Question for agency owners: how deep do you research a client before deciding what they actually need?
I grabbed lunch with an old friend last week that I hadn’t seen in a few years. We caught up over burgers, and he mentioned he finally got his agency off the ground and has a few clients now.
I asked him a simple question:
“When you take on a new client, how much background research do you do before deciding what they actually need?”
That pause told me a lot.
A lot of agencies seem to lead with whatever they sell.
Web designer sees an old site. Rebuild it.
SEO person sees weak rankings. Do SEO.
PPC person sees low leads. Run ads.
Content person sees weak messaging. Do content.
Branding person sees bad positioning. Rebrand it.
Sometimes that’s right.
But sometimes the real problem is somewhere else.
Bad reviews. Unclear services. Weak offer. No trust signals. Poor follow-up. Traffic that doesn’t match the landing page.
You can fix the obvious thing and still not move the needle.
So I’m curious how others handle this.
When you talk to a new client, do you just look at the website, or do you dig into the bigger picture before recommending anything?