What to Ask Lead Gen Services Providers

What questions should you ask potential lead gen service providers? I've got a few answers. And I'd like to hear yours.

This year, I’ve been spending more time digging into how lead gen services really work—beyond the typical pitch about how many meetings they’ll book and emails they send. Most of these companies are full of it, but some earn their keep.

And while AI is usually more of a problem than a solution given how it's generating more spammy messages that buyers tune out, it can be used for more efficient targeting and personalization -- in the less common instances where it's deployed well.

When my colleague Brent Rodgers and I were evaluating a provider, we came up with some questions to ask them after they passed the sniff test but before we took the first meeting. That way, we could have a really productive first call. These would help tell us about what happens when things go well—and what happens when they don’t.

Here’s the full list we used, in case it’s helpful as you vet partners:

How fast can you tell if it’s working? Closing deals is on us. But when it comes to getting to sales-qualified leads (SQLs)—especially with targets like your goal of a certain number of SQLs per month—how quickly should we expect results?

What kinds of companies are hardest for you to work with? Why? Are there common patterns around which businesses struggle? And are there situations where your approach just doesn’t work? It's helpful to know the edges of your model and what makes for a bad client. What would potentially make us a bad client for you?

How hands-on are you with messaging? Do you write the full sequences? Handle ongoing optimizations? What do you need from us to make it effective? We’ll get you what you need but don't want to get in the way of what works.

Does email still work on its own? Is a single-channel approach enough? Or do you typically see better results layering in LinkedIn, calls, direct mail, or other touches? How is this trending?

What’s your process for dialing in the ideal customer profile (ICP) and buyer personas? We don’t want to spend months testing only to realize we’re targeting the wrong prospects. How do you make sure we’re focusing on the right people from the start?

How do you protect deliverability? Email performance has gotten tricky lately. Spam filters feel tougher than ever. What’s your process for warming up inboxes and avoiding deliverability issues while making sure deliverability stays strong?

What’s your benchmark for SQL conversion? If we enroll X number of contacts per month, what’s a healthy rate for responses and booked meetings? What should we realistically expect?

What happens if a campaign isn’t working? If we’re 4-6 weeks in and not seeing SQLs, how do you adjust? What levers do we have to improve results without just writing it off as a loss?

How do you define marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and sales qualified leads (SQLs)? We want to know that SQLs are really qualified to buy — not that they just sent you a friendly note. Also, if we say leads aren't qualified, can we reject those from SQLs and not count them toward the total?

How do you handle objections or negative replies? Do you respond directly, hand them back to us, or leave them untouched? What's your approach when prospects push back but aren’t necessarily a 'no'?

These conversations give us a much better sense of how the team operates under real-world conditions—not just in the highlight reel.

Thanks to Brent for allowing me to include his thinking so this can be a more complete list.

What else do you ask when qualifying lead gen partners?