What is my role as the middle man between the hiring software vendor and my clients?

You’ve now narrowed down your list of potential human resources technology vendor partners and a new successful relationship is close at hand. But don’t forget to consider your own firm’s role in contributing to the relationship – make sure your new partner will accommodate your style of doing business. Here are some final considerations as you determine how to best meet the potential applicant tracking software and employee onboarding software needs of your own prospects and current clients.

Questions to Ask About Your Own Organization

1. Would you like your vendor to assist you in closing new business?
   • You probably have strong feelings about this either way. Yes, you need assistance from those who know their own software best. Or, no, you absolutely do not want your prospects dealing with anyone but you and your own organization. Is your partner able to accommodate your desired scenario?
2. What type of relationship do you want your vendor to have with your clients, if any, from an implementation and support standpoint?
   • Similar to the above sales-related item, how do you feel about initial implementation and ongoing support needs for your clients? Will you or someone from your organization run point and handle all inquiries from the client; or, do you want to pass off the entire project to your partner to manage? Or, perhaps something in between.
3. What expectations do you have regarding any potential integrations between your application and your vendor’s application(s)?
   • How important will it be to your clients that your own software has a built-in integration to the software provided by your partner? Are there enough common fields between the systems to warrant building an integration so that data is automatically brought over to the applicant tracking and/or onboarding portal without any data exporting required on the part of your client? Integration is usually possible, but you must discuss and determine any shared costs and potential timeline with your vendor partner to see if it is justified.
4. How many staff members in your organization will be involved?
   • While the product offerings themselves are certainly key to a successful vendor-partner relationship, an effective communication plan and organized project management are critical, as well. How many people in your organization will need to be involved in setting up and maintaining a relationship with your vendor? Will there need to be a single point of contact, or will many people on both sides be involved on a regular basis? Determine stakeholders with your partner so that any communication snafus can be prevented from the start.

Other installments in this 3-part payroll vendor partnership series:

Part 1: How do you know if this type of relationship is right for your firm and for your clients?
Part 2: Now you know, so how do you vet vendors?

Ready to explore a partnership with ExactHire?

Contact us to learn more.