You’ve built a solid contracting business the hard way—one job at a time, one satisfied customer at a time. But now you’re ready to grow, and you know you need help with marketing. So you start calling agencies.
The first one promises you’ll be “dominating Google in 90 days.” The second one throws around terms like “conversion optimization” and “multi-channel attribution.” The third one wants $5,000 a month but can’t explain exactly what you’re getting for it.
Welcome to the confusing, expensive, and often frustrating world of hiring a marketing agency. Make the wrong choice, and you’ll blow through $30,000 in six months with nothing to show for it. Make the right choice, and you’ll look back on it as the best business decision you ever made.
Here are the 12 questions that separate the real pros from the smooth talkers.
Questions 1-3: Do They Actually Know Your Business?
Most marketing agencies are great at marketing for other marketing agencies. But do they understand your business? There’s a huge difference.
Question 1: “What specific experience do you have with contractors like me?”
Don’t accept vague answers like “We work with lots of service businesses.” You need specifics. Have they worked with HVAC companies? Plumbers? Roofers? Electricians?
Here’s why this matters: A contractor’s marketing is completely different from a dentist’s or a lawyer’s. Your leads are urgent. Someone’s AC died in July—they need help TODAY, not next week. Your service area is specific—you can’t help someone three states away. Your average job value varies wildly from a $200 repair to a $30,000 renovation.
An agency that gets this will talk your language. They’ll mention things like “service calls,” “booking rates,” and “average ticket size.” They’ll understand that 50 cheap leads for $100 drain cleanings might be worse than 10 quality leads for kitchen remodels.
Question 2: “How do you make sure the leads you send match what my team can actually handle?”
This is the question most contractors never think to ask—until it’s too late.
Here’s what happens: A fancy agency promises to triple your leads. Great! Except you have two crews and one office person. Suddenly you’ve got 90 leads instead of 30, and you can’t answer the phone fast enough. Leads go to voicemail. People get frustrated. Your Google rating drops because you couldn’t keep up.
The right agency asks about your operational capacity BEFORE launching campaigns. They want to know: How many crews do you have? What’s your current booking rate? Do you use scheduling software? What’s your lead response time?
ContractorGEO helped a roofing company in Dallas face exactly this situation. The owner, Marcus, was spending $3,000 monthly on marketing and getting about 20 leads. He wanted to scale up. But instead of immediately cranking his budget to $10,000, ContractorGEO first helped him implement a CRM system and hire a part-time customer service rep. They slowly increased his ad spend as his capacity grew—$4,000 the first month, $5,500 the next, eventually hitting $8,000. Result? He went from 20 leads to 55 leads monthly with a 70% booking rate because his team could actually handle the volume. His revenue jumped from $40,000 to $110,000 monthly over six months.
Question 3: “What’s your strategy specifically for local search and Google Business Profile?”
For contractors, the “near me” search is everything. “Emergency plumber near me.” “HVAC repair near me.” “Roofing contractor near me.”
If an agency starts talking about national SEO or fancy content marketing without mentioning your Google Business Profile first, that’s a red flag. Your GBP is the most important piece of real estate you own online.
The right answer includes specifics: managing your business categories, optimizing your service descriptions, responding to reviews strategically, posting updates regularly, and dominating the Google Map Pack (those three businesses that show up with the map when someone searches).
Questions 4-6: Can You Trust Them With Your Money?
Now let’s talk about the money—because this is where a lot of contractors get burned.
Question 4: “How exactly will you track my return on investment?”
Bad agencies talk about “impressions” and “engagement.” Good agencies talk about “cost per lead.” Great agencies talk about actual revenue generated from marketing.
You need an agency that can tell you: “We spent $4,000 on marketing this month. That generated 32 leads. You booked 20 of them. The average job value was $3,200. That’s $64,000 in revenue from a $4,000 investment—a 16x return.”
They should offer a dashboard where you can see this data in real-time, not just a monthly PDF report. And they should commit to regular meetings—at least monthly—to walk through the numbers with you.
Question 5: “Will I own my ad accounts, or will they be under your company?”
