Rhonda Taylor, Managing Director, DSG Global

Richard ByrdAll right. Welcome to the podcast today. We have a fantastic guest — Rhonda Taylor, Managing Director at DSG Global. Rhonda, welcome to the show.

Rhonda TaylorHi, thank you so much for having me.

Richard ByrdOne of the first questions we ask on the show is a tradition — if your company were a bird, what kind of bird would it be?

Rhonda TaylorWithout a doubt, the Phoenix. It has that representation of regeneration, strength, survival — the ability to rise and flourish during the toughest times. In executive search and anything sales-related, resilience is the most critical trait you can have. We face rejection on a daily basis. Deals fall through. Searches don't close. Markets shift unexpectedly. Just like the Phoenix, we have to continue to learn from those setbacks, come back stronger, regenerate. That cyclical nature of transformation really captures what it takes to succeed in executive search and in sales.

Richard ByrdI love it. A good mythical bird. And you're so right — sales has so much rejection. Getting doors slammed in your face all day isn't always the most fun, and your ability to recover from that is what separates great salespeople from people who won't last long.

Rhonda TaylorYes. Your ability to hear no and get back up and keep moving.

Richard ByrdAnd the cyclical nature of recruiting too — it's feast or famine. Either I can't get enough people fast enough, or we're not hiring at all — in fact, we're going in the opposite direction.

Rhonda TaylorYou hit the nail on the head. There are always shifts in different areas and you have to be vigilant, always on alert for what those cycles may be. Over 23 years, I've learned a lot of the cycles that happen throughout a typical year, but there are a lot of things we can't prepare for. We just have to be aware and always looking out for shifts — hoping to overcome them, solve problems around them.

Richard ByrdAnything involving people is going to have a lot of pivoting and change. I had a friend who said he wanted to start a company with no customers and no employees. I said, "That'll be easy, but not very profitable."

Rhonda TaylorIt's interesting. I haven't seen it work yet.

Richard ByrdExactly. Well, for the people who don't know about DSG, tell us a little about the company.

Rhonda TaylorSure. DSG Global has three businesses at its core: executive search — which is where I sit — a leadership consulting arm, and convening services. Within executive search, we have a corporate team, a healthcare team, and a nonprofit team. I sit on the corporate side, which is essentially everything else. My focus area is primarily tech and consumer industries — so think food and beverage, media, entertainment, travel, hospitality, along with software and SaaS, FinTech, and consumer tech. Over the last 23 years, I've built my career working extensively across product, digital, marketing, sales, and tech functions. So while I support C-suite searches for CEOs, COOs, and CFOs, I also have a particular focus on roles in sales, marketing, e-commerce, AI, security, and product.

Richard ByrdThat's quite a spectrum. Having you on with that focus on sales and marketing — that's exactly who we talk to on this podcast.

Richard ByrdWhat challenges are you seeing when companies are looking for sales or marketing leaders?

Rhonda TaylorIt's interesting. Over the years, I've seen a real convergence of sales and marketing. When I started, marketing sat in its own world — separate from sales, separate from product and tech. Now I see a continual convergence. More and more, companies are looking for Chief Revenue Officers, Chief Growth Officers — people responsible for both sales and marketing, driving revenue across the entire business. And on the consumer side, even CEO searches increasingly include someone who's really walked the walk on commercial strategy, who understands how to build a marketing and sales organization to grow revenue.

Richard ByrdA CEO who's carried a sales bag at some point is really powerful. The most successful CEOs I've known were the best salespeople in the company — passionate about the business, able to sell investors on vision even at a public company.

Rhonda TaylorAbsolutely.

Richard ByrdWhen you're looking for a CEO with a sales background, what does that mix look like?

Rhonda TaylorSometimes you see someone who started in strategy or general management, moved into understanding sales and marketing, then stepped into the CEO role. Or someone who came up through marketing, became responsible for both revenue functions, and evolved into the top seat. I see that more on the consumer side than anywhere else.

Richard ByrdWell, that's promising. Maybe there's hope for me yet.

Rhonda TaylorDefinitely. A few years ago, you would rarely see it. Now I see it a lot more — someone who's both a visionary and someone who can really drive revenue through sales and marketing.

Richard ByrdCEOs get hired for one reason but fired for another — the company isn't growing fast enough.

Rhonda TaylorYeah, absolutely.

Richard Byrd (to Rhonda)Walk me through your career — how did you wind up where you are today?

