Most builders hire a marketing agency the way they would hire a subcontractor: a buddy recommends one, the pitch sounds good, the contract gets signed. Then six months and several thousand dollars later, they have a pile of "leads" that never became estimates and no clear idea what went wrong.
The problem is rarely effort. It is incentives. Many agencies get paid in ways that reward spending, not results, and their reporting is designed to make that hard to see. These 17 questions cut through the pitch. Ask them on every sales call, write down the answers, and compare. The right agency will welcome the interrogation. The wrong one will rush you past it.
Results and proof
01Can you show me booked estimates or jobs, not just leads or clicks?
Why it matters: clicks and raw leads are easy to manufacture and hard to convert. What you need is booked estimates with real homeowners. An agency that cannot show you anything past the lead stage is selling you the top of the funnel and hoping you never ask about the bottom.
Good answer: they walk you through real pipeline numbers: estimates booked, show rates, jobs closed. Bad answer: "We drove 10,000 impressions and 400 clicks last month."
02What does a qualified estimate typically cost your clients?
Why it matters: this tests whether they understand your unit economics. An agency that knows its numbers can tell you what a result costs and whether the math works for your job values.
Good answer: a straight range with the math behind it, plus the honest caveat that markets differ. Bad answer: dodging, or "it depends" with nothing after it.
03What happens if you don't hit the numbers you promised?
Why it matters: every agency promises. Few put anything behind the promise. The answer tells you who carries the risk: you, or them.
Good answer: a concrete remedy, in writing. For example: fees drop to zero until the agreed results are delivered. Bad answer: "We'll optimize harder" or "marketing takes time," with no commitment attached.
04Can I talk to a current client?
Why it matters: references are the oldest filter in business for a reason. Happy clients talk. Unhappy ones warn.
Good answer: "Yes, here are two numbers." Bad answer: excuses about confidentiality, or an offer to show you screenshots instead.
Pricing and incentives
05Exactly how do you get paid? Walk me through every dollar.
Why it matters: setup fees, retainers, per-lead charges, and ad spend can stack into something very different from the headline number. Get the full picture before you sign anything.
Good answer: a clear breakdown you could explain to someone else in thirty seconds. Bad answer: vagueness, or fees that only appear in the contract fine print.
06Do you charge a percentage of my ad spend?
Why it matters: this is the most misaligned pricing in the industry. If the agency earns more when you spend more, their incentive is to raise your budget, not to make each dollar work harder. You want an agency whose pay goes up when your results go up.
Good answer: "No. Our pay is tied to estimates booked, not dollars spent." Bad answer: "It's the industry standard," which is true and is exactly the problem.
07Who pays for the ad spend, and who owns the ad account?
Why it matters: if the agency owns the ad account, the audiences, and the data, you are renting your own marketing. The day you leave, you start from zero.
Good answer: you fund the spend directly and you own the account, the pages, and the data. Bad answer: everything lives in their accounts and stays there if you cancel.
08Is there a setup fee, and what does it actually cover?
Why it matters: setup fees are legitimate when they pay for real build work: landing pages, tracking, ad accounts, follow-up systems. They are not legitimate as a disguised deposit.
Good answer: an itemized list of what gets built in the first weeks. Bad answer: "onboarding and strategy," with nothing you could point to.
Grilling agencies right now?
Ask us these 17 questions on a free strategy call. We will answer every one of them straight, and show you exactly how 15 qualified estimates in 90 days works for your market.
Book Your Free Strategy CallProcess: what they actually do
09What exactly will you build for me in the first 30 days?
Why it matters: "strategy" is not a deliverable. You are paying for assets: pages, campaigns, tracking, follow-up systems. Get the list with dates.
Good answer: specific deliverables on a timeline. Bad answer: "We'll start with research and optimization."
10Who does the actual work: you, or a junior I will never meet?
Why it matters: the person on the sales call is rarely the person in the ad account. You deserve to know whose hands your budget is in.
Good answer: named people and their experience. Bad answer: deflection, or "our team handles that."
11How fast do my leads get followed up, and who does it?
Why it matters: most estimates are won or lost in the first five minutes after a lead comes in. If the agency's answer is "you call them back," they are selling you half a system.
Good answer: instant automated response plus a structured follow-up sequence over weeks. Bad answer: a shrug, or follow-up described as your job.
12What do I get to see, and how often?
Why it matters: if you cannot see spend, leads, bookings, and show rates in plain language, you cannot manage the agency. Opaque reporting protects them, not you.
Good answer: live access or a plain weekly breakdown of spend, estimates booked, and cost per estimate. Bad answer: a monthly PDF full of impressions and click-through rates.
Fit, exclusivity, and focus
13Do you work with my competitors?
Why it matters: an agency running ads for three ADU builders in the same market is bidding against you with your own money and selling the same playbook to everyone. Exclusivity is worth paying for.
Good answer: one builder per market, full stop. Bad answer: "We segment the audiences," which means yes.
14Do you specialize in my trade, or am I one of forty verticals?
Why it matters: ADU buyers have specific anxieties: permits, timelines, costs. An agency that also does dental clinics and food trucks is learning your market on your budget.
Good answer: a clear niche and the pattern recognition that comes with it. Bad answer: "Marketing is marketing."
15How many clients does my account manager handle?
Why it matters: attention is finite. A manager juggling forty accounts is not managing yours.
Good answer: a small, specific number. Bad answer: they will not say.
Contract and exit
16What is the contract length, and how do I leave?
Why it matters: long lock-ins with no performance exit protect the agency from the consequences of bad work. The confident agencies let results keep you, not contracts.
Good answer: a short initial term, or an exit tied to missed targets. Bad answer: twelve months, no outs, and a threat about what happens if you stop paying.
17If we part ways, what do I keep?
Why it matters: your landing pages, ad audiences, and lead data are business assets. Some agencies hold them hostage on exit, which tells you everything about how they view the relationship.
Good answer: you keep everything, and there is a continuity plan in writing from day one. Bad answer: "Our proprietary system stays with us," meaning you start over.
Red flags and green flags
Walk away if you hear
- Guaranteed #1 Google rankings
- Pricing as a percentage of your ad spend
- No access to your own ad accounts or data
- "Leads" with no definition of qualified
- Shared leads sold as exclusive
- Pressure to sign today for a "special price"
- No references you can actually call
Sign if you hear
- Pay tied to booked estimates, not spend
- You own the accounts, pages, and data
- Plain weekly reporting on cost per estimate
- One builder per market, in writing
- A real remedy if targets are missed
- They welcome all 17 of these questions
A note on how we answer these: we built Zentix Media's offer around this exact list. Pay per qualified estimate, no retainer for the first 90 days, fees go to $0 if we miss the 15-estimate guarantee, one builder per market, and you keep every asset if we ever part ways. If you are comparing agencies, put us through the questions and judge for yourself.
The bottom line
The best agency relationship is a partnership where incentives point the same direction: they win when you get estimates. These 17 questions reveal, in about thirty minutes, whether an agency is built that way or built to bill you. Ask all of them. Write down the answers. Trust the pattern, not the pitch.
Ready to ask us directly?
Book a free strategy call and run through all 17 questions with us. Straight answers, real numbers for your market, zero pressure.
Book Your Free Strategy CallNew to ADU marketing? Start with our Complete 2026 Playbook for the full system, math, and 30-60-90 day plan.
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