Show me a clear return on investment, time or money. That's golden.

Anonymous 1:1 · Edition 003 · September 2026

Show me a clear return on investment, time or money. That's golden.

A Director of Talent Acquisition on Why Return on Investment Wins the Deal

Buyer Persona:: Director of Talent Acquisition
Employer:: Global software company
Company Size:: Under 500

Technologies covered

ATSSourcingAssessment

Topics covered

Business case & ROIPricing & negotiationPeer influenceProduct roadmapCold outreach

Stage

EvaluationSelection

Prepared by

Gordon Smith

Founder, Buyer Perception

Most vendors sell to the person in the room. The best ones sell to the person who isn't - the one who signs the cheque. This buyer has been through more than ten ATS purchases and shares what they find with a peer network of up to fifty other TA leaders. What stood out wasn't the buying. It was the selling - not the vendor's, the buyer's. Every purchase starts with a pitch to finance, and most vendors don't give them what they need to make it.

“Not wishy-washy HR return on investment.”

What do vendors typically get wrong when selling to TA leaders?

Not having something which helps TA leaders get stuff through finance. A really solid return on investment pitch. Not wishy-washy HR return on investment - where it's going to save us money.

My pitch to finance is very often: you're losing two teams' worth of engineering managers' time every year interviewing. If I can take three interviews out of every process and three days out of every process, this is the amount of engineering time you get back. You can build two entire squads and another product.

Tying it into commercial outcomes is what makes it compelling for me. Candidate experience, time to hire - a real commercial CFO doesn't really care about those at the stage of growth they're at. Show me a clear return on investment in time or money. That's golden.

“We'll all tell each other exactly what we're paying.”

How much does a peer recommendation influence your shortlist?

Significant influence. I'm on WhatsApp with 20, 30, 40, 50 of my peers and we'll all tell each other exactly what we're paying. There was a period about two years ago where anybody looking for an ATS - there was just this buzzing on my WhatsApp groups. It was almost a fait accompli.

And with a major platform vendor, the faux escalation really annoys me. "Oh, you need to speak to this person now, this person, this person." I call it out when it happens. I know a number of my peers are experimenting with different ways of actually taking them out of the process because the cost is excessive and the experience is not great.

“Let's do it for a month. Both sides putting skin in the game.”

You've implemented several AI tools recently. How is that buying process different?

Very different. Often they're relatively unproven. What really stands out is a try-before-you-buy. The opportunity to actually try something, A/B test it really quickly. The most important part is that their data governance is really strong and they already have APIs or are native to whichever ATS you go to.

I've bought quite a few on the basis of: let's do it for a month, that's fine. And then the conversation becomes much larger. But both sides are putting skin in the game, and that really stands out.

The other thing I'm looking at is the product roadmap. I'm not just buying a tool for now. It needs to be able to evolve at the same pace as everything else. I've bought tools specifically because of what was coming on their roadmap, not what they could do today.

“It's probably a longer game than some sales teams are seeing.”

If you were going to start your own HR tech company, how would you go to market?

Blind pitching, AI emails via LinkedIn, getting hold of my number on WhatsApp - we're all getting bombarded. I'd be relying on word of mouth. Actually speaking about something meaningful at events and creating a buzz.

And it's probably a longer game than some sales teams are seeing. The cycles for renewal are two to three years now. So you need to be building relationships and understanding those cycles rather than expecting a quick close.

“At the moment you're losing two teams' worth of engineering managers' time every year interviewing.”

From this interview

10+

ATS purchases and migrations across high-growth technology companies

peers in a WhatsApp group who share exactly what they pay

2 squads

of engineering time recovered by taking three interviews out of every process

2-3 yrs

the renewal cycle vendors are underestimating

This edition is part of an ongoing series of anonymous buyer interviews conducted by Buyer Perception. Every participant's identity is protected. No company names, product names, or identifying details are included.

“Show me a clear return on investment, time or money. That's golden.”

“Not wishy-washy HR return on investment.”

“We'll all tell each other exactly what we're paying.”

“Let's do it for a month. Both sides putting skin in the game.”

“It's probably a longer game than some sales teams are seeing.”

From this interview

These buyers weren't talking about you. Yours are.

Show me a clear return on investment, time or money. That's golden.