How to vet a performance-based partner

First, decide whether you want shared risk at all

Performance pay is a trade: less certainty about cost in exchange for sharing the risk that the work doesn't pay off. Before vetting anyone, ask yourself:

• Would I rather know exactly what I'll spend each month?
• If results are excellent, am I comfortable that the partner earns more than a fixed fee would have paid?
• Can I commit time to regular reviews and decisions?

If certainty of cost matters most, a fixed-fee arrangement is often the better choice, and there's nothing second-rate about it. Our consulting options are published for exactly that reason.

Test 1: What do they say before seeing your numbers?

Be wary of anyone who quotes a revenue share, a minimum or a forecast before looking at your records. A fair structure depends on your margins, sales cycle and capacity. A partner who has a formula ready before they understand those is selling a product, not designing a partnership.

Good signs:

• They ask how you count new customers and where the records live.
• They ask about capacity: what happens if demand rises.
• They ask what has distorted your recent numbers.
• They tell you some businesses aren't a fit, and explain why.

Test 2: Can they show checkable evidence?

Ask for results with named clients and live websites, and read them sceptically. Useful questions:

• Which records were these results measured from?
• Over what period, and compared with what?
• Is the client in an industry like mine? If not, what about the method transfers?

Canada's Competition Bureau explains that false or misleading representations to promote a business interest are prohibited under the Competition Act. That doesn't make every exaggerated claim illegal, but it is a good reason to expect results presented accurately. We present our own published cases as results from our HVAC work, and the results page explains what they don't show.

Test 3: How will results be measured?

Insist on written definitions before any discussion of payment. For each result, the agreement or its schedule should state:

1. the name of the measure
2. the precise definition, including exclusions
3. the system and report it comes from
4. which month a result is counted in
5. the baseline it is compared against

If the partner proposes measuring results in their own tool, ask why your records can't be used. Results should be read from systems you control. Our guide to building a trustworthy baseline explains how to set the comparison fairly.

Test 4: Who owns what?

Everything created during the partnership should belong to your business unless you knowingly agree otherwise. Check the agreement for:

• website and domain ownership
• ad accounts, analytics and tag manager accounts in your name
• customer lists and enquiry records
• content, images and copy produced during the work
• what happens to all of the above if the arrangement ends

A partner who needs to hold your accounts hostage to be paid has designed the arrangement badly.

Test 5: How does it end?

A good agreement makes ending as clear as starting. Look for:

• the term and any renewal process
• notice periods for either side
• how payments are calculated for results that arrive after the end, if at all
• how access to accounts and data is handed back

Ask the partner to walk you through an ending scenario: "Suppose after six months the numbers haven't moved. What happens?" A confident, specific answer is a good sign.

Test 6: Are your legal obligations covered?

A partner working on your growth may handle customer data and send marketing messages on your behalf, and those carry legal duties. Two federal frameworks are worth knowing about:

• Privacy. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner explains that PIPEDA covers private-sector organisations in most of Canada, while Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have their own private-sector laws deemed substantially similar. Share only the data the work needs.
• Commercial messages. Canada's anti-spam legislation requires consent before sending commercial electronic messages; ISED's consent guide explains the basics. Any email or text campaign run in a partnership should respect it.

We summarise these so you know they exist; we don't give compliance or legal advice. Ask your lawyer how they apply to your business. The regional pages note which privacy regime applies in each province and territory.

Warning signs, in one list

• A payment formula offered before measurement is discussed.
• Promised outcomes, or forecasts presented as certainties.
• Results measured only in the partner's own tools.
• Accounts or domains registered in the partner's name.
• No clear way to end the arrangement.
• Pressure to sign quickly, or reluctance to let your lawyer review the agreement.
• Vague answers about who will actually do the work.

Questions to ask in the first conversation

A short script helps keep the first call honest. You might ask:

1. "What would you need to see before suggesting any payment structure?"
2. "Which of my records would you use to measure results, and why?"
3. "Tell me about a business you turned down, and why it wasn't a fit."
4. "What happens if my capacity runs out before the results arrive?"
5. "Who will actually do the work week to week?"
6. "How would you suggest we end this if it isn't working?"

Listen for specific answers. Vague reassurance in reply to question 3 or 6 is a warning sign on its own.

Applying the checklist to us

We'd rather be tested than trusted. Our Growth Partner Program is performance-based: Ali Sedighi invests his time upfront and is paid on measurable results, with every specific term agreed case by case in a written agreement. We don't publish a formula, we don't promise outcomes, and we expect your lawyer to read the agreement. Ask us any question on this page through the contact page.