This is CRUCIAL. Read this twice.
Your Google Ads account and Facebook Ads account should be set up under YOUR business name, with YOUR credit card paying Google and Facebook directly. The agency should have access to manage the accounts, but YOU should own them.
Why? Because if you ever fire the agency or they go out of business, you keep everything—your ad history, your data, your audience lists, your conversion tracking. If they own the accounts, they can hold you hostage.
The right answer is: “We’ll help you set up the accounts under your business, and then you’ll grant us manager access. You’ll pay Google and Facebook directly, and you’ll pay us separately for managing the campaigns.”
If an agency refuses to do this, walk away. No exceptions.
Question 6: “What are ALL your fees, and are there any hidden costs?”
You need complete transparency. Here’s what you should expect to pay:
- Management Fee: What you pay the agency (typically 15-20% of ad spend, or a flat monthly fee)
- Ad Spend: What you pay Google, Facebook, etc. (this should be separate and paid directly to them)
- Setup Fees: One-time costs to build campaigns, landing pages, etc.
- Software/Tools: Any tracking software, CRM integrations, etc.
Ask specifically: “If I sign a $3,000/month contract, how much of that goes to ads and how much goes to you?” And ask about the contract length. For your first contract with an agency, avoid anything longer than 6-12 months.
Questions 7-9: Do They Have A Real Strategy?
Now let’s get into the actual marketing work.
Question 7: “What’s your testing process for finding what works in my market?”
Marketing isn’t magic—it’s testing. The best agencies know that what works in Phoenix might not work in Portland. What works for HVAC might not work for plumbing.
You want to hear about A/B testing (running multiple ad variations to see which performs best), audience testing (trying different demographics and interests), and a defined testing period.
A good answer sounds like: “We’ll start with a $2,000 testing budget over the first three weeks. We’ll run four different ad variations targeting three different audience segments. By week four, we’ll know which combinations give you the lowest cost per lead, and we’ll scale up the winners.”
Question 8: “How will you help me get more reviews and use them in marketing?”
Your reputation is your currency. A contractor with 200 five-star reviews will beat a contractor with better prices but only 15 reviews every single time.
The right agency has a system for generating reviews—automated requests sent after completed jobs, making it easy for happy customers to leave feedback, and monitoring for negative reviews so you can respond quickly.
But here’s the AI advantage: Modern agencies use AI to analyze your reviews for patterns. What do customers praise most? What complaints come up repeatedly? That intelligence should feed back into your marketing—highlighting your strengths in ad copy and addressing concerns on your website.
ContractorGEO uses AI to scan reviews across all platforms (Google, Yelp, Facebook) and identify trending themes. When they noticed a painting contractor’s customers constantly mentioned “attention to detail” and “clean job sites,” they rebuilt the ad campaigns around those exact phrases. The result? Cost per lead dropped 28% because the ads resonated with exactly what people wanted.
Question 9: “How do you track phone calls and after-hours leads?”
Most contractor leads call. They don’t fill out forms—they pick up the phone. If an agency can’t track phone call conversions, they’re flying blind.
They should use call tracking software (like CallRail) that assigns unique phone numbers to different marketing channels. This way, you know if a lead came from Google Ads, Facebook, or your website.
And here’s where AI becomes essential: What about the lead that calls at 10 PM? Or fills out a form on Saturday? Most agencies have no solution. But agencies with AI expertise implement chatbots and automated response systems that capture those after-hours leads.
This isn’t optional anymore—it’s critical. Remember: fundamentals like SEO get people to your site. But AI tools make sure you actually convert them, especially when your team isn’t available.
Questions 10-12: Will They Actually Be There When You Need Them?
The final questions are about the relationship itself.
Question 10: “Who will I actually be working with day-to-day?”
Get a name. Get a title. Get a background.
Some agencies have you meet with the smooth-talking owner during sales, then hand you off to a junior account manager who’s handling 40 other clients. You want to know who your actual point of contact will be before you sign.
Ask to meet them. Ask about their experience with contractor accounts specifically. This person will be your lifeline when things go wrong or when you need quick changes.
