This is a buyer's scorecard for choosing a B2B growth agency. Put the same ten core questions to every agency on your shortlist, add the questions for the service you are buying, and score each answer from 1 to 3. You end up comparing answers, not pitches. It is free, there is no form to fill in, and it prints.
A disclosure before you start. ORRJO is a B2B growth agency and sells most of the services this scorecard covers. Put every question to us exactly as you would to anyone else. If a question is awkward for us to answer, it is doing its job.
How do you use the agency scorecard?
Decide what you need, put the same questions to every agency in writing, score each answer straight after the call and compare the agencies where their answers differ. Step by step:
- Decide what you are buying before you shortlist. Write down the result you need in the next twelve months, your budget range and who on your side will own the agency relationship.
- Pick your must-haves. In the Must-have column of the scoring sheet, tick the questions where a weak answer ends the conversation, however well the agency does elsewhere. Do it before the first call, so a good pitch cannot move the bar.
- Add the service questions. Choose the add-on sections below that match what you are buying and tick the questions that matter most. On screen, each tick fills the next blank row of the scoring sheet. On paper, write them in.
- Send the questions in writing before the call. An agency with good answers will be glad of the notice, and a written answer can be copied into the contract later.
- Score straight after each call. Give every answer a 1, 2 or 3 before you speak to the next agency, while you still remember what was said rather than how it felt.
- Compare on the gaps, not the total. Look at where the agencies differ, then ask the closest two a follow-up on their weakest answer.
- Put the best answers in the contract. A promise that matters to you belongs in the statement of work.
How do you score an agency's answer?
Give every answer a score from 1 to 3: 3 when it is specific and evidenced, 2 when it is reasonable but incomplete, and 1 when it is vague, evasive or a red flag.
| Score | What the answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| 3 | Specific and evidenced. Named people, examples from their own work, documents you can see, and they would put it in writing. |
| 2 | Reasonable but incomplete. The direction is right, but you need a follow-up or a document before you would rely on it. |
| 1 | Vague, evasive or a red flag. A general claim, a change of subject, or one of the warning signs listed under the question. |
Score the answer you heard, not the agency's reputation. A well-known agency that dodges a question scores 1 on that question.
What should you ask any B2B growth agency before you sign?
Ask every agency the same ten questions: what you will get and how it will be measured, how they are paid, what is inside the fee, who will do the work, what happens in the first 30 days, whether you can see similar work and speak to a client who has stayed, what they will report, what they need from you, what happens when results fall short, and how you leave. These work for any agency, whether you are buying lead generation, demand generation, a brand, a website, search, LinkedIn or research. Each comes with what a good answer sounds like and the red flags to listen for.
1What exactly will we get, and how will we both know it worked?
An agency can hit every target in the contract and still miss the one you cared about. Agree the outcome, and how it will be counted, before anyone signs.
A good answer sounds like
A written definition of the output, such as a qualified meeting, a launched site or a page that gets cited, and one or two measures tied to pipeline, agreed now and reported the same way every month.
Red flags
- Success described as activity: emails sent, posts published, impressions.
- “We will agree the KPIs after onboarding.”
- A guaranteed number before they have asked a single question about your market.
2How are you paid, and what does that make you do?
Every pricing model rewards something. Find out what this one rewards before it starts shaping the work.
A good answer sounds like
A plain explanation of the model, what it encourages, and how they stop it working against you. For example, a per-meeting agency that shows you exactly what counts as a billable meeting, or a retainer agency that puts the expected output in writing.
Red flags
- No written definition of what you are paying for.
- Leads or meetings billed whether or not they meet the agreed standard.
- They cannot tell you what their model pushes them to do.
3What is inside the fee, and what costs extra?
Headline prices are rarely like for like. Data, software, setup, ad spend and content production can all sit outside the number you were quoted.
A good answer sounds like
A line by line list of what the fee covers, with every extra named and priced: setup, data, tools, ad spend, production and any third-party costs.
Red flags
- “It depends” on anything that will appear on an invoice.
- Setup or data fees that only surface after the proposal.
- A price given before they have asked about your scope.
4Who will do the work, and can we meet them before we sign?
The people who pitch are not always the people who deliver. You are buying the team, not the sales deck.
A good answer sounds like
Named people, their roles and how much of their week is yours. A chance to meet them before you sign, a straight answer on what is done in house and what is subcontracted, and who covers when someone is off or leaves.
