Customer-Centric SaaS in Practice: Inside Vitay’s Reference Check Software
In SaaS product development, it’s not uncommon for a product team to find themselves spending the bulk of their time chasing trends and stacking on feature after feature. Because the SaaS industry constantly demands more and better, it can be easy to lose sight of the actual problems customers want to solve in favour of chasing the most attention-grabbing new features.
In the end, however, it’s the companies able to consistently prioritize user needs over shiny distractions that achieve long-term success. They do this by paying close attention to user feedback and moving forward with deliberation through every update.
Take Vitay.
Acquired by SureSwift in 2022, Vitay is a reference check software that automates the hiring process for businesses across the globe. Their promise to recruiters: with our SaaS product, you’ll spend 95% less time checking references. It’s quite the assertion, but it’s their fulfillment of that promise that continues growing their loyal customer base.
So how does Vitay manage to keep increasing its user base while staying so laser-focused on its simple offerings as HR tech? Today, we’ll hear from Vitay’s Product Development Coordinator, Caynan Letcher, on how the team’s focus on user feedback and commitment to its core values continue to guide product decisions and support the platform’s steady growth.
Table of Contents
- How the AI revolution renewed focus on reference checking
- How Vitay refines hiring operations for HR teams
- A customer-centric approach to feature development
- Following FAST: How core values lead the way at Vitay
- Conclusion: What we can learn from Vitay
How the AI revolution renewed focus on reference checking
Most reference checks happen late in the hiring process, right before a final decision gets made. But because the reference process is typically a manual one, this last hurdle often gets overlooked; hiring teams rarely have the luxury of time to wait by the phone. Now, thanks to the explosion of AI job application tools, reference checks are one of the few resources companies still have that can give them a fully authentic impression of their candidate.
According to Caynan Letcher, this has made reference checking more relevant to the job hiring process than ever. “What we’ve heard from customers is that there’s been a big increase in applications. Since resumes and cover letters have become much easier to generate with AI tools and language models, what used to be a very manual and personalized process can now be done in seconds. It’s harder for businesses to tell who the real standouts are based solely on their documents.”
References provide some much-needed human perspective on a candidate’s performance and behaviour, helping the hiring team determine whether that candidate is genuinely the right fit for the open position. But while the prioritization of reference checking has spiked, companies still tend to struggle with how time-consuming reference checking can be. This is where Vitay steps in.
How Vitay refines hiring operations for HR teams
Vitay’s automated reference checks save hiring teams hours that would otherwise be spent playing phone tag and interviewing scores of people. During a manual reference check, HR teams often have to chase down contact details, then take the additional time to schedule and make phone calls. And when the timing isn't convenient for both recruiter and reference, calls must be rescheduled or missed entirely.
With Vitay, recruiters simply enter a candidate’s contact information, and the system takes care of the rest. “After they input their candidate’s info, the process is mostly hands-off until the references are complete.” Caynan explains.
Because everything gets done via email or text, references can respond on their own time, a much more flexible alternative to the traditional method of scheduled phone call. This allows responses to arrive more quickly, often within the first 24 hours. With the removal of this reference check bottleneck, companies can move faster with hiring decisions while providing a better overall experience for references and candidates alike.
According to Caynan, users also favour Vitay’s unfussy UX. “Our clients find our interface to be very intuitive and clean,” he shares. “And we’re constantly looking for new ways to reduce clicks and expedite the entire process.” Simplicity and speed are major priorities for the team, as these two factors ease the process for all involved – HR Teams, recruiters, references, and candidates.
A customer-centric approach to feature development
With new trends showing up constantly and competitors launching flashy features with big promises, the pressure to keep up can be intense. But Vitay stays focused by making sure that every set goal answers a specific user need.
"Customer feedback is the biggest influence on our direction," Caynan shares. "Our sales and support teams meet with customers regularly, and we make a point of gathering suggestions and pain points in those conversations. That feedback is what determines our priorities."
Vitay evaluates each request by its relevance to current users. If a particular feature or improvement gets mentioned repeatedly, whether in demos, support chats, or ongoing customer relationships, it becomes clear where to focus. “As a team, we reach a consensus pretty easily, because we all start hearing similar requests come up,” Caynan says. “It quickly becomes obvious what’s worth investing in.”
This client-first mindset has streamlined Vitay as a product, allowing the team to roll out regular structural updates and make the kinds of app adjustments that best serve their base. Recent revisions include improvements to how sub-accounts function; AI-generated question sets tailored to jobs and reference relationships; and backend upgrades that improve internal processes without overcomplicating the user experience.
