What an agency should understand before making a proposal
A sound proposal does not begin with a price per lead. The agency should first establish who you sell to, what problem the buyer is solving, who takes part in the decision and what happens after initial interest. If you say, “we sell IT services to every company,” and are immediately promised meetings, you are being sold a template rather than a working hypothesis.
Ask the agency to show how it will turn your product description into a testable campaign hypothesis. For example, if you reduce maintenance costs, it should ask which assets are involved, what the current process looks like and who feels the problem first. Only then does it make sense to discuss <a href="/en/services/lead-list-building/">target-account research and list building</a> and the first outreach.
- The agency asks for examples of won and lost deals.
- The brief defines target-company criteria and contact roles, not only an industry.
- Both sides agree who will review disputed leads and answer product questions.
- There is a clear reason why the recipient should begin a conversation.
How to tell whether you are buying a process, not a list
Outreach has several connected parts: selecting companies, validating contacts, preparing messages, reaching inboxes, handling replies and routing conversations to sales. A polished message cannot correct a wrong target list, and a valid email address does not prove company interest. Ask for an explanation of the handoffs between stages, not a one-line list of services.
| Question | Weak answer | Working answer |
|---|---|---|
| Which companies will you include? | We will build a broad industry list. | We will define company signals and contact roles, then agree the sample. |
| What happens when someone asks for more information? | We will pass over the lead. | We will classify the reply, retain the context and agree the next step. |
| How will we know the hypothesis is not working? | We will optimise it. | We will show which part of the route is not producing relevant interest and what changes. |
Check the boundary of responsibility as well. The agency is responsible for the quality of outbound work and recording the response; your team is responsible for the speed and quality of the follow-up conversation. In Russia and the CIS, where decision-makers often read their own email and Telegram is a working business channel, losing the original context can end a promising dialogue. Set this handover up through <a href="/en/services/crm-integration/">CRM integration for outreach leads</a>.
What to look for in the contract
The contract comes down to definitions and evidence. “Interested contact” is not useful unless it states what message qualifies as interest, who confirms that the company fits the target profile and how the conversation is handed over.
- Define the campaign scope: segment, product hypothesis, channels and the action expected from a recipient.
- Define a lead through an observable fact: a request for details, a proposal, commercial terms or a substantive conversation.
- State grounds for rejecting a lead: off-target profile, duplicate, contact outside the agreed segment or no sign of interest.
- Agree the reporting format: companies worked, reply statuses, conversations handed over and decisions on adjustments.
- Separate access and materials: what remains with you after the engagement and what belongs to the agency’s internal operating infrastructure.
Do not accept a performance guarantee without a definition of performance. A promise of “any number of leads” often turns a neutral reply or an accidental contact into a billable unit.
Compare the wording with the agency’s public explanation of <a href="/en/guarantees/">what counts as a lead</a>. If the sales call, contract and report use different terms, agree one version before the campaign starts.
How to accept the first wave without chasing vanity metrics
Acceptance starts before the campaign ends. Before launch, agree who reviews message examples, approves the company list and receives replies. You do not need access to the agency’s operating setup; you need to see that recipients have a relevant reason to engage and that replies do not disappear between the agency and your sales team.
A common error is accepting a campaign by the number of emails sent. The report shows volume, but many replies say “wrong person” or “send it to the general inbox.” A commercial director may count these as leads while sales sees them as noise. Agree in advance that such a reply may confirm a human received the message, but it does not prove interest or readiness for a meeting.
- Review several real anonymised conversations, not only a summary dashboard.
- Check that the replying company matches the agreed target profile.
- Confirm that sales has the initial context and a reason to continue the conversation.
- Record every adjustment: what changed and why.
For regular review, define the required reporting fields before launch. A report should help you make a decision, not merely create an impression of control.
When agency-led outreach is not for you
Do not start if you cannot explain the customer problem you solve or who should receive that message. Outreach will not fix a product bought only through formal tenders, replace deep technical expertise or create demand when your company lacks the capacity to reply to interest.
It is also the wrong format if you expect an agency to close the sale without your team, or if you are willing to count every reply as a lead. Complex sales need someone on your side to clarify the task quickly, run the meeting and continue the dialogue. If your initial hypothesis is uncertain, first <a href="/en/cases/test-b2b-icp/">test your B2B ICP before hiring sales</a>.
We prepare and run the outbound function, from testing the hypothesis to handling replies. Across our campaigns, 48,100 companies have replied to an outreach touchpoint; this is not a promise for your campaign, but a reason to qualify every reply carefully. See <a href="/en/services/full-service-outreach/">full-service B2B outreach for Russia and the CIS</a> for the scope of work.