Buyer PerceptionTake part

An open letter from 100 TA leaders

100 TA leaders. One honest message to the people who build your tools.

We're speaking to 100 TA leaders, anonymously, about what it's really like to evaluate, buy and survive TA technology: the lack of flexibility from vendors, the customer success managers who disappeared, and the vendors who went above and beyond to make sure you and your team succeeded. The findings go straight to the CEOs who build it, with one aim: vendors who act like partners, not suppliers. You'll see what your peers learned before anyone else.

Every conversation gives £50 to a charity that helps people into work. You choose which one. Help us reach £5,000.

7 of 100 conversations · £350 of £5,000 raised

Take part (30 minutes)What you get ↓

Anonymous. 30 minutes. No vendor ever learns who said what.

What you get for 30 minutes

The lessons your peers learned the hard way, and a say in how vendors treat every TA leader who comes next.

What you take away

Lessons, tactics and examples from peers that you can adapt.

  • The mistakes peers made, so you don't have to. What they wish they'd checked before signing, and the warning signs they spotted too late.
  • How peers got their teams to actually use it. The rollouts that stuck, and what they'd do differently.
  • How peers built business cases that got signed, including how they worked with vendors to win over finance and procurement.
  • How to get more from your vendors. Being more strategic in the relationship, pushing for the service you're paying for, and keeping a partnership that works.
  • How peers are using AI, and where it's actually working.

That's the insight AI can't get you, because it only exists in conversations between peers.

What your voice does

One frustrated renewal call stays with one account manager. A hundred TA leaders saying the same thing is something a CEO has to answer.

  • Patterns, never names. The report shows what good vendor partnerships look like and where they break down. No TA leader, employer or vendor is ever identified, and nobody's pricing is published.
  • Straight to the top. In spring 2027 a printed copy goes to the CEO of every leading TA technology company selling in the UK and US, and each is invited to respond.
  • Better partners, better outcomes. Vendors who act like partners make TA teams more successful. That's the result we're after, for you and for the leaders who come after you.

£50 to charity.

TA leaders spend their working lives getting people into jobs, so every conversation gives £50 to a registered charity that does the same (in the US, a 501(c)(3)). You choose it, perhaps one you or your team already support. We pay every donation in one go when the programme closes, by 30 April 2027, and publish where every pound went.

What these conversations sound like

We publish some conversations as Anonymous 1:1s, with the participant's approval. Here's what TA leaders have told us so far, good and bad:

When it goes wrong

When it goes right

See all conversations →

How it works

  1. 1

    Book 30 minutes

    at a time that suits you. Video or phone. If you'd like to see the questions first, just ask.

  2. 2

    We talk.

    Not a survey and not a pitch. We'll talk about the vendors who let you down and the ones worth keeping: contracts, renewals, support, and what you'd tell their CEO. A conversation with someone who has spent a whole career selling to TA teams, first as a recruiter and then in TA technology, and knows how that side of the table works.

  3. 3

    It goes into the report, anonymised and combined with everyone else's.

    If we'd like to use a quote, you see the anonymised version first and it's only used with your sign-off.

Who we'd like to hear from: heads of TA, talent acquisition directors and anyone who owns recruitment technology decisions, who have evaluated, bought, implemented or replaced TA tech in the last 18 months. Decisions not to buy count too.

Anonymous by design

  • We never name you, your employer or the vendors you mention, whether you praise them or criticise them.
  • We never ask for pricing or contract terms you can't share. Skip any question you like.
  • We only record with your permission, and names are removed before any analysis.
  • Findings are never reported for a group small enough to identify you.
  • You can withdraw at any time before your answers are combined with others: privacy@buyerperception.com.
  • It isn't a sales call. There's nothing to buy.

How this is funded. Buyer Perception also runs private research for TA technology companies, interviewing the buyers who chose a competitor or left. That work pays for this programme. No vendor sponsors it or pays to be mentioned in it, and we never recommend vendors to the people we speak to. Nothing you tell us is shared with any vendor, except as anonymous findings in the published report. Privacy policy

Buyer Perception Ltd gives £50 to a registered charity that helps people into work, chosen by the participant, for each completed conversation, up to £5,000 in total. All donations are paid by 30 April 2027.

Gordon Smith, founder of Buyer Perception

About Gordon

I've spent my whole career in recruitment: ten years as an agency recruiter, then revenue leadership in TA technology, including VP Sales and Customer Success roles at three VC-backed companies. I've been on the vendor side of hundreds of buying decisions, and I know how little honest feedback makes it back to the people who build the product.

This programme is my attempt to change that. If you've been through an evaluation, a purchase, an implementation or a switch recently, I'd value 30 minutes of your time.

Gordon Smith, Founder, Buyer Perception

Help us reach 100.

7 of 100 conversations · £350 of £5,000 raised

Know a TA leader with a vendor story worth telling, good or bad? Forward them this page.

Book 30 minutes

Or email: gordon@buyerperception.com