How to choose a sales recruitment agency

Choose a sales recruitment agency for a tech company by comparing the roles it has filled, who will run your search, what you will pay for and what happens if the hire leaves. Give each firm the same brief and ask how it would test a candidate against a real account you want to win.

How recruitment agencies work for employers

The employer commissions the search and agrees the fee. With a contingent search, the employer generally pays when someone is hired. With a retained search, the employer commissions the work and agrees the payment stages up front. An embedded recruiter works within your team across a hiring plan. Compare retained and contingent approaches and check the fee comparison guide before comparing headline rates.

Ten questions to ask a sales recruitment agency

1. Who will speak to candidates? Ask to meet the person who will make those calls.
2. Which of our buyers would a candidate need to know? Expect a conversation about the customer, not just the product category.
3. What comparable role have you worked on? A useful example explains the candidate’s remit and what the firm actually did.
4. What would rule someone out? Ask for a mismatch they could spot on an otherwise impressive CV.
5. Where would you start looking? Listen for teams with a similar deal or buying process and an explanation of the choice.
6. How will you test a candidate’s account of a win? Look for questions about their own decisions and the help they had.
7. What will we learn from the shortlist? You need to see the evidence and gaps for each person before deciding whom to meet.
8. What exactly is the fee based on? Get the base, payment trigger and any additional costs in writing.
9. What happens if the hire leaves? Ask what the agreement covers and when a replacement search applies.
10. What happens after the offer? Agree who handles the handover and who will speak to the new hire and the hiring manager.

Red flags in a sales search proposal

A shortlist deadline is easy to compare, but it does not tell you whether the people are a fit. Ask the recruiter to explain the difference between a seller who built their own pipeline and one who inherited a territory. If the answer stops at quota attainment, ask who found the buyers and how each rep won the business. Also clarify what “exclusive” means before two agencies approach the same candidate in your name.

When a GTM specialist adds something

If you need an enterprise seller, technical pre-sales specialist or first customer success hire, choose someone who can distinguish those jobs. A generalist can work if your hiring manager has time to provide that assessment. At Scalerr, the recruiter who agrees the brief runs the search. Key Talent Search covers specialist GTM hires and includes a replacement search if a hire does not stick. Check which terms apply to your agreement. The recruitment services page covers the alternatives.

Choosing an agency in Singapore

Say whether the seller will cover Singapore alone or open a neighbouring ASEAN market. Ask the recruiter how they would distinguish someone who managed inbound regional accounts from someone who found a new buyer across a border. Our Singapore sales hiring page turns that territory decision into a brief.

Choosing an agency in Sydney

Start with the account list. If the buyers are in Melbourne, ask why the role should sit in Sydney. Scalerr was founded in Sydney. Our Australian sales hiring brief compares the two locations and asks who will manage the seller. For a US territory, use the US sales hiring guide instead.

Questions employers ask about using an agency