#111 Sales & Pepper Podcast | Hiring Top Sales Talent in Germany

Hiring Top Sales Talent in Germany — What Founders &
Sales Leaders Need to Know





In this episode, Dominic sits down with Elvin
Kingma from Bluebird — one of the leading SaaS-focused
recruiting agencies in the DACH region.


With a background in SaaS sales and years of placing top talent,
Elvin brings a rare perspective:


He’s been the seller, the hiring manager, and now the recruiter
behind the scenes.





Together, they discuss why Germany is one of the hardest markets
to hire in, why most companies lose candidates without realizing
it, and what world-class hiring looks like in 2025.





In this episode you’ll learn:




Why most hiring processes fail before they even
start




The biggest differences between hiring in DACH vs.
the rest of Europe




Why SDR roles are surprisingly hard to hire successfully




The 3 mistakes almost every company makes in their hiring
process




How AI is reshaping hiring — and why SDRs will stay, but
teams will shrink




What top-performing candidates do differently in interviews




How non-hiring-expert founders can still run an excellent
hiring process







 Hot Takes from Elvin:




“Speed beats everything in hiring.”




“If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.”




“Hiring is sales — discovery decides everything.”




“Germany is the second-hardest market in the world to hire
sales talent.”




“OTE means nothing without context. Earning potential is what
matters.”







Don’t miss new episodes:


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Connect with Elvin:


https://www.linkedin.com/in/elvinkingma/


Connect with Dom:


https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominicklingberg/





Bonus: Get 50 Free Kickscale Meeting Analyses


https://www.kickscale.com/lp/partnership-sales-and-pepper





Transparency / Ads


This episode contains paid partnerships.


Our partners Kickscale and
HubSpot support the Sales & Pepper Podcast.


All opinions shared in the episode are independent; partner
mentions are part of the collaboration.