Sourcing without a written strategy becomes the same three searches on the same platform, repeated until the role closes or the client leaves. This template makes each search deliberate: who the right people are, where they concentrate, what you will say, and how you will know within two weeks whether the plan is working.

Search summary

• Role: {{Role title}} for {{Client name}} — target start {{Target start date}}.
• Spec headline: {{One-line profile summary from intake}}.
• Weekly sourcing capacity for this search: {{Hours per week}}.
• Pipeline goal: {{Qualified conversations target}} qualified conversations by {{Milestone date}}.

1. Define the talent pools

Name two to four distinct pools, from most obvious to most contrarian. Different pools respond to different messages — do not blast one message at all of them.

• Pool A — direct competitors: {{Companies and titles}}. Strong skill match, hardest to move, highest counteroffer risk.
• Pool B — adjacent industries: {{Adjacent industry profiles}}. Transferable skills, often overlooked, better response rates.
• Pool C — rising talent: {{One-level-down profiles}}. People for whom this role is a step up; motivation does the selling.
• Pool D — reactivation: {{Past candidates and network}}. Silver medalists and prior contacts from your own database — the cheapest pipeline you own.

2. Channel plan

3. Outreach sequence

Three to four touches, each adding something new. Stop after the sequence — persistence past that point damages the brand you source with.

1. Touch 1 — day 0: Personalized opener: one specific observation about their work, one line on why this role fits their trajectory, one low-friction ask ({{Call to action}}).
2. Touch 2 — day {{Second touch day}}: New information, not a nudge: the compensation band, a team detail, or a concrete problem the role owns.
3. Touch 3 — day {{Third touch day}}: Different angle or channel; shorter. Acknowledge timing may be wrong and offer to stay connected.
4. Close — day {{Final touch day}}: Polite close of the loop, leaving the door open for the future.

4. Response tracking

Track per pool and per channel, weekly. Kill or fix what is underperforming by week two — do not wait for the search to fail.

5. Weekly review questions

• Which pool is producing qualified conversations per hour invested — and is the plan weighted toward it?
• What objection is recurring in replies, and does the client need to hear it?
• Is the spec surviving contact with the market, or does intake need a revisit?
• What one change to the sequence would you test next week?