The founders who've lost €10K, €20K, sometimes €50K on a bad agency all told me the same line. Word for word. „I felt from the start something was off, but I couldn't put it in words." Wait a second, let me show you how.
These signs aren't hard to spot. The problem is you walked into the call expecting to hear what they offer. You weren't listening for what they asked. Or, usually worse, what they didn't ask.
Signal 1. They don't ask about margin, LTV, CAC
The first 30 minutes of a serious call should be about you, not them. Someone who actually wants to work on your account keeps asking, until it gets boring, what you sell, to whom, what it costs to bring a new customer, what they leave you as net profit, how long it takes them to come back and buy again. If they jump straight to „here are our packages", they already have a proposal. They'll give it to you without changing a comma, no matter who you are.
Signal 2. They promise numbers without seeing your account
„We'll grow your sales by 300% in 60 days." „ROAS 8x, guaranteed." Ask them a simple question, „based on what do you say those numbers, if you haven't seen my setup, my conversions, my landing?" Usually what follows is 10 seconds of silence and then something like „based on our experience with similar clients". The honest answer, from an agency that knows what it's doing, sounds like this: „I don't know until I see the data. After a 7 to 10 day audit I'll tell you what's realistic."
Signal 3. Contract is long with break fee
If they insist on 12 months with exit penalties, ask why. They have no good reason. The only real reason is they know plenty of clients leave before seeing results, and that contract is their safety net. They wouldn't sign on 3 months if they trusted themselves to deliver. The logic is simple and direct.
Signal 4. They avoid pricing until you're invested
„I'll send an offer after the first call." OK, but a serious agency can give you a range in the first email. „We work on commission 5 to 10% or retainer from €800 up." Two lines, takes ten seconds. If they completely dodge pricing until after two or three calls, they're keeping you on the hook so you get emotionally attached to the idea of a collaboration. Then, when the €2,500 monthly offer lands, saying no gets harder, because you've already put hours into the relationship.
Signal 5. They talk 70% of the time, you 30%
Keep score. A good first call is a monologue from your side, with questions from theirs. You shouldn't end the call feeling they explained themselves to you. You should end it feeling they understood who you are. If it's the opposite, they can't make you a personalized proposal. They'll give you the same pitch deck they give everyone.
Signal 6. They throw „proprietary processes" without detail
„We have our unique methodology." „We use the BrandFlow framework, tested on 200 clients." Ask: „Explain this methodology in three concrete sentences. What decisions does it make differently from what anyone else does?" If the explanation is „we systematize creative, audience and optimization processes", you got a translation of the marketing dictionary. The framework doesn't exist. It's personal branding with empty titles.
Signal 7. They won't send real case studies
„Everything's under NDA." „I'll show you at the follow-up call." Let me help you verify. Open the founder's LinkedIn. Look at posts from the last 6 months. An agency that delivered good results posts about them. They anonymize the client, but nobody can hide the numbers. If everything is general and motivational, they have nothing to show.
Closing test for the first call
At the end of the conversation, ask for three things:
- 1Written offer in 48 hours max. Clear price, commission or retainer, with exactly what's included and what's not.
- 2Two concrete case studies with numbers. Clients can be anonymized, numbers cannot.
- 3Answer to: „If at 90 days from contract start we don't hit the target we're putting on paper now, what happens? Do I have a no-penalty exit? 30-day pause? Partial refund?"
If in 48 hours you have all three in your inbox, you've got reason to continue. If you get a numberless offer, some generic case studies and an evasive answer to question 3, you have your answer too, without burning time on follow-up calls.