Ten questions that reveal what an agency is really like
Every agency pitch sounds similar because the pitch is a rehearsed artefact. These ten questions are not, and the answers tell you far more than the deck does.
Questions about measurement
One. What number will you report to me, and how is it calculated? If the answer is impressions, engagement or cost per lead rather than cost per booked customer, you are being sold activity.
Two. How will you reconcile what the platforms claim against what my CRM shows? A good answer describes a monthly process. A poor answer explains why the platform figure is reliable.
Three. What will your reporting not be able to see? Every attribution setup has blind spots. An agency that cannot name its own is either inexperienced or not being straight with you.
Questions about scope
Four. If the problem turns out to be my website or my follow-up rather than my ads, what happens? Many agencies are contracted for one channel and have no mandate to touch anything else, which means the most valuable fix in your business may never be mentioned.
Five. Who owns the ad accounts, the tracking and the creative when we part ways? The correct answer is you. Anything else is a retention mechanism dressed as an operational detail.
Ask who owns stage five of your customer journey. Most agencies have never been asked and do not have an answer.
Questions about the work
Six. What did you change for a client like me last month, specifically? Vague answers usually mean the account is on autopilot. You want to hear about a test, a hypothesis, and a result.
Seven. Show me a test that failed. This is the single most revealing question on the list. An agency with a real testing practice will have plenty and will discuss them without defensiveness. One that only presents wins is showing you a selection rather than a method.
Eight. Who will actually do the work, and will I ever speak to them? Pitches are often run by senior people and the account delivered by someone considerably more junior. That can be fine, but you should know before you sign, not after.
Questions about the relationship
Nine. What are your contract terms, and what happens if it is not working after three months? Month-to-month terms signal confidence. A twelve-month lock-in tells you what the agency expects the results conversation to be like.
Ten. When would you tell me not to hire you? Everyone claims to be honest. This question forces a specific answer, and the specificity is the signal. An agency that has genuinely turned work away can describe exactly the circumstances.
What the answers tell you
You are not looking for perfect responses. You are looking for whether the agency thinks in terms of your customers and your margin, or in terms of the channel it happens to sell. The first kind will occasionally tell you to spend less. The second never will.
And if an agency cannot answer question seven, ask it again at the end of the meeting. How someone handles being asked twice about failure is usually the most useful thing you will learn all hour.