- Case Study
CLEAN
CLEAN is a leading UK textile services business providing commercial laundry, linen and workwear rental services to customers across hospitality and industry.
The business sits naturally within Electi Talent’s specialist markets. Like many of the organisations we work with, CLEAN operates a contracted, recurring-revenue service model, where winning the customer is only the beginning. Sales teams need to secure commercially viable contracts that can be successfully mobilised, operationally delivered and developed into long-term customer relationships.
This combination of commercial growth, service delivery and customer retention is very much in our DNA.
The Challenge
CLEAN needed a Senior Business Development Manager for London who could create new opportunities and, critically, demonstrate how they had built, managed and closed a successful sales pipeline.
The business had already tried advertising, LinkedIn and its own network and was also using another recruiter, who had predominantly introduced candidates from direct competitors.
Although these candidates looked relevant on paper, the client wasn’t seeing the right values fit or enough evidence at interview of the commercial capability they needed.
This is something we frequently see in specialist markets. Competitor experience doesn’t automatically equal capability. The strongest performers are often loyal to their existing employers, while good commercial people frequentlymove successfully between adjacent industries.
Our Approach
Rather than continuing to search the same competitor pool, we focused on the commercial outcomes CLEAN needed.
We looked for someone who understood relationship-led, longer-cycle selling but could also evidence how they personally generated opportunities, qualified them, built and managed their pipeline and ultimately converted that pipeline into revenue.
This led us into an adjacent part of the linen and textile market, where we identified a business developer selling into boutique restaurants and hospitality customers.
The sector wasn’t identical, but the customers, sales behaviours and commercial capability were highly transferable.
The Result
Within two weeks, we introduced one carefully selected candidate. They were hired.
The success of the search came from looking beyond the obvious competitor CV and understanding what CLEAN actually needed someone to be able to do and deliver.
The Electi Difference
Our sector knowledge isn’t simply knowing who the competitors are. It’s understanding how businesses like CLEAN win customers, deliver their services and make money – and where else the people capable of delivering those results can be found.
That’s why we search for evidence of capability, not just matching job titles and company names.
Looking for similar commercial talent?
If you’re struggling to find salespeople who can genuinely build, manage and close a pipeline, widening the search beyond your direct competitors could uncover a much stronger talent pool.
Talk to Electi Talent about where else we could find the capability your business needs.
