Most lead generation agencies sell the same story. The difference is in the answers to seven questions almost nobody asks, and that only start to hurt in month two if you skipped them. Below: the questions, why they matter and how we answer them ourselves.
The short answer
Do not compare agencies on the monthly fee, but on four things you can get in writing: what exactly counts as a result, how much is sent per month, what happens if that is not reached, and whether you can watch live. An agency that stays vague on those four points is more expensive than the amount on the quote.
The seven questions
1. What counts as a lead with you?
This is the question that most often costs money. The same campaign can be called 400 leads, 87 positive replies or 12 meetings, depending on who sends the invoice. A downloaded document is something completely different from someone asking whether you can call next week.
Our answer: a positive reply is a request for a conversation or demo, a question about the price, a substantive question about your offer or a referral to the right colleague. Out-of-office replies, bounces, opt-outs, privacy questions and dissolved companies do not count. That is on our packages page so you can check it before you sign.
2. Is the price on your website?
Price on request means the amount depends on what is discussed at the table. That does not have to be wrong, but it makes comparing impossible and puts you at a disadvantage. Watch out in particular for one-off setup costs, data costs and tooling: those often only surface in the quote. Setup fees of $500 to $5,000 are common, and infrastructure and tooling billed separately can add $500 to $2,000 per month.
Our answer: $1,995, $2,495, $3,495 and $4,495 per month, all-in, no setup fee and no separate tooling bill. The add-ons are listed with their prices.
Source: published 2026 pricing guides from BounceZero and Prospeo, checked on 4 October 2026.
3. How much is sent per month, and is that in the contract?
With a fixed monthly fee, you are effectively buying sending capacity. So ask what happens if nothing has been sent in week three. Also ask on how many days per month sending takes place: anyone who only emails on working days averages 22 days instead of 30, and that is well over a third fewer companies reached for the same invoice.
Our answer: the monthly volume of your package is set out in the contract: 3,000, 7,500, 15,000 or 30,000 emails sent. Seven sending days per week. Every month you see the actual number of emails sent.
4. Which domain is used for sending?
Anyone who emails from your main domain puts your normal email traffic at risk. If something goes wrong with deliverability, it hits your quotes and your invoice emails, not just a campaign.
Our answer: never from your main domain. We set up separate sending domains and mailboxes with their own SPF, DKIM and DMARC, warm them up for two weeks and keep the warmup running while the campaign is live. We use a maximum of 25 emails per mailbox per day, and work towards 12. Volume comes from the number of mailboxes and not from harder settings on a single box.
5. Do I approve the list and the copy?
You know which companies are already customers, which ones you deliberately do not want to approach and which words land badly in your market. An agency that goes live without your approval puts your name under copy you have not seen.
Our answer: the complete starting list and the complete copy are sent to you before the campaign starts, and you approve both.
6. Can I watch live?
A monthly report shows what happened when you could no longer do anything about it. Ask how often you hear something and how quickly a positive reply reaches you.
Our answer: you get a weekly report with what was sent and what came back, and every positive reply goes straight to your own inbox with name, role, organisation and contact details attached. If you want to see everything, including rejections, we forward every reply live. Deliberately no portal with a login: what you need to see is in your own inbox, where it belongs. Every reply is read by hand, not by a scoring model.
7. What happens if it disappoints?
Ask about the notice period, about what happens to the built-up sending reputation and the domains if you stop, and whether there is a minimum result on paper. Verbal promises about numbers are not an agreement.
Our answer: on Scale and Pro we agree a minimum number of qualified positive replies for three campaign months up front, calculated on your target group, offer and market size, and that is in your contract. If we do not reach it, we keep going at no cost until the number is there, for up to three extra months, with no subscription, mailbox, domain or data costs. The guarantee covers positive replies and not meetings, revenue or paying customers.
Four answers you should walk away from
- A guaranteed number of meetings. Meetings depend on conversations the agency does not have. Anyone who puts a number on that earns on volume and will deliver that volume.
- A purchased list that multiple clients use. You then pay for companies that are emailed by three others in the same week.
- No minimum volume in the contract. Then the number of emails is a target figure and you have no denominator to measure results against.
- Vagueness about the sending environment. If it is not clear which domain the emails are sent from, the answer is often yours.
Ten agencies side by side
We compared ten cold email providers on these points, with ourselves at number one, and list the source and the check date per agency. That overview is at cold email agencies compared. If you are looking for something other than email, such as calling, multilingual work or having a complete sales process set up, it lists per agency who is better suited for that.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when choosing a lead generation agency?
Four things that can be put in writing: what exactly counts as a result, how much is sent per month and whether that is in the contract, what happens if that is not reached, and whether you can watch live. Without those four, the monthly fee says little.
Why do most agencies not list a price?
Because the amount then depends on the conversation, and because setup costs, data costs and tooling often only surface in the quote. Always ask for a total price per month including everything, and for the amount charged once at the start.
Is a guaranteed number of meetings a good sign?
No. Meetings depend on conversations the agency does not have. A guarantee about that means someone earns on numbers and will therefore deliver numbers. A guarantee on qualified positive replies can be substantiated, provided its definition is on paper.
What should the contract say about volume?
A minimum number of emails sent per month, plus what happens if a day is missed. Also ask on how many days per month sending takes place. Working days only means an average of 22 sending days instead of 30.
How long am I tied in?
Ask for the minimum term and what applies after it. Ours is three months, for a reason: the first two weeks are warmup and new copy has to run for three weeks before you can judge anything. After those three months it continues monthly.
Feel free to ask us these seven questions yourself
In the free 30-minute fit check we answer them with figures from our own campaigns, and we tell you honestly if your target group does not fit this channel.
Rather email first? That works too: info@link2leads.nl