Customers continue to express strong support for Vitay’s current features, especially its robust fraud detection. The system is able to compare device and network data from candidates and their references, which allows it to alert hiring teams to any unusual activity. “The customers that use it swear by it,” Caynan mentions. “It’s even helped uncover serious fraud.” In one case, Vitay flagged a suspicious pattern that later led to a formal investigation.
Along with its quality features, Vitay’s support team is known for their excellent customer service. “I hear from people all the time who are surprised at how quickly we respond,” Caynan shares. “Even today, someone thanked me for getting back to them so fast.”
Their level of follow-through, both in the product and in how customers are treated, explains why teams continue to choose Vitay. As hiring tools evolve, the consistency and care built into the platform keep it firmly in use.
Following FAST: How core values lead the way at Vitay
For Vitay, product development is anchored in a simple set of principles: FAST — Flexible, Accessible, Supportive, and Time-Saving. As Caynan explains, “Our values are geared toward improving what we already have."
These four core focuses help the team continuously move in a productive direction:
Flexible
Vitay’s features adjust to the way different teams work. Recruiters can save question sets based on role or reference type, and admins can choose which features to show or hide. As new tools are added, they’re designed to streamline the process further rather than add to the recruiter’s to-do list. “We give a lot of configuration options,” Caynan clarifies, “but we also make sure those customizations don’t slow things down. You don’t want to give people 30 checkboxes to deal with every time they add a candidate. That’s why we focus on streamlining the experience, cutting down clicks and unnecessary steps.”
Accessible
The platform simplifies the reference checking experience for anyone, regardless of age or confidence with technology. This ease of use applies to the entire ecosystem, from recruiters and hiring leaders sending requests to the candidates and references who receive and complete them. The process for completing a request starts with just a tap on a link sent by text or email; in other words, there’s no app to download, account to create, or login to think up and remember. As Caynan puts it, “Our ultimate goal is to make sure anyone who needs to use the product can do so without running into roadblocks.”
When the reference process includes extra steps like account setup or desktop-only access, it creates barriers that slow things down. These delays can lead to the loss of strong candidates to competitors that move faster and extend offers more quickly. With forms that can be completed in just a few minutes, Vitay sets the bar for quick turnaround times, with most references submitted within 24 hours.
Supportive
Whether it’s a question from a candidate or a technical issue from a customer, the team is known for its receptiveness. “We try to be very responsive,” Caynan notes. “I think people reach out to us first because they know we’ll actually take action when something comes up.” Support is treated as part of the product experience. If someone is unsure how to move forward or encounters a problem, the team jumps in quickly to bring a resolution. That practical approach helps maintain trust and keeps communication open.
Time-Saving
Speed plays an important role in this product’s appeal. Tasks like chasing down references that used to take weeks now happen with little input from the recruiter. “They don’t have to try and reach out,” Caynan remarks. “We do that on their behalf.” With Vitay, teams hire faster without losing quality in the process. The system handles reminders, manages delivery through email and text, and tracks completions in real time. This lets recruiters shift their focus to other parts of the hiring process without sacrificing quality or oversight. References are completed faster, candidates move through the funnel sooner, and teams are able to extend offers while other companies are still waiting on responses.
Overall, Vitay’s values help shape the company’s direction. Feedback guides decisions, and updates are made to solve a specific need for those using the product. This measured approach keeps development focused on continued refinement, without adding on more than necessary.
Conclusion: What we can learn from Vitay
There’s a lot of pressure in SaaS product development to move fast, constantly releasing new features that excite your base. But Vitay offers a different methodology for success. Rather than overloading their online reference checking platform with endless features and a cluttered interface, the brand orients first to its client base, testing all proposed updates against what’s most worthwhile to the user.
Although this might seem like an obvious course of action, it’s surprisingly not an intuitive method for many SaaS companies. It’s often easier to chase the newest trend than to focus on work that might not be highly visible but improves the product in ways that matter.
Vitay’s product development stays closely tied to day-to-day use. The team looks for patterns in customer feedback, shares what they’re hearing internally, and builds what has clear demand. They also work from a simple set of principles that help the product remain flexible, approachable, and efficient. These values guide the product development workflow, from support ticket response to feature scope to the introduction of every product update.
Vitay’s approach reflects a steady focus on what hiring teams need. That kind of consistency builds trust, and over time, that’s what keeps a product in use. The lesson we can take away from Vitay is simple: the SaaS products that last are the ones that place the user first, addressing the problem they were created for and continuing to improve around it.
If you’re interested in trying out Vitay’s automated reference checking software, you can book a demo with them or sample their reference tools for yourself.
