Lead Gen Agency Evaluation Checklist

1 Email Infrastructure

The foundation that determines whether your emails reach inboxes or spam folders.

Infrastructure is the #1 predictor of campaign success. An agency can write the best email in the world, but if it lands in spam, nobody reads it. This section separates agencies that invest in deliverability from those cutting corners.

Dedicated sending domains (not your primary domain)

They should set up separate domains for outbound so your main business domain is never at risk. If deliverability drops, your company email is unaffected.

Ask: "Will you send from our primary domain or set up dedicated sending domains?"
Premium or dedicated inboxes (not shared)

Shared inboxes mean your emails go out from the same servers as dozens of other clients. One bad sender tanks deliverability for everyone. Premium inboxes with dedicated IPs are the standard.

Ask: "Are our sending inboxes shared with other clients or dedicated to us?"
Proper DNS authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

These are email authentication protocols that prove to receiving servers that the email is legitimate. Without them, emails go to spam. Any serious agency sets these up as part of onboarding.

Ask: "Do you configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on our sending domains?"
Inbox warm-up before sending

New email accounts need 2-3 weeks of warm-up (gradually increasing send volume) before running campaigns. Agencies that skip this destroy deliverability from day one.

Ask: "How long is your warm-up period before campaigns go live?"
Email verification before sending

Every email list should be verified before a single message goes out. Sending to invalid addresses generates bounces, which damages sender reputation and deliverability.

Ask: "Do you verify every email address before sending? What tool do you use?"

Infrastructure Score 0 / 5

2 Targeting and Data Quality

How they find and qualify the people they'll contact on your behalf.

The best email in the world sent to the wrong person is worthless. Targeting is where most cheap agencies fail first. They scrape a generic database and blast everyone. Good agencies invest time understanding your ideal customer before building a single list.

ICP research before list building

They should spend time understanding your ideal customer profile: industry, company size, job titles, pain points, and buying triggers. This happens before they build a single list.

Ask: "Walk me through your ICP research process. What do you need from us?"
Multiple data sources (not just one scraped database)

Relying on a single database limits accuracy and coverage. Good agencies cross-reference multiple sources to build cleaner, more targeted lists.

Ask: "Where does your contact data come from? Do you use multiple sources?"
Data enrichment and validation

Raw data from databases is often incomplete or outdated. Enrichment adds missing information (company size, revenue, tech stack). Validation confirms the data is accurate before sending.

Ask: "Do you enrich and validate the data before campaigns go live?"
Suppression list support

You should be able to provide a list of companies or contacts you don't want contacted: existing clients, partners, competitors, or anyone else. The agency should exclude these before every campaign.

Ask: "Can we provide a do-not-contact list? How do you handle suppression?"
List approval before sending

You should see and approve the contact list before any emails go out. This lets you catch targeting errors, remove known contacts, and confirm the audience matches your expectations.

Ask: "Will we see the prospect list before you start sending?"

Targeting Score 0 / 5

3 Strategy and Copywriting

How they craft the message that represents your business to cold prospects.

Your cold emails are the first impression thousands of potential customers will have of your business. The agency is writing on your behalf to people who have never heard of you. The quality of the copy and the strategy behind it directly determines whether those people respond or ignore you.

Custom scripts written for your business

Templates don't work. Every business has a different value proposition, ICP, and competitive landscape. The agency should write original email sequences based on research into your specific market.

Ask: "Do you write custom email scripts for each client, or use templates?"
Script approval before sending

You should review and approve every email before it goes out. These messages represent your brand to cold prospects. No agency should send on your behalf without your sign-off.

Ask: "Will we approve all email copy before any campaign launches?"
Multiple email sequences (not one message blasted)

Effective campaigns use 3-5 email sequences testing different angles, pain points, and offers. A single email to your entire list is a waste of your database.

Ask: "How many email sequences will run simultaneously? How do you A/B test?"
Offer and positioning strategy (not just "we'll send emails")

Before writing a single email, the agency should understand your offer, your competitive positioning, and what makes a cold prospect want to take a meeting. "We'll send emails to your target market" is not a strategy.

Ask: "How do you develop the offer and angle for our campaigns?"
Follow-up sequences (not just the initial email)

Most responses come from follow-ups, not the first email. The agency should have a clear follow-up strategy with 3-4 touchpoints per sequence, each adding new value or a different angle.

Ask: "How many follow-ups are in each sequence? What's the follow-up strategy?"

Strategy Score 0 / 5

4 Process and Communication

What working with them actually looks like day-to-day and week-to-week.

The best agency in the world is useless if you can't reach them, don't know what's happening with your campaigns, or have to chase them for updates. Process and communication are what separate a partner from a vendor.

Clear onboarding process with defined timeline

They should be able to tell you exactly what happens from the day you sign to the day the first email goes out: milestones, deliverables, and your time commitment at each step.

Ask: "Walk me through your onboarding process. What does the timeline look like from signing to first email?"
Dedicated point of contact

You should know exactly who is managing your account. Not a rotating support inbox. A person you can reach directly who knows your business, your campaigns, and your goals.

Ask: "Who will be our day-to-day contact? Will they be dedicated to our account?"
Regular reporting cadence (weekly or bi-weekly)

You should receive consistent updates on campaign performance: emails sent, reply rates, meetings booked, what's working, what's being adjusted. Not just a monthly PDF with vanity metrics.

Ask: "How often do you report on campaign performance? What metrics are included?"
Responsive communication (Slack, email, or regular calls)

When you have a question or need something adjusted, the response shouldn't take days. Good agencies offer a direct communication channel with same-day or next-day response times.

