Case Study — Technical Sales Search
Five Months. Eight Candidates. No Hire. Then We Got Involved.
Industry: Industrial Laser Equipment — Location: Ontario — Role: Technical Sales Representative — Time to Fill: 6 Weeks
— The Situation —
A search that had been running longer than it should have.
An Ontario-based industrial laser equipment manufacturer came to Campbell Morden with a problem they'd been carrying for months. They needed a Technical Sales Representative — a specialized role that sits at the intersection of deep product knowledge and commercial credibility. They'd been trying to fill it on their own.
By the time they reached out to us, eight candidates had been interviewed over five months. Not one had accepted. The search wasn't failing because the company wasn't trying. It was failing because the role, as it was defined, wasn't workable.
"Eight candidates over five months — and not one acceptance. The role itself was the problem, not the talent pool."
— The Challenge —
The compensation and territory expectations were quietly eliminating every serious candidate.
When a search produces repeated late-stage rejections, the instinct is to look harder. The real answer is usually to look closer — at the role itself. In this case, two structural issues were consistently ending conversations before an offer could land.
The compensation package wasn't positioned to compete for the caliber of technical sales professional the client actually needed. And the travel expectations attached to the territory were deterring qualified candidates who had options elsewhere. Strong candidates were interviewing, deciding the terms didn't work, and walking. The pipeline wasn't the issue. The role design was.
Before Campbell Morden
5 months
8 candidates interviewed. 0 acceptances. Search stalled on compensation and travel misalignment.
After Engagement
6 weeks
Role repositioned, territory restructured, adjacent industry targeted. Offer accepted.
— Our Approach —
We fixed the role before we found the person.
Our first step wasn't to source more candidates — it was to work with the client to reposition the role itself. That meant revisiting the compensation structure to reflect what the market was actually demanding for this type of hire, and adjusting the territory strategy to make the travel expectations realistic for a high-performing rep.
From there, we widened the lens. Rather than limiting the search to candidates with direct laser equipment experience, we targeted professionals from adjacent industries — people who brought the same technical sales competencies and could transfer them quickly. It's a move that requires confidence in your assessment process, but it opens the candidate pool significantly without sacrificing quality.
— The Result —
Filled in six weeks. Quota exceeded in year one.
With the role repositioned and the search strategy reoriented, the right candidate emerged within six weeks. But the outcome didn't stop at a signed offer — the placed candidate went on to exceed their first-year sales quota, which is the real measure of a search done well.
A hire that fills a seat is table stakes. A hire that performs is the point.
6 weeks
Time to fill after Campbell Morden engagement
Year 1
Placed candidate exceeded first-year sales quota
8 Previous candidates
interviewed with no acceptance
Work With Us
If your search has stalled, the role is usually worth a second look.