Define The Product You Are Buying
A click, an inquiry, a connected call and an appointment are different deliverables. Write down the source types, intended audience, geography, exclusivity terms and any screening the vendor claims to perform. Ask how the consumer is told who operates the page and who may contact them.
Make acceptance, rejection and credit rules operationally usable. A duplicate rule needs a defined window and matching method. A connected-call requirement needs an agreed event, not a vague description. The staff member reviewing an invoice should be able to apply the terms to a real record.
Inspect The Journey Behind The Report
Review representative ads, landing pages, forms and scripts, including any downstream suppliers the vendor is authorized to use. Check whether the audience is being promised the same service the firm actually offers. Preserve campaign versions so later questions can be tied to what was published at the time.
The ABA’s Model Rule 7.2 commentary distinguishes advertising and lead generation from recommendations and identifies related professional-responsibility concerns. It is a starting reference for the firm’s jurisdiction-specific review. A supplier’s assurance that its program is compliant should not replace the firm’s own assessment.
Reconcile Delivery And Outcomes Together
Compare vendor delivery records with received CRM entries and invoices. Then separate relevant inquiries, contact attempts, completed conversations, professional reviews and accepted engagements. Where a delivery failed, identify whether it was retried, rejected or silently lost.
Illustrative scenario: a vendor bills for inquiries sent to an endpoint that returned an error. Its dashboard counts attempts, while the firm counts received records. Agreeing on delivery evidence and a failure-recovery process resolves a different problem from negotiating the price of a valid inquiry.
Keep The Relationship Reviewable
Agree who owns advertising accounts, creative files, tracking numbers, reporting exports and necessary access when the engagement ends. Document change approval, complaint handling and the conditions that pause a campaign. Those decisions are easier to make before there is an urgent disagreement.
VG can help connect supplier terms with intake evidence and business goals. A useful first review produces a short list of measurable commitments and a shared issue log. It should also identify the firm-side constraints the supplier cannot fix, such as insufficient review capacity or an unowned callback queue.
Sources And Further Reading
- ABA Model Rule 7.2, Comment: Advertising And Recommendations · Checked 2026-10-21
These sources provide context. Requirements depend on the actual activity and applicable jurisdiction. Business-process guidance does not replace professional advice.