Ask: "What's the best way to reach you? What's your typical response time?"
Campaign optimization and iteration (not set-and-forget)

Campaigns need ongoing adjustment. The agency should actively test new angles, refine targeting, adjust send volumes, and optimize based on data. If they launch and walk away, results will plateau or decline.

Ask: "How do you optimize campaigns after launch? How often do you test new approaches?"

Process Score 0 / 5

5 Pricing and Contract Terms

What you're paying for and what you're committing to.

Lead gen agency pricing varies wildly. Low prices usually mean shared infrastructure, scraped data, and template emails. High prices don't automatically mean quality. The questions below help you understand what you're actually paying for and whether the contract terms are fair.

Transparent pricing breakdown

You should know what your retainer covers: infrastructure, data, copywriting, management, tools. If they can't break it down, you can't evaluate whether the price is fair for what you're getting.

Ask: "Can you break down what's included in the retainer? What am I paying for specifically?"
Reasonable minimum commitment (3-4 months)

Cold email needs 60-90 days to optimize. Month 1 is setup and testing. Month 2 is optimization. Month 3 is consistent pipeline. A 3-month minimum is standard. Month-to-month means they're not confident in their own results. 6+ months with no out clause is a risk.

Ask: "What's the minimum commitment? What happens if we want to stop after the minimum?"
No hidden fees (setup, data, tools billed separately)

Some agencies quote a low retainer then charge extra for data, tools, inbox setup, or "premium" features. The total cost should be clear before you sign.

Ask: "Are there any additional costs beyond the retainer? Data, tools, setup fees?"
Clear deliverables (not vague promises)

The contract or proposal should specify what you receive: number of campaigns, email volume, reporting frequency, response handling. "We'll generate leads for you" is not a deliverable.

Ask: "What are the specific deliverables each month? What am I guaranteed to receive?"
You retain ownership of data and domains

The domains, inboxes, contact lists, and campaign data should be yours. If you leave, you should take everything with you. Some agencies hold your infrastructure hostage to prevent churn.

Ask: "If we stop working together, do we keep the domains, inboxes, and contact lists?"

Pricing Score 0 / 5

6 Results and Accountability

How they measure success, what they promise, and how they handle underperformance.

Every agency will tell you they get results. The difference is in how they define results, how they prove them, and what happens when campaigns underperform. This section helps you separate real accountability from marketing claims.

Realistic expectations set upfront

Good agencies tell you that month 1 is infrastructure and testing, month 2 is optimization, and month 3 is when consistent pipeline starts. If they promise immediate results from day one, they're either lying or have no idea how cold email works.

Ask: "What should we realistically expect in months 1, 2, and 3?"
Case studies or references available

They should have documented results from real clients. Not just "we booked X meetings" but the full context: starting point, industry, what was done, and the outcome. A reference call with a current client is even better.

Ask: "Can you share a case study with the full before/after? Can I speak to a current client?"
Defined KPIs (reply rate, positive reply rate, meetings booked)

They should measure and report on specific, meaningful metrics: emails sent, reply rate, positive reply rate, meetings booked, show-up rate. "Leads generated" without definition is meaningless.

Ask: "What KPIs do you track and report on? How do you define a 'lead' or 'qualified meeting'?"
Clear plan for underperformance

Not every campaign hits targets immediately. What matters is what the agency does when results are below expectations. They should have a clear optimization and pivot process, not just "let's give it more time."

Ask: "If results are below target after 60 days, what's your process for fixing it?"
No guaranteed meeting numbers

Any agency that guarantees "X meetings per month" is either lying or padding the number with unqualified conversations. Good agencies set realistic ranges based on your ICP, deal size, and market. They commit to the process, not a magic number.

Ask: "Do you guarantee a specific number of meetings? If so, how do you define 'meeting'?"

Results Score 0 / 5

! Red Flags to Watch For

Check the items that apply. Every checked item here is a warning sign.

These are the warning signs that show up most often with agencies that underdeliver. None of these are automatic deal-breakers on their own, but each one checked increases the risk. If 3 or more apply, proceed with extreme caution.

Pricing significantly below market rate ($500-1,000/mo)

Infrastructure alone (premium inboxes, data, tools, verification) costs money. When pricing is a fraction of the market, something is being cut: shared inboxes, scraped data, template scripts, or no human oversight.
Guaranteed meeting numbers ("We guarantee 15 meetings/month")

Cold email results depend on your ICP, deal size, market, and offer. Guaranteeing a specific number means they'll either pad with unqualified conversations or they're making promises they can't keep.
No interest in understanding your business or ICP

If the discovery call is mostly them pitching and they spend little time asking about your business, ICP, deal size, or current lead gen, they're planning to run the same playbook they run for everyone.
Can't explain their process in detail

When you ask how targeting, scripting, or infrastructure works and get vague answers ("we have a proprietary system," "our team handles it"), it usually means there's no real process.
No case studies, references, or proof of results

Every agency claims results. If they can't show a single documented case study or connect you with a current client, the claims are unverified.
Sending from your primary domain

If they want to send cold emails from your main business domain (the one your team uses for daily communication), your deliverability and reputation are directly at risk. This should never happen.
High-pressure close tactics ("limited spots," "price goes up tomorrow")

Urgency manufacturing is a sales tactic, not a sign of a good agency. A confident agency lets their process and results speak for themselves and gives you time to make a decision.
No onboarding period (campaigns "live in 48 hours")

Proper setup takes 2-3 weeks minimum: domain setup, inbox warm-up, ICP research, list building, script writing. If they claim to go live in days, they're skipping critical steps.

Red Flags Triggered 0 / 8