How to Choose a Demand Generation Agency

1. How are they paid?

Start here, because compensation predicts behavior. A retainer pays for effort. A performance or revenue-share model pays for outcomes. Neither is automatically dishonest — but only one of them makes the agency's incentive identical to yours.

Ask what happens to their fee in a quarter where nothing works. The answer tells you who carries the risk in the relationship.

2. Whose numbers do they report?

Agency dashboards are built to make the agency look good. Insist on measurement from sources you control: your P&L for revenue, your CRM for pipeline, the ad platforms themselves for spend. If a partner resists being measured from your books, that resistance is the answer.

3. What happens to a lead after it's generated?

Most demand programs die in the handoff. Leads arrive faster than anyone works them, follow-up decays, and the channel gets blamed. Ask exactly how leads are qualified, routed, and worked — and what system guarantees no lead dies quietly in an inbox.

4. Who else do they serve in your category?

An agency running the same play for your competitor is selling your advantage twice. Category exclusivity isn't a luxury clause — it's the difference between a partner and a vendor with a conflict of interest.

5. What do you keep if it ends?

Customer lists and relationships should be yours, always. Beyond that, ask who owns the build — the campaigns, the automations, the systems. Know the answer before you sign, not when you part ways.