I had the idea to sell automated hiring pipelines to recruitment agencies and small medium-sized businesses, but after some chat cheapy teeing. I realized most of them already have ATS and that kind of threw me off since you sold these systems multiple times. What do you think?
You can totally do this with an ATS, applicant tracking systems. Actually, what you're doing is rebuilding an applicant tracking system, but yours is way better. Many recruitment companies use ATS like recruit CRM, which is pretty big, and they build custom ones. Monday.com has a bunch of presets for recruitment, but your value isn't necessarily replacing the ATS; it's coming into the ATS. By reading the docs, you realize there are automatic stage changes upon all these things, and you can build logic that automates some of the more mundane things they do between stage changes, like sending onboarding emails, congratulations emails, and automatically emailing clients when people are placed in a stage. Creating the pipeline in the first place is key. A lot of people have applicant tracking systems, but their pipelines—the stages they assign—suck and aren't very logical.
I wouldn’t sell the whole system as one monolithic offer. Instead, I’d break it down into its components—pipeline (a CRM), lead qualifier, scheduler, and a suite of tools like job post writers and CV screeners. I’d create multiple tiers and packages: for example, a basic package with just the CRM, another with CRM + qualifier, another with CRM + qualifier + scheduler, a fourth with just the tools suite, and a full package with all four. Then I’d test each package as a separate offer to see which resonates most. The most‑popular package gives natural upsell paths—you can sell the basic package, then add the qualifier, then the scheduler, etc., or bundle them together. I’d also consider adding a second niche, such as HR departments, alongside recruitment agencies, and run two variants per package (giving 16 tests total). To test efficiently, I’d send about 800 emails a day using roughly 25 mailboxes (costing ~$170/month) plus lead‑scraping infrastructure (~$200/month). In the first month I’d run all 16 tests, drop the underperformers, and scale the winners. This approach lets you validate each piece before committing to the full workflow.
Nice job being almost 18. The delivery process is simple: REACH (get in front via cold email, PPC ads, communities, social media DMs/referrals/events), ACQUIRE (sales call), FULFILL (onboarding call, gain access to the client's account, build the system directly there—handoff is easy), EXPAND (upsell a bigger package later because you now know their business better, can deliver more value, charge more, and take larger jobs). This loop repeats, growing your business.
You can use the hiring system as a lead source by populating it with vetted, high‑quality candidates and recycling them as leads; you can also generate leads for a CRM or ad‑automation tool, or set up an automated job‑posting funnel that feeds into the hiring system. These approaches add value and help attract new clients.
I’d start by wiring automation between the stages of the onboarding flow. When a new client signs up, automatically invite them to a Trello board for the first stage and populate the board with all the resources they’ll need. Add check‑boxes for each required step, and use automations (or a webhook) to monitor when those boxes are completed. Once the checklist is done, move the card to the next stage, which can trigger additional actions such as sending contracts or setting up accounts. This Trello‑based workflow works well for agencies. As for the forms, you can handle them either way: have your internal team fill them out on behalf of the client, or send the forms directly to the client’s client. Many agencies choose to collect the information themselves first, then forward the finalized request to the downstream client, which keeps everything safe and ensures the information is captured correctly.