6 Tips to Keep in Mind When Buying Your Next Applicant Tracking System
To help encourage employees to grow within your organization, provide them with the tools they need through training. This could be as simple as encouraging an employee to take time out of their day for LinkedIn Learning, or regularly meeting up with a mentor. You can also set aside some money in personal development budgets that aligns interests and company goals
It’s been eye-opening to see and hear the various pitches vendors make at events, meetups, behind closed doors. Something that is not so surprising are some of the half truths or deceptions they still sell despite being in an age where social media has made it easier for people’s opinions to be heard. I’ve seen this enough times now that I feel like a mission needs set out – one on which HR/TA teams can benefit from my experience as well. Enough is enough with these tricks!
The best way to protect yourself and form an opinion of a vendor that you are considering for your business is to roll up those sleeves! Look at what’s out there, get into the weeds. It can be fun (and surprisingly easy) doing research in this day and age – from both customers’ perspectives as well as vendors’.
If you want to work with a company that is ethical, honest and fair in every way possible show them the following traits.
There are many different things people consider when they’re searching for someone or something new to partner up with whether it be marriage, business partners; just about anything really. So what should we look out for? There are some criteria below which will help anyone uncover truths about any potential vendor they could potentially do business with over next 12 months of so:
1) Expertise
Have you ever been to a restaurant and the waiter or waitress doesn’t know what they’re serving? This can be frustrating for guests, but imagine how frustrated an event organizer would feel if their vendor didn’t understand that there is more than one type of tent.
A lot of times when people are picking out vendors it’s easy to overlook important details like background information about who will actually be providing your products – this often leads on-site confusion as well!
2) Performance
This is a common mistake many investors make. They are so focused on the technology that they forget to look at their financials and performance reports of recent years before looking into whether or not it’s publicly listed. This will give you an idea of what really makes them tick from behind the scenes, including information about customer growth rates, retention/renewal rates, pricing structure differences (especially if there has been any decrease), etcetera in order for you to better gauge how sustainable your investment may be over time
Focusing too heavily only on products can lead one down a dangerous path where he could end up investing his money with start-ups who have no stability whatsoever due simply because they have cool features people want but lack substance when it comes
3) Value
Technology is expensive to create, which means the price reflects its value. It’s important not only for your budget but also for you as a customer post-sales that whatever device or software solution you select has high quality and low cost over time
If the price of one vendor’s key USPs are their technology then ask why it costs what it does. A cheaper option usually comes with poor support and product innovation models so if they offer this at an affordable rate there must be something wrong with how valued those items really are from them perspective. Great technology takes great investment; therefore in order to drive even greater results companies need more capital upfront – meaning that cheap options will have less impact on your business than initially anticipated because while these might
4) Impact
What impact does the platform have for your business? You often make choices based on cost or latest industry buzzwords without thinking about actual return. Will it save you money in the long run, drive revenue, better outcomes and so forth? Ask vendors how they measure ROI and can demonstrate to you a presentable format that you take to your CFO when asking them if there is any way where they could see an ROI live dashboard.
5) Product Releases and Roadmaps
There is so much fluff out there, and many vendors will tell you that they are “continuously working on the innovation of their platform.” The best way to see if they’re really doing this? Ask for a product roadmap – as well as the list of enhancements, new features or products launched over the last 12-24 months. That’ll show how quickly they move; whether or not it’s made an impact in your industry yet (or at all); and just how engaged with what other companies might be coming up behind them in terms of talent economy growth rates and changes themselves…
6) References
I hope you found this article to be interesting and helpful. It’s always better when the information we share is engaging, creative, and informative!
This passage talks about getting references for a vendor in order to make an informed decision of which one they want to work with. The author advises that it’s good practice not only ask for someone who left the company or has been live less than six months but also people that wanted their platform but couldn’t commit (regardless of why). This can give you different perspectives on what could have happened had these customers gone through with working with the vendors’ platforms instead.
Buying tech that drives BIG business outcomes is possible, but it requires you to do your homework. Take your time and research the entire market (locally or globally) for what will work best for you! If vendors really trust their product they’ll be an open book and encourage a customer go out of their way in order to compare other platforms with theirs.
