Questions to Ask a Lead Generation Company Before You Sign

Ask every lead generation company the same questions: who else gets this lead, how the call or lead is generated, what counts as billable, what happens when a lead is bad, and what you're locked into. Write down the answers. The vendors worth buying from answer plainly and put it on paper. This page is the question list; the quality and compliance guide covers the reasoning behind it.

This is general information for contractors, not legal advice. Check any contract and any compliance claim with an attorney before you rely on it.

How to use this list

Print it or paste it into your notes. Take it into the first sales call and leave the follow-up calls to the questions the vendor dodged. A good rep won't mind. A rep who gets vague on the same question twice has told you something.

Score each answer as clear, vague or refused. Clear answers with documentation behind them are what you want. If you're comparing several sources, the 15-point vendor audit goes deeper on due diligence once you've narrowed the field.

Questions about exclusivity

This is where the money is. A lead that goes to one contractor is a different product from a lead that goes to four.

• Who else receives this lead or call? The only acceptable answers are "nobody" or a specific, written number.
• Is the lead exclusive to me for my trade and my service area, or exclusive only for a time window? Some products are exclusive for a few minutes, then resold.
• If a homeowner requested quotes, did they name me or did they check a box for multiple companies? Consent and exclusivity are connected. See exclusive vs. shared leads for how the models differ.
• Can you show me the page or ad the homeowner saw before they called or submitted?

Marketplace models are often shared by design. Housecall Pro's overviews of Angi and Thumbtack both describe leads that can go to multiple contractors. That's a business model, not a scandal, but you should price it in. If you want the alternative, exclusive lead generation explains how single-buyer calls work.

Questions about where calls come from

You're paying for a phone to ring with a real homeowner on the other end. How it got to ring matters.

• What channels produce these calls? Search ads, local listings, direct mail, TV, affiliates, call centers? Ask for a plain list.
• Do you buy traffic from other publishers or affiliates, and do you control what they say in their ads?
• What does the homeowner see or hear before dialing? Ask to see the ad copy and landing pages.
• Do any calls come from outbound dialing, or are all of them inbound from homeowners who called on their own? For an inbound-only product, this should be a one-word answer.
• Are the calls from my service area, and how do you verify the caller's location?
• Do you use any call transfer from a call center or an IVR that pre-screens callers? Neither is automatically bad, but you should know.

A vendor who says "proprietary" to every sourcing question is asking you to trust without verifying. Read how to spot fake pay-per-call leads so you know what to look for in the logs once calls start.

Questions about what counts as billable

Billing definitions decide your actual cost. The wording can look similar between vendors and still produce very different invoices.

• What is the exact definition of a billable call? Get minimum call length, whether the call has to be answered by you, and whether the caller has to be in your service area.
• What's the minimum duration, and is it measured from ring or from answer? RankLocal's model, for reference, bills qualifying calls over 60 seconds. What is a billable call explains why length thresholds exist, and minimum call length for billable calls compares 30, 60 and 90 seconds.
• Do repeat callers get billed again? Ask about the repeat window and see duplicate caller filtering.
• Are wrong numbers, vendor sales calls, existing customers and job seekers billable?
• If I miss the call, do I still pay?
• Who measures call length, you or me? The answer should point to a call log you can see.

Questions about quality control and disputes

Every source sends some bad calls. What separates vendors is what happens next.

• What is your process when a call is a dud? Look for a written dispute policy with a stated window.
• How long do I have to dispute, and what proof do you need? Seven days with recordings is very different from 24 hours with a form.
• Do disputed calls get credited, refunded or replaced?
• Who decides whether a dispute is valid? Ideally it's rules-based, not discretion.
• Do I get call recordings and call logs, and for how long? If recordings exist, ask how the vendor handles consent notices. See pay-per-call dispute and credit policy explained.
• What do you do about fraud on your own network, and can you show an example of a source you cut?

For context, the FTC alleged that HomeAdvisor made unsubstantiated claims about lead quality and conversion, and the matter ended in $7.2 million in refunds, as Search Engine Journal reported. That's one reason to get quality promises in writing instead of trusting a slide.

Questions about compliance

You're not expected to be a telecom lawyer. You are expected to ask and write down what the vendor says.

• Are all calls inbound, or do you generate any leads through texts, forms or outbound dialing? The rules differ by channel.
• If any lead involves a form submission, how is consent captured, and can you show me the language? Background is in TCPA lead compliance.
• Do you record calls, and do callers hear a notice? Recording rules differ by state. Ask your attorney how they apply to you.
• Will you indemnify me if a lead you sold me creates a legal problem? Read the contract language yourself and have counsel read it too. A verbal "we're fully compliant" isn't a contract term.
• Do you screen for do-not-call registrations where that applies?

Don't accept "we handle compliance" as an answer. Ask what specifically they handle, then ask who bears the cost if it goes wrong.

Questions about the contract

• Is there a minimum monthly spend or minimum volume?
• Is there an auto-renewal clause, and how do I cancel?
• Can you change pricing or billing definitions mid-contract?
• What happens to my account if I dispute a lot of calls?
• Can I pause during slow seasons or when my crews are booked? Capacity limits are real; see multi-crew lead routing if you run more than one crew.
• What's the exit process, and is anything owed on exit?

Questions about fit for your trade

Trade matters. A storm-season roofer, a recurring-service pest company and a 24/7 plumber each need different things.

• Do you have calls in my exact trade and my ZIP codes today, or would you be building from scratch? See the trade pages for roofing, fence, landscaping, pest control and garage door.
• Do you verify contractor licensing, and do you expect me to? For why that matters, see contractor licensing and lead generation.
• What volume can you send, and can I cap it?
• How do you handle after-hours and emergency calls?

What to do with the answers

Put the answers in a simple grid, one column per vendor. Mark each answer clear, vague or refused. Then do the math in the cost-per-job guide, because a lower price per lead with shared delivery often loses to a higher price per call with one buyer. Run a small pilot with a spending cap before committing to anything long.

If you want to see how an exclusive, pay-per-qualifying-call model works in practice, read how pay per call works, then apply and put these same questions to RankLocal. Ask them hard.

Red flags during the call

• The rep dodges the exclusivity question or answers with "it depends."
• Pricing comes with pressure to sign today.
• Sample recordings are "not available."
• The dispute policy isn't written down.
• Results are quoted as guarantees with no definition.
• Contract terms in the email differ from what was said on the phone.

None of these alone proves bad intent. Together they tell you how the relationship will go when something breaks.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most important question to ask a lead generation company?

Ask who else receives the same lead or call. If the answer is anyone besides you, you're racing other contractors, and your real cost per job will be higher than the sticker price suggests.

Should I ask a lead vendor for sample recordings?

Yes. Ask for recordings or call logs from real calls in your trade and area, with caller details removed as needed. A vendor that can't show you what a typical call sounds like is asking you to buy blind.

What should be in writing before I buy leads?

Get the billable-call definition, the dispute and credit window, the exclusivity terms, cancellation terms and any minimum spend in writing. Verbal promises from a sales call are hard to enforce later.

Do I need a lawyer to review a lead vendor contract?

For anything with minimum commitments, auto-renewal or compliance promises, it's smart to have an attorney read it first. This page is general information, not legal advice.