The Challenge
FAUN Zoeller required support in hiring Regional Business Managers to develop UK territories and drive growth across key regions.
These are not standard sales roles.
Success in these positions requires a blend of:
- Technical understanding of chassis-based vehicle engineering
- Experience in complex, solution-based capital equipment sales
- Ability to manage long, consultative sales cycles (up to 2 years)
- Strong stakeholder management and territory ownership
The core challenge was not volume of applicants - it was precision. A mis-hire in this type of environment would result in long ramp-up times and underperformance in a highly technical, high-value sales cycle.
EnquireWhy Traditional Recruitment Was Not Working
Previous recruitment approaches struggled to identify suitable candidates due to:
Over-reliance on available rather than relevant candidates
Limited exposure to OEM and capital equipment sales environments
Difficulty accessing passive candidates already operating in similar technical sales roles
Lack of understanding around the geographic and strategic nature of territory-based selling
As a result, the available candidate pool did not reflect the level of technical and commercial depth required.
The EMT Talent Approach
EMT Talent partnered closely with senior leadership to fully define the role beyond the job description, focusing on:
Technical and commercial non-negotiables
Cultural fit and behavioural profile
Regional requirements and travel expectations
From there, we directly headhunted within relevant OEM and capital equipment sectors, targeting passive candidates already operating in similar long-cycle, technical sales environments.
Each candidate was then rigorously assessed through a structured process including:
A first stage shortlist process leading to 4 face-to-face interviews
Psychometric and personality profiling (Personal Styles Inventory)
A 90-day business plan presentation to senior leadership at final stage
This ensured every candidate was assessed not only on experience, but on thinking style, commercial awareness, and long-term fit within a complex engineering sales environment.
The Outcome
The first appointment in the Yorkshire region was such a strong fit that FAUN Zoeller immediately re-engaged EMT Talent to appoint a second Regional Business Manager for the South West.
The quality of hire gave the leadership team full confidence in the recruitment process and led to investment in structured onboarding, including product training at their headquarters in Munich.
Since then, EMT Talent has been re-engaged to support additional hiring across wider areas of the business.
In addition, EMT Talent delivered a 1.5-hour recruitment strategy session to the leadership team.
Final impact
This project demonstrates EMT Talent’s ability to consistently secure high-performing candidates in complex, long-cycle capital equipment sales environments where technical understanding, commercial depth, and cultural alignment are critical to success.
If you’re hiring…
If you’re hiring for technical or commercial roles where precision matters and the cost of a mis-hire is high, we’d be happy to discuss your requirements.
Enquire