Red flags
- “You will meet the team after onboarding.”
- Subcontracted or offshore work that is only disclosed when you ask.
- A different contact on every call.
5What happens in the first 30 days?
The first month shows how an agency actually works. Research before output is the sign of a team that intends to get it right.
A good answer sounds like
A week by week plan: research into your buyers and competitors, agreed messaging, setup and sign-offs, with dates and what they need from you at each step.
Red flags
- “We can start tomorrow.”
- Template messaging or designs on day one.
- No research, testing or input from you before work goes out under your name.
6Can we see work for a company like ours, and speak to a client who has stayed?
The agency chooses its case studies. You choose who to call. Ask for a client who has stayed a long time and, if they will, one who has left. How long clients stay tells you more than any logo wall.
A good answer sounds like
Live work you can look at, including the last few pieces they shipped and not only the showcase. Case studies with named clients and results, a straight answer on how long clients typically stay, and a reference call with a client in a market like yours, set up without fuss.
Red flags
- Logos with no results attached.
- Mockups and award entries in place of live work.
- No references, or only one who signed last month.
- No answer on how long clients stay, or everything covered by “client confidentiality”.
7What will you report, how often, and can we see a sample now?
Reporting is where activity gets dressed up as progress. See the report before you buy the service.
A good answer sounds like
A real, anonymised report that leads with outcomes, such as meetings held, pipeline, rankings, citations or launches, and shows activity only as context. Live access to the underlying system, not just a monthly PDF.
Red flags
- Vanity numbers as the headline.
- A score or index that only the agency can calculate.
- “We will build the report template once we start.”
8What do you need from us to make this work?
No agency succeeds without your time and your knowledge of the market. A precise answer shows they have done this before.
A good answer sounds like
Specific asks with time attached: an owner on your side, sign-off windows, access to customers or sales calls, and feedback on every meeting, draft or design. A clear handover into your sales team and CRM, so their work and yours meet in one place.
Red flags
- “Nothing, we handle everything.”
- A list so long that your team would be doing the work.
9What happens when results fall short?
Ask how they handle a bad month before you have one.
A good answer sounds like
A described process: what they review, how quickly they change course, who on their side is accountable, and a real example of when they did it. Commitments that matter written into a service level.
Red flags
- The market, your product or your sales team blamed in advance.
- No escalation route above your account manager.
- A promise that it will never happen.
10How do we leave, and what do we keep?
The exit clause decides whether you bought an asset or rented one.
A good answer sounds like
A stated term with a pilot or break point, a written notice period, and everything built for you handed over in a usable form at no charge: data and engagement history, domains and inboxes, ad and analytics accounts, content, designs and website files.
Red flags
- A long minimum term with no break point.
- Accounts, domains or pages held in the agency's name.
- Data that “lives in our platform”, or a fee to hand it over.
If data, domains and accounts are part of the deal, our guide to who owns the data when you outsource your SDRs sets out the contract clauses to ask for.
What should you ask a lead generation or outsourced SDR agency?
Ask how they define a qualified meeting, where their contact data comes from, which domains and inboxes they send from, how they stay within PECR and UK GDPR, and who will make the calls and send the messages.
Tick the questions you want to use. On screen, each tick adds the question to the next blank row of the scoring sheet, and unticking takes it out again. On paper, write them in by hand. Score them 1 to 3, the same way as the core ten.
Good answerWritten criteria you agree together, covering the organisation, the person and the need, with anything extra such as budget or timeline agreed up front. Meetings reported as held, not only booked, and a clear answer on what happens when a meeting misses the standard or the prospect does not turn up.
Red flagA reply or an “interested” counted as a lead. No-shows billed or counted. A volume promised before they have seen your ideal customer profile.
Good answerThey can answer the questions the ICO tells buyers of marketing data to ask: who compiled it, where and when it was collected, what people were told, and how recently it was checked against suppression lists such as the TPS. The ICO is clear that a seller's word that data is compliant is not enough.
Red flag“We have millions of contacts”, with no answer on where they came from or when they were last checked.
Good answerSeparate domains and inboxes bought for outreach, warmed up and monitored, never your main company domain, and set up so they can pass to you if you leave.
Red flagSending from your primary domain. Infrastructure in the agency's name with no transfer at exit. No answer on how deliverability is monitored.
