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From Cold Calls to CRM Culture: Paul Sangster on Selling, Socials & Software That Scales

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About this episode

Nitin speaks with Paul Sangster, Sales & Marketing Director at itris, about evolving recruitment sales and marketing strategies in a changing industry. Paul draws on 14 years at itris to explore the shift from cold calling to consultative, social-first selling, the rise of thought leadership, and the launch of itris X, a web-based CRM built on 27 years of product insight. They discuss how sales and marketing must work as one team, the role of brand trust in lead generation, and blending AI and automation whilst maintaining authenticity.

The conversation covers why social selling matters more than ever, how CRM buying behaviour has shifted, and what recruiters actually want from their software. Paul shares lessons on building recruiter content that speaks to clients rather than peers, and why top-of-funnel brand trust has become the most powerful strategy in recruitment technology.

Key takeaways

  • Social selling is now critical to recruitment sales, though cold calling remains part of the mix
  • Sales and marketing teams must align as one unit to drive integrated strategy and pipeline
  • Brand trust built through thought leadership is the most effective lead-generation strategy in rec tech
  • CRM vendors should listen to user feedback and evolve products based on what recruiters actually need
  • Recruiter content should address client challenges, not just peer interests

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