The lead reactivation space has honest operators and reckless ones — and the reckless ones can damage your domain reputation, your data, and your brand in a single campaign. These ten questions separate them. We’ll tell you the answer you want to hear, the answer that should end the call — and, in fairness, exactly how Aldezard answers each one.

1. “Where does the data come from?”

Good answer: “Only your own, lawfully collected first-party data. We don’t touch purchased or scraped lists.” Walk away if: they offer to “supplement” your list with bought data, or get vague about sourcing. Purchased lists carry spam traps, legal exposure, and reputation damage that lands on your brand. (Aldezard: client-owned data only, full stop.)

2. “Will you send from my domain?”

Good answer: “Never. We send from separate, warmed sending domains, so your primary domain’s reputation is isolated and protected.” Walk away if: they want SMTP access to your main domain. One bad campaign on your primary domain can hurt your everyday business email — invoices, proposals, everything. (More in our deliverability guide.)

3. “What happens before the first email goes out?”

Good answer: a concrete checklist — list verification, opt-out suppression, segmentation, authentication setup (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), and a gradual volume ramp of roughly three weeks. Walk away if: they can launch “this week” on an unverified list. Speed to launch is how databases get burned. (Aldezard runs defined gates before any send — see How We Work.)

4. “Do you guarantee results?”

This one is a trap — for them. Good answer: “No. Results depend on your data quality, timing, and offer. A pilot exists to measure what your list can produce.” Walk away if: they guarantee appointments, revenue, or deliverability. Nobody controls another company’s data quality or the market; guarantees in this space are a sales tactic, not a promise anyone can keep. (Aldezard guarantees process and boundaries — never outcomes.)

5. “How do you charge?”

Three common models, each with incentives worth understanding:

• Monthly retainer — predictable, but you pay whether or not conversations happen.
• Commission / % of closed revenue — sounds aligned, but gives the vendor a claim on your closed deals, complicates your books, and in some industries (like real estate) collides with regulation.
• Flat fee / pay-per-outcome — you pay for defined deliverables or defined results (e.g., per qualified meeting).

Walk away if: pricing is opaque or they push commission on closed deals. (Aldezard is flat-fee and pay-per-meeting: pricing here — first qualified meeting free, then $200 per qualified meeting; never commission.)

6. “What exactly counts as a ‘qualified meeting’ or ‘lead’?”

Good answer: a written definition — e.g., a scheduled meeting with a decision-maker from your list who confirmed interest in the relevant service and showed up. Walk away if: the billable unit is undefined. Vague definitions are how “pay per result” becomes pay-per-anything.

7. “What channels do you use?”

Good answer: clearly stated channels and clearly stated exclusions. Be careful if: they cold-call or blast SMS to your consumer contacts “included free.” Texting and calling consumers involves separate, stricter consent rules — casual vendors create liability that attaches to you. (Aldezard is deliberately email-only: no cold calls, no consumer SMS.)

8. “What do you report on?”

Good answer: replies, meetings booked, opt-outs, complaints, and bounces — the numbers tied to revenue and list health. Walk away if: the reporting centerpiece is open rates, which privacy features now inflate by 25–35%. A vendor selling you open rates is selling you noise.

9. “Who handles the replies, and how fast?”

Reactivation succeeds or dies at the reply. Good answer: a defined routing process — replies triaged, tagged by interest, and handed to your team with context, fast. Walk away if: replies just pile into a shared inbox. Warm interest that waits two days is cold again.

10. “What will you refuse to do?”

The most revealing question on the list. Good answer: an immediate, specific list of boundaries. Walk away if: the answer is “we’re flexible” — a vendor with no red lines will eventually cross one with your brand attached. (Aldezard’s list: no purchased or scraped data, no cold calls, no consumer SMS from our infrastructure, no commission-only work, no guaranteed results, no touching your primary domain.)

The pattern behind all ten

Every good answer above is a form of the same thing: boundaries, defined terms, and protected assets. Vendors who volunteer their limits are vendors who’ve thought about your downside. In a category built on other people’s data, that’s the whole game.

Frequently asked questions

How much should lead reactivation cost?

Models range widely. As a reference point, Aldezard’s pilot is pay-per-outcome ($200 per qualified meeting, first free), standalone lost-lead analysis is $500 flat, and the full bundle is $2,500 flat + $350/month. Any model is fine — as long as the billable unit is defined in writing.

Should I test more than one vendor?

Not simultaneously on the same list — parallel campaigns to the same contacts destroy deliverability and the test itself. Pilot one vendor for 30 days, judge on replies and meetings, then decide.

What should I prepare before talking to any agency?

Your contact count, where the data came from, whether it’s exportable, whether you hold opt-out records, and who on your team will handle warm replies. Those five answers determine whether a pilot makes sense at all.

Want to hear our answers live? Book a 15-minute call — we’ll tell you honestly whether a pilot makes sense, including when it doesn’t.

Related reading: What is database reactivation? and The real cost of a dormant lead.