Notes for owners · Business growth
How to read a marketing agency proposal and spot what is missing
A way to read a marketing agency proposal for what it leaves out: the starting numbers, who owns each account, who pays for media, how success is judged and what happens when you leave.
The GullySales team · Updated 17 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
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The proposal is neat, the fee sounds fair, and you are about to sign. Read it by looking for what is not in it. Good proposals describe the work. What protects you sits in the gaps. What are the starting numbers? Who owns each account? Who pays for media, and how? How is the work judged? What happens to your data and logins when you leave? If any of these five is missing, ask for it in writing before you sign, and treat a vague reply as an answer.
Start with the five gaps
Run a pen down the proposal and put a tick or a question mark against each of these.
The starting figures. Does it say how many enquiries, calls or orders you get now, and from where? Without that, no one can later say whether anything changed. If you have no figures, the first task should be to collect them, and the proposal should say so.
The accounts. Who will open, own and hold the passwords for the ad accounts, the website, the analytics, the listing and the domain? The answer you want is your business, with the agency added as a user.
The media money. Is advertising spend in the fee or on top? Does it go from your card to the platform, or through the agency's account? If it passes through the agency, will you see the platform's own statement?
The measure. What counts as the job being done: reach, clicks, or enquiries and orders? Clicks are easy to deliver. Ask which numbers will appear in the report and who enters them.
The exit. What is the notice period? Is there a minimum term, and does it renew by itself? What do you get on the way out: the files, the creative, the account history, the data? If the proposal says nothing, ask to see the contract clause before you sign.
What each line should say, and what a weak answer looks like
| Line to find | A clear answer | A weak answer |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | "You now get about X enquiries from Y; we will confirm in the first stage" | "We will grow your online presence" |
| Account ownership | "Accounts in your name, our team as users" | Silent, or "we manage everything" |
| Media spend | "Paid by you to the platform; statements shared" | "Included in a package" with no breakdown |
| People | Named person, their role, how many hours | "A dedicated team" |
| Work list | Each deliverable with a number | "SEO, social, content" |
| Reporting | The columns of the report, shown as a sample | "Detailed reports" |
| Exit | Notice period and what you take with you | Silent |
Ask for a sample report. A proposal that promises reporting without showing one is a promise with nothing behind it. Our note on what a report should show an owner helps you judge it.
Who actually does the work?
Names matter. The person who presents may not be the person who writes your advertisements. Ask who will be on your account from the first day, and what happens if they leave. Ask how many other accounts each person looks after.
If the proposal lists a "team" with no names, ask for a short call with the people who would do the work. You are not testing their charm. You are checking they have read your brief.
Is the work list real?
Count the deliverables. "Twelve social posts" is something you can count. "Social media management" is not. Look at each item and ask what you will have in your hand at the end of it.
Watch for items that are the same task written twice, such as "content creation" and "post design" and "creative development". Watch for the large items that carry the fee but have no detail, such as "strategy". Strategy should produce a document you can read and argue with.
If the proposal bundles in tools and software, ask whether they are the agency's licences or yours, and what happens to them on exit.
A missing line: a bicycle dealer in Thanjavur
This is an invented case. A family with two bicycle and spares showrooms in Thanjavur gets a proposal for search and social advertising. It lists channels and a fee. The owner likes it and signs.
Seven months later the family wants to change agencies and finds the ad accounts and the page were opened under the agency's email address. The agency hands over some creatives and declines the account history, citing its own terms. The family starts from nothing. They also lose the record of which search terms had brought walk-ins, and the first two months with the new agency are spent finding that out again.
The advertising was not the fault. The proposal had a missing line, and nobody asked. With the next agency the family asks before signing: accounts in the family's name from day one, the agency added as a user, and the exit terms written down. That agency agrees, though it wants a short handover note for the old page, which takes a few days of the family's time.
When a short proposal is fine
For a small, fixed piece of work, such as a logo, a landing page or a one-time shoot, you do not need all five gaps filled. You need the deliverable, the number of revisions, the date and what is not included. The five-gap reading matters for ongoing work, where money moves every period and the relationship is hard to leave.
Send the five questions before the next proposal arrives
Copy the five gaps onto one sheet and send it to every agency you are talking to, along with your brief. Then put the answers side by side and compare them before you compare the fees. Our guides on questions to ask before hiring an agency and what to send an agency before the first call set up that conversation.
If you have no starting figures, a marketing audit is one way to get them, and the marketing section holds the rest of this topic. Whoever you choose, put the five answers in the contract. When you are ready to describe your own situation, tell us what you need.
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