The Honest Salesperson

I have a decade of experience in new client acquisition sales, helping generate over 10 million in revenue within the recruitment industry.

Over the 10 year period, I have broken into over 100 new accounts, and trained over 40 other individuals to do the same. I am intimately familiar with the challenges and hurdles faced when building a book of business, acquiring new clients, and implementing a sales system that can be scaled as your company scales.

I bring that experience to a small number of early stage, growth focused recruitment companies.

I partner with solo-operators and owners as an advisor and mentor assisting them in their growth phase.

I help them lay the foundation needed to grow, avoid expensive mistakes, help assemble world-class sales teams, and implement a sales system that can be replicated.

If you are a small business founder/owner within the recruitment space, and you're looking for a partner to help navigate your journey, I'd love to hear from you.

My area of expertise is in direct hire and contract agencies, with average placement fees $20,000 or more.

If you're interested in working together, check out my website and submit an inquiry.

Founder

LaSalle Network

LaSalle Network is a national staffing, recruiting and culture firm focused on temporary and contract staffing, as well as direct-hire search. For over 20 years, we've helped candidates find jobs in entry-level to C-suite positions across nearly every industry and connected companies with talent to grow their businesses.

LaSalle Network has been recognized with more than 100 culture, revenue and industry-based awards, some including: 12X "Inc. 500/5000 Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies in America,” People Magazine’s “Companies that Care,” 7X Crain's Chicago Business' "Best Places to Work,” 8X Chicago Tribune "Top Workplaces,” Fortune Magazine's "Best Small & Medium Companies to Work For,” "Best Workplaces in Chicago," and “Best Workplaces for Parents,” Inc. Magazine’s "50 Best Workplaces” and Forbes’ "America’s Best Professional Recruiting Firms" lists.

With one of the highest net promoter scores in the staffing and recruiting industry, we are confident we’re the right firm for you, and we look forward to meeting you.

Sales Manager Healthcare

FY 22 - 140% of plan
#5 Sales rep in Midwest region

As an ADP District Manager, I partner with mid-sized organizations and dedicated to providing financially smart options to complicated employee related issues. Our solutions include technology & strategic HR services to help better attract, retain and stay compliant with one of businesses most important and expensive assets... their people.

Major Accounts District Manager

Elevate K-12

Elevate K-12 is passionate about creating high-quality teaching and learning opportunities for teachers and students. We are on a mission to make zipcode free teaching available to all students, irrespective of where they live. We take pride in creating value and opportunities for children and women. Get ready for a new way to classroom!

Educational Account Executive

Medix™

FY 2017 - 236% of plan - $1,232,004 in revenue
FY 2018 - 313% of plan - $1,794,450 in revenue
FY 2019 - 284% of plan - $1,793,064 in revenue
FY 2020 - 133% of plan - $1,887,627 in revenue
Eleven consecutive quarters of hitting plan
2018 President's Club member
2018 Top 5% Ranking in revenue generated within Scientific Division 
27 Account Breakers since 2016 (Ranked Top 5% among 128 Sales Reps)
2019 Top 5% Ranking in revenue generated within the Scientific Division
2019 President's Club member
2020 President's Club member

As the Senior Business Development Manager within our Scientific Division, I specialize in working with medical device companies in the Midwest to address quality, budget and timeline fulfillment by focusing on talent. My team, comprised of specialized Scientific recruiters, works with talented professionals to identify their aptitude, attitude and skill set along with their culture fit to our partners. My role is partner with medical device organizations within R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Laboratory and Engineering teams. Working with these teams, we identify the aptitude, attitude, culture fit and skill set of the organization to eliminate risk caused by talent imbalances and provide a customized solution to drive our partners to exceed expectations delivering on-time, high-quality results under budget.

Senior Business Development Manager

As the Account Executive for our Scientific Division, I specialize in working within the food, beverage, personal care, medical device and third- party laboratory space to address quality, budget and timeline fulfillment by focusing on talent. My team, comprised of specialized Scientific recruiters, works with talented professionals to identify their aptitude, attitude and skill set along with their culture fit to our partners. My role is to work with organizations within the food, beverage, personal care, medical device and third- party industries specializing in R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Laboratory and Engineering teams. Working with these teams, we identify the aptitude, attitude, culture fit and skill set of the organization to eliminate risk caused by talent imbalances and provide a customized solution to drive our partners to exceed expectations delivering on-time, high-quality results under budget.

