Choosing the wrong SDR agency costs more than the retainer. Bad meetings waste AE time, damage your brand, and delay real pipeline by months.
The discovery process is your chance to separate quality providers from those who overpromise and underdeliver. These 12 questions cut through marketing pitches and reveal operational reality.
TLDR: The Questions That Matter Most
Before hiring an SDR agency, ask about team location, qualification criteria, pricing transparency, and how they handle underperformance. The answers reveal whether they will book meetings that convert or deliver activity that wastes your AEs' time.
Questions About Their Team
Question 1: Where are your SDRs located?
Why it matters: Location affects accent familiarity, timezone coverage, and market understanding. Offshore teams cost less but often underperform in local markets.
What to listen for: Direct answers with specific locations. Vague responses like "we have global coverage" often mean offshore execution.
Red flag: Resistance to answering or claims that location "doesn't matter."
Question 2: Are your SDRs employees or contractors?
Why it matters: Employees typically receive more training, coaching, and accountability. Contractor models often mean higher turnover.
What to listen for: Clear employment structure. Ask about tenure.
Red flag: High turnover (under 12 months average) signals training and management problems.
Question 3: Who will manage my account day-to-day?
Why it matters: Your experience depends on the campaign manager. Overloaded managers cannot provide attention your campaigns need.
What to listen for: Specific names and role descriptions. Ask how many accounts each manager handles.
Red flag: Managers with 15+ accounts cannot provide meaningful oversight.
Questions About Qualification
Question 4: How do you define a qualified meeting?
Why it matters: A "meeting" means nothing without qualification criteria. Some agencies book anyone who agrees to a call.
What to listen for: Specific criteria aligned with your sales process.
Red flag: Vague definitions like "anyone who expresses interest."
Question 5: What happens if a meeting is clearly unqualified?
Why it matters: Even good agencies occasionally book marginal meetings. What matters is how they handle it.
What to listen for: Policies for crediting or replacing bad meetings.
Red flag: No make-good policy or denial that bad meetings ever occur.
Question 6: Can you share call recordings or meeting samples?
Why it matters: Hearing actual conversations reveals more than any pitch deck.
What to listen for: Willingness to share and pride in their work.
Red flag: Refusal to share samples.
Questions About Process
Question 7: What channels do you use and how do they integrate?
Why it matters: Multi-channel outreach outperforms single-channel. But channel integration matters.
What to listen for: Specific workflow descriptions: email warms, phone converts, LinkedIn supports.
Red flag: Claims of "multi-channel" that are actually parallel independent efforts.
Question 8: How do you handle messaging development?
Why it matters: Generic scripts fail. Effective outreach requires understanding your value proposition.
What to listen for: Structured discovery process, willingness to iterate.
Red flag: Agencies that want to start calling immediately without understanding your business.
Question 9: What does your reporting include?
Why it matters: You cannot improve what you cannot measure.
What to listen for: Activity metrics, outcome metrics, and quality indicators (show rate, meeting-to-opportunity rate).
Red flag: Reporting limited to activity only.
Questions About Economics
Question 10: What are all the costs involved?
Why it matters: Headline retainers often exclude setup fees, data costs, or technology fees.
What to listen for: Complete pricing breakdown.
Red flag: Prices that change after initial discussion.
Question 11: What are your contract terms and exit provisions?
Why it matters: Long lock-in periods with poor performance create painful situations.
What to listen for: 3 to 6 month initial terms with month-to-month renewal.
Red flag: 12+ month commitments with no exit clause.
Question 12: What results should I expect and when?
Why it matters: Agencies that overpromise and underdeliver damage your business.
What to listen for: Specific meeting ranges, realistic ramp timelines (6 to 8 weeks to steady state).
Red flag: Guaranteed meeting numbers, especially high ones.
Scoring Framework
For each question, score 0 to 2:
- 0 = Red flag or inadequate answer
- 1 = Acceptable but not impressive
- 2 = Strong, confidence-building answer
Score interpretation:
| Score | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| 20 to 24 | Strong candidate, proceed to proposal |
| 15 to 19 | Potential, but dig deeper on weak areas |
| 10 to 14 | Significant concerns, consider alternatives |
| Under 10 | Do not engage |
What Nousu's Answers Look Like
At Nousu, here is how we answer these questions:
- Location: 100% Australian team. No offshore execution.
- Qualification: We agree on specific criteria during onboarding and do not book meetings that fail those standards.
- Reporting: Weekly reports with calls, conversations, meetings, and feedback on what is resonating.
- Pricing: Clear packages starting at $6,000/month. Setup fee of $1,000. No hidden costs.
- Contract: 3 month minimum, then month-to-month. 30 day notice.
- Expectations: We set realistic ranges based on your market and ICP, not magic numbers.
Book a Call to ask us these questions directly.
Related Resources
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