Most agency websites look credible. Polished case studies, a confident process diagram, a logo wall. None of that tells you what actually happens once you sign.
These are the questions that do. Ask them of anyone you’re evaluating, including us.
Who actually does the work?
“Our senior team will lead this” is a sales-call answer. Ask instead: who, specifically, will be writing code and making product decisions day to day? At an agency with account layers, the person selling the engagement is often not the person delivering it. Ask to meet the actual delivery team before signing, not after.
What do we own when this ends?
Code, design files, infrastructure access, and documentation should transfer to you with no ambiguity, whether the relationship ends after one release or five years. If a proposal is vague about this, assume the vagueness is deliberate. Lock-in is sometimes a business model, not an oversight.
How will we see progress, and how often?
“We’ll check in every two weeks” is different from “you’ll see working software demonstrated every two weeks.” The first is a status update. The second is evidence. Ask what a typical demo actually shows, and ask to see one from a past or current client if they can share it.
What happens when the scope needs to change?
Scope always needs to change once real users or real data show up. The useful question isn’t whether it will happen, it’s how the agency handles it when it does. A credible answer names a specific process (staged releases, an agreed change process, transparent re-scoping) rather than “we’re flexible.”
Can we talk to a past client, not just read a quote?
Written testimonials are easy to curate. A short call with a former or current client, even ten minutes, tells you more about how disputes get handled, how communication actually works, and whether delivery matched the pitch.
What does the price not include?
Ask what’s explicitly excluded from the number, not just what’s included. Hosting costs, third-party API fees, post-launch support, and scope beyond the agreed release are common places where a low headline number gets expensive later. A specific, itemised answer here is a good sign. A vague one is not.
How do you decide if something shouldn’t be built?
This is the question that separates a delivery vendor from a product partner. An agency that only ever says yes to scope is optimising for billable hours, not your outcome. Ask for an example of a time they told a client not to build something, or to build less than originally planned.
What happens if it’s not working after month one?
Every engagement carries some risk that fit isn’t right. Ask about notice periods, what a wind-down looks like, and what you’d be left with if you needed to stop early. A confident, specific answer here is more reassuring than a long list of guarantees.
A vague answer is the actual signal
Individually, none of these questions are hard to answer well. What matters is whether the answers are specific to your situation or generically reassuring. “We’re very experienced” is not an answer. “Here’s exactly how that worked on our last project like yours” is.
If you’re evaluating options right now, book a strategy call and ask us these questions directly — or read how we structure delivery on the engagement models page.