Before you even search
Most bad agency fits are engineered before the shortlist. Founders search on Google, click three case studies, book two calls, and pick whoever felt fastest to reply. Predictable disaster.
Before your first outreach, write down: what does success look like at 90 days, and at 12 months? What is your gross margin? What is your break-even ROAS? Which channels are you willing to fund, and which are non-starters? An agency worth hiring will ask these questions unprompted. Any that don't are selling activity, not outcomes.
The 23 questions to ask in the first call
Split by category. Score each answer on a 0-2 scale (0 = evasive, 1 = generic, 2 = specific with an example). A total of 32+ across the 23 questions clears the credibility bar. Below 25 and you are hiring optics.
Strategy and senior bench (Q1-Q8)
1. Who runs my account day-to-day? What is their name, title, and time-in-seat? 2. How many accounts does that senior operator run at once? 3. Walk me through the last account you offboarded, and why. 4. What is your position on Performance Max brand exclusions? 5. When have you told a client to spend less? 6. Show me an account audit template. 7. What is the current break-even ROAS calculation for a 25 percent margin brand? 8. If Google's algorithm changes tomorrow, how fast can you adapt?
Measurement and attribution (Q9-Q16)
9. How do you validate platform-reported ROAS against Shopify or GA4? 10. Do you use Enhanced Conversions? Server-side conversion tracking? 11. What is your position on MER versus channel ROAS? 12. When was the last time you rebuilt an attribution model for a client? 13. How do you handle offline conversion imports? 14. What reporting cadence should I expect, and can I see a sample? 15. If I ask for raw data, how fast can I get it? 16. How do you measure incrementality?
Commercials, contract, and exit (Q17-Q23)
17. Is your fee flat, tiered, or a percentage of ad spend? 18. What is your minimum engagement term? 19. What is the notice period on both sides? 20. On exit, do I keep access to my Google Ads / Meta accounts? 21. Who owns the creative you produce? 22. Is there a performance clause, and how is it structured? 23. If I want to pause, what happens to my account setup?
7 red flags to walk away from
1. Named specialist on the call, then handed to a junior at kickoff. 2. A specific ROAS or lead-volume guarantee in a proposal. 3. Cannot explain how their platform-reported numbers reconcile with Shopify or GA4. 4. Long-term contract with no exit clause under 12 months. 5. Wants to run YOUR ads from THEIR MCC and keep account ownership. 6. Position on Performance Max is a marketing slide, not an implementation opinion. 7. Sales conversation avoids margin, break-even ROAS, or contribution profit.
4 contract clauses to demand
1. Data portability on exit: your account, your reports, your raw data files, delivered inside 5 business days. 2. 30-day notice period without cause. Longer terms lock you into a bad fit. 3. Named-senior clause: the strategist named in the pitch is the strategist on the account, or the fee drops. 4. Reporting SLA: monthly written report by day 5 of the month, or a specified credit.
Trial project versus open-ended retainer
For most engagements, a 47-point written audit or a 30-day scoped optimisation is a smarter first commitment than a 12-month retainer. The audit is a low-risk read on how the agency thinks. A short scoped engagement tests execution. Only after those two signals is a long retainer safe.
iClick offers both entry paths intentionally. The complimentary audit exists to make hiring reversible without a phone-call sales cycle.
What a good onboarding looks like
In the first two weeks, a serious agency will: audit account structure, verify conversion tracking against source-of-truth revenue, set margin-aware ROAS targets, document the campaign brief, and ship a written 30-60-90 plan. If two weeks in you have a Slack channel but no written plan, you are watching activity, not strategy.
