Not all vendors are struggling right now…

Sarah White — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:04:03 +0000

I know it wasn’t my job – But, I am pretty sure that SOMEONE for got to tell the HR Technology Vendors about the bad economy? I mean what else would explain the results seen (and published) by some of my favorite vendors in the space.

The twitter wires were buzzing this morning with the links to the 2nd Quarter Results for SilkRoad as well as the results for Ultimate Software, an HRIS system. Both had positive results with Silkroad having its 24th consecutive period of sales growth! Ultimate Software reported a 14% sales increase vs. same quarter numbers the year before!

Lets combine that with the fantastic results that privately held Talent Acquisition/Talent Management/Applicant Tracking/ATS/Whatever we are calling it now is Companies like HRMDirect and ICIMS and it makes you stop to wonder if we are starting to see the uptic – and it happened 2 months ago!

My thought on why these companies are doing so well and some tips to the rest of you vendors that may be struggling. Here we go:

1. They are not the most expensive products on the market – They are not the absolute cheapest. They are robust products with a great value proposition to an organization so it is easy to actually find the ROI

2. They have great sales pros. That doesn’t mean that they are smooth talking, high pressure, angry closer types of sales people. They are consultative – want to provide value and respect your time (not call every day to check in on you and if you made a decision yet). (I worked w/sales reps from all 3 when I was consulting and always appreciated this aspect of their sales process) They also give enough information on their website for those of us with fear of forms issues (actually – icims – a touch more info would be great, but love the screenshots!) feel like we know what we are jumping into.

3. They are proactive when it comes to the market – when things need to be adjusted – they just do it. They don’t feel the need to brag about every single client they sign or every step along the way. They have taken on social media/twitter and are learning to use it – ahead of the other guys. ICIMS has recently started iblog, HRMDirect’s blog (New one launching this fall) is- believe it or not actually writen by our CEO. Himself. Seriously. No help. They are also on Twitter – learning the ropes still – but on nonetheless – their tweets are not slams on other products (Umm…you know who you are – mystery vendor that will remain unnamed but I see through my tweetdeck search) rather an insight into their organization or the industry. If you are on twitter make sure to follow these vendors – every once in a while, they tweet something cool. @HRMDirect @ICIMS @SilkRoadTweets

Sidebar: What makes them my favorite? I will elaborate briefly:

1. SilkRoad by far has THE single coolest onboarding technology I have seen. Others that try to compete, but honestly, they just don’t even compare. If you haven’t seen it and are on the lookout for onboarding – contact your local sales rep ASAP! If you are in the Midwest then lucky you! We have the pleasure to have their best guy on the job – Sam Gillen – so you will be in good hands!

2. ICIMS – I have enjoyed following them over the years and seeing what they were doing with their solution. The market responsiveness they have shown in the past 12 months and the interactivity on the website is just part of why I have always been intrigued by them. I love someone looking out for the small to mid business but scalable for the large as well – (which is what I also love about HRMDirect – nice segway, I know!)

3. HRMDirect - When I was doing consulting with sm/mid sized orgs (Under 10 K ee’s) they were always a product on my list. A true SAAS solution that can be up and running in DAYS or WEEKS vs. months – even for big guys! Full Featured software without the high enterprise pricing – works well for any size org. Now that I work there – I love surprising people in a demo with what the product can do!

Overall – HRMDirect, ICIMS & SilkRoad – are always looking for innovative, new ways to do things without losing the core ease of use of the product. They also have a great support/sales group that doesn’t hound you like you are the last recruiter/hr pro in the world.

And that is why those 3 are some of my favorites in the world of talent acquisition!

Stop overcharging for your products, then!

Sarah White — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:16:32 +0000

That is what I say when I hear HR Technology vendors complaining about losing their clients!

Well, at least it is what I think to my self as I listen to them talk about the Hey Days…It is like they forget that I used to partner with them all on a regular basis and know how much of a varience most of the vendors have in pricing…

Thankfully for the consumer (YOU!) the newer products that are more targeted to the small and mid market clients are working hard to have fairness in pricing and transparency in that area of your business. Believe it or not – over the past few months, I have actually started to see an influx of smaller organizations (under 1,000 employees) testing out new products to help them lean up their organization or (if already lean) help manage their influx of resumes.

Don’t believe me – check out ICIM’s most recent press release - in 2nd quarter of this year they added an additional 80 clients! Why did this happen? In my opinion, because they got smart and stopped trying to compete with the bigger enterprise systems and fixed their price points to attract the mid-market organizations. But, that is just my impression by the shift in marketing focus they have had since early this year, as usual, I could be wrong.

Beyond small companies, larger organizations are starting to call into vendors to take a look at their options for when their current,overpriced contracts are over. A lot of these companies looked at the technology 5+ years ago (and signed 3+ year contracts) when prices were MUCH higher or implemented expensive, large scale products at their previous companies and never thought they could even afford something or just didn’t know where to start! And believe it or not – you MUST NEGOIATE with most vendors!

So if you are a vendor in this space…don’t get discouraged!

If you are a company – now is the time to look and make sure you are getting not only the best deal – but have a product that is up to date, fits your process and makes your life easier – not harder. I will have a whole other post on selecting an ATS in August…to coincide with the launch of atsvendors.com

» ICIMS

Not all vendors are struggling right now…

Stop overcharging for your products, then!