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Case study · Staffing franchise

How Express Employment signed $49K in fee agreements in 6 days

Carl Schwarz owns the Express Employment Professionals office in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is also its primary salesperson. Before Bolt, new clients came one door at a time. The first signed agreement came on day six.

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At a glance

Owner: Carl Schwarz, who also runs sales and helps on recruiting
Office: Wellesley, Massachusetts, one of 850 offices in a global staffing franchise
Before: Door-to-door sales, 2 to 4 hours a day
Expected: A first client within 37 days
Actual: First signed agreement on day 6

$49K in signed fee agreements

6 days to the first signed agreement

2 new clients signed

6x faster than the 37 day estimate

The interview

Hear it from Carl

11 minutes with the owner of Express Employment Wellesley on going door to door, his doubts before signing, and what six days looked like.

01

The growth challenge

Express Wellesley grew the way most franchise offices do: door to door. Carl walked into local businesses, introduced himself, got shown out, walked back in, and kept looking for the decision maker, building relationships one company at a time. Phone calls and emails filled the gaps, often led by a most placeable candidate to open the conversation.

It took 2 to 4 hours of his day, which by Carl's own count came to 30 to 60 hours a month for a single close. Email sent from the corporate domain did not help. It landed in spam, with under 1% response.

Carl SchwarzOwner, Express Employment Professionals, Wellesley

Carl was skeptical, and said so. He gets dozens of emails a week from vendors who claim they can drive clients, and ignores 99% of them. He had never worked with an agency like Bolt, did not know the tools, and the offer seemed a little too good to be true. He took the call anyway. He is a test, learn and apply operator, and the pilot was easy to wrap up if it did not work.

02

How Bolt solved it

The pilot replaced the door knocking with outbound that runs on its own, and kept Carl's time for the conversations that were already interested.

1

Off the corporate domain

Campaigns ran on dedicated sending infrastructure, on platforms Carl signed up for, instead of the corporate domain that had been landing in spam.

2

Candidate-led offers

Each email led with a strong candidate profile matched to the employer's need. At the first client, two of the profiles Carl shared checked every box.

3

A wider net

Outreach was not confined to the office's local territory, a wider net than many franchise owners are used to casting.

4

Runs in the background

No more cold walk-ins. The system keeps working until a lead appears, and then Carl steps in.

Carl SchwarzOwner, Express Employment Professionals, Wellesley

03

The results

Six days in, Carl had a signed agreement with a company that has dozens of open jobs. With a second client signed, the total came to $49K in fee agreements.

Before BoltWith Bolt

Finding clientsDoor to door, one company at a timeOutbound that runs in the background until there is a lead

Owner's time2 to 4 hours a day, 30 to 60 hours a month per closeSpent on interested prospects, not walk-ins

EmailCorporate domain landing in spam, under 1% responseDedicated sending infrastructure

First new clientExpected within 37 daysSigned on day 6

Signed agreementsOne relationship at a time$49K across 2 new clients

$49Kin signed fee agreements

6 daysto the first signed agreement

$20Kgross on a single order, by Carl's estimate

Who signed

$25K fee: Accounting Manager ($125K base) at a global IT training company operating in 180 countries, an IBM Premier Partner and Top 20 IT Training Company for 10+ consecutive years1 role
$24K fee: Tax Manager ($120K base) at a Top 100 accounting firm with 250+ professionals, a BDO Alliance member ranked by Forbes among America's Best Tax Firms1 role
2 companies, $49K in signed fee agreements2 roles

Carl SchwarzOwner, Express Employment Professionals, Wellesley

04

What's next

One order is a start. The bigger prize is the account behind it: an employer that uses agencies, struggles to find certain people in certain locations, and has dozens of open jobs. Place well in those trouble spots and the orders keep rolling.

Carl SchwarzOwner, Express Employment Professionals, Wellesley

05

What this means for you

Carl's advice to agency owners on the fence was short: try it. The fact that it runs in the background until there is a lead was, in his words, reason enough.

We track buying signals across your market every day, write the copy by hand, pre-vet every prospect, and introduce you directly to the decision makers. The pilot runs for 30 to 45 days at zero cost and zero commitment. You only convert to a paid retainer if it worked.

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