How to Address an Underperforming Agency Before You Fire It
Address an underperforming agency by comparing the agreed commitments with the evidence, identifying the causes of the gap and deciding whether a credible correction is possible. If it is, agree on specific changes, owners and a review date. If the problem creates unacceptable risk or the agency cannot offer a workable response, prepare an appropriate exit.
Download the editable worksheet (Markdown). Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details.
Separate the assessment of work from the assessment of results. An agency may deliver poor work during a strong sales period, or perform its assignment competently while business results suffer for other reasons. Both the work and the plan deserve scrutiny.
Define the gap in specific terms.
Start with the contract, brief and subsequent approved changes. Identify what the agency committed to deliver and what you reasonably expected from its advice or management.
Record the difference using examples. A missed report date, an unimplemented recommendation and a disappointing revenue result are different problems. Each needs an explanation relevant to the commitment.
Avoid beginning with a general verdict that the agency is not strategic or does not care. Describe the behavior and the effect on the business so the agency can respond to facts.
Check the client's contribution and the surrounding conditions.
Review whether your team supplied the required information, approved work and made the agreed internal resources available. Check for changes in the offer, market, sales capacity and measurement.
WFA's 2022 agency-evaluation research discusses both client-side misalignment and difficulty choosing appropriate performance measures. Its multinational sample should not be treated as a universal benchmark, but it supports examining the relationship from both sides.
This review does not remove the agency's responsibility to flag missing inputs or weak assumptions. Ask when it recognized the issue and what it recommended.
Hold a direct performance conversation.
Send the specific concerns before the meeting and invite the agency leader who can authorize changes. Give the team an opportunity to explain its diagnosis.
Ask what it would change, why that response is appropriate and what evidence will show whether it is working. A promise to try harder is incomplete without a change in behavior, capacity or plan.
Listen for whether the agency accepts responsibility for matters it controls. Also listen for valid constraints it has previously raised. Repairing the relationship may require changes from both organizations.
Design a correction you can evaluate.
Choose actions tied to the diagnosis. An account-management problem might require a new lead or clearer authority. A quality problem might require specialist review. A weak plan might require a new recommendation and revised priorities.
Set a review period appropriate to the work. You can assess whether communication and delivery commitments improve before a long sales cycle produces revenue. Do not promise a revenue turnaround within an arbitrary period simply to make the plan look decisive.
Keep leading evidence and business results separate. Completing an audit demonstrates delivery. It does not prove that the resulting recommendations will improve sales.
Agree on what happens if the plan fails.
Define the conditions for continuing, changing scope or ending the engagement. Check those choices against the contract and obtain legal advice where needed.
A credible security incident, serious misconduct or material breach may require immediate specialist intervention. A routine improvement plan is not an appropriate substitute for containing urgent harm.
If the agency proposes additional fees to fix the problem, ask which work falls inside existing obligations and which is a new assignment. Resolve the commercial treatment before approving it.
Use this improvement plan.
Write the plan with the agency and retain a record of agreement.
- The commitment or expected standard is [specific requirement], documented in [source].
- The observed gap is [evidence], which affects [business consequence].
- We believe the causes include [agency, client and external factors], with [uncertainties] still to investigate.
- The agency will change [actions], owned by [person], by [date].
- The client will provide [inputs or decisions], owned by [person], by [date].
- We will assess delivery using [evidence] and business progress using [measures and limitations].
- We will review the plan on [date] and choose among [continue, revise or exit].
- Any commercial or contractual changes require [authorized approval].
At the review, compare the evidence with the plan rather than moving the requirements after the fact. Use the account-manager guide for a staffing change and the exit guide if the relationship cannot support the work you need.