The report looks good but sales do not — how do I audit the agency?
The agency report looks good every month, but I cannot see it in revenue. The charts rise, the till does not move. Who decides who is right? 📊
The answer is not in the argument but in a five-minute audit. If you have panel access, you can check the report yourself.
Short answer: audit not the report but the numbers it rests on. Four checks close most cases. 🔍
Why does the report look good?
It can mislead without lying. 🎭
The five-minute audit
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Check 1: conversion definitions
- Check 2: brand share
- Check 3: match against sales records
- Check 4: change history
It needs no technical knowledge — only order. 🧪
Check 1: conversion definitions
Which actions are counted as conversions in the panel? Open the list and mark the ones that do not turn into money. This single check explains most reports. 🎯
Related reading from the archive: how to read an advertising report · choosing an advertising agency.
Check 2: brand share
What proportion of conversions come from brand searches? If it is high, the report is showing your existing customers as new ones. 📊
Check 3: match against sales records
The panel says 40 conversions — how many enquiries did sales record? A large gap means either inflated measurement or unqualified leads. 🔗
Check 4: change history
What was actually done in the account this month? If nothing changed, the “optimisation” line is effectively empty. 📓
Four questions for the agency
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- “What is my cost per enquiry?”
- “What did you stop this month?”
- “Can we separate brand traffic?”
- “Can we discuss lead quality?”
The quality of the answers says more than the report does. ❓
“What is my cost per enquiry?”
A clear one-sentence answer should come back. If it does not, either there is no measurement or the number is bad. 🔢
“What did you stop this month?”
A concrete answer is proof of management. “We optimise continuously” is the polite version of not looking at the panel. ✂️
“Can we separate brand traffic?”
A good agency has already done it; if not, they will offer to do it now. A party that objects has told you something. 🏷️
“Can we discuss lead quality?”
An agency with no contact with your sales team only manages a panel. Without quality feedback the campaign goes blind; the method sits in the call measurement guide. 🗣️
What a report must contain
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Three mandatory numbers
- The decision line
- The bad-news line
- The spend breakdown
Six lines, one page. 📄
Three mandatory numbers
Enquiry count, cost per enquiry, and non-brand enquiry count. A report without these three produces no decisions. 🔢
The decision line
Beside each number, “what was done / what comes next”. A report is not a photograph; it is a decision document. 📝
The bad-news line
What fell, and why? A report that never writes bad news produces surprises in month three. ⚠️
The spend breakdown
Media spend and management fee on separate lines. Merged, efficiency cannot be measured; the principle sits in the ad budget guide. 💳
Is the problem the agency or me?
An honest audit looks at both sides. ⚖️
Agency-side signals
A vanity-metric report, an account with no changes, a table with no brand separation, and no clear answer to direct questions. 🚩
Business-side signals
Late callbacks, a weak landing page, an uncompetitive offer, work waiting on approval. These are items no agency can fix. 🪞
What should I do today?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Step 1: request panel access
- Step 2: run the four checks
- Step 3: ask the four questions
- If you want help
Three steps, half an hour. 🪜
Step 1: request panel access
The account must be in your name with access for you. A supplier who withholds access cannot be audited; the frame sits in the ownership guide. 🔑
Step 2: run the four checks
Conversion definitions, brand share, sales-record match, change history. Twenty minutes, a clear verdict. 🧪
Step 3: ask the four questions
The clarity of the answers makes your decision. An agency that answers clearly keeps the account. 🗣️
If you want help
Let us audit your account with an independent eye: a digital audit reports in writing. To talk it through use the consult your expert form; the service sits on the Google Ads consulting page. 🎯
📝 Notes From the Field
A client kept saying “the agency is doing well, the report is excellent” while revenue stood still. We opened the conversion definitions: the list included “contact page view”. Most of the report came from that single line. The agency had not lied; it was counting the wrong thing.
📖 Short Glossary
Vanity metric: a number showing effort without measuring outcome. Brand share: the proportion of conversions coming from your own brand searches. Decision line: the “what was done / what comes next” note beside each number. Change history: the record of who changed what and when.
⚡ Quick Summary
Audit the numbers the report rests on, not the report. 📊 Four checks: conversion definitions, brand share, sales-record match, change history. Four questions reveal whether management is happening. The audit looks both ways — late callbacks and weak pages are not the agency’s to fix.
🎯 Next Step
Let us audit your account independently: a digital audit reports in writing. To talk it through use the consult your expert form; conversion drops sit in the drop guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Impressions, clicks, reach, click-through rate. These show effort, not outcome. A report full of them has a weak results side. 📈
If page views, menu clicks or repeated actions are counted as conversions. A conversion that does not turn into money enlarges the figure and shrinks the meaning. 🎈
It writes people who were already looking for you into the conversion column. Without separating brand, no report describes new customers; the logic sits in the brand guide. 🏷️
It can, and it is: a table compared against a weak month looks brilliant. Compare with the same month last year. 📅
In measurement: if calls are not counted, the fault is not one-sided. Setup is done together and protected together. 🤝
With a written correction request: two items, one month. If nothing changes, plan the transition; the procedure sits in the agency or consultant guide. ✍️
Request it in writing: the account should be in your name with administrator access for you. Working with a supplier who withholds access means working without oversight.
That statement needs data behind it: competition figures, impression share and the cost-per-enquiry trend. An explanation of difficulty with no numbers is an excuse.
A written correction request: at most two items and one month. A serious partner treats it as an opportunity; if nothing improves, plan the transition — and since the account is in your name, nothing is lost.