OmegaFlex Inc., a flexible piping solutions provider, was branching into a new market. They were launching a new company division offering their products for healthcare facilities that pump medical gases throughout the building. Specifically, they wanted to sell their flexible piping solutions to plumbing engineers and contractors retrofitting gas delivery systems to existing medical facilities. 

With incredibly low turnover, OmegaFlex’s new hires are almost exclusively driven by internal promotions, retirements, or company expansions. Having to let an employee go, especially a Regional Sales Manager critical to this brand-new market expansion, was an uncommon experience they certainly didn’t wish to repeat any time soon. 

They realized they needed someone with a whole different set of qualifications and industry relationships in the role than previously thought. With over a decade of partnership under our belts, we were eager to help them find an RSM replacement whose performance and core values aligned more closely with their expectations.

We started our search by working with them to identify where the “disconnect” happened with the former RSM: they had experience on the terminal end of the product. OmegaFlex realized they needed someone with experience in the pipes, valves, and fittings (PVF) space with relationships at a different stage of the spec process.  

The other caveat was the high travel percentage. Not every salesperson is interested in a role with ~60% travel. As a new market, this wasn’t a “keep our existing accounts happy” type of role. They needed a real go-getter to dive headfirst into the market, take center stage, and actively grow their share of the space. 

The greatest benefit we brought to this search was a broader awareness of the industry their next hire could come from. It’s common to look at direct competitors and their teams, but we looked one step beyond that. Companies are generally aware of other companies in their industry but outside of their niche. They might recognize a logo they saw at a trade show or on a distributor’s shelf. In this search, looking beyond their direct competition proved incredibly beneficial.

Our final slate of candidates included three great options, but we didn’t have to look far to find excellence: the candidate they hired was already in our database. But this search was an excellent example of why thorough research, a wide talent network, and taking the time to truly evaluate each candidate’s career is so important. After all, the candidate they ultimately hired was in the Window & Door industry at the time of the search. 

Despite not actively being in it, he had seven years of PVF industry experience under his belt and was unhappy with the industry he’d shifted to. Not only that, but a previous employer had a very similar medical piping product they never fully took to market, so he already had experience in a nearly identical product space.

From start to finish, this search took approximately six months. As a company with a highly intentional hiring process, this aligned with a typical timeline for a role at this leadership level. 

While the hire is still relatively new for a company with such long tenures, so far, everything has been smooth sailing with their newest Regional Sales Manager. Our decade-plus partnership with the OmegaFlex hiring team continues to support their team’s growth, and our recruiters are still keep a weathered eye out for highly placeable candidates across MEP markets.

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