🎯 Persona: Quota-Carrying Sales Professional (AE, Enterprise AE, BDM)
– Motivators: Strong compensation, clear career path, product-market fit, respected leadership, and territory autonomy[1]
– Barriers: High opportunity cost, loyalty to current book, fiscal timing concerns, recruiter fatigue[2]
đź“… 12-Day Multi-Touch Recruiting Cadence
| Day | Channel | Action | Message Focus |
| Day 1 | LinkedIn (InMail) | Personalized intro | Acknowledge their performance and role prestige. Tease compelling comp or market growth story. Avoid templates[3]. |
| Day 2 | Email #1 | Role preview | Use sharp subject lines. Mention OTE, territory, and a recent funding round or customer success[4]. |
| Day 4 | Phone Call + Voicemail | Direct pitch | Short and respectful: “I’d like 10 minutes to discuss your 2024 earnings potential—worth your time even if you’re happy.” |
| Day 6 | Email #2 | Address pain points | Example: “Top reps at [competitor] tell us X is a blocker—here’s how we solve it.” Make it about them[5]. |
| Day 7 | LinkedIn engage | Like or comment on post | Subtle re-engagement tactic—keeps your name visible without another message[6]. |
| Day 9 | Email #3 | Value prop + CTA | “130% of reps hit quota last quarter. See why top sellers from [peer company] are joining.” Include calendar link[7]. |
| Day 12 | Final DM or text | Close the loop | “No pressure—can I circle back in Q3 if timing’s better?” Ends sequence professionally[8]. |
🧠Best Practices
– Time your outreach outside EoQ/EoY crunch periods to avoid “pipeline lockdown”[9].
– Highlight comp plans, win rates, vertical focus, and rep enablement—details that matter to elite sellers[10].
– Use peer-to-peer language, not recruiter-speak. Talk “shop,” not just HR[11].
– Structure cadences using tools like Gem, Hireflow, or your ATS’s CRM module for consistency and data tracking[12].
đź“š Footnotes
[1] CEB (now Gartner). “What Top Sales Reps Want.” CEB Sales Leadership Council, 2016.
[2] LinkedIn Talent Solutions. Inside the Mind of Today’s Candidate. 2019.
[3] Gem. 2023 Recruiting Benchmarks Report. Cadences with personalized subject lines and opening sentences saw 36% higher response rates.
[4] Greenhouse. Optimizing Candidate Messaging. 2022.
[5] Challenger, Matthew Dixon & Brent Adamson. The Challenger Sale. 2011.
[6] LinkedIn Research. “Passive Talent Engagement.”
[7] Salesloft. Cadence Performance Insights. 2021.
[8] Lever. Talent Engagement Playbook.
[9] Gong.io. Sales Timing Trends. 2020.
[10] Rain Group. What Top Sellers Look For. 2021.
[11] Lou Adler. Performance-Based Hiring.
[12] Gem & Greenhouse joint webinar. Cadence Design for Passive Talent, 2022.
