By Zivko Dodovski, Founder & CEO, DoneMaker · Updated September 2026
Choosing a B2B lead generation agency comes down to four things: what you actually receive, who does the work and whether it’s a person or software, how they define a lead, and whether they can prove it with clients like you. Everything else — pricing, reporting, industry fit — is a way of checking those four. The ten questions below do the checking.
Before you talk to anyone
Write down three things. Who you want to reach — role, company size, industry, geography. What you want to land on your calendar — a list to work yourself, inbound enquiries, or booked calls with people who already showed interest. And who on your side will take those calls within a day or two of them being booked. If the honest answer to the last one is “nobody,” no agency will fix that, and it’s cheaper to find out now.
If you’re still unsure which category you’re shopping in, lead generation vs sales development vs business development sorts it out in a few minutes.
The ten questions
1. What exactly do I receive? A list of contacts, inbound leads from ads and content, or booked calls? These are three different services at three different prices, and agencies use the same words for all of them. Make them say it plainly.
2. Who does the outreach — a person or software? Automation tools send thousands of identical messages and put your LinkedIn account at risk of restriction. A person sends fewer messages, each one written for the prospect. Ask which, and ask to see the tool if the answer is software.
3. How do you define a lead? The single most important question. If a “lead” is a name that matches your profile, you’ll be doing the sales development yourself. If a lead is someone who replied, asked a question, or booked, you’re getting something you can act on. Get the definition in writing.
4. Who works on my account, and how many accounts do they run? A named person or a shared pool? Someone running five accounts or fifty? You’ll get what their workload allows.
5. Do you have clients in my industry? Not because the playbook changes much between industries, but because an agency that has booked calls for accounting firms knows which objections CFOs raise, and one that hasn’t will spend your first month learning. Ask for case studies in your category, not a logo wall.
6. Can I see the messaging before I sign? A good agency will show you real sequences from real campaigns, or draft an opening message for your business as part of the proposal. A template with your company name swapped in is a warning sign at proposal stage; it won’t improve after signing.
7. What will I see every week? Ask for the actual report they send clients. It should show the numbers that lead to a booked call — connections made, conversations started, prospects who showed interest, calls booked — not vanity metrics or a dashboard of activity.
8. How is it priced, and what’s extra? Flat monthly, per lead, per meeting, or performance-based. Each has a catch: per-lead pricing rewards volume over fit; performance pricing tends to come with a large base fee; flat monthly only works if the agency can show you the numbers behind it. Ask what’s included — Sales Navigator, list building, follow-up — and what isn’t.
9. What happens when it isn’t working? Every campaign hits a flat month. Ask what they change first — targeting, messaging, or the offer — and how quickly. Ask about contract length and what it takes to pause. An agency confident in its process doesn’t need a twelve-month lock-in.
10. Can I talk to a client? Case studies are the agency’s version. A ten-minute call with a current client is the client’s version. Any agency that’s been around a few years has clients who will take that call.
Weak answers vs strong answers
| Question | Weak answer | Strong answer |
|---|---|---|
| What do I receive? | “Qualified leads” | “Booked calls with prospects who replied and showed interest, plus the full conversation” |
| Person or software? | “We use best-in-class tools” | “A named outreach specialist sends every message by hand” |
| How do you define a lead? | “Matches your ICP” | “A prospect who asked a question, opened an email exchange, or booked a call” |
| Who runs my account? | “Our team” | “A strategist, an account manager, and a specialist — here are their names” |
| Weekly reporting? | “Full dashboard access” | “Here’s last week’s report for a client like you” |
| Pricing? | “Depends on volume” | “Flat monthly fee, here’s what’s included, here’s what isn’t” |
| Not working? | “We’ll optimize” | “We change targeting first, then messaging; after the initial term you can pause any month” |
| References? | “See our case studies” | “Here are case studies in your industry, with names” |
How DoneMaker answers these
You receive booked calls, handed off with the full LinkedIn conversation. Every message is sent by a person; no automation tools, no bulk sending. A lead is what we call a deal opportunity — a prospect who asks questions, opens an email exchange, or books a call. Each account gets a strategist, an account manager you talk to every week, and an outreach specialist who runs a small number of accounts, not dozens. We work almost entirely with accounting and bookkeeping firms, agencies, coaches and consultants, and B2B services with relationship-driven sales — the case studies for Jones & Lamb, an accounting firm, and J Baker Media, a social media agency, are what that looks like. Pricing is flat monthly. The full service is on the LinkedIn organic outreach page.
DoneMaker by the numbers
As of September 2026:
- Running manual LinkedIn outreach since 2018
- 58+ active client accounts, US and Canada
- 25–30% average connection rate
- 7–11 deal opportunities per account per month
- 4–5 booked calls per account per month
- Clients: accounting, bookkeeping and CFO firms; digital, marketing and advertising agencies; coaches and consultants; B2B services with relationship-driven sales
A deal opportunity is a prospect who expresses clear interest — asks questions, opens an email exchange, or books a call.
When not to hire an agency
If you sell something transactional that closes from a web page, if you already have a sales team with capacity to prospect, or if the sale doesn’t happen in a conversation, an agency is the wrong purchase. And if the plan is to build an in-house SDR function eventually, the honest question is whether the agency is a bridge or a substitute — what a sales development agency does covers where that line sits.
Frequently asked questions
What does a B2B lead generation agency actually do?
It finds people who match your ideal customer, contacts them, and — depending on the agency — either hands you the list or works it through to qualified conversations and booked calls. Which of those you’re buying is the first thing to establish.
How do I know if an agency is a fit for my business?
Ask questions 1, 3, and 5 above. If the deliverable is what you need, the definition of a lead matches your definition, and they’ve done it for businesses like yours, you’re most of the way there. Then check the reference.
What should I ask in the first call?
The ten questions above, in that order. The first three tell you whether to keep talking.
How do agencies keep up with LinkedIn changes?
The ones sending by hand mostly don’t have to — connection limits, message limits, and detection of automation all target software behaviour, not people. Ask an agency what changed on the platform in the last year and how it affected their campaigns. If the answer is “nothing,” ask how they’d know.
Want the answers to all ten from us? Book a call — 20 minutes, and we’ll tell you honestly whether LinkedIn outreach fits your business, including if the answer is that you don’t need an agency at all.
