Choosing an agency, explained without the jargon

It comes up on almost every project, usually later than it should. Here is choosing an agency without the vocabulary that usually surrounds it.

Strategy work is mostly deciding what not to do, and writing it down so it stays decided. Most teams find the first pass takes an afternoon and the maintenance takes minutes a month.

The short version

Ask who will actually do the work. There is a version of this that is over-engineered, and it is worth avoiding. It rarely shows up as a line item, which is exactly why it slips.

Why people complicate it

Most of the confusion comes from tooling rather than from the idea itself. The teams that handle this well are rarely the ones with the biggest budgets.

Look at sites they built two years ago, not just last month. The reasoning matters more than the rule, because the rule has exceptions. The teams that stay on top of it are the ones who put it on a calendar rather than a wish list.

What to do next

References matter more than the pitch deck. The reasoning matters more than the rule, because the rule has exceptions. It rarely shows up as a line item, which is exactly why it slips.

The short version

Clear scope protects the client at least as much as it protects the agency. Three things worth confirming about choosing an agency before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Look at sites they built two years ago, not just last month — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

If you want a second opinion on how yours is set up, ask.