Can we set company size criteria and not pay if prospects don't qualify?
- Cormac Repman
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Yes, you set the qualification criteria, and we only charge when prospects meet your requirements. If someone doesn't qualify, there's no payment due. Even better: if an unqualified prospect becomes a customer, the payment is still optional—you can reward the SDR if you choose to, but you're not obligated.
How the Qualification Framework Works
We start by defining exactly what "qualified" means for your business. Most companies land on clear metrics: minimum company size, annual revenue, geographic location, or industry fit. For example, if you decide 300+ employees is your floor, that's our north star. We brief our team, document the criteria in your agreement, and hold ourselves accountable to it.
Here's where most pay-per-meeting models fall short: they push unqualified leads through to hit commission targets. We don't do that. We qualify for your business, not for our revenue. If a prospect has 280 employees and doesn't fit your profile, that lead doesn't go to your sales team. You don't pay us. Simple.
The "Closed a Deal with Someone Unqualified" Scenario
This happens. You set the criteria to exclude companies under 500 employees by design, maybe because your product has high implementation overhead. An unqualified prospect gets through—maybe we missed something in our research, or their headcount changed. Your sales team builds the relationship, and suddenly it's a $500K deal.
In that case, we'd never argue you owe us anything. You already got value. But you might want to acknowledge the SDR's work anyway. We've seen companies send a $1,500 or $2,500 bonus to the team member who originated the conversation. It's optional, but it's the kind of gesture that builds loyalty with partners. If you don't want to, you won't hear a complaint from us.
What Qualifications Actually Look Like
The most common criteria we see include:
Company size: Typically $10M to $100M+ in annual revenue, or 50 to 500+ employees depending on your market.
Industry: Maybe you only serve healthcare, financial services, or SaaS. We'll skip everyone else.
Geography: If you're not ready to support Europe, we don't book European prospects.
Decision-maker level: Some clients want only C-suite or VPs. Others are fine with directors who have budget authority.
Tech stack or use case: Some businesses need prospects already using specific tools or facing specific problems.
We document all of this upfront. Every qualified lead we deliver has been vetted against your exact criteria. You'll see notes in the meeting summary so you can verify we got it right.
The Accountability Piece
Here's what we guarantee: if you feel we've sent unqualified leads and we're missing criteria, we talk about it. If the pattern is real, we adjust our research, bring in more senior researchers, or refine the criteria together. We have enough confidence in our process that we're willing to have the conversation.
But we're also realistic about edge cases. Market conditions change. A prospect tells you they're going through a restructuring. A company you were excited about loses a key customer. These things happen after we've already delivered the introduction. We can't predict every business outcome, but we can control the research.
Your Protection
By setting specific qualification criteria and documenting them in your agreement, you protect yourself completely. No criteria met, no payment owed. It's that direct. We've worked with companies that rejected 30% of leads they initially didn't think matched their profile. That's fine. It means your bar is high, and we respect that.
The goal isn't to max out our payments. It's to send you people worth your time.
Want to talk about what qualification looks like for your business? Book a time with us.
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