Nine questions that separate good agencies from expensive ones
Ask these nine. The answers are more revealing than the pitch deck.
Who does the work, specifically?
Ask for names and time allocations. Pitches are often led by senior people you will never work with again. There is nothing wrong with juniors doing execution — there is something wrong with not being told.
What do we own at the end?
Website code, analytics properties, ad accounts, domain, content and design source files should all be in your name. Agencies that hold accounts hostage are common enough that you should confirm this in writing before signing.
How do you report, and on what?
A good answer names business metrics and includes the bad months. A worrying answer is a dashboard of impressions and "average position". Ask to see a real client report with the numbers redacted.
What would you do in the first thirty days?
You are testing whether they have a process or improvise. Vague answers here predict vague delivery. It is also a reasonable free-ish sample of their thinking.
The remaining five
Do you guarantee rankings? (Nobody credible does.) Which of your case studies is closest to us, and what went wrong in it? How do you handle disagreement about strategy? What is your notice period? And who owns the relationship if my main contact leaves? If you are writing the brief they will respond to, start with how to brief a digital agency.
A 30-minute consultation and a written summary of what we would prioritise.
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