Choosing an Agency? 7 Questions Founders Forget to Ask

Those are important. But they don't save you from 6 months of frustration.

In last 2 years at Kreativwit, we've taken over 27 accounts from other agencies. Same story every time - 'They showed great pitch, then intern handled our account', 'We don't own our ad account', 'Reporting was just screenshots'.

So we wrote down the 7 questions we wish every founder asked - us and any other agency. Steal them.

Bad answer: 'Our team will handle it'.

Good answer: 'Amit does SEO (4 years, 12 sites ranked), Priya runs Meta (manages 8L/month spend), you'll talk to them directly'.

What to listen for: Names, experience, and direct access. If you only get to talk to an 'account manager', your feedback goes through a game of Chinese whispers.

At Kreativwit: You get a WhatsApp group with the specialist. No filter. You say 'this creative is not us', the designer replies directly. Faster, less politics.

Why this matters: Senior in pitch, junior in execution is the #1 reason founders switch agencies.

Bad answer: 'We will give you everything' (verbally).

Good answer: 'Ad account is on your email, domain is on your email, website admin is yours, we sign it'.

We've seen founders lose 2 years of Google Ads data because agency ran it on their MCC. When they left, Google history was gone. They started from zero.

Checklist to ask: Ad account ownership, domain + hosting, website admin + backup, creative files (PSD, raw), CRM data.

At Kreativwit: From day one, everything is on your email. We work on your drive, your ad account. If you leave tomorrow, you lose nothing except us.

Anyone can report success. Ask: 'Show me a month where you failed. What did you do?'

If agency says 'We never fail', they're lying.

What good reporting looks like: 'Meta CPL went from 420 to 780 last week. We killed 2 creatives, changed audience from broad to Golf Course Road + 5km, CPL back to 440 in 4 days. Here's Loom video.'

At Kreativwit: Every Friday, 5-min Loom - what worked, what flopped, what we kill next week. No PDF with green arrows only. We show red too.

This one question tells you if agency is partner or vendor.

Bad answer: '6 months lock-in minimum'.

Good answer: '30 days notice. No questions.'

If an agency needs lock-in to keep you, they haven't earned you. Real retention is results, not contract.

We had a client who wanted to pause for 2 months due to funding. We paused, kept his data safe, resumed later. He came back with 2x budget because we didn't punish him for pausing.

At Kreativwit: 30 days notice. That's it. We'd rather lose you than trap you.

If agency says 'Yes, we can do SEO, Meta, Google, LinkedIn, YouTube, influencer, PR' for a 70k budget, run.

Good agencies say no. A lot.

Example: You're a B2B SaaS doing 20L MRR. You don't need Instagram Reels. You need LinkedIn + Google + Case studies. If agency sells you Reels, they're selling, not solving.

We tell clients: 'Don't do YouTube yet. Your website loads in 6 seconds. Fix that first, otherwise ad money is waste.' Sometimes we lose that project, but client saves 50k.

Ask agency: 'Based on my stage, what should I NOT do for next 90 days?' If they have no answer, they have no strategy.

Form fill is not a lead. Qualified call is.

Bad tracking: 'We got 120 leads'.

Good tracking: '120 form fills, 89 calls connected, 34 qualified (budget >50k, Gurgaon), 8 proposals, 3 closed. Cost per qualified lead Rs. 680.'

Without call tracking, UTM, CRM tagging, you will keep spending on keywords that bring junk leads.

At Kreativwit: We set up call tracking (CallRail/Exotel), UTM sheet, and a simple sheet where your sales team marks lead quality. Takes 2 days. Saves 30k/month. We do this before running ads.

Ask agency to show you their tracking sheet template. If they don't have one, they are flying blind.

Everyone gives 3 happy clients. That's easy.

Ask: 'Can I talk to a client who left you in last 6 months?'

You'll learn more in 5 minutes than in any pitch deck - why they left, how agency handled exit, whether data was given.

We have 2 clients who left us last year - one paused due to funding, one moved in-house. We still talk. Both gave us referrals later because exit was clean.

If agency says 'No one ever left us', they're lying. If they hesitate to connect you to an ex-client, think why.

At Kreativwit, we will connect you. Even if it's awkward.

Choosing an agency is not like choosing a vendor. It's like choosing a gym trainer. The best one is not the one with best Instagram. It's the one who tells you 'don't lift heavy yet, fix your form first'.

Copy these 7 questions. Send them to every agency you are evaluating - including us. See who answers clearly, without jargon.

We wrote this because we are tired of founders getting burnt and then saying 'all agencies are same'. They are not. Some just report better.

If you want, send us your current agency's report (hide numbers if you want). We'll give you a free 10-point audit - what's real, what's vanity.

- Team Kreativwit, Gurgaon - We'd rather be honest than hired.