Most bad agency relationships were visible in the first sales meeting. The problem is that the warning signs sound reasonable when you hear them for the first time, and by the time you recognise the pattern you're eight months and $30,000 into a contract you can't exit.
This is the list of things we hear from business owners who come to us after leaving another agency. Each one has a specific question attached that exposes it in about fifteen seconds.
Red flag 1: guaranteed rankings
Nobody controls Google's index. An agency that guarantees a first-page ranking is either planning to rank you for a keyword nobody searches ('emergency plumber Newstead 4006 same day'), or planning to blame the guarantee's fine print when it doesn't happen.
Want a proposal you can actually audit?
Named account manager, itemised deliverables, cost per lead on page one, month to month.
Book a free strategy callThe question: 'Which keyword, at what monthly search volume, and what happens contractually if we don't hit it?' Real answers involve search volume figures and a refund clause. Vague answers mean the guarantee is decoration.
Red flag 2: guaranteed lead numbers before seeing your account
Lead volume depends on your market size, your offer, your conversion rate, and your budget. An agency that promises '50 leads a month' before looking at any of those is quoting a number that sounded good on the phone.
The question: 'What conversion rate and cost per lead are you assuming to get to that number?' If they can't show the arithmetic, the number is invented.
Red flag 3: they won't name who runs the account
'Our team handles it' usually means an offshore contractor you'll never speak to, or a junior managing forty accounts. Neither is inherently fatal, but you should know which it is.
The question: 'Who specifically will be in the account each week, and how many other accounts do they manage?' Anything above about 15 to 20 accounts per person means your account gets a checklist, not attention.
Red flag 4: accounts created in the agency's name
This is the single most expensive red flag on the list. If your Google Ads account, Meta Business Manager, or Google Analytics property lives under the agency's ownership, leaving costs you your entire conversion history and campaign learning. Google Ads' Smart Bidding needs 30 to 50 conversions in a rolling 30-day window to perform well. Starting from zero sets you back two to three months.
The question: 'Will these accounts be created under my business's ownership, with the agency added as a manager?' The answer should be an immediate yes. Any hesitation is the answer.
Red flag 5: 12-month lock-in with no performance clause
Long contracts aren't automatically bad. SEO genuinely takes 6 to 9 months. But a long contract with no performance obligation means the agency is protected and you're not.
The question: 'What happens at month 4 if cost per lead hasn't moved?' A good agency has an answer involving a review, a plan change, or an exit right. A bad one says 'marketing takes time'.
Red flag 6: reporting that leads with impressions and reach
Impressions, reach, and click-through rate are diagnostic metrics. They belong on page three of a report. If they're on page one, it's because cost per lead and cost per acquisition aren't flattering.
The question: 'Can I see a sample monthly report from a current client, with the numbers redacted?' If the first page isn't leads, cost per lead, and trend versus last month, you're being sold activity rather than outcomes.
Red flag 7: no mention of conversion tracking in the proposal
If the proposal doesn't say how conversions will be tracked, whether phone calls will be counted, and how form fills will be deduplicated, then nobody has thought about measurement. Everything downstream of that gap is guesswork.
The question: 'How will you track phone call conversions, and how do you handle duplicate submissions?' The answer should mention call tracking numbers or Google's forwarding numbers, and some form of deduplication logic.
Red flag 8: the same case study for every industry
A single anonymous case study ('a client in the home services space increased leads 400%') recycled across every pitch usually means there's one good result and it's being stretched.
The question: 'Can I speak to two current clients in a similar business to mine?' Agencies with real results have referees. Agencies without them have testimonials with first names only.
Red flag 9: they've never asked what a customer is worth to you
This is the tell that separates agencies who think about your business from agencies who think about their deliverables. If nobody has asked your average job value, your close rate, or your customer lifetime value, then nobody can tell you what an acceptable cost per lead is.
The question: don't ask one. Notice whether they ask you. A first meeting that doesn't cover unit economics is a first meeting about the agency, not about you.
Red flag 10: setup fees with no defined deliverable
A setup or onboarding fee is normal, campaign builds take real hours. A setup fee with no itemised list of what gets built is a deposit you can't audit.
The question: 'What specifically is delivered for the setup fee, and do I own it if we part ways in month two?' You want a list: campaign structure, ad groups, ad copy variants, negative keyword list, conversion tracking, landing pages.
Red flag 11: they can't describe your first 90 days
The most reliable single test. Ask what happens in weeks 1 to 2, weeks 3 to 6, and weeks 7 to 12. Agencies who run accounts have a rhythm and can describe it. Agencies who sell accounts talk about strategy in general terms.
The question: 'Walk me through week by week what happens after I sign.' Listen for specifics: audit, tracking build, campaign build, launch, first optimisation pass, first full report, first strategy review.
Scoring what you heard
One red flag in isolation usually just means a sloppy sales process. Two is worth pushing back on. Three or more, particularly if account ownership or conversion tracking is among them, is a decline. There are enough competent agencies in Brisbane that you don't need to gamble on the one that couldn't answer.
What good looks like instead
A good first meeting is mostly the agency asking you questions: what you sell, what a customer is worth, where leads come from now, what your close rate is, what capacity you have. The proposal that follows should name the person running the account, list what gets built, state what's tracked, and put cost per lead on the first page of the reporting sample. If the contract is month to month, better again, because it means the agency is betting on the work rather than on the paperwork.