What to check before you hire a marketing agency in Lee’s Summit

Most of the agency relationships I’ve seen go bad didn’t fail because somebody was lazy. They failed because nobody asked the right questions before the contract was signed. The business owner assumed one thing, the agency assumed another, and six months later everyone was frustrated and nobody could say exactly why.

I’ve spent more than thirteen years on the media and agency side of this, and I’ve sat on both sides of the table. Here’s what I’d want any business owner in Lee’s Summit, or anywhere else, to check before hiring anyone. Me included.

Who is actually going to do the work?

The person who pitches you is often not the person who runs your account. That isn’t a scandal, it’s how a lot of agencies are built. A senior person wins the business and a coordinator handles it day to day.

So ask it plainly: “Who will be building and managing my campaigns, and can I meet them before I sign?” If the answer is vague, that tells you something.

How do they get paid?

Some agencies charge a flat fee. Some take a percentage of your ad spend. Some do both. A percentage isn’t automatically wrong, but understand the incentive it creates: the agency earns more when you spend more, whether or not spending more is the right call.

Ask what you’re paying them and what is going to the platforms, as two separate numbers. You should be able to see both.

What are they going to measure?

If the sample report is full of impressions, reach and clicks, keep asking. Those numbers aren’t useless, but they aren’t the reason you’re advertising. You want calls, form submissions, booked appointments and sales, and an honest explanation of which of those can actually be tracked for your business and which can’t.

Ask to see a real report they send to a current client, with the name blacked out. It will tell you more than the sales deck.

Who owns the accounts?

This is the one people skip, and it’s the one that hurts the most later. Your Google Ads account, your Meta ad account, your Google Analytics, your Google Business Profile, your website and your domain should all be owned by your business, with the agency added as a user.

If an agency builds everything inside their own accounts and you part ways, you can lose years of data and history overnight. Ask, in writing, who owns each one.

Will they tell you no?

A good partner will sometimes recommend spending less, fixing the website before buying more traffic, or keeping something you already have that works. Ask them: “What would you not recommend for a business like mine?” A great agency should be able to advise you on what makes sense, and not shy away from that question.

Do they know the market, and does it matter for you?

Local knowledge counts for more in some businesses than others. If you’re a home service company in Lee’s Summit, someone who understands how far your customers will realistically drive, or which suburbs you actually want calls from, will set things up better from day one. If you sell online nationwide, it matters a lot less. Don’t hire someone just because they’re local, but don’t ignore it if your business depends on a service area.

Kansas City, however, is one exception to that rule. If you live here, you know that Johnson County residents are tough to pull outside Johnson County. If they live north of the river, they don’t tend to go south (and vice versa, unless it’s to go to the airport). A local marketer that understands how demographics can change from one street to the other is advantageous to your brand.

What does getting out look like?

Read the contract for the term, the notice period and anything that happens to your accounts or creative when it ends. Long commitments aren’t always bad, but you should know exactly what you’re agreeing to.

I have seen far too many businesses not know who owns which account, have a former employee with credentials, or lose access to their campaign history simply because an “agency owned the account.” That’s not fair to you, and it often causes issues down the line.

A short list to take into the meeting

• Who builds and manages my campaigns, and can I meet them?
• What is your fee, and what goes to the platforms, as separate numbers?
• Can I see what a real report or dashboard looks like?
• Who owns each account, in writing?
• What would you not recommend for a business like mine?
• What happens if we part ways?

Ask me all of these. If I can’t answer them well, you shouldn’t hire me either. If you’d like a second set of eyes on a proposal you’ve already received, that’s a normal place to start, and it’s part of what my marketing consulting work covers. You can also see how Pinpoint is structured differently from a traditional agency.