How to Hire Go-to-Market Talent That Performs

In today’s competitive startup landscape, hiring the right Go-to-Market talent is more than a checkbox exercise. Especially across Tech Sales Jobs, your recruitment strategy can either fuel your growth or stall your scaling plans entirely. At North Starr, we don’t just help companies hire—we help them hire the right way.

While resumes and interviews remain important, the reality is this: the best Go-to-Market hires—whether in sales, marketing, or customer success—deliver measurable, consistent results. That means focusing on the metrics that actually matter, quota attainment, pipeline generation, customer retention, and strategic alignment to your Go-to-Market Strategy.

This guide breaks down the KPIs you should be evaluating, how to read between the lines of candidate performance, and why working with an expert in Technology Sales Recruitment Agencies can give you the edge.

 

Why Metrics Matter More Than Ever

Startups—especially in the Series A to B phase—don’t have the luxury of slow onboarding or misaligned hires. You’re working against time, investor expectations, and fierce competition. Every hire in your Go-to-Market Team needs to accelerate progress from day one.

And it’s not just about sales anymore. In the world of SaaS recruitment and digital sales, your marketing, sales, and customer success functions must be aligned and data-driven. Hiring based on gut feeling or “culture fit” alone is risky when what you need is revenue, pipeline, and retention.

 

Quota Attainment

Quota attainment is the most obvious and impactful metric in Tech Sales Jobs. It’s the percentage of the sales quota a professional consistently achieves or exceeds.

Why It Matters

Salespeople are hired to hit numbers. If someone has a great personality but has missed quota in multiple roles, it should be a red flag. Strong quota attainment shows the candidate not only understands the product but can navigate a deal cycle, overcome objections, and close consistently.

 

What to Look For in High-Performing Candidates

The strongest candidates often come from SaaS recruitment environments where expectations are high and the sales cycles are complex. They will have a history of beating quota by 100-120%, and they’ll be able to talk about the strategic process behind those numbers.

For example, a strong Go-to-Market hire won’t just say they “closed deals”—they’ll explain how they built trust with stakeholders, created urgency, handled procurement, and influenced multi-threaded decision makers. This level of detail shows a mature, repeatable process.

Real-World Example

Consider a SaaS Account Executive who achieved 115% of quota for three consecutive quarters at a Series A company. They weren’t just selling—they were navigating evolving ICPs, pivoting through product-market fit, and adapting to limited enablement tools. That’s someone who can thrive in a startup environment.

Pipeline Creation: Building Future Revenue

Quota attainment measures results—but pipeline creation measures potential. Without a strong pipeline, there’s nothing to close tomorrow. In early-stage tech sales startups, a Go-to-Market hire who can build is just as valuable as one who can close.

Why It Matters

Without enough qualified leads and opportunities, your sales team will spin its wheels. That’s why companies focusing on Go-to-Market Strategy prioritise talent who can fill the top and middle of the funnel using scalable strategies.

What to Look For

Top marketing professionals will highlight campaign results that tie directly to revenue—such as improving MQL-to-SQL conversions or building out intent-based ABM campaigns. Sales professionals should show how they source new opportunities, increase deal sizes, and contribute to outbound strategy.

Experience in outbound prospecting, content-led engagement, and partnerships is a major plus—especially in SaaS recruitment settings where traditional lead gen may be limited early on.

Example Insight

At North Starr, we recently placed a Senior SDR at a FinTech SaaS company who tripled the pipeline in her first six months by implementing an outbound cadence model that targeted neglected mid-market accounts. That’s the type of impact we look for.

Customer Retention: The New Revenue Frontier

The focus on churn and customer retention has never been more critical—especially in Customer Success Recruitment. Acquiring a customer is only the beginning; the real test of Go-to-Market alignment is keeping that customer long-term.

Why It Matters

Customer acquisition is expensive. In most SaaS models, you don’t see profitability from a client until six months or more after onboarding. High churn rates break your revenue model, slow growth, and can even threaten future funding rounds.

