. This targeted approach ensures you're reaching out to people who are genuinely qualified and likely to be interested in your opportunity.

2️⃣ Write an un-ignorable outreach sequence

Write a 2-3 touch sequence that sells YOUR opportunity. Be transparent about pay and benefits. Our sequence got a 37% acceptance rate and 29% reply rate.

Here's how we structured our outreach:

Message 1 (Connection Request):

"Hey [Name], I'm impressed by your experience in [specific area]. We're looking for a Marketing Director at [Company Name], and your background caught my eye. Would love to connect and share more about this unique opportunity."

Message 2 (After connection):

"Thanks for connecting, [Name]! As mentioned, we're seeking a Marketing Director to lead our team. Here's what makes us different:

• Fully remote position with flexible hours

• Competitive salary range: $X-$Y

• Opportunity to build and lead a growing team

• [One unique selling point of your company]

Interested in learning more? Let's hop on a quick call this week."

Message 3 (If no response):

"Hi [Name], just following up on my previous message. I know you're probably busy, but I wanted to emphasize how well your experience aligns with what we're looking for. If you're open to a conversation, I'd love to share more about how this role could be a great next step in your career."

[[Insert Image: Screenshot of outreach message template]]

Key tips:

• Be direct and concise

• Highlight what's in it for them

• Include salary range upfront to save time

• Personalize each message with specific details from their profile

3️⃣ Flip the interview script

When they respond, your job is to convince THEM. Highlight why they should join you, not the other way around. Follow up with a practical assignment to weed out interview superstars who can't deliver.

Here's our interview process:

1. Initial Phone Screen (15-30 minutes):

• Briefly introduce your company and the role

• Ask about their current situation and career goals

• Explain why you think they'd be a great fit

• Answer any initial questions they have

2. In-depth Zoom Call (60 minutes):

• Deep dive into your company's mission, culture, and growth plans

• Discuss specific challenges the role will tackle

• Allow them to share their relevant experiences and ideas

• Be prepared to sell your company's vision and potential

3. Practical Assignment:

• Give them a real-world task similar to what they'd do in the role

• For our marketing director, we asked them to create a 90-day marketing plan

• This helps assess their skills and gives them insight into the actual work

4. Final Interview and Offer:

• Review their assignment together

• Address any remaining questions or concerns

• If all goes well, make a compelling offer on the spot

Remember, when you've reached out to someone directly, you need to convince them why your opportunity is better than their current situation. Be prepared to highlight:

• Growth potential within your company

• Impact they can make on the business

• Unique aspects of your company culture

• Competitive advantages in your industry

Want the exact outreach template that landed our marketing director? Check out this video:

See you next week!

Nick

If you found this useful check these out:

Linkedin connection request masterclass
6 Linkedin sales nav hacks to win high-value leads
Cold outreach video strategies for more Linkedin sales

Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways we can help you:

1. Cold Email Lead Generation - Get booked sales calls with your ideal clients on a pay-per-lead basis. You pay a fixed fee whenever you get a response from your ideal customer. Click here to learn more.
   

2. LinkedIn Appointment setting - Want a trained sales rep in your Linkedin inbox, speaking to prospects & booking sales calls onto your calendar? Our appointment setting service will do just that. Click here to learn more.
   

3. LinkedIn Paid Advertising - Want to get in front of prospects you never thought possible? Our irresistible LinkedIn Ad funnels will help you grow your business rapidly. Click here to learn more.