This page is the working version of the 10-point vetting scorecard. Use it on a laptop during the sales call or on your phone straight afterwards. Each criterion is scored 0 to 5; the page totals the result, tells you which band the agency lands in, and keeps a note field so you can record the evidence behind each score. If you turn off JavaScript, the form still works as a printable checklist, you just have to add up the numbers yourself.
Before you start
Score what you were shown, not what you were told. A 4 or 5 should always be backed by something you saw: a contract clause, a live report, a profile they walked you through, a reference who picked up the phone. If you only have a verbal assurance, cap the score at 3.
Compare agencies side by side
| Criterion | Agency 1 | Agency 2 | Agency 3 |
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How to use the scores
The bands are deliberately wide because the purpose of the total is to sort, not to crown a winner. Two agencies at 41 and 44 are effectively tied, and you should decide between them on fit, chemistry and price. An agency at 44 and one at 31 are not tied, and the gap usually comes down to two or three criteria you can name. That is useful: it tells you what to negotiate.
Two scores override everything else. A zero on ownership of the work means you would be renting your own marketing, and a zero on contract terms means you could not leave if it went wrong. Treat either as a hard stop even if the rest of the card is excellent. The tool flags both automatically.
Weighting for your situation
The ten criteria are equally weighted on purpose, so that the card stays simple enough to use in a half-hour call. If your business depends on the map pack (trades, dental, legal, restaurants, anything with walk-in or drive-to customers) it is reasonable to mentally double the Google Business Profile score. If you run an e-commerce or software business where local proximity is irrelevant, the technical depth and content criteria carry more of the weight. Note any such adjustment in the evidence field so your future self remembers why.
What the evidence field is for
Memory is bad at this. After three sales calls in a week, the agencies blur together and the most confident presenter tends to win by default. Writing one line of evidence per score forces you to notice when you are about to give a high mark for a feeling rather than a fact. The export includes these notes, which makes it easy to share your reasoning with a business partner or forward to whoever handles your contracts.
Your data stays here
Everything you type is held in your browser's local storage on this device. It is not transmitted to this site's publisher or anyone else; there is no analytics script on this page and no form submission. Clearing your browser data removes it, as does the reset button. If you want a durable copy, use the export.
Scoring an agency you already use
The card also works as an annual review of a current provider. Score them in January from the last twelve months of reports and contract behaviour rather than from the sales pitch you remember, and compare the result with any new firm you talk to. Incumbents often score high on communication and low on reporting, which tells you what to ask for at renewal.
After scoring
Once you have a leader, go back to the 25 questions and check whether any of the stage-three and stage-four questions went unasked. Then read the contract red flags page with their agreement open next to it, and compare the quote against the Denver pricing benchmarks. A strong score with a weak contract is still a weak deal.