How Verbatim Reduced Hiring Time by 4× and Costs by 73% With Near

Verbatim is a digital marketing agency specializing in driving attributable revenue growth through demand-generation content strategies. They faced a unique challenge as they expanded their services. Known for powering startups through strategic content, they sought to incorporate design services to offer full-stack content solutions.

However, recruiting world-class designers quickly and affordably while maintaining quality was proving difficult.

Summary

• Challenge: Verbatim needed skilled designers to support their full-stack content services without the high costs associated with US-based hires.
• Why Verbatim chose Near: Frustrated with the slow and mismatched candidate delivery from other recruiting platforms, Verbatim turned to Near for its efficient, high-quality recruitment process.
• Solution: Near delivered Verbatim top-tier design talent from Latin America (LatAm), integrating seamlessly with their team and aligning with their speed and quality expectations.
• Role hired: Designer.
• Results:
  • Reduced hiring costs by 73%, saving $100,000 annually.
  • Decreased recruitment time by four times.
  • Saved 80 hours in recruitment processes, enhancing focus on core business activities.

Challenge

Verbatim needed skilled designers to support their full-stack content services without the high costs associated with US-based hires.

Verbatim was evolving to meet increasing client demands for a full-stack content service, including website copy, design, and better content distribution.

This expansion meant Verbatim had to deliver not only top-notch written content but also compelling graphics and design work. However, many of their clients lacked in-house design teams, pushing Verbatim to fill this gap. To truly serve their clients as a full-stack content agency, Verbatim needed to find a way to seamlessly integrate high-quality graphic design into their service offerings.

Problem

US-based hiring was too expensive, and other offshore platforms were slow and frequently delivered inconsistent quality.

Verbatim’s move to offer full-service content solutions meant they needed to integrate more designers into their team. Previously, they had tried to fill roles like this one using other offshore recruiting platforms and local talent but faced several challenges:

• Speed: Existing offshore platforms were slow, taking weeks to deliver often unsuitable candidates.
• Quality: The quality of candidates was inconsistent and, more often than not, didn’t meet the requirements laid out by Verbatim.
• Cost: Hiring locally in Brooklyn was prohibitively expensive, making it difficult to scale the team affordably.

Solution

Near delivered Verbatim top-tier design talent from Latin America, integrating seamlessly with their team and aligning with their speed and quality expectations.

Verbatim’s struggle to recruit the right designer in the US prompted them to look beyond domestic options. This led them to explore talent from other regions, where they could find top professionals who offered more manageable rates.

Verbatim’s CEO, Adrian, decided to try hiring from LatAm after hearing positive reviews from fellow founders about the high-quality talent there. They noted these professionals often aligned well with North American work styles and had significantly lower salary expectations. 

In the process, Verbatim explored multiple nearshore agencies. Near stood out from other platforms Verbatim had tried, which often took over two weeks just to present candidates. In contrast, Near’s approach was swift and precise.

Near’s recruiter demonstrated an exceptional understanding of their requirements, ensuring that only the most fitting candidates were presented. This focus on speed, quality, and specialization in LatAm talent made working with Near an obvious choice for Verbatim.

In terms of clarity and speed of communication, from day one, Near immediately understood what we wanted and was sending over candidates within days... I tested out some other recruiting platforms that sometimes would take two weeks to send over the first round of candidates, and they were completely off the mark.

Adrian Alfieri

Verbatim’s Founder and CEO

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Results

Verbatim significantly reduced hiring costs and timelines while maintaining high-quality output, transforming their service delivery model.

The designer hired through Near matched Verbatim’s high-quality standards, seamlessly integrating with their team and significantly enhancing their service offerings. Moreover, the thorough onboarding process and rapid delivery of candidates felt like a white-glove service tailored specifically to Verbatim’s needs. 

Partnering with Near yielded substantial benefits for Verbatim:

• Reduced costs: Hiring through Near was 73% cheaper than Brooklyn-based hires, saving $100,000 in annual salaries.
• Increased speed: Near significantly sped up the hiring process, reducing the recruitment timeline by four times.
• Operational productivity: By offloading the recruitment process to Near, Verbatim saved approximately 80 hours of work, allowing them to focus more on strategic growth and core business functions.

Looking to enhance your team with exceptional talent while optimizing expenses? Schedule your free consultation with Near to explore how our specialized recruitment solutions can meet your company’s demands for quality and dedication.

To learn more about Verbatim, visit Verbatim’s website.