Agencies Pitch Repeatedly. But Can They Build a Website?
Selling is something an agency gets to practice over and over. They know the presentation, which case studies get a reaction, and which team members impress prospective clients. They know the questions you’re likely to ask and what you want to hear.
But you’re not hiring an agency’s sales pitch. You’re hiring what happens after it.
That’s where businesses need to look more carefully. A great pitch can tell you an agency knows how to sell itself. The harder question is whether the agency can bring the same talent, attention, strategic thinking and execution to selling you.
Who Are All These Impressive People in the Room?
During the pitch, you may meet high-level executives, including the founder, creative director, senior strategist, head of development, SEO expert, and senior account executive.
It’s great to know those people, but it’s more important to know who will actually work on your business when choosing a digital agency.
The people responsible for getting the company more clients are rarely the people responsible for delivering the work. This isn’t inherently bad. Agencies need people focused on business development.
The problem is when the expertise used to win the account isn’t representative of the expertise the client receives. That’s why it’s important to get to know the individuals who will be doing the actual work as well.
Make Sure You Know Who You’re Hiring
It’s important to know that most agencies don’t intentionally deceive clients. Most of them are putting their best foot forward. Instead, think of this as something that you should investigate as you’re meeting with digital marketing agencies.
Based on some common web design agency claims, here are follow-up questions to better understand their experience:
- The agency says: “We have an incredibly experienced strategy team.”
- What to ask: Who will develop my strategy, and what is their experience?
- The agency says: “Our creative director oversees everything.”
- What to ask: What will the creative director personally review, and how often?
- The agency says: “We have extensive SEO expertise.”
- What to ask: Who will perform my SEO work, and who will review it?
- The agency says: “We’ll become an extension of your team.”
- What to ask: Who will be my regular point of contact, and how often will we communicate?
Ask to See the Process, Not Just the Portfolio
“I don’t care how many impressive logos are on your website. Tell me what you learned and how that’s going to help my business.” — Conrad Strabone, Founder & Chief Happiness Officer | e9digital
A portfolio shows you where the agency ended up. The process tells you how they got there. Your project won’t look exactly like any project they’ve done before, so you need to understand their process to ensure you’ll be happy with the final result.
Ask the agency to walk you through a real website design process:
- What happened first?
- What research was conducted and how was strategy developed?
- How were decisions made and what did the client contribute?
- What changed during the project and how did the agency respond?
- How was success measured?
You’re trying to determine whether there’s a repeatable methodology behind the polished finished product. Results without process can be difficult to reproduce, so you need to have confidence in the agency’s workflows.
Hiring a Marketing Agency: The Case Study Trap
Agencies love case studies. They should, because past work is an important way to evaluate expertise. But there’s another question prospective clients should ask: Who actually did that work? A fantastic website in an agency’s portfolio tells you something.
But you want to know:
- When was it created?
- Who designed it?
- Who wrote it?
- Are those people still with the agency? Will any of them be involved with your project?
- What specifically did the agency contribute? What results did the project produce?
A portfolio shows what an organization has produced. The team tells you whether it can produce it again for you.
What Happens After “Yes”?
The sales presentation went well. The proposal looked polished. Everyone said the right things. Now comes the part that matters: what happens after you sign?
A strong agency should have a clear answer. At e9digital, we begin by learning:
- How your business makes money
- Who your customers are
- What separates you from your competitors
- What the project needs to accomplish
- How we’ll measure whether the work is succeeding
Those conversations shape the strategy, priorities, timeline, and measures of success. They give everyone a shared understanding of what we’re building, why we’re building it, and where the project goes next.
That clarity should continue throughout the engagement. You should know who is responsible for the work, when key decisions will be made, what the agency needs from your team, and how feedback or delays will be handled. Defined milestones keep the project moving, while regular communication keeps everyone aligned.
A polished sales process can win your business. A clear delivery process proves the agency deserves it.
Your Agency Should Be Interviewing You, Too (Constantly)
A sales meeting shouldn’t consist entirely of the agency telling you how wonderful it is. The website development agency should be just as interested in understanding your business as you are in understanding its capabilities.
At e9digital, our team wants to know:
- Who your best customers are
- What your competitors are doing
- What has and hasn’t worked before
- What you want to accomplish
- Why you’re making a change now
These questions aren’t small talk. The answers help determine what your website and marketing strategy actually need to do. Without that context, an agency is recommending solutions before it understands the problem.
A good agency pitch shouldn’t feel like an audition. It should feel like a diagnosis.
The Chemistry Test
“Everybody looks good on the first date. I want to know who shows up six months later when something goes sideways.” — Conrad Strabone, Founder & Chief Happiness Officer | e9digital
Delivery isn’t only about technical capability. You’re potentially going to work with these people for months or years. It’s much easier if you actually like working with them. Think of finding an agency like dating. You’re likely not going to end up with the first person you meet (although some people do end up with their high school sweetheart!).
To test if you and a potential agency are a good match, consider:
- Can they explain complex ideas simply?
- Do they listen?
- Are they responsive?
- Do they seem genuinely interested?
- Are they comfortable disagreeing professionally?
- Do they understand your priorities?
- Do you trust them?
A technically excellent agency that you can’t communicate with can still become a miserable—and expensive—relationship. That’s why we have project managers on all of our web design projects at e9digital. They are the unsung heroes of the project, ensuring the client always has all the information they need and that the website stays on schedule.
“My role is to coordinate clients, designers, and developers, keeping everyone aligned and anticipating issues so each project moves as smoothly and efficiently as possible.” — Jason Solak, Director of Project Management | e9digital
69% of buyers are willing to recommend their service provider.1 Do you feel that way about the marketing agency that you’re working with? If not, it might be time to move on to greener pastures.
We Don’t Disappear After the Pitch
A great sales presentation isn’t a bad thing. You want an agency that can communicate, persuade and present itself effectively. Just don’t stop your evaluation there, because winning your business and growing your business require two very different skill sets.
At e9digital, we build long-term relationships with our clients rather than simply completing a deliverable. We have a 99% client-retention rate, and that’s because we’ve developed a clear process that starts with strategy.
FAQs
How do I choose the right digital marketing agency?
Look beyond the sales presentation. Evaluate the people who will actually work on your business, the agency’s process, relevant experience, case studies, communication style and ability to explain how its recommendations connect to your business objectives.
What questions should I ask before hiring a marketing agency?
Ask who will work on your account, who will develop the strategy, how the engagement will begin, how results will be measured, how problems are handled and whether the people involved in the sales process will remain involved after you sign.
Should I ask to meet my agency team before signing?
For a substantial engagement, it can be valuable to understand who will be responsible for the work and who your day-to-day contacts will be. The goal is to evaluate the team delivering the engagement rather than only the people selling it.
How should I evaluate an agency’s portfolio?
Don’t look only at how impressive the work appears. Ask what the agency was responsible for, who performed the work, what business problem it was designed to solve and what happened after launch.
What are red flags when hiring a digital agency?
Potential warning signs include vague answers about who will do the work, recommendations made before the agency understands your business, an inability to explain its process, case studies with little context and an agency that agrees with every request without questioning whether it makes strategic sense.
Why is an agency’s process important?
A clear process helps show how the agency moves from understanding the business problem to strategy, execution and measurement. A portfolio demonstrates what an agency has produced; its process can help you understand how it intends to produce strong work for you.
