Ask the hard ones first.
Most agency calls are built so you never reach the difficult part. Here is the part, written by an agency, in the order that gets the most out of forty minutes. Ask us every one of them.
Thirteen, in this order.
Who will open the design file and write the ads?
A name, not a role. If you are given a role, the name exists and you are not being told it.
Who on this call will not be on the next one?
Pitch teams and delivery teams are often different people, and nobody volunteers that unless asked directly.
How many other accounts does that person carry?
A buyer holding a dozen accounts checks yours on a schedule. They do not notice it.
What is your capacity limit, and what happens when you hit it?
Every agency has one. The ones that deny it thin your account quietly when a bigger client signs.
What is the holiday, illness and single-point-of-failure plan?
A small studio is faster and more accountable, and more exposed when one person is away for a fortnight. Ask how that is covered.
Is the fee flat, a share of ad spend, or a mix?
A share of spend pays the agency more for spending more, whether or not spending more is the right call. Know which incentive you are buying.
What is billed separately?
Creative production, editing, landing pages and tooling are the usual four. Get the list in writing before the first invoice, not after it.
Do you take commission, rebates or kickbacks from any platform or vendor?
The answer is a flat no, and it belongs in the contract.
Whose business portfolio holds the ad account and the page?
Yours, with the agency on partner access. Anything else makes your own advertising history the hostage later.
Who owns the creative after we part?
Without a written assignment clause, the files you paid for may stay theirs. Ask to read the clause, not to hear about it.
What do we get on the last day?
Raw video, layered sources, account admin, pixel and conversion setup, audience definitions, the reporting sheet. The specific list.
What number are we held to, and what happens if we miss it?
The most revealing question on the list. Listen for a consequence, not a paragraph.
Which client does each figure in your deck belong to?
Every number should name its owner and survive a phone call to them. Ours name theirs.
Two answers end the call · a refusal to put the account and the page in your own portfolio · a minimum term with no exit for cause · everything else is a conversation
driftedmarketing.com/tools · free, no email required
No deck. No discovery theatre. One metric, one date, in the contract.