Most founders cannot honestly say whether their marketing agency is working. The reports look busy, the calls sound positive, and the invoice clears every month, but the pipeline is flat. If that is you, here is a 30-day test: four questions that cut through the noise and tell you whether you are paying for progress or paying for reports.
Question 1: Do they measure real outcomes, or activity?
Ask your agency to show you leads and revenue, not impressions, clicks and "engagement." Activity metrics are easy to make look good and rarely tie to money. If they cannot connect their work to actual leads or sales in your CRM, they are optimising for the wrong thing, and it usually means the conversion tracking is broken underneath everything.
The test
Ask: "How many qualified leads or sales did this spend produce last month, and how do you know?" A good answer references your CRM. A bad answer changes the subject to clicks.
Question 2: Is the reporting honest, or a highlight reel?
Every account has good weeks and bad weeks. If every report is glowing, someone is cherry-picking. You want an agency that tells you what is not working and what they are doing about it. Honesty about problems is a feature, not a red flag, it is the only way things get fixed.
Question 3: Can you actually talk to the person doing the work?
Many agencies sell you a senior expert and hand your account to a junior you never meet. Ask who is actually in your account day to day. On our accounts, that is the founder and a small named team, no outsourcing, which is the whole point of how we work. You should always know exactly whose hands your budget is in.
The test
Ask: "Who specifically manages my account, and can I speak with them directly?" Hesitation is your answer.
Question 4: Are you locked in, or free to leave?
Long contracts with early-termination penalties protect the agency, not you. Confidence looks like month-to-month terms and owning your own accounts and assets. If leaving is hard, ask why they need to make it hard. Good work retains clients; it does not trap them.
The 30-day agency test
- Can they show leads and revenue, tied to your CRM?
- Do their reports admit what is not working?
- Do you know, and can you reach, the person in your account?
- Are you free to leave, with your accounts intact?
What to do with the answers
If your agency passes all four, keep them, they are rare. If it fails two or more, you are likely leaking money and time. Either way, the fastest way to get a clear read is an outside audit of your accounts: a second set of eyes that tells you, honestly, where the budget is going. We run exactly that, free, across Google Ads, Meta and SEO, no pitch attached.
Want an honest second opinion?
Book a free audit and we will tell you straight whether your current setup is working, and what we would fix first.
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