Agency bait and switch: how to spot it before you sign the contract

A good pitch is not a delivery plan

Imagine a strong pitch with a senior strategist. After signing, a different team arrives at kickoff. That is not automatically a bait and switch: the delivery team may have been named from the start. The problem is a gap between who the agency led you to expect and who is actually responsible for the work.

Before you sign, ask for that responsibility in writing. Who makes the important decisions? Who builds and reviews the work? Who speaks with you when something changes? The answers matter more than the titles on the pitch deck.

Seven questions to ask before you sign

1. Who will lead, make and review the work?

The person presenting may be the person doing the work—or may be one of several contributors. Ask for the delivery lead, the people responsible for the major parts and the role the senior strategist will actually play. A named reviewer is different from a named builder; both can be useful when the distinction is clear.

2. What will discovery decide and produce?

Discovery can be valuable when the problem is not yet clear. Ask what inputs it needs, what questions it will settle, what artifact you will receive and when the next scope decision happens. Its length should follow the work, not a universal one- or twelve-week rule.

3. What happens if the team changes?

Ask when the delivery owner will be named, which roles are essential and how a change of person will be communicated and approved. A team can be assembled around the project without hiding who is accountable for it.

4. What is included in the price?

A custom quote can be transparent. Ask for the scope, fee, inputs you must provide, third-party costs, exclusions, review points and process for additional work. If the agency cannot price the full project yet, ask what it needs to learn and when you will receive a written proposal.

5. What can you verify in the examples?

A case study should distinguish the work delivered from the result observed. Ask when the work happened, what changed, what evidence supports the claim and what else might have affected the outcome. A client may have good reasons to remain unnamed; anonymity is a reason to ask for context, not proof the work is weak.

6. Who is responsible for outside specialists?

Subcontractors are not automatically a problem. Ask which work is done by whom, who reviews it, who has access to your materials and who remains accountable when something needs correction. The agreement should make the approval path clear.

7. What happens when scope or timing changes?

Read the deliverables, milestones, review points, payment terms and change process together. Ask who decides whether a change is in scope, how a missed dependency is handled and what support or exit terms apply. A useful agreement makes the handoffs and responsibilities understandable before work begins.

Ask us the same questions

8gnc should be answerable to this checklist too. Before work begins, the proposal should name the agreed scope, price, inputs, delivery owner, Michael's role where relevant, review points and delivery date. If specialists contribute, their responsibility and the approval path should be clear. Bring a project or a question. Meeting Michael does not mean he personally builds every deliverable.

The proposal—not a general article or a polished pitch—sets what we commit to for your project. Ask for the actual plan, and compare it with the work and proof you can inspect.

Use the checklist before you choose

Bring these questions to any agency. Notice whether the answers are specific, written down and consistent across the pitch, proposal and people you meet.

If you already know the project you need, send the request below. We will use it to discuss scope, the delivery owner, review points and what a proposal needs to settle. Sending a request does not book a call or promise a price or delivery date.

If the problem is less clear, choose Start a conversation with 8gnc to talk it through. If you choose the separate optional Brand Therapy method, it includes a written verdict and a focused search-visibility review of the main problems and useful next steps. We may recommend a defined project, deeper paid research or no project. This is optional for a buyer with a defined request.