The market for creative agencies is opaque. Every one has a beautiful portfolio, every one promises “exceptional results”, every one uses the same words: strategic approach, creative team, tailor-made results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the outside they look the same. They differ in what happens inside – how they work, how they make decisions, how they measure success. And you will not see that on the website or in the portfolio. So before you start conversations, it is worth knowing what to look for. The starting point is understanding how an agency that really does <a href=”\/en\/blog\/ux-vs-ui\/”>UX differs from one that only does UI<\/a> – because that is one of the most important differences that will not be visible in portfolio screenshots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Question 1: What Does Your Process Look Like Before Designing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the most important question. An agency that starts in Canva or Figma without prior research does not understand your company. It gives you a visual effect, not a business solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A good agency starts with questions: about your clients, your competitors, your business goals. Only from that knowledge does the project emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No process = no strategy = a project that looks nice in screenshots but does not sell. This is exactly the difference between a site that just “exists” and <a href=”\/en\/blog\/website-that-sells\/”>a site that actually sells<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Question 2: Will You Show Me Projects That Did NOT Work – and Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This question separates mature agencies from those who only sell success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every agency has projects that did not hit the goal. What matters is not whether such projects exist (they always do) – but whether the agency can talk about them and what they learned. An agency that has “100% satisfied clients” either does not work much, or is not telling the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Question 3: Who Will Lead My Project – Senior or Junior?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many agencies present seniors at sales meetings. After signing, the project goes to juniors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask directly: who will be my main contact throughout the project? Who will design? Who will be the lead developer? A good agency wants to share that information, because they are proud of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Question 4: How Do You Measure Project Success?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the answer is “happy client” or “beautiful design” – run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Success is measurable results: conversion rate, organic traffic, number of leads, customer acquisition cost. McKinsey data shows what these numbers look like in the perspective of design investment – we describe it in our article on how <a href=”\/en\/blog\/design-as-competitive-advantage\/”>design becomes a competitive advantage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can you check this: ask about projects from the portfolio and request specific numbers – what changed after their site or identity went live. A good agency will have that data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Question 5: What Is Included in the Quote and What Is Outside It?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It looks cheap until it starts getting expensive. Ask about: how many revisions are included, whether rights to source files are included, whether after launch there is technical support and CMS training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each of these points can be a source of unexpected costs. To understand price ranges and what stands behind different offers, read our article on <a href=”\/en\/blog\/website-cost\/”>how much a good website costs<\/a> – an honest answer without the fluff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Question 6: What Tools and Technologies Do You Use and Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Because we always do it that way” is a bad answer. A good agency picks technology to fit project needs and can explain decisions. Why WordPress instead of Webflow? Why headless instead of traditional CMS?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the agency always does the same thing, that is a signal that your project will be fitted to their process, not your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Question 7: Show Me Projects for Companies Similar to Mine<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not about industry. It is about scale, target group, type of problem. An agency that does only e-commerce for B2C may not understand the specifics of B2B with a long sales cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is also worth asking whether the agency has experience in projects requiring rebranding – because sometimes a new project requires first deciding whether <a href=”\/en\/blog\/rebranding-when-its-worth\/”>an identity change makes sense at all<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Question 8: What Does Communication Look Like During the Project?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common reason for client dissatisfaction is not project quality, but lack of communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask about: meeting frequency, communication tools (Slack, Notion, Jira), who is my point of contact and how quickly they respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A good agency has procedures ready for that. And is not afraid of these questions. Just as it should not be afraid of the question of why <a href=”\/en\/blog\/why-websites-lose-customers\/”>a high bounce rate<\/a> on the last project is evidence of bad UX, not “a difficult client.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
## Summary: What Does a Good Agency Do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starts from understanding the problem, not from designing. Measures success in numbers, not in prettiness. Has a clear process and communicates it honestly. Is not afraid of hard questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If after a conversation with an agency you have more questions than answers, that is a bad sign. If you have clarity on process, team and how success is measured, you are in the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
*DotLineCode will answer each of these questions honestly – because we believe a good project starts with a good conversation, not with a pretty portfolio.*<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The market for creative agencies is opaque. Every one has a beautiful portfolio, every one promises “exceptional results”, every one uses the same words: strategic approach, creative team, tailor-made results. From the outside they look the same. They differ in what happens inside – how they work, how they make decisions, how they measure success. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"class_list":["post-2598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-strategy-and-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n