5-6 years ago sourcing was a much different market for sales candidates. The economy had gone into recession and there were many talented salespeople looking for an opportunity. We used to run ads that required candidates to call in on a certain day between certain hours. We would then schedule them for a phone screen.
We didn’t even offer an email response option though some would still respond that way. My how times have changed.
We used to get 50 to 75 call-in responses to our ad. Today, we get 20 responses almost all via email. Job postings used to be all that was needed to find numerous candidates. Today, multiple channels are needed including extensive networking, active searches and alternate communication channels.
In this market, with the scarcity of strong candidates, you best have a dominant market position if your only sourcing channel is going to be a large job board ad. Even then, success is not guaranteed.
We’ve met with a handful of companies recently who have been toiling away with this approach without success. It takes a concerted effort with numerous approaches to find the candidates today. If you are having trouble with your sales hiring in this market, we can help.