You Got Burned by an Agency. Here’s the Checklist Before You Pick the Next One.

You hired an agency. You paid them money. Six months later, your pipeline looked the same, their calls stopped getting returned, and you were out another $15k. It happens to most operators in your revenue range (once or twice). So before you sign with the next one, you need a checklist that actually works.

Not a feel-good list of things agencies want to tell you. A filter. Something built by operators who’ve seen both sides of this mess.

Question 1: What’s Your Cost-Per-Booked-Job, and How Do You Calculate It?

If they say “we average $80 to $150 per lead” you already know they’re selling leads, not results. A lead is not a booked job. A booked job is a customer on your calendar with a time slot confirmed.

The right answer sounds like: “We track actual appointments scheduled and confirmed on your calendar. For HVAC in your market, we’re typically running $200–$350 per booked job depending on seasonality and service area saturation.” Or they give you a specific range tied to YOUR vertical and geography. Not a range so wide it’s useless (like $50–$500). Not a range that’s the same for every operator they talk to.

Red flag: “Our cost per lead is $12 and they typically close at 40%, so your cost per job is about $30.” Wrong. They don’t know your close rate. They don’t know your average ticket. And they’re hiding behind math they can’t prove. Ask them for the actual data from one of their current clients in your space. If they won’t share it, they don’t have it.

Question 2: How Many Booked Jobs Have You Generated for Operators Like Me in the Last 90 Days?

Specific number. Specific timeframe. This weeds out agencies that talk about “hundreds of leads generated” without ever mentioning the word “booked.”

The right answer: “In the last 90 days, we’ve booked 47 jobs for HVAC operators in markets similar to yours. Here are the names (or anonymized case studies) and the cost per booked job for each.” If they push back on naming clients, ask for permission to call one reference who runs a similar operation. A real agency in this space will have 3–5 current clients they can put you in touch with. Not theoretical clients. Ones paying them right now.

Red flag: “We’ve generated thousands of leads for plumbing companies.” Thousands of leads. Not jobs. And they won’t give you a current client to call because “we respect client confidentiality.” Real confidentiality doesn’t prevent a client from choosing to vouch for you. It’s a cop-out.

Question 3: What Happens to My Calendar if I Pause or Fire You?

This is the trap. Some agencies build their system so tightly integrated with your booking process that you can’t separate your data from theirs. Or they own the follow-up so completely that when you stop paying them, the phone stops ringing.

The right answer: “You own all incoming customer data. All call recordings. All chat logs. If you leave, we hand you a CSV export with every contact, every interaction, and every booked job sourced by us so you can follow up or route to your team.” They should be able to do this in 24 hours. Clean. No drama.

Red flag: “Our system is proprietary so we can’t export that data.” Or: “You’ll lose the momentum because we’re the ones managing the follow-up.” Translation: you’re hostage to them. And they know it. Walk.

Question 4: Who Owns the Follow-Up, and How Often Does It Actually Happen?

An inbound lead is worthless if nobody calls it back in the next 20 minutes. And most agencies don’t manage follow-up at all (they just send you the lead and hope). Some do follow-up but only once. Some follow-up on a cadence but measure it in days instead of hours.

The right answer: “We handle the first three follow-ups. First call within 15 minutes of lead submission. Second call within 2 hours if we don’t reach them. Third call next business day. After that, we hand it to your team with call notes. Our data shows 60–70% connection rate on first contact, and roughly 35–45% of those conversations result in a booked appointment.” Specific. Measurable. Tied to outcomes.

Red flag: “We send you the leads and your team handles follow-up.” That’s fine (some operators prefer that), but then their job is source only, and you need to price them accordingly. Usually $60–$120 per lead, not $200+ per booked job. If they’re charging you for the job but not following up, you’re overpaying.

Question 5: What’s the Typical Timeline to My First Booked Job, and When Do You Stop if Nothing Books?

Most agencies want a 90-day commitment. Most operators won’t see real volume until week 4–6. If you’re not seeing bookings by week 8 at some small scale, the campaign isn’t working.

The right answer: “We typically see the first booked job in week 2–4. If by week 6 we haven’t booked anything, we pause and rebuild the campaign. We don’t keep charging you to run the same playbook that isn’t working.” This shows they have a backbone. They’re not going to milk you for 90 days on a dead strategy.

Also ask: “If I’m not happy by day 30, can we kill it?” If they say yes without hesitation, that’s confidence. If they negotiate or ask for “at least 60 days,” they’re worried about the quality of their work.