Some of the core skill sets that we focus on include:
•	Food Technicians/Scientists
•	QC Technicians
•	Microbiologists/Lab Techs
•	QA Specialists/Associates
•	Quality/R&D Supervisors and Managers
•	Regulatory Affairs
•	Engineers (Quality, Process, Chemical, Design, Test, R&D)
•	Laboratory Technicians (Quality and R&D)
•	Chemists (Analytical and Formation)

Account Executive - Scientific

Medix Staffing Solutions, Inc. is a national staffing company that recruits skilled personnel for virtually all segments of the Healthcare, Insurance, Scientific and Information Technology industries. As a leader in the healthcare staffing industry, clients turn to Medix for our expertise in sourcing qualified people to fill a variety of contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire opportunities. Our Account Management/Recruitment teams provide the support services that enable our clients to manage fluctuations in workloads, contain cost and increase performance efficiencies. We have earned our reputation as an industry leader by providing unsurpassed customer service and top quality professionals to our clients across the country.

Healthcare Recruiter

Winona State University

	Prepared & provided quotes for all travel arrangements that include hotel stay, bus contracts, and meal contracts
	Skilled to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment with the least possible supervision.
	Trained  new employees
	Designed and implemented marketing efforts to attract top level student-athletes
	Logged and updated information in our recruiting database in an effort to stay up to date all on current contact information of high school coaches and players
	Returned all internal and external calls and emails in a timely manner in order to ensure that all members of the football organization were on the same page
	Daily cold calls to high school athletes, parents, and their coaches
	Built relationships with Iowa high school coaches in an effort to influence the decision makers in a student-athletes lives
	Coordinated all visit days which included setting up meeting rooms, tour guides, and admission counselors to be present at the time of the student-athletes arrival
	Troubleshoot all technological issues that included all video software and Microsoft Office programs such as Excel, Word,  PowerPoint, and SharePoint
	Supervisor of football players in which I lead daily presentations, discussions, and monitored their progress academically

Asst. Football Coach/Video Coordinator/Travel Coordinator

Millikin University

		Daily cold calls to high school athletes, parents, and their coaches
	Built relationships with Illinois high school coaches in an effort to influence the decision makers in a student-athletes lives
	Coordinated all visit days which included setting up meeting rooms, tour guides, and admission counselors to be present at the time of the student-athletes arrival along with setting the agenda for the recruits and football staff to follow
	Skilled to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment with the least possible supervision.
	Trained  new employees 
	Returned all internal and external calls and emails in a timely manner in order to ensure that all members of the football organization were on the same page Troubleshoot all technological issues that included all video software and Microsoft Office programs such as Excel, Word,  PowerPoint, and SharePoint
	Supervisor of football players in which I lead daily presentations, discussions, and monitored their progress academically
	Oversaw all campus intramural activities which involved the hiring and training of staff members, setting up the schedules, reserving the necessary athletic space, and purchasing all equipment
	Logged and updated information in our recruiting database in an effort to stay up to date all on current contact information of high school coaches and players

Asst. Football Coach/Recruiting Coordinator/Video Coordinator/Intramural Director

	Worked with the Offensive Line coach in breaking down film
	Coached the offensive line during individual periods
	Was responsible for running the scout defense during team sessions
	On game day I was responsible for identifying defensive fronts, coverages, and blitzes
	Assisted the Recruiting Coordinator in scheduling visits and coordinating activities for visit days
	I was responsible for my own recruiting area in which I recruited Indiana and suburbs of Chicago

Asst. Offensive Line Coach/Asst. Recruiting Coordinator

Advisor to small recruitment firms looking to scale to 7 figures | Check out my website to see about working together

I have a decade of experience in new client acquisition sales, helping generate over 10 million in revenue within the recruitment industry.

Over the 10 year period, I have broken into over 100 new accounts, and trained over 40 other individuals to do the same. 

I am intimately familiar with the challenges and hurdles faced when building a book of business, acquiring new clients, and implementing a sales system that can be scaled as your company scales.

I bring that experience to a small number of early stage, growth focused recruitment companies.

I partner with solo-operators and owners as an advisor and mentor assisting them in their growth phase.

I help them lay the foundation needed to grow, avoid expensive mistakes, help assemble world-class sales teams, and implement a sales system that can be replicated.

If you are a small business founder/owner within the recruitment space, and you're looking for a partner to help navigate your journey, I'd love to hear from you.