Rhonda TaylorNobody ever goes into recruiting and says, "I want to be a recruiter." It found me in 2003. I knew someone at a firm who thought I'd be great for a role, brought me in, and the rest was history. I started out doing high-volume clerical and light industrial work. Back then, you'd bring spreadsheets home and call people at eight o'clock at night if someone called out of a job. If you can keep up with that pace, you can do anything. After a few years, I transitioned into tech. I ended up at a firm that was doing IT staffing, and over time moved into executive search — eventually landing at Hitachi, then DSG Global, where I've been able to build something I'm really proud of.

Richard ByrdWhat you said about DSG being open and honest about the challenges of the business going in — that's so important. It's easy to sugarcoat things when you've found a really good candidate and you don't want to scare them off.

Rhonda TaylorThere's a balance. I work with growth-stage businesses and sometimes they don't fully understand the reality of their own business. One of the things we help clients with is understanding what's really going on — doing deep dives into culture and internal dynamics so we can de-risk for them. Because if you don't clearly articulate your culture to candidates, you're more likely to lose them or lose them shortly after they join.

Richard ByrdWhat do you see when you're talking to sales and marketing leaders — are they looking for a big vision to join?

Rhonda TaylorVision is really important. And a lot of this shift happened post-COVID. People are looking for something that matters more — a business that's doing good, making an impact, making lives better in some way. Or a leader with a really big vision who they can come alongside and do something meaningful. I've seen a big shift toward that.

Richard ByrdFrom a sales and marketing perspective, what are the big challenges you're seeing?

Rhonda TaylorThe same obstacles I face are the ones a lot of my clients are facing. Technology has evolved so rapidly, and sales methods have changed dramatically. The tactics that worked in 2019, 2020, even 2022 — they just don't work anymore in 2025. Response rates to cold emails are down 50% or more in some sectors. What used to be a 2–3% conversion rate on outbound campaigns might now be under 1%. Companies are facing a far more competitive landscape, and the barrier to entry has lowered in many sectors — which makes differentiation harder than ever, and more crucial than ever. How do you level up your approach on a continual basis? That's what my clients are thinking about. That's what I'm thinking about. Constant learning, constant change. From a marketing standpoint, you need a compelling story — one that creates that differentiator — and then you stand on it. Standing still means falling behind.

Richard ByrdWhat worked two weeks ago doesn't work anymore. You used to be able to find something and ride it for four or five years.

Rhonda TaylorExactly. And at the leadership level — those CROs and revenue leaders — they're recognizing that what got you here won't get you there. You have to make changes, test and learn, be willing to do things differently.

Richard ByrdIf you can't differentiate, you're just competing on price.

Rhonda TaylorExactly. And if you're competing on price, you're stuck in the loop. It's not going to end well.

Richard ByrdWhat would you say are the biggest misconceptions about your industry?

Rhonda TaylorA lot of people view executive search as a luxury — something nice to have, but not always necessary. And I think that's a fundamental misconception. Getting a leadership hire wrong is extraordinarily costly. Studies have shown that a bad executive hire can cost a company two to three times that person's annual salary when you factor in severance, lost productivity, and the cost of re-recruiting. And that's just the financial side — it's also expensive to repair a culture once you've damaged it by bringing in the wrong person. The leadership sets the tone for everything: strategy, culture, execution. Getting that wrong creates a ripple effect throughout the entire organization. I don't see executive search as a luxury. I see it as a necessity and an investment in getting your most critical decisions right.

Richard ByrdAnd if you bring in a high-flying executive, you're probably going to give them more runway than you would a mid-level manager. Before you know it, you're two years behind on your strategy because of one wrong hire.

Rhonda TaylorRight. No one has time for that. A lot changes in two years.

Rhonda TaylorAnd it's similar with marketing. I've seen businesses cut marketing during a downturn and lose all their momentum. In today's world, marketing and sales are no longer luxuries. They're critical to any business's survival and growth.

Richard ByrdWhen your competitors all pull back, that's actually the time to stand out. Your ad budget goes farther. You're bidding against fewer people. You have less noise to cut through.

Rhonda TaylorAbsolutely. And the same goes for recruiting budgets. When times are tough, that's when you need the right people.

Richard ByrdI've heard CMOs have the shortest average tenure of any C-suite executive. Is that what you see?

