How to choose a LinkedIn lead generation agency.

What a LinkedIn lead generation agency actually does

Strip away the sales pages and the work is five jobs. An agency is worth its fee when it does all five well, every working day.

• Targeting. Deciding who is worth a message: the right company, the right role, and a reason to talk now.
• The list. Finding those people, checking the details and removing the ones who do not fit.
• The writing. Connection notes, InMail and follow-ups that sound like you and give the reader a reason to answer.
• The sending. Messages going out from a real profile at a steady pace. One LinkedIn account sends about 100 connection requests a week, so volume has to be planned.
• The replies. Answering fast, sorting interest from polite refusals, and handing you the people who want a conversation.

How LinkedIn lead generation agencies charge

There are three models, and each one rewards the agency for something different. Know which you are buying.

• A monthly retainer. A fixed fee for an agreed scope. Simple to budget, but you pay the same in a slow month, and many retainers come with a minimum term.
• A fee per meeting. You pay for each meeting booked. It ties the fee to an outcome, so read the definition of a qualified meeting closely and ask what happens when someone does not show.
• A flat price by volume. You pay for the number of prospects reached each month. Easy to compare and easy to scale up or down. You still need to judge the quality of the list and the writing.

LinkedNav uses the third: $597 a month for every 500 prospects reached, with no setup fee, no per-seat fee and no long contract. There is more on what each model includes on the LinkedIn lead generation cost page.

Ten questions to ask before you sign

These are the questions that separate a careful agency from a risky one. A good agency answers all ten without hesitation.

• Whose LinkedIn accounts do the messages come from?
• How many new people will you reach each month, and how do you count them?
• Where does the list come from, and can I see it before anything is sent?
• Who writes the messages, and do I approve them first?
• Who answers the replies, and how fast?
• What do I keep if we stop: the list, the copy, the conversations?
• What is the minimum term, and how do I cancel?
• Is there a setup fee, and are tools, data or LinkedIn subscriptions billed on top?
• What will the weekly report show?
• What do you do when an account reaches LinkedIn’s weekly invitation limit?

Signs of a weak agency

Most bad experiences with agencies come from the same few habits. Each of these is a reason to keep looking.

• One template sent to a list nobody checked.
• A number of meetings promised before they know who you sell to.
• No way for you to see the inbox or the messages sent in your name.
• Reports that count messages sent, not conversations started.
• No clear answer on what happens to your account when it reaches a limit. LinkedIn says an account that sends too many invitations can be restricted ¹.

What working with LinkedNav looks like

You choose how many prospects to reach each month. After one call about your buyer, your offer and your voice, our team builds the list and writes the sequences, and you approve the wording.

Then the outreach goes out from your own LinkedIn profile every working day. Replies are answered for you, the people who want to talk are passed to you, and a report arrives every week. The LinkedIn subscriptions needed to send are covered, so you do not buy a Sales Navigator membership. The full picture is on the how it works page.