My area of expertise is in direct hire and contract agencies, with average placement fees $20,000 or more.

Keely Flood

Systematic Selling

Systematic Selling (formerly Lyden Communications LLC) is a sales systems coaching and training company that helps growth-minded founders scale their sales (without the chaos).

We teach the 'Systematic Selling Framework'—10 systems every B2B service business needs to break the feast or famine cycle for good.

We also produce the Systematic Selling Podcast, where we break down the strategies, trends, and best practices that help founders squeeze the stress out of sales and build a business they love.
 
Subscribe to the podcast and newsletter at SystematicSelling.co.

Founder and CEO

Sean M. Lyden

I'm an independent journalist who writes and speaks at conferences about the future of transportation—self-driving systems, electrified fleets, and connected vehicles—and the impact those technologies are having on business and society. 

I serve as editor for Utility Fleet Professional magazine (www.utilityfleetprofessional.com), a national trade publication that's laser-focused on the informational needs of decision-makers who purchase and manage fleet assets for utility companies. 

In terms of books, I am co-author of “How to Succeed and Make Money on Your First Rental House" (John Wiley & Sons) and contributor to "The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide” and “The Great Big Book of Business Lists,” both books published by Entrepreneur Press (Entrepreneur Magazine).

Journalist & Author

Marketing Matters

Full-service, integrated public relations, advertising, and marketing firm that specializes in serving high-end consumer electronics manufacturers, local and federal government agencies, and emerging technology start-ups.

Chief Operating Officer

Nimnicht Family of Dealerships

Outside sales and marketing to corporate fleets throughout Southeast US.  Built client base through direct email prospecting and strategic partnerships, an especially unique marketing approach in an automotive industry dependent on floor traffic.

Outside corporate fleet sales

Carl Black Fleet & Commercial

Ranked among top 30 sales reps nationally in Chevrolet/GMC medium duty truck sales in 2005.

The Professional Writing Firm, Inc. dba Prestige Positioning

A firm that specialized in ghostwriting articles and books for high-level executives and professional speakers in a way that positions them as sought-after experts in their field.

Founder and President

PRessCafe.com, Inc.

Emerging tech start-up during dotcom boom.  Developed concept.  Wrote business plan.  Raised angel investor funding.  Built executive team.  Recruited advisory board members.

Chief Executive Officer

Providence Christian Academy

High School English Teacher, Head Coach: Cross Country & Track

Founders, are you stuck in the sales bottleneck?

Here's how I can help...

My name is Sean Lyden, the founder and CEO of Systematic Selling. We provide sales systems coaching and training for growth-minded founders looking to scale their sales (without the chaos).

I’m a former business journalist and columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine who spent six transformative years as a commercial truck salesman. That journey—from rookie sales mistakes to becoming one of GM’s top reps in the U.S.—led to the creation of the Systematic Selling Framework.

This framework, built from my hands-on experience, is what I now teach to other founders and their sales teams to scale their sales and build a business they love (and not dread). 

My clients go from overwhelmed to overachieving by implementing the 10 essential sales systems.

Today, I coach and train founders who want to grow but are stuck because they're tangled up in day-to-day sales. We provide the roadmap to ease them out of their sales roles so the business can truly scale.

👉 For a free preview of our approach, subscribe to the Systematic Selling Newsletter at SystematicSelling.co.

In each issue, you receive bite-sized, high-impact sales systems training delivered to your inbox to help you:

- Break the feast or famine cycle (by generating predictable revenue)
- Reduce sales team turnover (by setting up your reps for success)
- Scale your sales (without the chaos).

👉 For more insights, tune into the Systematic Selling Podcast on your favorite podcast app, where I interview successful founders, experts, and authors to explore strategies and best practices for scaling sales.

Outside of work, I'm a proud husband, dad, and granddad. Plus, you might catch me playing the sax 🎷 as TheSilverSax, blending blues, rock, and Latin grooves.

If you're ready to scale your sales, let's connect 👊

Yesterday marked 365 consecutive days of posting on LinkedIn.

Here’s what has happened since I started this streak last November:

1. New revenue generated directly from LinkedIn
2024: $0
2025 (YTD): $57,000

2. Followers
Jan 1, 2025: 2,743
Nov 4, 2025: 5,514
Change: +2,771 (+101%)

3. Company Page followers
Jan 1, 2025: 284
Nov 4, 2025: 1,008
Change: +724 (+255%)

This is with the free version of LinkedIn.
(No Navigator. No ads.)

