Case study: How Maptionnaire expanded their international sales team with TalentBee’s help

Maptionnaire, a Helsinki-based SaaS company with €1M+ ARR, helps smart cities and other organizations to create better urban environments. With a current headcount of 14 and a goal to first double and then triple their revenue, they’re scaling rapidly, especially in the US, and need SaaS recruitment expertise to build a strong sales team.

The challenge: expanding the sales team with two key roles

Maptionnaire is expanding into international markets, with the greatest potential identified in North America, where many ideal customer profile companies have a clear need for their niche product. To succeed in their sales and growth goals, they needed to grow their sales team with two key roles:

• An Account Executive to focus on winning new customers especially in North America
• A Key Account Manager to help existing customers get more value from the product and additional services, especially after recent improvements by the development team

Maptionnaire had worked with headhunting partners before for sales roles, but this time they were looking for a fresh approach.

“This time we wanted a partner who truly understands our goals and can find SaaS sales professionals who really match our unique needs," says Anna Broberg, Maptionnaire's Chief Operating Office

Maptionnaire was looking for a recruitment partner who could:

1. Attract top-tier SaaS sales talent.
2. Streamline and professionalize their recruitment process.
3. Enhance their employer brand to stand out in a competitive market.

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‍‍Maptionnaire chose TalentBee for our proven track record of finding high-performing SaaS sales professionals

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Maptionnaire had only collaborated with headhunting partners with a 100% success fee model before. So they were really critical about the value they would actually get when choosing a different approach this time.

Maptionnaire teamed up with TalentBee for a one-off recruitment project, featuring Linda Nguyen, a recruitment expert with a strong background in hiring sales talents, and Siiri Laaksonen, an Employer Branding Strategist known for creating effective recruitment marketing strategies and attracting top inbound talent from the market.

“As a recruiter experienced in hiring top sales talent, I know that many skilled SaaS sales professionals are motivated to work with meaningful SaaS products. It was an exciting opportunity to start recruiting new sales talent for Maptionnaire, whose innovative platform empowers city residents to actively participate in urban planning,” says Linda, TalentBee’s Talent Acquisition Specialist.

TalentBee convinced Anna & Maarit from Maptionnaire during the sales process because:

• TalentBee has a proven track record of finding high-performing SaaS sales professionals for companies of similar size and a similar growth phase.
• Because of our SaaS & tech growth company focus, TalentBee’s team deeply understands the motivations of SaaS sales talent and has the know-how to attract them and sell the career opportunities to them effectively.
• TalentBee is committed to doing their best to attract sales talents who truly align with the company’s needs and goals, and to make sure the chosen candidate accepts our job offer.
• By working towards a common goal in the recruitment project, the recruitment team carefully evaluates candidates to ensure the best fit for the role. (Instead of just pushing candidates to the process to complete the project and secure the success fee quickly.)
• Understanding that recruitment is a two-way street, TalentBee also helps clients remove bottlenecks in hiring success, which can involve improving the entire talent journey, from closing hires to refining the sales bonus model to keep the hired sales team motivated.
• TalentBee is a reliable and experienced recruitment partner with a 96% fill rate and a clear goal to meet 100% of our clients' hiring needs.

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How did we start the project?

TalentBee worked closely with Maptionnaire to not only identify and attract but also ultimately hire the right sales talent to fuel their growth and achieve their goals. Here’s how we approached it:

• Understanding the business and the roles: Samuli, Linda and Siiri from TalentBee worked with Maptionnaire’s CEO Maarit Kahila and COO Anna Broberg to define clear role profiles, key success factors for the new sales talent, and how to reward them with the right salary. By learning about the product, company culture, and growth goals, they identified ideal candidates with SaaS sales expertise, a passion for community engagement, and a strong alignment with the company’s mission.‍
• Recruitment marketing: TalentBee’s employer branding expert Siiri created an engaging job ad and recruitment marketing content to attract the right candidates, showcasing what made Maptionnaire a unique employer for SaaS sales talent.‍
• Finding the talent: TalentBee combined headhunting, direct outreach, and recruitment marketing to connect with ideal candidates. Personalized outreach highlighted why the role was a great fit for each talent.‍
• Simplifying the process: Using tools like Trello and Slack, TalentBee ensured clear communication and kept the process running smoothly.‍
• Improving offers: TalentBee shared insights to help Maptionnaire improve their salary packages, and employer brand, making them more attractive to top SaaS sales talent in a competitive market.

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The results and outcomes of the project

The partnership between Maptionnaire and TalentBee delivered great results:

Strong talent pool

• TalentBee’s Linda reached out to over 20 ideal candidate profile candidates through headhunting, creating a strong pool of talent.
• With recruitment marketing, we got a total of 582 impressions for the job ad, and a total of 107 inbound applicants. 27 of the inbound applicants proceeded to the screening call.
• Linda had the first screening calls with 22 KAM and 20 AE candidates.
• 7 KAM and 9 AE candidates were selected to move forward to interviews with the hiring managers, CEO Maarit and COO Anna.

Successful hires for KAM and AE roles

• Maptionnaire hired 1 KAM and 2 AEs (exceeding their goal of hiring just 1 AE).
• The hired KAM was headhunted, while AEs came through inbound.
  
  

Positive candidate experience

• TalentBee created case tasks that were both enjoyable for candidates and helped hiring managers assess the needed SaaS sales skills.
• Linda also supported Maptionnaire in closing candidates, ensuring the chosen candidates accepted the job offer that really aligned with their career goals and motivations.
  
  

As a team, we succeeded in these as well!

• Trusted partnership: clear communication within the project team and TalentBee’s proactive problem-solving built strong trust and collaboration throughout the process.
• Talent market insights: TalentBee provided market data and advice, helping Maptionnaire refine their candidate profiles and offer competitive salaries.

This successful collaboration provided Maptionnaire with a strong sales team to support their growth:

”I really like how the TalentBee team took the time to understand our needs, showing expertise in SaaS recruitment and a strong commitment to transparency and teamwork. Their clear communication built trust, and their personalized approach made the process smooth and efficient.

– Anna Broberg, COO, Maptionnaire

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