How HVAC contractors should judge a marketing agency

Most agency pitches are built to survive the first call. They are not built to survive month six, which is where the money actually goes.

The questions below are useful because they are awkward to answer if the honest answer is bad. Ask them before anything is signed.

Who is actually doing the work?

Not who is on the call. Who opens your account on a Tuesday morning. If the person selling you is not the person doing it, ask to speak to whoever is, and notice whether that is treated as a reasonable request.

What gets built that I keep?

If you leave in six months, what walks out with you? The website, the ads account, the tracking number, the content. If any of those live on the agency's platform or under the agency's billing, the retainer is not the real price - the switching cost is. Our HVAC website builds sit on your hosting for that reason.

What will you report, exactly?

Ask for a sample report before you sign. If it opens with impressions, rankings or "leads" without defining what a lead is, you are being sold activity rather than outcomes. The number that matters is calls that turned into booked jobs, and what each one cost.

What would you refuse to sell me?

An agency that sells every channel is telling you they are average at most of them. Ask what they will not run and why. A specific, slightly uncomfortable answer is a good sign. "We do everything" is not.

When will you tell me this is not working?

Get a date. A real agency will name a point at which, if the numbers have not moved, they will say so unprompted. Vagueness here is how six-month contracts quietly become twelve.

None of these questions require you to know anything about marketing. They require the other person to be specific, which is the whole test.