Red flag: “We recommend a 6-month commitment. Results take time.” Sometimes true. But if they won’t let you out at day 30 if you’re seeing zero activity, they’re making a bet that you’ll forget about the contract before month three.

Question 6: How Many Other Companies in My Service Area Do You Work With?

If they represent eight HVAC companies in your city, you’re competing with their other clients for the same inventory (leads, technicians’ attention, even calendar slots if they’re managing follow-up). Conflict of interest.

The right answer: “We work with two HVAC companies in your area, and they’re in non-competing service zones. We segment leads by geography and make sure no two clients overlap.” They understand that saturation is real and that they can’t just stack clients on top of each other without diluting results.

Red flag: “We don’t have any other HVAC companies in your area.” (Probably a lie, or they’re so new they don’t have much of a book of business.) Or: “We work with five other HVAC companies in your city, but the market is big enough for everyone.” It’s not. And if they don’t understand why, they’re naive about how lead gen works on the ground.

Question 7: What’s Your Pricing Model, and Why?

Three models exist: flat monthly fee, cost-per-lead, or cost-per-booked-job. Each has incentive alignment issues.

Flat fee: They get paid whether you book anything or not. Misaligned. But some operators like it because it’s predictable budget.

Cost-per-lead: They get paid for leads. Not for jobs. Incentivizes volume over quality. Most operators hate this (they’ve been burned by it).

Cost-per-booked-job: They only get paid if an appointment lands on your calendar. Most aligned with your goal, but the agency takes on execution risk. Usually runs $200–$450 depending on vertical and market.

The right answer depends on your risk tolerance. But ask them to defend their model. “Why did you choose this structure?” If they say “because it’s best for you” without acknowledging the trade-offs, they’re not thinking clearly. If they say “because it’s best for us,” at least they’re honest.

Red flag: Hidden fees. “It’s $300 per booked job, but there’s also a $2k monthly platform fee.” OK, so it’s not really $300. And the platform fee exists whether you get ten jobs or zero. Ask for the all-in monthly cost across a range of outcomes (5 jobs, 10 jobs, 15 jobs). Make them write it down.

Question 8: Can You Show Me the Actual Campaign They’ll Run?

Not the pitch deck. The actual ads, the landing pages, the follow-up sequences, the call scripts. The real work. Before you sign anything.

The right answer: They show you examples from similar clients (anonymized if needed). They walk you through the messaging, the targeting, the creative. They explain why this approach works in your market. They adjust based on feedback. They don’t treat it like a secret.

Red flag: “We customize everything once you sign, so I can’t show you yet.” Translation: they haven’t figured out what they’re going to do, or they run a generic playbook for everyone and didn’t want you to know. Ask them to mock up a campaign for your specific service area and show you what day one looks like. If they won’t, move on.

Question 9: What’s Your Churn Rate, and Why Do Clients Leave?

This is the question that separates agencies with actual results from agencies with good sales skills.

The right answer: “We lose about 15–20% of clients per year, mostly because they grow past us and hire in-house marketing, or because they move to a different geography. Rarely because of performance issues. And we have three clients from years ago who still send referrals.” Specific number. Plausible reasons. Shows longevity.

Red flag: “We have 98% retention.” Mathematically unlikely unless they only work with five clients. Or: They don’t know their churn rate. That means they’re not tracking whether their work is actually sticking around.

Question 10: Will You Give Me a Written Guarantee on X Booked Jobs by Month 3?

This is the test. If they won’t commit to a number in writing, they don’t believe in their own work. And you shouldn’t either.

The right answer: “We guarantee a minimum of eight booked jobs by the end of month three, or we refund 50% of fees.” (The exact number will vary by market, season, and service type. But the willingness to put skin in the game is what matters.)

Red flag: “We can’t guarantee results because we don’t control your close rate.” True. But they can guarantee their part: the number of qualified appointments set. If they won’t, they don’t have confidence. Or they’re working with leads so weak that they know the guarantee would blow up in their face.

The Bottom Line

Before you sign with the next agency, you need to verify three things: their cost per actual booked job (not leads), their current client results from the last 90 days, and their willingness to let you out early if nothing books. Ask the ten questions above in writing. Make them answer on paper. Check references. Call at least one current client and ask if they’d sign again tomorrow knowing what they know now.

If they answer every question with specific numbers and give you clean references, you’ve got a shot. If they hedge, deflect, or talk around the hard questions, you’ve found your answer. Don’t sign.

You got burned before. You know what that costs. Don’t let it happen twice.