Question 11: “What happens when performance drops or a competitor starts outspending us?”
Markets change. Competitors get aggressive. Seasonal shifts happen. What you really want to know is: Will this agency proactively fix problems, or will they just send you reports showing declining performance?
The right answer includes specific actions: “We monitor your competitors’ ad spend weekly. If we see increased competition, we’ll alert you immediately with options—either adjust budgets, change targeting, or pivot to different channels. We have monthly strategy reviews where we analyze trends and make proactive recommendations.”
This is where ContractorGEO’s contractor-specific expertise matters. They’ve seen HVAC companies navigate seasonal slowdowns, helped roofers respond to competitors’ spring blitz campaigns, and guided electricians through demand surges. Most general agencies have never dealt with the unique challenges of contractor seasonality and market dynamics.
Question 12: “Can you give me three recent references I can call?”
References should be from contractors similar to you—similar size, similar services, ideally in different (non-competing) markets.
When you call them, ask these specific questions:
- “Did the agency hit their promised cost-per-lead targets?”
- “How quickly do they respond when you have urgent questions?”
- “Would you hire them again?”
- “What’s one thing they could do better?”
If an agency hesitates to provide references or only offers carefully curated testimonials on their website, that’s a warning sign.
Why AI Expertise Is No Longer Optional
Here’s something that’s changed in the last year: AI expertise has gone from “nice to have” to “must have” for marketing agencies.
The agencies winning for contractors right now understand how to use AI for:
Lead qualification – AI chatbots that pre-qualify leads 24/7, so your team only spends time on serious buyers
Predictive targeting – AI that analyzes your best customers and finds more people just like them, cutting your cost per lead by 30-40%
Content optimization – AI that tests hundreds of ad variations and automatically scales the winners
Sentiment analysis – AI that reads every review and identifies patterns you’d never spot manually
But here’s the critical part: AI isn’t replacing traditional marketing fundamentals. You still need solid SEO so people can find you. You still need a great Google Business Profile. You still need compelling website content.
AI is the multiplier—it makes everything else work better. An agency that ignores traditional fundamentals will fail. An agency that ignores AI capabilities will fall behind. You need both.
The Bottom Line: Your Partner Matters More Than You Think
Here’s what most contractors don’t realize until it’s too late: the right marketing partner doesn’t just get you leads. They help you scale your entire business.
When your lead volume doubles, can you handle it? Do you need to hire? Should you add a second location? What about your cash flow during rapid growth?
Generic marketing agencies have no answers to these questions. They got you the leads—that’s where their job ends in their minds.
Contractor-specific agencies like ContractorGEO have seen dozens of businesses go through these exact scaling challenges. They know what’s coming before you feel it. They can help you prepare for success instead of scrambling to handle it.
That’s the difference between an agency that provides leads and a partner that helps you build a real business.
Your Next Step Starts Here
Hiring your first marketing agency is a big decision. But with these 12 questions, you’re now prepared to separate the professionals from the pretenders.
The contractors who grow from $500K to $2M+ in revenue all have one thing in common: they found the right marketing partner early and built a collaborative relationship.
You’ve worked too hard building your business to gamble on the wrong agency. Ask tough questions. Demand clear answers. And partner with an agency that understands both the fundamentals of marketing AND the future of AI-powered lead generation.
Ready to Find Your Marketing Partner?
You have three ways to move forward:
1. Learn More – Download our free guide: “The Contractor’s Agency Selection Checklist: What to Look For, What to Avoid, and How to Maximize Your ROI” for a deeper dive into evaluating marketing partners.
2. Speak with Our Team – Schedule a no-pressure consultation with a ContractorGEO advisor. Come with your 12 questions. We’ll answer every one honestly, show you exactly how we work with contractors, and help you determine if we’re the right fit.
3. Get a Free Marketing Audit – We’ll review your current marketing situation—what’s working, what’s not, and what opportunities you’re missing. Whether you work with us or someone else, you’ll walk away with clarity on your next steps.
Call us at (406) 219-6487 to get started! The right marketing partner is out there. These 12 questions will help you find them.
