How we solved a labor shortage by treating Recruitment exactly like Sales.
The Context
SMC Movement is the engine behind big energy companies. They provide the sales force that sells sustainable energy contracts. Their business model is simple: More Sales Reps = More Revenue.
But in the current market, hiring good sales talent is a nightmare.
The Bottleneck: They had plenty of contracts from energy suppliers, but not enough people to execute them.
The Old Way: They relied on traditional job boards ("Post and Pray"). They waited for candidates to find them.
The Goal: They needed to switch from passive waiting to active hunting.
They asked us: "We have the work. We just need the people. How do we find motivated sales talent who aren't looking at job boards?"
What we actually changed
We told them: "Stop acting like HR. Start acting like Marketers." A candidate is just a lead. A job offer is just a product. The interview is the sale. We installed a B2B Lead Gen infrastructure, but pointed it at potential employees.
1. We Targeted "Latent" Talent Good sales people aren't always scrolling job boards; they are usually already employed (perhaps in hospitality or customer service) and feeling underpaid. We used LinkedIn Ads to target young professionals with specific "people skills," not just people with "Sales" in their title. We targeted the potential, not just the history.
2. We sold the "Why," not the "What" Most job ads are boring lists of requirements ("Must have 2 years experience"). We flipped the script. The ads sold the Transformation:
"Make an impact with sustainable energy."
"Learn high-ticket sales skills while you earn." We treated the job offer like a high-value course they were getting paid to take.
3. We Removed the Friction (No CVs) For a sales role, energy matters more than a resume. We removed the requirement to upload a CV (which kills conversion rates on mobile). We built a landing page with a simple form: Name, Number, Motivation. If they had the drive, SMC wanted to talk to them fast.
The Result
By building a recruitment funnel instead of a job post:
Volume: We generated enough leads to schedule 52 interviews with potential hires.
Cost: The Cost Per Applicant was significantly lower than traditional staffing fees.
Control: They no longer hope for applicants. When they need to scale the team, they just turn on the ads.
🛠️ Steal This System (How to do it yourself)
Struggling to hire good people? Stop blaming the "labor shortage" and fix your funnel:
Don't "Post & Pray": If you need top talent, don't wait for them to apply on Indeed. Run ads to target them where they hang out (LinkedIn/Meta).
Sell the Vision: Your job description is a sales letter. Don't list duties; list the benefits and the future version of themselves they will become if they join you.
Kill the CV: If you are hiring for attitude (like sales), stop asking for a PDF resume in the first step. It causes 50% of people to drop off. Get the phone number and call them.
🚀 Ready to Install This Engine?
You can try to build this infrastructure yourself using the tips above. Or, we can audit your current setup and map out a custom installation plan for you.
Don't want to book a call yet? Start by downloading the exact prompts we used to rewrite this client's content:
