Connect Group is a recruitment agency that places top AI talent across industries. Demand for that talent is loud; reaching the people who actually control the hiring decision is not.
Before the engagement, the pipeline was inconsistent and expensive to feed. The team was burning hours chasing conversations that went nowhere, and the best prospects — the companies genuinely racing to hire AI capability — were the hardest to reach cold.
Outcome
Within one quarter, Connect Group added $105K in new revenue from qualified AI talent placements, on top of a calmer, more predictable pipeline and a sales team spending its time on conversations that could actually close.
The Objective
Put Connect Group in front of the companies and decision-makers who were already feeling the pain of sourcing skilled AI candidates — long recruitment cycles, uncertainty about candidate fit — and open those conversations with relevance attached, not a cold pitch.
The Approach
1. Start from the pain, not the title
The map was drawn around the problems: companies struggling to source skilled AI candidates, cycles that dragged for months, and hiring teams unsure how to judge fit. Those are the rooms where a specialist placement firm is welcome.
2. Reach out like a peer, not a vendor
Outreach to AI-focused companies and their decision-makers was personal and specific, with follow-ups handled systematically so no warm thread went cold.
3. Keep the pipeline honest
Prospects were segmented and scored so the team always knew which conversations deserved attention first. Tracking and reporting made the whole motion visible.
4. Protect the closers
The repetitive work was automated away. The team’s energy went into placements — the part only humans can do.
Why It Worked
- The targeting started from a real, felt pain — so every conversation opened warm.
- Consistency replaced bursts: a steady rhythm of qualified conversations.
- The team stopped chasing volume and started managing fit.
- Credibility travelled ahead of the pitch.
In Short
One quarter, $105K in new placement revenue, and a pipeline that stopped being the bottleneck. When the right hiring committee hears about you from the right angle, a quarter of revenue can follow a handful of conversations.
Results from an engagement delivered on the routed-introduction network Orbeon operates within.