What to Look For

You want candidates—across marketing, sales, and CS—who can articulate how they contributed to lowering churn or increasing Net Revenue Retention (NRR).

Sales professionals should show they’re not just closers but long-term relationship builders who ensure a smooth handoff to success teams. Marketers should discuss how they built onboarding content, nurtured client communities, or drove product adoption post-sale.

Example Approach

Look for candidates who’ve worked closely with CS teams to identify at-risk accounts and create win-back strategies. These candidates often come from Tech Sales Jobs in mature SaaS firms or high-growth FinTech startups.

Strategic Alignment to Your Go To Market Plan

Beyond individual KPIs, top Go-to-Market talent understands how their role fits into your broader Go-to-Market Strategy. This is where many hiring decisions go wrong—companies hire experienced individuals who fail to adapt to the stage and structure of the business.

Why It Matters

Startups don’t need someone who succeeded in a 1,000-person sales org with pre-built systems. They need someone who can roll up their sleeves, build from the ground up, and adjust quickly. This is especially true in SaaS recruitment and for clients who’ve just secured Series A or B funding.

What to Look For

Ask candidates about the Go-to-Market motion at their previous company: was it PLG? Sales-led? Channel-driven? Did they help define ICPs or shape messaging? Have they launched a new vertical or region?

Strong answers here indicate your candidate has strategic thinking baked into their operational execution—making them a far more valuable hire.

Metrics-Based Hiring Is the Future of Technology Sales Recruitment Agencies

At North Starr, we specialise in helping startups hire Go-to-Market talent that goes beyond the CV. By focusing on Tech Sales Jobs, SaaS recruitment, and Customer Success Recruitment, we’ve built a talent network defined by performance, not just potential.

Here’s How We Do It:

We interview candidates using a proprietary scorecard tied to revenue impact, customer outcomes, and strategic input. We ask questions that dig into quota, churn, and pipeline—not just responsibilities. We assess candidates’ alignment with your stage, structure, and strategy.

That’s why our clients trust us not just to introduce people—but to build winning teams.

The North Starr Difference

You have choices when it comes to hiring. So why choose North Starr?

Because we specialise in Technology Sales Recruitment Agencies that don’t just deliver resumes—we deliver results. From early-stage Go-t-Market buildouts to scaling post-Series B, we understand what high-performance looks like at every level.

Our Impact at a Glance:

• 95% of our placements exceed performance expectations in their first 12 months
• Our average time-to-hire for Go-to-Market roles is 3x faster than industry average
• Over 70% of our clients return to us for repeat hires within 6 months
• We have deep networks in FinTech, SaaS, Cyber Security, and Data
• We align your hiring strategy to your Go-to-Market Plan, not just your org chart

We also provide consulting on compensation benchmarking, Go-to-Market team structuring, and retention strategies—so you can build teams that last.

Don’t Just Hire—Hire for Impact

Too many startups make the mistake of hiring based on potential rather than proof. But in high-stakes, high-growth settings, every hire must make an immediate, measurable difference. Whether you’re hiring for Tech Sales Jobs, building out a Customer Success Recruitment function, or launching a new SaaS recruitment campaign, performance should be your North Star.

So as you scale your Go-to-Market Strategy, ask yourself:

• Is this candidate proven in environments like mine?
• Can they build, adapt, and deliver under pressure?
• Do they measure success the same way I do?

If the answer to any of these is unclear, it’s time to reframe your hiring criteria.

Ready to Build Your High-Performance Go-to-Market Team?

At North Starr, we help high-growth startups build elite Go-to-Market functions across sales, marketing, and customer success. Whether you’re hiring your first Account Executive or building an entire regional sales team, we’re here to help you find the people who will move the needle.

If you’re looking for talent in Tech Sales Jobs, SaaS recruitment, Customer Success Recruitment, or need a partner that understands Technology Sales Recruitment Agencies from the inside out—get in touch with North Starr today.