How recruitment firms actually sell in India
Nothing starts until you are empanelled
The Indian recruitment sale has a gate in front of it. Before a mandate can arrive, the consultancy must be empanelled: vendor registration forms, company documents, and a signed agreement covering fee percentage on annual CTC, replacement window and payment terms. Firms chase empanelment for weeks then forget which corporates actually completed it, and an un- empanelled client cannot be billed.
Mandates arrive on WhatsApp, not through a portal
Once empanelled, roles come by WhatsApp or a short call from an HR contact, usually to whichever consultant they spoke to last. The same role often goes to four consultancies at once, so the first credible shortlist decides who bills. Any system that assumes a formal intake form will sit unused.
The deal closes at joining, not at offer
Fees here are almost always payable on joining and often carry a replacement window. That makes the notice period the riskiest stretch of the cycle: counter-offers, buybacks and candidates who simply stop responding. A desk that celebrates at offer and goes quiet until the joining date loses placements it had already won.