Rhonda TaylorI would absolutely say that's what I see — the shortest tenure across all executives. And I'm even seeing a little decrease recently on the CEO side, interestingly. But it's always been that way for CMOs.

Rhonda TaylorA lot of it comes down to expectations not being set correctly — or companies not even having the right vision for what their marketing engine is supposed to do. After all these years, you'd think we'd all know, but I find that to be the most common challenge in marketing organizations.

Richard ByrdPreach it. When we come in as a fractional marketing leader, that's the first question we ask. So many times, what they think they need is not what they actually need — and sometimes they have no idea at all. They just know the numbers are down.

Rhonda TaylorThat's why I've seen the shift to having sales and marketing under one leader — someone who works closely with product and understands that you need a real growth engine. Sometimes you need one person responsible for both, with the right teams underneath them.

Richard ByrdWhen sales and marketing are siloed, it's so easy for the finger-pointing to start. The salespeople say, "These leads are terrible," and the marketers say, "They're not following the script."

Rhonda TaylorAnd they're probably both right. It's tough. And going back to the recruiting aspect — they are traditionally very different personality types. Marketing people and salespeople are not cut from the same cloth. Understanding how to pull those people together toward communication and collaboration is always a challenge.

Richard ByrdWell, where do you see the industry going in the next five to ten years?

Rhonda TaylorExecutive search has traditionally been a bit old school. And I'm seeing a significant shift right now. We have access to so many tools and so much technology. Our industry is at a critical inflection point where we need to embrace innovations like demand generation tools, AI assistance, and advanced analytics. Those things could make us more productive, but the industry has been somewhat hesitant to adopt them. Over the next five to ten years, that mentality is dying out. The firms that will survive and thrive will blend the best of both worlds — maintaining the relationship-focused, consultative approach that clients value, while leveraging technology to increase efficiency, improve quality, and scale impact. Relationships are still everything. But we also have to evolve.

Richard ByrdI think all businesses are relationship businesses. But being smart and consultative and a good relationship builder isn't going to set you apart anymore — everyone I know in recruiting is all of that.

Rhonda TaylorThere are a lot of us. I won't say all — anybody can be a recruiter. But you can really tell the pros by how they ask questions, how they try to truly understand what you're looking for. If a recruiter isn't doing that — hang up and call someone else.

Richard ByrdWhat AI tools have you found most useful?

Rhonda TaylorAs an organization, we're embracing a lot of different tools. We use an AI-driven assessment tool to evaluate candidates more objectively. We've integrated AI into our notes and our database to help match candidates more efficiently. For me personally, I use tools that help with business development and prospecting — engaging in a more scalable way than just referrals and relationships. Most forward-thinking organizations are recognizing that if you want to be ahead of the curve, you have to prepare for the shift now. We still have far to go, but it's good.

Richard ByrdOne thing I've seen is companies becoming over-reliant on algorithms. There was a CEO who felt like he wasn't getting the right applicants despite thousands of people applying. So he applied for a role four levels below his own position — and the algorithm said he wasn't qualified. At that point, it's robots talking to robots, and neither one of them has to fill the role or manage the person who comes in.

Rhonda TaylorRight. And I think it's pushing companies toward skills-based hiring instead of algorithm-driven disqualification. But no matter what, there have to be people responsible for the checks and balances of how AI is being used. I use it for notes and it saves me so much time — but I fact-check everything. We've been a little over-reliant on AI as fact, and we have to be really careful and put the right guardrails in place.

Richard ByrdA lot of marketing is suffering from the same thing. I was at a trade show recently and everything looked identical — obviously AI-generated, nothing standing out. Over-reliance on AI is producing bland, undifferentiated messaging at exactly the moment when differentiation matters most.

Rhonda TaylorThat is not good. If we lower our standards because that's all we're seeing, everyone loses. I definitely don't want to see that.

Rhonda TaylorAnd on the lead gen side — I hear from clients about fake leads, bot leads, people who aren't qualified getting through. Same thing in recruiting — fake or bot candidates applying for roles. I think we're going to have to figure that out as an industry.

Richard ByrdWell, if you're using AI to pick your candidates, it's only fair for the applicants to use AI to cheat the algorithm.

Rhonda TaylorRight. You've got to fact check. That's one of the things we do — and one of the real benefits of working with a recruiter. We look someone eye to eye, ask them the right questions, do the pre-interview work to get you five highly qualified candidates instead of 2,000 crappy robot applications.

