Martin Doig and Robbie Sturgess from Verto People - Why Cold Calling Is Essential For Perm Growth

Martin Doig and Robbie Sturgess from Verto People - Why Cold Calling Is Essential For Perm Growth

From Carrot and Stick by OneUp Sales

November 26, 2025 · 1h 4m · Season 4 · Episode 1

About this episode

Martin Doig and Robbie Sturgess discuss the importance of cold calling and their business growth strategies at Verto People.

Martin Doig and Robbie Sturgess, founders of Verto People, join Derry Holt to explain how their 99% perm agency not only survived a pandemic launch but rapidly scaled to 38 employees by prioritizing relentless daily Business Development (BD) over fleeting contract trends.They share their controversial stance on cold calling, detail their data-driven hiring methodology, and unpack the crucial lessons learned from scaling too fast into unfamiliar markets like Germany.Key Takeaways:- "Cold Calling is alive": The controversial view that BD must be done every day, non-negotiable.- The Data-Driven Hire: Using psychometrics to vet recruiters for sales aptitude, resulting in an 80%+ success rate.- Scaling Lessons: Why they intentionally pulled out of the German market and software niches to focus resources entirely on explosive US engineering growth.- The 8-Touch Rule: How Verto ensures success by following a highly targeted, multi-touch BD process for every single candidate.

People in this episode

Host: Derry Holt

Guests: Martin Doig, Robbie Sturgess

Topics covered

  • cold calling
  • business development
  • hiring methodology
  • scaling business
  • market expansion

Keywords

  • cold calling
  • business development
  • hiring
  • scaling
  • US engineering growth
  • psychometrics
  • German market

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Verto People

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