You are right.. quality.Well, it depends!
I dealt with few overseas designers before. They will either strictly follow your instruction without thinking or completely do the opposite.
We are going to these people because they are professionals. I would rather tell them what I like and let them come up with their own creative ideas.
Here are few questions Richard Feynman asked before talking on a graphic design job.
1) Describe **company name** in a single sentence.
2) List some key words/phrases you associate with **company name**
3) What is unique about **company name**?
4) Who would you describe as your competitors?
:
Etc... etc.. all the way to 8 questions.
You need answers to all these sort of questions to come up with a good logo.