It is no surprise to business leaders and hiring managers that sourcing talent for your GTM team has become more challenging in recent years, particularly given the changing ways in which people work, along with the Great Resignation.
The global talent shortage most industries and sectors are currently facing, along with the candidate-driven element of the existing market, makes the talent pool for organisations that are hiring extremely competitive.
CHALLENGES SAAS COMPANIES ARE FACING IN 2022
Along with the points mentioned above, SaaS companies are faced with additional challenges when hiring, including:
Young businesses up against well-established large companies
Many SaaS companies are in the early stages of business and lack the experience and resources to be able to scale quickly. Unfortunately, this can be a disadvantage if they are unable to keep up with the rapid rate at which their competition in the market is growing. In addition to this, larger organisations that are already well-established in their sector will be well versed in taking on new challenges and adapting to market changes in order to grow their SaaS businesses, unlike some younger companies.
Businesses being inexperienced in growing their teams is often down to them being too risk-averse. Understandably, early on in a business’ lifespan, business leaders want to avoid anything that may impact their revenue or future growth, which can sometimes lead to lying stagnant whilst other organisations in their space develop and grow.
It is vital for hiring managers in SaaS companies to focus on creating and nurturing a strong foundation early on and then scale gradually as you gain further experience and become well-equipped to handle large volumes of business.
With that being said, hypergrowth isn’t out of the question for young businesses that have the product or services to fill a gap in the market - it’s simply about knowing how to find the right people who will help you get there.
Adopting and adapting to new technology
SaaS companies are also under pressure to stay up to date with the technology needed to provide their employees and customers with the best experience possible.
Following on from lessons learned during the pandemic when businesses had to quickly switch to a mainly digital way of working, organisations are now expected to continue with their digital transformations. Software used by SaaS companies often enables employees to do their jobs day-to-day, meaning the requirement is there for it to be the best possible tech to make processes smooth and reporting easy to produce. Similarly, consumers of the products or services being sold need to be easily accessible and understood, meaning technology needs to have an impeccable UX.
It is up to the owners and leaders within SaaS companies to review and prioritise which technology needs to be adopted and adapted to, to ensure business success.
Sales enablement
This still remains a challenge for many SaaS companies. Understanding how to provide your team with the processes, knowledge, technology and feedback needed to enable them to work to their full potential is crucial.
Sales enablement mainly revolves around:
- Creating a uniformed way of reporting
- Regularly reviewing all sales processes
- Training and development
- Usability
- Customer feedback
Having the infrastructure in place to support your team is crucial, but also bringing in new talent needs to be a smooth process to ensure every employee has the knowledge and tools available to make sales.
Overcoming challenges by broadening your talent pool
There are a variety of ways to broaden your talent pool which will help you overcome some of the above challenges and enable you to develop and grow at the pace you’re looking to.
Consider your existing recruitment processes and ask yourself the following questions:
- How do you normally find your candidates?
- Do you use an expert talent provider, or do you do all the candidate searching yourself?
- Do you usually advertise jobs in the same places?
- What is the quality of CVs like that you receive?
- Are you championing ED&I in your recruitment process?
- How accessible are your job adverts to diverse groups of people?
- Are your job adverts written effectively, or are they full job descriptions?
- How are you eliminating recruitment bias from your existing process?
- Do you have a growth map to demonstrate where your teams are expanding and when?
- Do you offer remote or hybrid working to all employees?
Your GTM team is your ultimate sales tool, and by hiring the right people you will be able to scale and grow your business in line with your existing business strategy and goals.
Through revising your existing recruitment process, you will be able to make note of where there are improvements to be made and where you need assistance with expanding your talent pool for your business trajectory.
By considering factors such as eliminating recruitment bias and ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of your recruitment process, you will be able to expand your talent pool from the off. By including remote or hybrid working in your workplace benefits and improving the quality of your job adverts, you will similarly by reaching a wider audience who you may not have had previous access to.
GET IN TOUCH
If you would like to find out more about how Strive can help you expand the talent pool for your GTM team, get in touch to discuss our specialist talent services.
