Published July 18, 2026 · Kiyansh Group
Most primes and MSPs don't need more sub-vendors. They need fewer, better ones. If you're a staffing vendor filling a req, a good sub-vendor extends your bench without adding noise, margin leakage, or the risk that your client gets solicited behind your back. A bad one buries you in resumes, argues about splits after the submit, and treats your account as their lead list. Here's how to tell them apart, and how to make the good ones part of how you work.
Talk to us about staffing →The first tell is the submit. A good sub-vendor sends two or three candidates who actually match the req, each with a right-to-represent already signed, work authorization confirmed, rate expectation stated, and a short note on why the person fits. You should be able to forward that submit to your client with almost no rework. If you're reformatting resumes and chasing down visa status, that's your margin walking out the door.
Second, they work under your process, not around it. Your ATS, your submission format, your client-facing name, your rate on record. A sub-vendor who insists on talking to your client directly, or wants their logo in front of the hiring manager, is telling you exactly what they'll do the moment a conversion comes up.
Third, they settle splits before the candidate goes in, not after an offer lands. The split, the pay rate, who carries the contractor on payroll, and how conversions are handled all belong in the agreement. Renegotiating at offer stage is the oldest move in sub-vendor land, and it's reason enough to walk.
Blasting resumes is the loudest one. If a sub-vendor sends eight candidates for a single req within the hour, they aren't screening; they're forwarding whatever hit their inbox and hoping one sticks. That volume is a liability, not coverage, and it usually means the same person is floating to three other vendors on the same req.
Watch for candidates who don't know they've been submitted, rates that move after you present, and reluctance to sign a clean right-to-represent or a non-solicit that protects your client. Vague answers about where the consultant actually sits or who runs their payroll are worth a hard stop. Anyone who treats your client as a shared asset rather than yours will eventually go around you.
Start with a written agreement that covers the split, non-solicitation of your clients and your consultants, right-to-represent handling, payment terms, and who owns back-office and payroll. Get insurance and entity details up front. It's dull paperwork, and it's exactly where later disputes get prevented.
Then run a small test. Give them one or two real reqs, not your hardest and not your throwaways, and judge them on submit quality and turnaround, not resume count. A sub-vendor who returns two clean, well-matched candidates in a day beats one who sends fifteen you have to triage. Give direct feedback after the first round; the good ones adjust immediately, and that tells you whether the relationship scales.
Pay on time. Sub-vendors talk, and the primes who pay net-30 without drama get first look at the best consultants; your reputation on the buy side is as real as the one on the sell side. Kiyansh works this way as a sub-vendor for primes and MSPs across the US — pre-screened submits, under your process, your client stays yours, with a senior US engineer reviewing every submission before it reaches you.
A direct vendor holds the relationship with the end client and submits candidates to them. A sub-vendor works underneath that vendor, supplying candidates the prime submits under its own name. The end client usually never sees the sub-vendor, and that's the point: the prime keeps the relationship while the sub-vendor supplies talent and back-office support without touching the account.
A split is the share of the bill-rate margin each side keeps. It's negotiated per deal or set in a master agreement, and it should be fixed before the candidate is submitted. Common structures divide the spread between bill rate and pay rate, or set a fixed markup the sub-vendor keeps. Whatever the shape, get it in writing before the submit, not after an offer.
Put a non-solicitation clause in your agreement covering both your clients and your consultants, keep the sub-vendor off any client-facing communication, and never let them present or interview alongside your name. A sub-vendor who resists a reasonable non-solicit is showing you the risk before you take it on.
If you want a sub-vendor who submits clean, works quietly under your process, and never touches your client, reach out to Kiyansh Group.
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