Good answerLive calls screened against both the TPS and CTPS registers. Every email identifies the sender and gives a valid way to opt out. Sole traders and some partnerships treated as individuals, not businesses. Anyone who objects added to a suppression list that every future list is screened against. The ICO's business-to-business marketing guidance sets these rules out.
Red flag“B2B is exempt from GDPR.” No suppression process. No clear answer on who handles a complaint.
Good answerNamed SDRs, a straight answer on whether they work only on your account or share their week with other clients, and how they will learn your product. Live access to the CRM, call recordings and reply text, and a briefing note on every meeting before your salesperson walks in.
Red flagSDRs shared across several clients with no stated split. A weekly summary is all you get. Recordings “not available”. Reply history that stays in the agency's tool when you leave.
What should you ask a demand generation or webinar agency?
Ask who the audience is and how they will reach it, where the topics and speakers come from, what happens after the webinar or campaign ends, and how they will show what it contributed to pipeline.
Buying content marketing on its own? Start with the last question in this section, on recent work and who would write yours, then add the questions on audience and on contribution to pipeline.
Good answerA named list of target accounts and job titles, and a promotion plan across email, LinkedIn and outreach with owners and dates. Registrations and engagement measured against that list, not only as a total.
Red flag“We will post it on your company page.” A sign-up number as the only target.
Good answerCustomer interviews, sales call notes and the questions your buyers actually ask, with speakers your audience would choose to hear, such as customers or outside experts.
Red flagA product demo presented as a webinar. Topics lifted from a content calendar with no buyer input.
Good answerA written follow-up plan agreed before launch: separate messages for attendees and no-shows, sales follow-up within an agreed window, and the recording turned into content that keeps working.
Red flag“We send everyone the recording.” Follow-up left to your sales team with no brief and no list.
Good answerMeasures agreed up front, such as engagement from target accounts, meetings and opportunities from people who engaged, and asking every new lead how they heard about you, with honesty about what cannot be tracked.
Red flagImpressions and followers as the headline. A claim to trace every pound of revenue to a single touch.
Good answerRecent pieces for real clients, not only the showcase work. The named writer who would work on your account and how many other accounts they handle. An editorial process written down, from brief and interviews to draft, review and sign-off.
Red flagShowcase pieces only. A writer you will not meet until after you sign. An editorial process they can describe but not show you.
What should you ask a B2B branding or website agency?
Ask who writes the copy and whether it comes before the design, which platform they will build on, how they will protect the search traffic you already have, what accessibility standard they test to, and how the new brand will show up in sales conversations.
Good answerA named writer working from interviews with your customers and sales team, with messaging signed off before design starts, and the whole process written down rather than described in the pitch.
Red flagDesigns full of placeholder text while they wait for you to supply copy. A visual identity with no positioning or messaging behind it.
Good answerA platform chosen for what your team can manage after launch, with training, documentation and your own logins to the hosting, domain, CMS and analytics.
Red flagA proprietary CMS only the agency can edit. Hosting or the domain registered in the agency's name. A ticket for every text change.
Good answerA full inventory of current URLs, a redirect map, a measurement baseline before launch and checks in Google Search Console afterwards.
Red flag“Redirects are not needed.” No migration plan. Launch day treated as the end of the project.
Good answerA named conformance level of WCAG 2.2, the W3C's accessibility guidelines, such as AA, tested with automated tools and by hand, and fixed before sign-off.
Red flag“It will be accessible”, with no standard named. A plug-in offered in place of building it in.
Good answerMessaging, proof points and templates your sales team can use from day one: decks, one-pagers, case studies and email copy.
Red flagA logo, a palette and a guidelines PDF, and nothing that changes what your salespeople say.
What should you ask an SEO, AEO or GEO agency?
Ask them to show their own visibility and run a baseline for you, to tell you every change they make to your site, how they will check that search and AI crawlers can reach your pages, and what goes in the monthly report. Ask too whether they can guarantee rankings or AI citations: the right answer is no.
Good answerThey show where their own site ranks and gets cited, then run buyer questions on named engines in a clean, logged-out session and save the dated answers, so the baseline can be checked later.
Red flag“We will send a report next week.” A visibility score with no stated method.
Good answerYes, with a change log and the reasoning behind each recommendation. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO tells you to ask for exactly this.
Red flagSecret methods. Changes to your site that you only discover later.
Good answer“No.” Google states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking in its results. A good agency promises a method and a way to measure it, not a position.