Richard ByrdWhat's the most valuable business development lesson you've learned in your career?

Rhonda TaylorNever give up. When someone tells me no, I try again later. It's not a no forever — it's a no for now. Timing is everything in business development. A company may not need me today, but six months from now their situation could be completely different. I've had people tell me they'd never do business with me — not because I did anything wrong, but because they don't work with external search firms. And years later, I reached out to that same person, they didn't even remember me, and I got the business. Pain points emerge. Markets shift. Leaders move on. The key is staying top of mind without being pushy — adding value over time, maintaining the relationship through content, staying connected on LinkedIn, checking in every now and then. Some of my best client relationships took years to develop. Persistence combined with patience and genuine relationship-building — that's what separates top performers from everyone else.

Richard Byrd (01:00:42)I've fallen into that myself. "We're not hiring until next year." And then someone leaves the next day. "Remember what I said? Actually, do you have a minute?"

Rhonda Taylor (01:00:58)I've had people say they're not hiring and then the very next day — "By the way, something just came up. Can we talk now?"

Richard Byrd (01:01:43)Business is so dynamic. At the beginning of the year, nobody wanted to do anything. Then towards the end of the year, things heated up and people were like, "I guess we need to replace all those people we laid off, actually."

Rhonda Taylor (01:01:38)Yes — that happens too. One of those cycles.

Richard Byrd (01:01:43)What advice would you give someone just starting out in recruiting, marketing, or sales?

Rhonda Taylor (01:01:59)Two things. First: don't take it personally. Not everyone wants to be your customer, and that's okay. Rejection is part of the game. If you let every "no" affect your confidence, your motivation, your psyche — you're not going to last in this field. You have to develop emotional resilience early. It's a skill you can build like any other. You have to continually remind yourself not to take it personally, and eventually it just rolls off your shoulders.

Second: focus relentlessly on creating the best possible outcome for your customers. Whether it's a product or a service — the critical part is creating raving fans once someone becomes a customer. It's far more cost-effective to retain and expand existing customers than to constantly acquire new ones. Studies show that increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25 to 95%. Your existing customers are your best source of referrals, case studies, and long-term revenue growth. Treat every customer interaction like it matters. Deliver exceptional value. Exceed expectations. Turn customers into advocates. That's how you build a sustainable, scalable business over the long term.

Richard Byrd (01:04:08)It's like the leaky bucket. You always have to be adding water, because every business has some attrition. The bigger the hole, the worse off you are.

Rhonda Taylor (01:04:35)100%. I like that. Now every time I think about this, I'm going to see a bucket with a leak.

Richard Byrd (01:04:53)No leaks. No leaks. What haven't we talked about today that we should have?

Rhonda Taylor (01:05:04)Personal brand. We touched on it a little bit, but I think we're at a really unique moment in time where anyone — whether you're a marketer, a salesperson, a product person, a recruiter — should be thinking about building their own personal brand. For me as a recruiter, I tell candidates all the time: your personal brand can open doors that would have taken years of networking to open in the past. But people often overlook it until it's too late — until they've had a layoff or a reduction in force or a change and they want out. At that point, you're a little late. You have to continually work on building that brand. The thought leaders who are winning are the people providing genuine insights, sharing lessons learned, and contributing to industry conversations in meaningful ways. Don't wait for a downturn. Build it now.

Richard Byrd (01:07:12)You can't plant seeds and harvest them the next day. I was the same way — "that sounds icky." But you're right. It's so important, especially for leaders. I'm the face of this organization. Doing things like this podcast — they practically made me do it — but now I see why.

Rhonda Taylor (01:08:22)Absolutely. And here's the irony — we're salespeople and marketers. We should be self-promoting more than anyone else because we know how to do it for others. We should be able to do it for ourselves. It's so funny that sometimes sales and marketing people are the most hesitant to self-promote. But you've got to be out there. I love that you're doing a podcast. It's a great platform, great for thought leadership, great for building your brand.

Richard Byrd (01:09:05)What swung me over was realizing I'm not the hero of this podcast. Our guests are the heroes. I'm just here to moderate and help them tell their stories. If anything happens for my brand, it's a byproduct of helping our guests.

Rhonda Taylor (01:09:27)Absolutely. Yeah.

Richard Byrd (01:09:35)All right, Rhonda — it was a pleasure talking with you. I can't wait to get this one live so people can hear your story.

Rhonda Taylor (01:09:51)Thanks for having me.

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