Our client is a profitable, private equity owned B2B SaaS business selling into a regulated sector. Its owners are investing in growth, with new capital going into hiring and building the business.
The 3 main requirements for this search included:
- Someone who can close and negotiate on their own. There is no sales leadership above this role and there was not going to be one.
- Someone who can mentor the person who currently owns every relationship in the business. The role was as much about transferring a sales approach into the company as it was about carrying a quota..
- Domain experience in the client’s industry: not a priority. Relationship and navigation skills were weighted above domain expertise.
We introduced our client to 5 candidates who they interviewed.
The 14-Year Account Owner
Asking: $90K to $100K base.
- Fourteen years on a single product, in the client’s exact industry.
- Owned roughly $1M in ARR across about 100 accounts across two countries, including one of the largest institutions in the market.
- Beat a 95% retention target every year, and grew the portfolio 10% to 15% a year.
- Closed upsell and cross sell independently.
The Hospital Systems CSM
OTE $130K. Asking: $130K to $150K total cash.
- Five years managing a USD $3M portfolio of large institutional customers and specialty clinics.
- 100% retention every year.
- Personally delivered 54% of the entire team’s expansion quota in one fiscal year, and was tracking to 73% the next.
The Enterprise Expansion AM
$120K base, $180K OTE, uncapped.
- Eight years in enterprise account management, none of it in the client’s industry.
- Beat a $155K quarterly expansion target three quarters running.
- Carried a portfolio made up exclusively of $1M+ ARR customers.
- Before that, three years against a 20% expansion target, over-achieving by an average of 15%.
The client passed after the first conversation.
The Co-Finalist
$100K base, $150K total in their last year. Asking: $110K to $120K base.
- Five years managing enterprise accounts for large pharmaceutical and medical device customers, then two years in software.
- Closed $250K of expansion in a single year and grew the portfolio 40%.
- The year before, 100% of an expansion quota worth roughly $600K at a health data business.
The Hire
Offer accepted at a $100K base, plus a two tier commission plan and a health spending account.
This candidate manages a portfolio of retail and institutional clients. Brings an account management practice and sales playbook.
WHY the client said yes to this candidate:
They had experience selling to the client’s ICP without ever having sold the client’s category of product.
WHY the candidate said yes:
The opportunity to join a small team and therefore have real ownership.
KEY INSIGHTS:
What most founders get wrong: you cannot benchmark a role you have never had.
Nobody at this company had ever carried an expansion number. There was no internal comparable, and the commission structure everyone assumed was standard needed validating.
So the client set a base they were confident in, left the variable open, met five people who each told them something about what this work is worth, and wrote the plan the week the offer went out.
The search closed 48 days after kick-off.
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