Red flagA guaranteed page one or a guaranteed mention in ChatGPT. A claimed “special relationship” with Google, which Google itself warns about. A secret technique for AI Overviews: Google says there are no extra requirements or special optimisations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
Good answerA review of robots.txt and firewall or CDN settings, and server logs showing named crawlers arriving. They know, for example, that OpenAI says sites opted out of its OAI-SearchBot crawler will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
Red flag“We submit your pages to the AI engines.” No mention of crawler access at all.
Good answerThe queries and prompts tracked with dated results, what shipped last month, what is queued next and what changed in traffic and enquiries.
Red flagA proprietary index that only the agency can compute. Traffic charts with no link to enquiries.
For answer engines in more depth, see our guide to choosing an AEO agency.
What should you ask a LinkedIn agency?
Ask which tools will touch your accounts, who writes the posts, whether the work is ads, content or outreach and how the three connect, and what they will measure.
Good answerA plain list of every tool and what it does, and nothing that scrapes LinkedIn or automates activity on it. LinkedIn says that kind of software breaks its User Agreement and that accounts using it can be restricted or shut down.
Red flagBrowser extensions or bots sending connection requests and messages from your profile. Vague talk of “safe limits”.
Good answerRegular interviews with the person whose name is on the post, drafts that person approves, and ideas taken from their real work and opinions.
Red flagGeneric posts written without speaking to the person. Posts published without approval.
Good answerA clear answer on which job they are doing and how it fits the rest of your programme, and for ads, spend running through an ad account your company owns.
Red flagAd spend paid through the agency's own account. Ads, content and outreach run by people who never compare notes.
Good answerConversations started with target accounts, meetings, and engagement from the people on your target list.
Red flagFollowers and impressions as the headline result.
What should you ask a GTM research or competitive intelligence agency?
Ask who they will speak to and how they will find them, how you will tell what buyers said from what they concluded, what you will be able to do differently the week after, how they gather competitor information, and how the research will stay current.
Good answerA named mix of won, lost and churned customers and live prospects, a plan for recruiting them, and interviews run by someone outside your sales team so buyers speak freely.
Red flagDesk research only. Interviews limited to your happiest customers. Your own salespeople asking the questions.
Good answerVerbatim quotes, a source for every claim and a clear line between evidence and interpretation.
Red flagConclusions with no evidence trail. Summaries of competitors' websites presented as research.
Good answerFindings tied to decisions: who to target, what to say, how to price and how to win against named competitors, with battlecards or messaging your teams can use straight away.
Red flagA long deck with no recommendations. Findings that nobody on your side owns.
Good answerPublic sources, customer and lost-deal interviews, and a clear statement of what they will not do.
Red flagPosing as a buyer to obtain a competitor's pricing or demos. Anything they would not want that competitor to read about.
Good answerA refresh cadence agreed up front and a named owner for keeping it up to date.
Red flagA one-off report with no plan to revisit it.
How do you compare agencies on the scoring sheet?
Give each agency a named column, tick your must-haves, score every answer 1, 2 or 3, and compare totals only between agencies that cleared your must-haves. On screen the totals add up as you type. On paper, add them by hand.
3 Specific and evidenced · 2 Reasonable but incomplete · 1 Vague, evasive or a red flag
| # | Question | Must-have | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What we get and how it is measured | |||||
| 2 | How they are paid | |||||
| 3 | What is in the fee | |||||
| 4 | Who does the work | |||||
| 5 | The first 30 days | |||||
| 6 | Similar work, references, tenure | |||||
| 7 | Reporting | |||||
| 8 | What they need from us | |||||
| 9 | When results fall short | |||||
| 10 | Leaving and what we keep | |||||
| A1 | ||||||
| A2 | ||||||
| A3 | ||||||
| A4 | ||||||
| A5 | ||||||
| A6 | ||||||
| A7 | ||||||
| A8 | ||||||
| Total | ||||||
| Any must-have scored 1? |
Reading the results
- A 1 on a must-have ends the conversation. Do not let a high total buy back a weak answer on the thing that matters most.
- Compare totals only between agencies that cleared your must-haves. The ten core questions give a total between 10 and 30, and each add-on question adds up to 3 more.
- A small gap is not a decision. If two agencies are within a few points, go back to the questions where they differ and ask each for a written answer.
- Score again at the end of the first term. Put the same questions to the agency you hired and measure them against what they told you before you signed.
The full questions, good answers and red flags are at orrjo.com/agency-scorecard
What should you ask an agency's references?
