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Prospecting software contracts: twelve questions before you sign
Twelve questions to put to a prospecting software vendor on seats, credits, overage, renewal, data export and processor terms before you sign.
What to take away
- Every prospecting software billing shape commits you to something: a seat count, a credit expiry, a contract floor or a reseller's terms.
- Seats cost the same whether busy or dormant, so they suit steady headcount.
- Credits follow activity, but unused credits can expire; the worked quote below assumes a 90-day expiry.
- Enriched records and data terms decide how easy it is to leave, whatever the price.
What each billing shape locks you into
A billing shape is a commitment as much as a price. When reviewing a prospecting software contract, distinguish between four commercial shapes: per-seat subscriptions, prepaid credits, annual platform contracts, and reseller or marketplace arrangements. Each commits the buyer to something different.
Four billing shapes compared
Per-seat
- Cost driver
- Named users
- Risk holder
- Buyer
- Best for
- Steady headcount
- Watch out for
- Dormant seats
Credit packs
- Cost driver
- Activity
- Risk holder
- Vendor
- Best for
- Lumpy campaigns
- Watch out for
- Expiring credits
Annual contract
- Cost driver
- Floor plus usage
- Risk holder
- Shared
- Best for
- Committed teams
- Watch out for
- Overage charges
Reseller
- Cost driver
- Partner margin
- Risk holder
- Shared
- Best for
- Simple procurement
- Watch out for
- Pass-through terms
| Shape | What it ties you to | Where the risk lands |
|---|---|---|
| Per-seat subscription | Named users | You pay whether a seat is busy or dormant |
| Prepaid credits | Activity | Unused credits can expire |
| Annual platform contract | A floor plus a usage allowance | Overage charges beyond the allowance |
| Reseller or marketplace | A partner's margin | Support and data terms pass through the reseller |
Many vendors blend a seat licence with a credit allowance, so your commitment may be a mix. Read the pricing page for the floor rather than the headline rate, and ask which part of the bill is fixed for the whole term.
Reseller and marketplace deals add a partner margin. The vendor's side of that arrangement is set out in selling software or selling data. The buyer's side is simpler: support and data terms often pass through the reseller rather than the vendor, so ask who answers when something breaks.
Reading a twelve-month term
An annual contract is a forecast you sign. Annual contracts normally combine a floor with a usage allowance: the floor buys a lower unit rate, and the allowance sets where overage charges begin. A plan that proves wrong is paid for either way, so check the exit terms first.
The ONS business services data offers broad output context, but it cannot tell you how many seats your team needs or what a vendor will charge. Base the forecast for an annual floor on your own hiring and activity plan.
Credit packs carry a different commitment. Cost follows activity, so a team can research hard for two weeks and then work the list for a month without buying more seats. The catch is expiry, which the worked example below shows, and it belongs in any budget model.
Costs that sit outside the commitment
The licence is rarely the whole bill, and the extras carry their own commitments. Contact data, enrichment, verification and email sending are often separate line items or separate suppliers, which may carry their own terms. Total them before you compare vendors.
Costs beyond the licence
- Contact data
- Enrichment
- Verification
- Email sending
- Separate suppliers
- Add up before comparing
A cheap seat with expensive enrichment can cost more than a premium seat with data included, so compare totals rather than headline rates. Paid social is another acquisition channel, not a prospecting-software billing shape. If you also use LinkedIn Campaign Manager, keep its audiences and lead forms separate from the software commitment.
Illustrative ten-seat quotes and their lock-ins
Two illustrative quotes for the same ten-seat team commit it in different ways. Quote A charges £95 per seat per month on a twelve-month term, so £950 a month and £11,400 for the year. Data is billed separately at roughly £200 a month in this example.
Neither quote is a real vendor's price list. Quote B charges £300 a month for the platform plus £0.80 per enriched contact. The team enriches 1,200 contacts a month, so usage costs £960. That brings the total to £1,260 a month, or £15,120 a year, and unused credits expire after 90 days.
Quote A looks cheaper across the year, but it ties the team to twelve months of seats. Quote B costs far less in a quiet month, which matters if prospecting pauses during a hiring freeze, though the 90-day expiry caps how long spare credits stay useful. Run both against twelve months of your own forecast.
What leaves with you when the contract ends
The contract, rather than the pricing model, decides who owns your data. Prospect records are personal data, and the vendor is usually a processor acting on your instructions. That matters at renewal and at exit, when records have to be returned or removed.
UK GDPR expects a written contract with any processor. You also need to answer access, erasure and objection requests across every tool holding the record. The ICO guide to individual rights explains those duties plainly. A vendor that cannot show where a record sits in its product makes that harder, so ask before signing, not after.
Where the supplier is your processor, ask for a data processing agreement (DPA), whether standalone or part of the main contract. Check it against the ICO's ‘Contracts and liabilities between controllers and processors’ guidance, including instructions, security, assistance with rights requests, and return or deletion at exit.
Some models treat enrichment as a service output rather than your data, so test the terms with the same care as the price. A vendor security audit shows what the supplier can evidence. Put these twelve questions to every vendor in writing, and keep the answers with the contract:
- Which part of the bill is fixed for the whole term?
- What is the per-seat rate, and how are seats counted?
- What credit pack is included, and how is each action charged?
- Do unused credits expire, and after how long? Can they roll over?
- What is the overage rate, and when does it apply?
- What platform minimum or annual floor applies?
- What is the minimum term, and how does renewal pricing change?
- Can we reduce the seat count during the term?
- Can we export enriched records when the contract ends, and in what format?
- Do enriched records count as our data or as the vendor's service output?
- How long are records kept after termination?
- If a reseller is involved, who owns support and data terms?
Common questions
Which shape suits a quiet hiring period?
The examples suggest credits can cost less in a quiet month when usage falls, but Quote B is illustrative, not a real provider offer. Its 90-day expiry is an assumption in the worked quote, not a published vendor policy; seats continue billing during the pause in the twelve-month example.
Who handles erasure requests when a vendor holds the data?
You answer access, erasure and objection requests across every tool holding the record, and the vendor is usually a processor acting on your instructions. Ask how the vendor will help you act on a request, and get the answer in writing before you sign the contract.
Who supports the product if we buy through a reseller?
Support and data terms often pass through the reseller rather than the vendor. Ask in writing which party answers support requests and which party's data terms apply, because a partner margin can simplify procurement while adding a step between you and the vendor.
