Here is what most companies call a sourcing strategy: post the job on Indeed, wait a week, sift through whatever comes in, and interview the three people who seem halfway decent.
That is not sourcing. That is hoping. And it explains why most companies end up making a mediocre hire and then wondering why they can’t find good salespeople.
The first pillar of the Advanced Hiring System is Finding Applicants. Not finding one applicant. Not finding a handful. Finding enough applicants to have a real selection decision. Our standard: a minimum of 30 applicants per open position before you start seriously screening. If you have fewer than 30, you are not choosing the best candidate — you are choosing the best of what happened to show up.
Imagine you are hiring and you receive five applications. Two are obviously wrong. You interview the other three and make an offer to the best of them. You’ve just hired the best of five. Now imagine you have 60 applicants. You screen aggressively and interview the top eight. Now you are hiring the best of 60. The candidate quality on the offer end of the funnel is almost entirely a function of how much volume you generated at the top.
Top performers do not have a shortage of options. They evaluate opportunities the same way a strong buyer evaluates a vendor: quickly, skeptically, and with an exit ready. You need enough pipeline to find the ones who are looking right now — because the window is short.
Most companies think sourcing is about where you post. It’s actually about what you post. The same job posted on the same platform with a different ad produces dramatically different applicant pools.
A bad ad talks about the company. It lists generic requirements. It uses phrases like “passionate self-starter” and “dynamic environment.” It reads like it was written by someone who has never hired a salesperson. These ads attract people who are willing to apply for anything — which is not who you want.
A good ad speaks to winners. It describes the opportunity in terms a top performer cares about: What is the realistic upside? What does the sales cycle look like? Who are the buyers? Is lead generation handled by the company or is this a hunter role? It is specific enough that a mediocre candidate reads it and self-selects out — and a strong candidate reads it and thinks, “This is actually worth my time.
One of the most important things your ad and your first conversation must answer clearly is: how does this salesperson get their leads? There are three models, and top performers evaluate each very differently.
Self-generated leads: the salesperson is responsible for their own pipeline. This is a hunter role. The right candidate is entrepreneurial, high-initiative, and motivated by independence. The wrong candidate will burn out quickly or produce nothing.
Company-provided leads: appointments or inbound inquiries are generated and handed to the salesperson to close. This model attracts a different profile — one more focused on closing and relationship management than on prospecting. Make sure the lead flow is real and consistent before you make this promise, because a salesperson who discovers the leads aren’t coming will leave fast.
Combination: some self-generation plus company support. This is the most common model. Be explicit about the ratio. “We provide some leads” means very different things to different people.
Ambiguity about lead generation is one of the fastest ways to lose strong candidates early in the process — or worse, to hire the wrong profile because they didn’t understand what the role actually required.
Indeed and LinkedIn are where most active candidates are looking, and both are worth using for most sales roles. Job boards specific to your industry or region can supplement the volume. What matters more than the platform is posting volume and ad quality: multiple ads testing different angles, monitored weekly, refreshed when response drops.
Employee referrals from your existing top performers are consistently the highest-quality sourcing channel. Ask them specifically: “Who is the best salesperson you’ve ever worked alongside or competed against?” Not “Do you know anyone who might be looking?” The first question targets ability. The second targets availability.
Thirty qualified applicants minimum before screening begins. From there, you are looking for 8 to 12 who pass written screening, 4 to 6 who complete assessments, and 2 to 3 finalists who go through structured interviews. If you can’t make a confident hire from that pool, you run the process again — you do not lower the bar because the seat is empty.
If you are getting fewer than 30 applicants per opening, the problem is almost always the ad. Book a call and we will review yours: advancedhiring.com/lets-talk/
