JB Recruitment
148 candidates in 30 days for a Field Sales Representative role, at under 5 euros per candidate
148 candidates in 30 days at under EUR 5 per application, with a 23.4% funnel conversion: more than 4x the market benchmark. Jasper presented 12 candidates in month one, worth EUR 96,000 in potential revenue.
148
candidates in 30 days
< EUR 5
per application
23.4%
funnel conversion
More than 4x the 2 to 5% market benchmark, and 15x+ above job boards (0.5 to 1.5%)
12
candidates presented in month one
EUR 96,000
potential revenue
Potential, not realised revenue
For JB Recruitment, the Job Acquisition Machine generated 148 candidates in the first month for a Field Sales Representative Beauty & Wellness role. The Meta funnel converted 23.4% of 517 visits into 121 applications, at under EUR 5 media spend per application and under EUR 600 in total. Jasper Borghesi held 35 to 40 intake interviews and presented 12 candidates to his client, 10 to 11 of whom were invited to interview. The ROI on this page is potential, not realised revenue.
Channels: Meta job campaign with own application funnel + AI sourcing on LinkedIn + multichannel distribution
Candidates
148 in the first month
Funnel conversion
23.4%
Media budget per Meta application
< € 5
JB Recruitment is a recruitment agency specialising in B2B sales: mid-career and senior sales roles at bachelor's and master's level, up to sales management, in the Netherlands and Belgium. Founder Jasper Borghesi was looking for a way to find sales talent faster and in larger numbers. Searching manually took him far too much time, while his client, an international beauty & wellness platform, was hiring several field sales reps at once across different cities. Within a week Leadstars put the full Job Acquisition Machine live: a Meta job campaign aimed at early-career sales profiles, a qualifying application funnel where candidates apply in a few minutes, AI sourcing on LinkedIn from Jasper's own profile, and instant lead notifications in Slack so Jasper could respond within fifteen minutes. Jasper had previously run Indeed campaigns where EUR 480 of a EUR 600 budget was gone after six days, without a single response. With Leadstars, media spend stayed under EUR 600 for the whole first month and 148 candidates came in. After the first month the campaign was sharpened with extra qualifying questions in the funnel and more budget towards Amsterdam. The first month filled the pipeline in one of the toughest sales markets of recent years. Next step: scaling up in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, where the client is hiring several field sales reps.
From lead to call
- Funnel visits517→
- Meta applications121→
- Presented to the client12
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Candidates | 148 in the first month |
| Applications | 121 through the Meta funnel, plus AI sourcing |
| Funnel conversion | 23.4% (517 visits, 121 applications) |
| Media budget per Meta application | < EUR 5 |
| Media budget | < EUR 600 in the first month |
| Intake interviews | 35 to 40 |
| Presented to the client | 12 in the first month |
| Interviews with the client | 10 to 11 |
| First interview to offer | 1 to 1.5 weeks |
| Media budget per presented candidate | < EUR 50 |
Against the market
| Metric | This case | Market benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Funnel conversion | 23.4%outside the benchmark, favourable side | Market benchmark: 2% - 5% |
Sources: B2C funnel conversion benchmark; jobboard application conversion sits at 0.5% - 1.5% (Werf&).
“It's an accelerator, a serious turbo you can switch on. You don't have to go looking anymore, it comes to you.”
Jasper BorghesiOwner, JB RecruitmentSo many candidates came in that Jasper could not place them all with his client.
“I think I'm going to start a staffing agency on the side, just to have somewhere to place all those extra candidates.”
Jasper BorghesiOwner, JB Recruitment“The great thing is that the leads now come to you, instead of you having to go out and find them.”
Jasper BorghesiOwner, JB Recruitment“If I had doubts, I would stop now. I wouldn't continue for another month. So we keep going.”
Jasper BorghesiOwner, JB Recruitment“In three weeks I showed what an interim recruiter hadn't even half achieved in two months.”
Jasper BorghesiOwner, JB Recruitment“I've run campaigns on Indeed where 480 euros was gone after six days without a single response. This is a breeze by comparison, especially looking at the numbers coming in.”
Jasper BorghesiOwner, JB Recruitment“You've got a happy, satisfied client sitting across from you, let that be clear.”
Jasper BorghesiOwner, JB RecruitmentPotential revenue, not a realised result: if all 12 presented candidates are placed at an average fee of roughly EUR 8,000, that is EUR 96,000 in potential revenue from the month one pipeline. Against a total investment of roughly EUR 2,100, that is a potential ROI of more than 45x. A single placement already returns almost 4x the full investment. Jasper's own rule is that marketing costs may be at most 10% of revenue; this pipeline sits well below that. Use the slider below to apply a lower placement rate to the 12 presented candidates.
Potential ROI
The full potential of the pipeline first, then your own conversion applied to it.
Potential value of the pipeline
€ 96,000
If every candidate were placed - 12 presented candidates in this case × € 8,000
- Expected value at your rate
- € 24,000
- Estimated placements
- 3
- Return against ad spend
- 11.4×
Assumptions
- Presented candidates in this case: 12
- Your placement rate: 25%
- Permanent placement - fee per placement: € 8,000
- Total campaign investment: € 2,100
Source: Market-standard permanent placement fee in the Netherlands: 20-30% of gross annual salary, averaging roughly 22-25%. At a EUR 50,000 annual salary that works out to EUR 11,000 to EUR 12,500 per placement.
This is a model, not a realised result. Adjust the assumptions to your own margins and placement rate.
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