Michael C. Bertoni, Founder and CEO of PhillyTech, sat down with Consumer51’s Justin Butler, Director of Strategic Development, to discuss PhillyTech’s methodology, another critical component of the Hiring Differentiation Index (HDI). 

PhillyTech is an industry leader in assisting Software as a Service (SaaS), and Hi-Tech companies hire talent, generate leads, and drive sales. This blog is the third blog in a series introducing the Hiring Differentiation Index and why it’s critical for SaaS and Hi-Tech companies.

Justin: We are with Mike Bertoni from Philly Tech talking about the HDI, the Hiring Differentiation Index. Today we're diving into something we've been touching on with all the previous articles. Welcome back, Mike, it's good to talk to you again.

Mike: Great to see you, Justin. Really excited to continue on this path of educating the customer on the Hiring Differentiation Index.

Justin: Well, today we're going to talk about what sets PhillyTech apart: their methodology. Before we dive into that, would you just give us a little sense of the why behind it? Where did it come from? What is some of the history that got you to where you're at now?

Mike: Sure, this is really important. PhillyTech is seven years old, but for the past 16 years prior to my starting PhillyTech, I was a SaaS sales executive. I sold software, and  I sold different types of technology. So, lead generation always came naturally to me. I was always optimizing and improving my methods, whether via phone calls, emails, LinkedIn, you name it.  Everything about the HDI methodology was driven by my passion for hunting and curating leads, and finding the ideal opportunities for my clients.

Justin: Fantastic. Taking that concept of how everything you do should end in a sale, can you touch on how sales and hiring play together? 

Mike: Absolutely. Let's use PhillyTech as an example. Our core service is to help SaaS and high-tech companies hire talent, right?  So in this example, our ideal targets are software SaaS companies that are between 10 and 50 employees that are looking to grow. Then, we zoom in on our ideal companies to target exact people, such as the CTO, VP of engineering, Chief Revenue Officer, Founder, COO, etc.  We have a methodology where we say specific things to them, to get them interested in talking to affiliate tech. We're very driven around lead generation. 

When you apply this to hiring, the first thing that you have to think about is the job requirements. It's the prospective employee's first point of contact with your company, so it has to stand out. In the sphere of sales, that job posting is your product, and you want to make sure it's seen by the right people--and that it excites the right people.  Think about your ideal employee persona. What types of companies do they work for? What do they do?  It's a very, very competitive market out there. Hiring is intertwined with sales because you need to sell a prospective employee to work for your company. Using our HDI, we concentrate our lead generation efforts on finding the ideal hires for our clients.

Justin: In sales, finding the right candidate is half the job. You've become an industry leader in targeting leads--how do you even find the right person to talk to in the first place?

Mike: Let's look at a senior software engineer position for example. We work with the client to understand the exact type of person that they're looking to hire, and we will build a custom data set of candidates. Then we take the candidates from that initial data set and specifically message them through different channels like LinkedIn, text, phone, etc. We're messaging them in multiple ways to draw their interest to the job. It is so critical. In a nutshell, we determine the exciting job requirements, and the ideal personas, and then target those personas the right way to get them excited about the position.

Justin: That makes a massive difference. To follow it all the way through, how does this methodology wrap up? How does it look to actually close that deal? 

Mike: There is a saying that we have in PhillyTech: It is imperative to give candidates an unbelievable experience. An unbeatable journey. Circling back to sales:  No one's going to buy your product if they don't have a great experience along the way. If we start by targeting the right persona, in many cases, half the job is done. Then they show interest by applying to this job that aligns with their goals and aspirations. Now, we just have to follow the steps of keeping them excited about the position and keeping their energy up.  

We differentiate their experience by sharing a lot of knowledge about the company that they have never heard, from any other recruiter before. Most recruiters are going to talk bits and bytes. We're going to talk about company culture. We're going to talk about the team, and we're going to talk about the work environment. We are going to give them all the benefits and even some things that could be improved. When we talk to people, we give them a holistic view of the company and how great this company is.  

We're cheerleaders for our clients. We're going to give both parties a great experience. What does that mean? It means we thoroughly support candidates through the interview process. We schedule it for them, we send them the company deck and background info, and we discuss the interview in a prep session. And we repeat this through the interview process until the contract is signed. We even help them negotiate a salary. This way candidates feel supported and confident. Companies feel reassured that they're getting serious, well-prepared candidates. Everybody's pleased!

The best thing for us is when a client says to me, you're bringing us the best candidates; better than anyone else has before. The added bonus is when the candidates are saying the same thing. They're saying, I have never been through a process before where I really understand the company, the job, and where someone's hand holding me through the process. It's because of the system. We have a methodology and we're constantly working to improve it.

Justin: Fantastic. Well, you know, it's the old adage: the best sale is where every party feels like they walk away a winner. And so that sounds like it's exactly what your methodologies ensure.

Mike: Absolutely, we are dedicated to that. And, again, the methodology was driven by my passion for lead generation. The perception is that it's hard to find people, but that isn’t the case. If I use our process to target 300 people who are ideal for your company, I'm going to get people who are interested in working for you. You're ideal for them. They're ideal for you. Targeting works. Methodologies work!

Connect with Michael C. Bertoni on LinkedIn. If you would like to learn more about how SaaS Talent can help your SaaS or Hi-Tech business, set up a Free Strategy Session with us by clicking here, or set up a meeting using the calendar below.