And not one post went viral.

My top-performing post this year?
78 engagements.
A wedding anniversary photo.
Not sales content.

The lesson:
You don’t need to be a LinkedIn influencer.
You don’t need a giant audience.
You don’t need viral posts.

Just treat LinkedIn like real-world networking...but at scale.

Show up every day.
Share what you know.
Help people.

Because when you focus on serving, not selling...
The sales come anyway.

At least, that’s been my experience.

SystematicSelling.co

Founder & CEO, Systematic Selling | Helping Growth-Minded SMB Founders Scale Their Sales (Without the Chaos) |🎙️Host of the Systematic Selling Podcast

Family all together for Thanksgiving in Austin, Tx. ❤️

No alternative text description for this image

How to sell on LinkedIn (without being salesy):

Treat LinkedIn like in-person networking… at scale.

That's the mindset.

Focus on connection, not the sale.
(And the sale will come.)

Because just like in networking, your job is NOT to try to sell the people you first meet.

Do that, and you push them away because you haven't earned their trust.

Instead:

Network on LinkedIn:

 • Show up daily
•  Meet new people
 • Share value
 • Be helpful
 • DM like a human
 • Set 1:1s
 • Meet offline

But here's where most people go wrong:

They skip all of that…
and go straight to the pitch.

Then wonder why they can't sell on this platform.

Elite sales teams focus on connection first.
Then earn the right to make the ask...
And the sale.

SystematicSelling.co

Elite sales teams in the service trades win by relentlessly strengthening their 3 Pillars👇

Elite sales teams don’t celebrate until the deal is done
and the money is in-house.

Until then, they stay focused and finish the job. 👇

SystematicSelling.co

The mark of elite sales teams in the service trades (or any industry): 
They reject rejection👇

SystematicSelling.co

Sorry, but the best B2B prospects will never inbound you.

You’re invisible to them...
no matter how much you pour into marketing.

Why?

Because they don’t need to find you.

- They already have a provider.
- They’re swarmed daily by reps trying to unseat that provider.
- And they expect you to come to them, not the other way around.

So, if you want the best accounts in your ICP, stop waiting.
Start working the process:

- Call on them until they know your name.
- Cultivate the relationship over time.
- Convert when the opportunity strikes.

That’s the game.
Not hoping for magical inbound.

Sitting back, waiting for top-tier prospects to find you?
That isn’t a strategy.
It’s a fantasy.

"Are you upset with me???"

"Huh? No. Why would you think that?"

"Well you didn't seem all that excited!"

"What do you mean? I said, 'great job.'"

"Exactly! You sounded sarcastic!"

Ah, the perils of text-based communication...
Where tone gets lost and meaning gets misread.

Result?

- Hurt feelings.
- Broken trust.
- Lost deals.

All of which could have been avoided.

How do you get on the same wavelength?

Mirror them👇

❌ Frame: Upselling is...
- Being greedy
- Being pushy
- Being annoying.

✅ Reframe: Upselling is...
- Being of service
- Protecting the customer's interests
- Respecting their 'Right of Refusal' (and to say Yes).

Ultimately, we owe it to our customers as our moral obligation to present them with the options we believe will best solve their problem...whether we think they'll "go for it" or not.

Stop using sales tactics you hate being used on you.

Instead:

Reverse engineer how YOU like to buy.
Then sell THAT way. 

The sales process will be a whole lot more enjoyable for the prospect...
and you👇

SystematicSelling.co

The deals that have bitten me the hardest?

The ones where I got too creative or too accommodating just to get them over the finish line.

Every time I’ve compromised on my ICP…
Every time I’ve ignored the red flags…
Every time I’ve stretched my offer just a little to “make it work”…

It’s led to the same outcome:

High-maintenance.
High-drama.
Low-margin.

The kind of accounts that drain your time, your team, and your energy.

Here’s the reality:

If you have to bend yourself into a pretzel to win the deal...
you'll break yourself—and your team—trying to deliver on it.

This is why we teach an alignment-first approach at Systematic Selling.

Because without alignment:

- You chase bad-fit deals.
- You override your own instincts.
- You create problems you could’ve avoided.

But with alignment?

- The relationship feels natural.
- Expectations are clear.
- Delivering excellence becomes much easier.

Win-win.

The right clients won’t require contortions.
They respond to clarity, conviction, and boundaries.

Choose accordingly.

