Switching software is a hassle. Switching to the wrong software is worse: months of moving data, retraining a team and then finding the tool can’t do half of what was promised.
Before signing up for anything, put these ten questions to the vendor. Each one comes with what a good answer looks like, and the answers say more than any feature list.
1. What does the price depend on as the roster grows?
Pricing pages are easy to misread. Find out exactly what the bill is tied to: number of talents, admin users, workflows, add-ons. Then check where the next tier starts. StarAgent lists this openly. A free Starter plan covers up to 10 talents, and paid plans move up to 200, 1,000 and unlimited.
2. How does search work when a brief is vague?
Filters for height, skills, language and location are the minimum. Briefs rarely arrive that tidy, and a search that only understands dropdowns turns every request into manual browsing. Ask if a request can be typed the way a client wrote it, and if a reference photo can find similar looks. StarAgent has both, as natural language search and face match.
3. How do clients see the talent?
A pile of PDFs is slow to build and impossible to track. Look for packages made straight from the roster, where the agency picks which details show. In StarAgent, packages live inside the project. Client selections come back to the same place, and the shortlist moves on to booking without being rebuilt.
4. What do the talents get?
If the software only serves the desk, talent keeps chasing updates by phone. Ask for a mobile app where talent can see upcoming jobs, confirm bookings, and update their measurements and availability. StarAgent has iOS and Android apps for this. They come with the Agency plan and above.
5. How do profiles get in, and what happens to old data?
Ask how new talent joins the database and who moves the existing records. StarAgent supports digital forms and document uploads, and on the Scale plan, resumes can fill in profile details automatically. Free data migration is included on paid plans, from spreadsheets, shared drives or older booking systems.
6. Can it be shaped around how the agency works?
A commercial board and a film casting team do not run the same way. Ask if stages, profile types and custom fields can be adjusted to fit the agency’s process. StarAgent lets stages be renamed, reordered or added, and profiles carry custom fields for skills, languages, status or whatever else the agency tracks.
7. What stops a double booking?
This is the mistake clients remember. Look for availability checks before a booking is confirmed, and for clear booking statuses. StarAgent manages talent availability ahead of confirmation, keeps bookings organized with clear statuses, and syncs talent availability across devices. When testing any tool, ask to see the conflict case, not just the calendar.
8. Does a confirmed booking turn into an invoice?
Retyping booking details into a separate spreadsheet is where errors creep in. Ask whether invoices pull from the booking itself, and whether payment tracking is included. In StarAgent, invoices are generated from booking details, with payment tracking in the same system.
9. Who can see and change what?
Owners, bookers and finance staff rarely need the same access. Look for permission controls, a way to remove a user without losing their work, and a log of who did what. StarAgent provides admin controls for access and permissions, along with activity tracking across packages and projects. Admin-user limits differ by plan: Starter and Agency include one admin user, Pro three, and Scale five.
10. Can it be tested before paying?
A demo is a sales pitch. A trial with real profiles is a test. Ask what can be tried for free and how easy it is to reach a person. StarAgent has the free Starter plan for up to 10 talents, a demo call on request and a chat option for reaching the team with questions along the way.
The short version
No tool will win every question, and none needs to. What matters is that the answers fit how the agency actually works. Take these ten into every demo and the differences show up quickly.
StarAgent brings talent profiles, packages, bookings and invoices into one platform. Start free on the Starter plan, or book a demo call and put these questions to the team directly.
