Comp bands that actually close candidates
Every offer that stalls in the last week stalls for one of two reasons: the candidate did not know the number early enough, or the number moved. Both are comp band problems, and both are fixable before the search starts.
The first mistake is a band so wide it is not a band. A range of 150 to 250 for one role tells a candidate nothing except that you have not decided. It also tells a strong candidate that the top of the range exists, so that is where they anchor, and now every conversation is a negotiation. A usable band is about twenty percent wide, top to bottom, and the midpoint is where you expect to land for a fully qualified hire.
The second mistake is setting the band from a benchmark instead of from the market you are actually hiring in. A benchmark tells you what a title pays on average across a lot of companies that are not you. The number that matters is what the three or four candidates you actually want are currently making and what it would take to move them. That is a question a recruiter can answer in the first week of a search, and it is worth asking before you post a range you will have to walk back.
The third mistake is hiding the band. Candidates who find out the number in the final round have spent four hours of interviews assuming something else. Say the band in the first conversation. If it is a fit, you have saved everyone a month. If it is not, you have saved everyone a month.
The fourth is treating equity as a rounding error. For candidates coming from larger companies, equity is often the difference between an offer that works and one that does not, and most of them cannot evaluate it without help. A one-page explanation of the grant, the strike, the current preferred price, and what it looks like under a realistic exit is worth more than another ten thousand in base.
The pattern underneath all four is the same. A band is a decision, made early, said out loud, and held. The teams that close quickly are not the ones paying the most. They are the ones who decided.