David Case - Advastar

Most big recruiting wins don’t start with a perfect plan.

They start with one curious question asked at the right moment.

In the newest episode of Recruiter Wins, Zack Gallinger sits down with David Case (20-year vet in engineering + construction recruiting) to unpack a win that literally helped set the trajectory of his firm.

Here’s the short version:

David was a few months into building Advastar. He had no CRM, no database and no paid tool. Just a phone, a notebook and some hustle.

He makes a cold call that’s going nowhere until he hits the hiring manager with a simple pivot:

“What about the industrial plant side of your business?”

That one question turns into:

• 50 skilled trades roles needed ASAP
• A scramble to source candidates with basically zero infrastructure
• Six vetted candidates sent at 12:30am (same day)
• A reply waiting at 5:30am: “Great start. Keep them coming.”

And that “random” cold call?

It became a 15-year client relationship and one of the biggest revenue drivers of his career.

A few takeaways that’ll stick with you:

• Great recruiters are also investigators (curiosity wins deals)
• You don’t need the “perfect script”. You need to be real, listen, and ask the next question
• Sometimes the move is simply to say yes and then figure it out fast

If you’ve ever had a call dying on the vine or felt like you’re “not ready yet” to take on a big opportunity, this episode is for you.