Ask how the work compared with what they were sold, what the agency did about a bad month, and whether they would recommend the agency to a competitor. The full set:
- How long have you worked with them, and why did you choose them?
- How did the first three months compare with what you were sold?
- Tell me about a bad month. What did they do about it?
- Who on their side do you actually deal with each week?
- Would you recommend them to a competitor?
Listen for hesitation on the last one. It tells you more than a glowing answer to the other four.
How does ORRJO answer these questions?
Several of ORRJO's answers are already public, and they are listed below against the question each one answers. We have asked you to score us too, so score these answers the same way as anyone else's.
- How we are paid (question 2). ORRJO sells retainers and sales days, not pay per meeting or pay per lead.
- What is in the fee (question 3). Lead Generation starts from £2,500 a month. The final figure depends on the volume of qualified meetings you need and how deep the qualification goes, both set at discovery and confirmed in your proposal. Demand Generation and ORRJO Intelligence also start from £2,500 a month, Brand & Content from £1,250 a month, and sales days from £350 a day. The full list is on our pricing page.
- The first weeks of lead generation (question 5). Outreach begins within 2 weeks of kickoff, and first qualified meetings typically land within 2 weeks of launch.
- What counts as a qualified meeting (lead generation add-on). Right organisation. Right person. Genuine need. Anything on top, such as budget, a timeline or a second stakeholder, is agreed at discovery.
- How long, and how to start (question 10). A 3-month paid pilot is available to start. Engagements typically run 6 to 12 months, and committing to 12 months earns a discounted rate.
- Work for companies like yours (question 6). Read our case studies.
Frequently asked questions
What is an agency scorecard?
An agency scorecard is a fixed set of questions you put to every agency on your shortlist, with each answer scored from 1 to 3. This one has ten core questions for any agency, plus add-on questions for the service you are buying. Because every agency answers the same questions, you compare what they said rather than how well they pitched.
How many agencies should I score?
Three or four is usually enough. Fewer gives you nothing to compare, and more turns the process into a round of pitches. Score every one of them on the same questions, including any agency you already work with. Score each agency straight after its call, before you speak to the next, while you still remember what was said rather than how it felt.
Should I send the questions before the call?
Yes. Send the ten core questions and your chosen add-ons in writing a few days ahead. A good agency will welcome the notice, and an answer given in writing can go straight into the contract. Pick your must-haves before the first call as well, so a good pitch cannot move the bar.
What if an agency will not answer a question?
Score it 1 and ask why. Some details are genuinely confidential, such as another client's results, but a good agency will offer something in its place: an anonymised example, a reference call or a sample report. If the question is one of your must-haves, a 1 ends the conversation, however well the agency does elsewhere.
Can I use the scorecard on the agency we already have?
Yes. Score your current agency on the same questions, using what they told you before you signed as the standard. If you are also talking to new agencies, give your current agency a column on the same scoring sheet. The questions where they score lowest are the ones to raise at your next review.
Can I use the scorecard on ORRJO?
Yes. Score us the same way as everyone else. ORRJO sells retainers and sales days, with prices on our pricing page. A 3-month paid pilot is available to start. Engagements typically run 6 to 12 months, and committing to 12 months earns a discounted rate.
Sources
The advice on this page needs no source. Where it refers to a rule or a statement made by someone else, that source is below.
- Information Commissioner's Office, Business-to-business marketing. Screening live calls against the TPS and CTPS, identification and opt-out in B2B email, sole traders and partnerships, and UK GDPR for business contacts. The ICO notes this guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act. Checked 13 October 2026.
- Information Commissioner's Office, Collect information and generate leads. Due diligence before using bought or rented data, and the questions to ask the seller. Checked 13 October 2026.
- Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?, last updated 5 June 2026. Questions to ask before hiring an SEO, including whether every change will be shared with you, the warning that no one can guarantee a number one ranking, and the warning about SEOs who claim a special relationship with Google. Checked 13 October 2026.
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website, last updated 10 December 2025. No additional requirements or special optimisations to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Checked 13 October 2026.
- OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers. Sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links. Checked 13 October 2026.
- LinkedIn Help, Prohibited software and extensions. Third-party software that scrapes, changes the appearance of or automates activity on LinkedIn breaches the User Agreement. Checked 13 October 2026.
- W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, W3C Recommendation, 12 December 2024. Conformance levels A, AA and AAA. Checked 13 October 2026.