“I remind myself every morning:
 Nothing I say today will teach me anything.
 So if I’m going to learn,
 I must do it by listening.”
 — Larry King

That’s powerful wisdom for sales.

Because in sales:

Listening = learning.
Learning = higher close rates.

Most reps rush to talk.
To explain.
To convince.

But the sale doesn’t start with pitching.

It starts with listening —
to understand what someone wants,
why they want it,
and what’s getting in the way.

Listening builds trust.
Listening communicates respect.
Listening opens people up.

If you want to sell more:

Don’t pitch first.

Listen first.

Because people don’t buy when they understand you.
They buy when they feel understood.

SystematicSelling.co

You may not like it but here's the cold-hard truth: 

Sales is a status game.

Prospects who don't respect you will rarely buy from you.

Here's why (and what you can do about it)👇

SystematicSelling.co

If you sell a service, you’re never selling "the same thing" as your competitors.

Because even if the service looks the same…
the *experience* never is.

That’s why elite sales teams don’t obsess over feature-level differentiation.

They differentiate in how they show up and how they deliver...

Consistently.
Credibly.
Confidently.

Because the best prospects — the ones you actually want —
aren’t comparing pricing.

They’re comparing people.

And they’ll pay more for the experience that gives them trust, confidence, and peace of mind.

SystematicSelling.co

If a critical project or delivery is falling behind schedule...
Do NOT sit on that news.

When it comes to giving bad news, the sooner, the better.

That’s when the client’s understanding and forgiveness is at its highest.

So, here's what to do:

1. State the facts.
No excuses. (The client doesn't care.)

2. Share your plan.
Give them confidence you're on top of it...and will stay on it.

3. Over-communicate until completion.
Silence is what breaks trust...not delays.

Because backorders and supply chain issues may be outside your control.

But these are always in your control:
• How quickly you communicate
• How empathetic you are to their frustration
• How relentless you are in pushing vendors to prioritize the order

You know what breaks trust?

Sitting on bad news until the client ASKS YOU for status.

That’s when the conversation gets really uncomfortable. Really fast.

SystematicSelling.co

Most leaders focus on *getting* more from their team.

Servant Leaders focus on *giving* more to their team.

By leading with this attitude:
“How can I bring out the greatness in you?”

Give vs. get.
That’s the reframe.
That drives trust, loyalty, and elite performance.

Your seasonal reminder: Avoid the drama, my friends 👇

Most sales teams define their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) only halfway.

They get the quantitative part right:
Industry, size, revenue, title, employee count.

But they miss the qualitative side:
The alignment, the values, the fit,
and the red flags that tell you who to avoid just as clearly as who to pursue. 

Because here’s the truth:
Some accounts check every quantitative box…
and still turn into high-maintenance, low-margin, toxic customers.

The kind that hammer you on price.
Argue invoices.
Drain your team.

That’s why your ICP isn’t just about who you want.
It’s also about who you’re willing to walk away from.

And your sales team needs the clarity
(and the permission) 
to do exactly that.

SystematicSelling.co

Most people approach networking trying to get others interested in them.

But elite sales teams?

They flip the script.

They understand that networking isn’t about promoting yourself.
It’s about paying attention.
It's about connecting.

Dale Carnegie said it best:

“You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years trying to get other people interested in you.”

Be interested first.
The results take care of themselves.

SystematicSelling.co

Confidence isn’t the opposite of humility.
It’s the foundation of it.

Because true humility means having the confidence
to let your ego get bruised, stretched, and challenged —
trusting you'll emerge much stronger on the other side.

When your ego takes a hit and you realize you're still standing, 
you learn something important:

You have much less to lose than you think.

So why hold back?

Be humble.

Make the call that feels uncomfortable.
Post the content that makes you feel exposed.
Learn and try new things that could transform you and your business.

If you wait until you *feel* confident, you never move.
That's just your pride getting in the way of your success.

It took me until my late-40s to fully understand this.

When you stop protecting your ego, you gain the humility to:

• Take feedback instead of defending yourself
• Help others without worrying about your status
• Push through rejection, failure, and criticism

That's when you begin to tap into your highest potential — 
in business and in life.

The bottom line:
Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself.
It’s being secure enough to grow.

SystematicSelling.co

taplio

The Battle

Keely Flood

Sean M. Lyden

Followers

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Performance ScoreSean M. Lyden's LinkedIn Performance

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The Battle

Keely Flood

Sean M. Lyden

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Sean M. Lyden's LinkedIn Performance

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