From Cold Calls to CRM Culture: Paul Sangster on Selling, Socials & Software That Scales

In this power-packed episode of RecTalk, Nitin Sharma sits down with Paul Sangster, the dynamic Sales & Marketing Director at itris, for a candid conversation on what it really takes to build brand trust, evolve from cold calling to consultative selling, and lead a tech brand in a recruitment world that's changing by the day.With 14 years at itris, Paul shares his journey from dialing-for-dollars to driving an integrated sales-marketing strategy behind one of the industry's most trusted CRMs. They unpack everything from the old-school print ad days, to the rise of thought leadership, and the revolutionary launch of itris X—a web-based CRM built on 27 years of insight.🎯 Key talking points:Why cold calling isn’t dead—but social selling is criticalThe evolution of CRM buying behaviour in the recruitment spaceWhy “shit chat” still closes dealsWhat makes itris X different (and what recruiters actually want in a CRM)The right way to blend AI and automation without destroying your brandWhy sales and marketing MUST be one team—and how to make it workWhy recruiter content should speak to clients, not peersPaul also drops lessons from the early podcasting days, shares how itris listens to real user feedback through product suggestion loops, and why top-of-funnel brand trust is now the most powerful lead-gen strategy in rec tech.This one’s raw, real, and ridiculously valuable.Who this episode is for:✅ Recruitment business owners scaling their tech stack✅ RecTech marketers looking to align with sales✅ CRM vendors who want to learn from a 27-year legacy brand✅ Recruiters keen to stop spamming and start building✅ Anyone curious about how content can drive actual sales pipelineThis episode is proudly sponsored by RecCircle — your go-to platform for building referral-driven recruitment networks. Empower your community. Recruit smarter.https://www.reccircle.co.uk/🔗 Connect with Paul SangsterLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-sangster/itris: https://www.itris.co.uk/🔗 Connect with Nitin SharmaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitin-rectools/Rectools.io: https://www.rectools.io/Find out more about the Recruitment Curry Club:https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-recruitment-curry-club/#RecruitmentTechnology #RecTech #CRM #itris #PaulSangster #SocialSelling #RecruitmentPodcast #SalesAndMarketing #Rectools #RecCircle #RecruiterContent #RecruitmentMarketing #RecTalk #RecruitmentCRM #B2BMarketing #RecTechPodcast