Most leaders at successful SaaS scale-ups already ‘get’ the value of working with recruitment partners to build their teams of A players. The time-saving alone makes it an obvious choice.
However, for tech founders who are just starting out on their scale-up journey, it can seem daunting to be spending their newly acquired funding on a service that could be perceived as unsubstantial.
We decided to take a look at three of the most common misconceptions when it comes to using recruitment partners.
Recruitment fees are overpriced
Yes, fees can initially seem like a big outlay, but so can any investment in your business. The impact that your next hire(s) will bring can easily outweigh the cost of hiring.
For example, an Account Executive who’s earning a salary of £120K base commands a recruitment fee of 20%, an eye-watering £24k. However, they go on to produce £1m in their first year at the company – which is a rock-solid ROI.
Why do some recruiters cost more than others? The fee matches the level of service that they provide. A great recruiter doesn't just stick anyone in a role, they proactively headhunt the perfect person for your company, carefully vet and qualify these candidates throughout your hiring process, give you insights to help you close the person you want, and absorb the risk of a “bad” hire by offering rebate/guarantee periods.
If still in doubt, a recruitment partner may be able to offer discounted fees in return for an exclusive partnership or commitment to a larger volume of hires. This is because they can dedicate more resources to help you when it's guaranteed that their time isn't going to be wasted.
No one represents your brand better than you
As an early-stage SaaS scale-up, you are unlikely to have a brand that is already known by the GtM candidates you would want to attract. Working with the right recruiter, you'll be able to overcome both these issues and hire those A-players because:
- When going to market and during initial conversations, a recruiter, rather than just sharing a company name, can build intrigue about the opportunity based on criteria such as level and quality of funding, disruptive tech, and size of TAM. This avoids preconceptions and ensures control of the message.
- A recruiter's role is to provide a great first impression of your brand through carefully crafted pitches and follow-up collateral that positions your company in the way that YOU want it to be.
- Recruiters fill gaps in your internal teams/processes to ensure the best and smoothest candidate experience possible through clear and consistent communication, quick feedback, and tailored insights. A great candidate experience, especially for the rejected ones, is paramount to building your brand.
Partner these fundamentals with a network of long-term trusted contacts representing the top 5% of the market, and there you have it. Your brand is in safe hands.
Your fees will be spent on socialising
Whilst it is important to reward hard-working recruitment consultants with morale and team-building activities, the majority of profits are reinvested. Like any other business, recruiters understand the competitive advantage of channelling revenue into marketing, training, and tools. This in turn becomes your competitive advantage when it comes to securing talent.
One of our biggest takeaways from a recent Big Data event was that Seed founders didn't seem particularly educated on the value of a recruitment partner. Whereas by Series B, founders were upfront that they would have been more successful had they realised the importance of hiring A players earlier on.
Don't let the misconceptions about recruiters hold you back – engaging one that you trust to find the right early hires will make your scale-up journey faster and easier.
