Background

Modern Executive Solutions is a North American leadership advisory firm that combines organisational consulting with executive search and talent acquisition. Their approach is intentionally different from traditional firms, bringing together leadership strategy, talent expertise, and a focus on diverse markets.

For Brian Lamendola, VP of Technology Operations, choosing technology is not a decision taken lightly. Having spent decades in the executive search industry, he has evaluated, implemented, and worked alongside many of the leading platforms in the market.

When Modern Executive began looking for a new recruitment platform, the team knew exactly what they did not want. The challenge was finding what they did.

The challenge

Like many firms, Modern Executive had already invested heavily in Salesforce. The platform sat at the centre of their operations, but Salesforce alone was never designed to function as a complete recruitment system.

To bridge the gap, the team had begun building pieces themselves, relying on custom processes, manual data entry, and lightweight third-party tools to make recruitment workflows work. It was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain and scale.

At the same time, the alternatives in the market presented their own challenges.

Many ATS platforms offered extensive feature sets but required firms to adapt their processes around the software. Others required a level of custom development that would effectively turn the business into a software company.

Modern Executive needed a middle ground. A platform that delivered the fundamentals of a best-in-class ATS while remaining flexible enough to evolve alongside the business.

Why Seven20?

Brian conducted a thorough evaluation of the available options.

What stood out about Seven20 was not a single feature, but a philosophy.

Rather than attempting to serve every possible use case, Seven20 focused on delivering the recruitment functionality firms actually needed while maintaining the flexibility to integrate, extend, and evolve over time. Just as importantly, the team was looking for more than software.

They wanted a partner who would challenge assumptions, share industry expertise, and help shape the right solution for their business rather than simply handing over a product and walking away.

The implementation

Brian describes the implementation process as the best he has experienced across a long career working with multiple technology partners. The Seven20 team came prepared, asked the right questions, and pushed back constructively on assumptions.

That upfront investment in understanding the problem paid dividends throughout the transition. Training was smoother. Adjustments were anticipated rather than reactive. And critically, users weren’t being asked to simply replicate old behaviours in a new tool. They were building a better process.

The results

The most immediate impact has been replacing manual, fragmented data entry with a disciplined, automated system. By introducing structured workflows and mandatory fields at the point of entry, Modern Executive eliminated the data gaps that traditional Salesforce setups suffer with. Better data going into the system has directly resulted in more useful data coming out to support active searches, client-facing work, and strategic, long-term decisions.

The operational wins span across three key areas:

• Streamlined Data Entry: The PipeLaunch integration has optimised how candidate data enters the system, establishing consistent and reliable records at the point of entry.

• Real-Time Visibility: The integration enables Seven20’s hotlist functionality, giving the team immediate candidate visibility to utilize dynamically during live search calls.

• Enhanced Collaboration: The team now uses Seven20 as a single tool to manage searches, collaborate internally, visualise search progress, and maintain clear visibility throughout the recruitment lifecycle.

Looking ahead

Today, Seven20 forms a key part of Modern Executive’s long-term technology strategy. The platform has given the business confidence that Salesforce can remain its operational foundation while still providing the specialist recruitment capabilities required to support future growth.

For Brian, the decision was never simply about selecting software. It was about finding a partner capable of growing alongside the business.

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