17 questions to ask before hiring a trades marketing agency

Before the call: three questions for yourself

Agencies cannot answer these, and you should not get on a call until you can.

1. How many more jobs a month would change my business? Not 'as many as possible'. A number. Two extra bathroom fits a month is a different brief from twenty extra emergency callouts.

2. What is a new customer worth to me over a year? A heating engineer who sells a boiler and then a service plan has a very different ceiling on what a lead is worth than a decorator doing one-off rooms.

3. Can I actually take on more work? If the answer is no until you hire, the right first purchase might be a website and review system rather than ads. Our decision guide on whether you need an agency at all works through this.

Opening the call: understanding who you are dealing with

4. Who will actually work on my account, and how many other clients do they handle? You are often sold by a founder and then handed to a junior. Ask for a name. Ask how many accounts that person runs. Over thirty and you are a line in a spreadsheet.

5. How many clients do you have in my trade, and do you work with anyone else in my area? Some agencies offer area exclusivity, some do not, and some will happily run ads for you and your nearest competitor against the same searches. You need to know which.

6. What do you not do? A confident specialist answers this immediately. 'We don't do social media, we don't build websites, we run Google Ads for roofers.' A firm that claims to do everything equally well is usually doing several things adequately.

Money: six questions about what you will pay

7. What is the total monthly cost including everything, and what is extra? Get management fee, ad spend, software, call tracking, hosting and any 'platform' fee itemised. Then ask what else could appear on an invoice.

8. Is your fee fixed, or does it move with my ad spend? A percentage-of-spend fee means the agency earns more when you spend more, regardless of results. There are honest firms on both models, but you should know which you are buying. We set out the arguments in fixed fee or percentage of ad spend.

9. Is there a setup fee, and what does it pay for? Setup fees are sometimes legitimate (a new website takes real work) and sometimes a way to make leaving expensive. Ask what you receive for it and whether you keep that if you leave.

10. What is the minimum term and the notice period? Rolling monthly with 30 days' notice is the small-business-friendly standard. Twelve months with a 90-day notice clause is not.

11. How much ad spend do you recommend, and why that figure? The answer should reference your trade, your area and your target job count. 'Most clients start at £1,000' is not a reason.

12. What happens to the price after the first three months? Introductory rates are common. Know the full rate before you sign.

Ownership: two questions that protect you later

13. Who owns the website, the domain, the Google Business Profile and the ad accounts? The only acceptable answer is you. If the agency builds the site on its own platform, ask what you can export. If it runs ads from its own account, ask for the campaigns to be built in an account you control and the agency given access.

14. If I leave, what do I take with me and what do I lose? Make them walk through it. Website files, content, images, review data, ad account history, tracking numbers. Then read the contract to see if it says the same. Our guide to switching agencies without losing your rankings or ad account explains what is at stake.

Results: three questions about proof and measurement

15. Can I speak to two current clients in my trade? Not testimonials on the website. Phone numbers. A good agency will ask the clients first and then put you in touch. A poor one will have reasons why that is difficult.

16. What will you report each month, and in what units? Listen for enquiries, quotes and booked jobs. Be wary if the answer is impressions, clicks, rankings or 'engagement'. Those are the agency's metrics, not yours.

17. What would make you tell me to stop? This is the question most tradespeople never ask and most agencies are not ready for. An honest firm has a view on when a campaign is not working and will say so. A firm that says it has never had to is either very lucky or not watching.

Reading the answers together

No single answer should decide it. What you are listening for is a pattern. An agency that itemises its fees, names the person on your account, wants you to own everything and reports in jobs is behaving like a firm that expects to be judged on results.

One that is vague on cost, keeps ownership, asks for a long term and talks about clicks is behaving like a firm that expects to be judged on the sales call. The red flags list sets out the warning signs in more detail, and the criteria behind our rankings show how we weigh the same factors.

A short script to close the call

End with something like this: 'Can you send me a written proposal with every cost itemised, the notice period, a statement of what I own, and the names of two clients I can call? I'll compare it with one other agency and come back within a week.'

That sentence tells the agency you are serious, organised and not buying on the call. Firms that respond well to it are usually the ones you want.

Then do the arithmetic that most tradespeople skip. Take the total monthly cost from question seven, divide it by the number of extra jobs you decided you wanted in question one, and ask whether that cost per job leaves you a margin. If it does not, no amount of agency skill will make the arrangement work, and it is better to know before you sign.

Frequently asked questions