By Peter Weddle, Founder & CEO TAtech
T&C2R – time and cost to reinforce – will be the determining factor in job board and talent technology success in 2024. Employers now want solution providers that offer both robust products and a fulsome portfolio of additional tools that enable them to meet a range of recruiting requirements. However, while most solution providers have long understood the need for maintaining a robust product, more than a few have not (yet) recognized this new demand for a fulsome portfolio of capabilities. So, those that do and also accomplish that reinforcement time and cost effectively will gain a significant competitive advantage in the market.
Solution providers have long appreciated the need for continuously improving their products. That is, after all, what their technology road map is all about: maintaining a robust product. The company that wins in the market is the one with a product that is continuously better than the competition in meeting employers’ needs and expectations.
What’s less well understood is today’s requirement for a companion offering – a fulsome portfolio of products – and the best way to acquire it. Employers are looking for providers that can deliver an array of solutions that will help them improve their performance throughout the recruiting funnel. The challenge for job boards and talent technology companies, therefore, is to find the fastest and least expensive way to assemble such a portfolio.
What’s brought about this new requirement?
This year will mark a subtle but significant shift in the buying habits of recruiters. While they will continue to seek best-of-breed products, they will in many cases no longer be able to buy those products on a stand-alone basis. They want the top of the line, but only if it can be delivered in conjunction with other top-of-the-line capabilities.
What’s driving this shift? There are a number of reasons, but the most important are:
• In the Recruiting Team: Fewer hands to do product evaluations due to downsizing
• In the IT Department: Pressure to limit required support due also to downsizing
• In Procurement: A push for efficiency through fewer customer relationships
• In the C-Suite: The demand for greater productivity in the near term
So, for most solution providers – whether they’re a job board, a conversational AI solution, a CRM platform, an assessment product or any other kind of TA capability – this will require an adjustment in their go-to-market strategy. They can no longer solely rely on their product being continuously better than the competition to ensure the growth of their business. They will now also have to reinforce a superior product with an equally superior range of ancillary capabilities.
What’s the best way to do that?
Building out new capabilities internally is risky and often expensive (no matter what the CTO says). Buying them has the same issues plus the potential for integration problems. So, the only alternative is partnering – forming a strategic business alliance with one or more companies with complimentary capabilities and business practices (e.g., priority of customer service, commitment to product improvement). Fortunately, it is also the best way to minimize T&C2R.
But, here’s the rub. You can spend a lifetime trying to find connect with prospective partners. Add to that the time and expense of traveling to their various locations, which is the only way to have the face-to-face interactions that support meaningful dialogue and ultimately agreements. It is, in short, a logistical nightmare accompanied by a very big bill.
What’s the alternative?
While admitting to some bias in the matter, I think it’s the TAtech Deal Center. This venue is a core element of every TAtech industry conference and the one place where you can meet face-to-face with senior executives from hundreds of other solutions providers all at one time and all in the same place. It is the closest you’ll ever come to minimizing T&C2R.
But don’t take my word for it; take a look at the video posted at the bottom of the page here. Joe Stubblebine is the CRO at Lensa.com and he makes it clear that using the TAtech Deal Center has not only enabled his company to cut their time and cost of partnering, it’s led to “multiple millions of dollars” in new business opportunities.
How did they do that? It’s a simple 5-step process. They:
• Used the conference app to research prospective partners before the conference even began;
• Used the app to connect with the best prospects and schedule meetings with them in the Deal Center;
• Did their homework on each prospect and showed up at the meetings ready for a meaningful dialogue;
• Leveraged the receptions and other social activities at the conference to strengthen those initial interactions; and
• Followed up after the conference to close the deal.
So, if you’d like to minimize your T&C2R, attend TAtech North America & The World Job Board Forum, at The International SPY Museum in Washington, D.C. on June 4-6, 2024, and take advantage of the TAtech Deal Center.
Food for Thought,
Peter
Peter Weddle has authored or edited over two dozen books and been a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He is the founder and CEO of TAtech: The Association for Talent Acquisition Solutions.