When you launch a new hiring campaign, many teams expect a delay before the leads start rolling in. That assumption is so common, it rarely gets challenged. But just because that kind of lag has become the norm doesn’t mean it’s actually necessary. In fact, the right partner should be actively working to shorten that ramp-up, not treating it like a built-in part of the process.
We call the point where your lead flow hits its full stride Maximum Lead Velocity (MLV). That’s when your campaign is producing the maximum number of daily qualified leads for a specific role or location. Until you hit that point, your team is in something of a holding pattern. Once you do, your team will have the volume it needs to start doing the real work: reviewing candidates, setting interviews, and making hires.
Why should you care about MLV?
Because speed matters. Most teams assume it takes at least a week for a campaign to hit its stride. But with the right partner, it’s possible to get there in as little as 3 days.
Here’s why that matters. Let’s say your campaign needs 40 qualified leads to make 1 hire. Then let’s say you’re generating 40 leads per day once you hit your MLV. If your campaign doesn’t reach MLV until day 10, you’ve spent 7 more days operating below capacity than you actually need to. That means 280 potential leads never made it into your pipeline, enough for 7 hires your team never even got a chance to pursue.
What happens when you hit MLV faster?
When your campaign reaches MLV sooner, everything your hiring team needs to do gets easier. You’re no longer waiting around for leads to trickle in. You have volume, momentum, and options from the jump.
- You make hires sooner. Enough early leads means you can fill roles faster and stay on track with your hiring goals.
- Your team stays engaged. They stay focused on advancing candidates through the process, not waiting for the pipeline to catch up.
- You reach top candidates first. The best candidates get picked up quickly. A faster start means you get to them before someone else does.
- You stay flexible. Hitting MLV early gives you the bandwidth to scale up or shift focus if your hiring needs change.
What happens when you don’t?
When your campaign takes too long to reach MLV, you lose early momentum. Your team is working, but without the lead flow to support them, progress stalls, and that delay creates ripple effects most teams underestimate.
- You miss top candidates. While your lead flow lags, competitors with faster campaigns are already reaching out and making offers.
- Your time-to-hire stretches. Delays at the top of the funnel slow down every stage that follows, dragging out the entire process.
- Your budget delivers less. You’re spending before your campaign is at full strength, which means you’re not getting the results you’re paying for.
- Open roles stay open longer. That makes it harder to meet demand and respond to what your business needs right now.
What Your Partners Should Be Doing
Your lead provider plays a major role in how quickly you reach MLV. The right partner should come to the table with a plan to get you there faster. You should be asking them exactly how they plan to make that happen. Are they:
- Sending high volume SMS alerts to generate immediate attention?
- Using real-time data to adjust campaigns?
- Launching job feeds immediately so ads go live on day one?
- Continuously tuning campaign performance to maintain full lead volume?
Bottom Line
Reaching Maximum Lead Velocity faster helps your team hire sooner, reduce wasted spend, and stay ahead of the competition. If your current partner treats a slow ramp-up like it’s just how things go, it may be time to start asking what they are doing to speed things up, or whether someone else could do it better.
If you’re not sure your partner is helping you reach MLV as quickly as you could be, we would be happy to take a closer look with you. Fill out the form below to connect with one of our team members to see how quickly your campaigns could be firing on all cylinders.
