Every leadership team agrees on one thing in theory: “We should start hiring earlier.”
And then reality hits.
Quarterly targets. Client escalations. Budget conversations. Suddenly, talent pipeline work becomes something you do when there’s a vacancy. Not before.
That’s exactly where most pipelines quietly fail. Not at the offer stage, but at the very top. The part no one sees. The part no one plans time for. The part that decides whether hiring later will feel calm or chaotic.
This is where prospecting comes in. And not the cold, transactional version most people imagine.
The Real Problem: Talking Only When You Need Something.
Most outreach fails for one simple reason. It’s need-driven.
A recruiter calls. A message lands in someone’s inbox. “Are you open to new opportunities?”
And even when the timing could be right, the response is usually guarded.
Because people don’t like being treated like inventory. And senior talent especially doesn’t respond to conversations that start and end with a vacancy.
If you want to increase the top of your funnel, the solution isn’t better scripts. It’s earlier conversations.
Start Months Before You Need to Hire.
Strong pipelines are built months before hiring begins.
This period is not a “slow hiring phase.” It is a relationship-building season.
This is when you should be:
- Building familiarity, not urgency
- Learning how talent thinks, not just what they want next
- Talking to people without a role in mind
By the time roles actually open, the work should already be done. Hiring should feel like a continuation of conversations, not a scramble to start them.
Prospecting Is Not Selling. It’s Listening.
The biggest mindset shift in prospecting is this: You’re not there to pitch. You’re there to learn.
The most effective prospecting conversations start with something like:
- “I’d love your perspective on how this space is evolving”
- “You’ve seen this industry change — what are you noticing?”
- “If you were building a team today, what would you do differently?”
This does two things:
- It positions the candidate as an expert, not a target
- It opens a real, two-way conversation
Ironically, this is when interest emerges naturally. Not because you asked for it — but because trust exists. Along the way, people will tell you:
- What they’re open to
- What would make them consider a move
- Who else you should speak to
This is how referrals happen organically — not through forced asks.
The Underrated Hack: Borrow Communities Before You Build Them.
Everyone talks about “building talent communities.” Very few talk about how long that actually takes.
Here’s the shortcut: go where communities already exist.
Industry WhatsApp groups. Slack channels. Alumni networks. Closed LinkedIn groups. Event attendee lists. Niche forums.
When you engage in existing communities with genuine intent, asking questions, sharing insights, seeking guidance — something interesting happens.
People start talking back.
Not every conversation leads to a hire. But many lead to:
- Warm referrals
- Future interest
- Credibility within a niche
- Repeat conversations over time
Some of the strongest pipelines are built without ever posting a job.
What Prospecting Should Actually Produce.
If prospecting is working, the outcome isn’t a pile of CVs.
The real end results are:
- Familiar names you can call without awkwardness
- Candidates who reply because the relationship already exists
- Clear signals on who might move — and who won’t
- Context about timing, compensation expectations, and motivations
When a role finally opens, you’re not starting from zero. You’re activating a network.
Why “Just Calling More” Doesn’t Work.
Volume without context is noise.
Calling candidates only to check availability trains the market to disengage. Over time, people stop answering. Not because they’re not open — but because the conversation adds no value.
Talking with candidates instead of at them is what keeps the funnel warm.
