Hiring agencies

Hiring Agencies

Overview

Agencies buy speed, not strategy. The right agency proves a channel or builds a workflow faster than hiring. The wrong agency burns 90 days and your domain reputation with nothing to show for it.

You cannot outsource your ICP, positioning, or sales process — those are yours. Agencies execute within a process you define (pipeline-management, gtm-context). This skill covers agency vs in-house decisions, GTM agency types, evaluation, pilot structure, weekly management, and when to bring the function in-house (sales-team-building).

When to Use

• "Should I hire an outbound agency?"
• "Agency vs building an in-house team"
• "Find a Clay / RevOps agency"
• "Evaluate a marketing or demand gen agency"
• "How to manage an agency engagement"
• "Structure an agency pilot"
• "When to fire an agency"

Do not use for individual freelancers — use hiring-contractors. Do not use for partner/reseller programs — use partner-programs.

Authoritative Foundations

• Winning by Design — GTM Index (Operating Model). Score your Operating Model 1–10 before outsourcing. Below 6: you lack the process for an agency to execute against. Fix pipeline-management first — agencies amplify process, they do not create it.
• Jason Lemkin (SaaStr). Agencies work for channel testing and specialized execution. Core sales motion and customer relationships stay in-house. Never outsource strategy; outsource labor on a defined playbook.
• Paul Graham — Do Things That Do Not Scale. Founders must do unscalable work first (sell, define ICP, write messaging). Agencies scale what you've already proven — not discovery of what works.

Step-by-Step Process

Phase 1: Agency vs In-House Decision

Factor	Agency	In-House
Time to start	1–4 weeks	3–6 months hire + ramp
Monthly cost	$3–15K (GTM ops), $5–20K (outbound)	$8–15K/employee fully loaded
Commitment	Month-to-month or 90-day pilot	Employment
Process control	You define playbook; they execute	You own process end-to-end
Best for	Channel test, overflow, specialized tooling	Core revenue function

Choose agency when: Operating Model ≥6, playbook documented, you need capacity or a channel test, specialized skill (Clay, paid media) you won't hire for yet.

Choose in-house when: Core sales motion, ongoing customer relationships, competitive differentiation, or agency pilot proved the channel and ROI justifies a hire (sales-team-building).

Phase 2: GTM Agency Types

Agency Type	What They Do	Monthly Cost	Prove By Day 90
Outbound / SDR	Cold email, LinkedIn, calling, meeting booking	$3–15K + tools	Qualified meetings at target CPA
RevOps / Clay	Enrichment workflows, CRM hygiene, automation	$3–8K	Pipeline data quality, workflow uptime
Demand gen / Growth	Content, SEO, paid ads, CRO	$5–20K	MQL→SQL conversion, CAC by channel
Sales consulting	Playbook design, process audit, training	Project: $10–30K	Documented process + rep certification
Design studio	Brand, UI/UX, web	$5–15K/project	On-brand assets, conversion lift
Dev shop	Product features, integrations	$10–50K	Shipped, reviewed, owned code

Match agency type to gap. Do not hire an outbound agency to fix a broken ICP.

Phase 3: Evaluation Scorecard

Score each candidate 1–5 on six dimensions:

Dimension	What to Verify	Red Flag
Relevant case studies	Your industry, ACV, ICP — not generic logos	"We've worked with 200 SaaS companies"
Process transparency	Weekly deliverables, tools, data sources named	"Proprietary process"
Reference calls	2–3 clients: actual results, what failed	No references or only cherry-picked
Contract flexibility	90-day pilot, 30-day out	12-month lock-in
Data hygiene	Verified contacts, suppression lists, opt-out	Purchased/scraped lists
Your playbook fit	Will execute YOUR stages and messaging	Insists on their own messaging

Phase 4: Pilot Structure (30–90 Days)

Scope (specific, measurable):

• Bad: "Generate pipeline"
• Good: "Book 8 qualified meetings/month with VP+ at Series B fintech, $20K+ ACV"

Your inputs (non-negotiable):

• ICP definition and exclusion list
• Approved messaging and pipeline-management stage definitions
• CRM access (they log activity in YOUR system)
• Suppression list (customers, competitors, opted-out)
• Weekly reporting template

Weekly agency scorecard:

Metric	Target	Actual	Notes
Activities completed
Qualified meetings booked
Cost per qualified meeting
Data quality (% verified)
CRM hygiene (% logged)

Kill switch: End at day 90 if targets missed by >30%. No extensions without a written remediation plan.

Phase 5: Ongoing Management

• You own: ICP, positioning, messaging, sales process, approval on copy
• Agency owns: Execution, tooling, activity volume, reporting
• Cadence: 30-min weekly review (scorecard + pipeline inspection)
• Access: Agency works in your CRM and sequencer — not a black box spreadsheet
• Graduation: If pilot succeeds, either scale agency budget or hire in-house using proven playbook (sales-team-building, hiring-by-role). Clay/RevOps agency → GTM Engineer FTE: gtm-role-descriptions → gtm-engineer-hiring.md

Phase 6: Agency → In-House Transition

When an agency proves a channel:

1. Document their playbook (stages, templates, targeting rules)
2. Hire for the proven role — not the agency's account manager
3. Run 30-day overlap: agency + new hire parallel
4. Cut agency scope as internal team ramps
5. Keep agency for overflow or specialized work only

Output Format

Agency plan containing: agency vs in-house recommendation, agency type selection, shortlist scorecard, 90-day pilot scope with measurable targets, weekly scorecard template, kill switch criteria, and in-house transition plan.

Use templates/output-template.md for structure. Run scripts/check-output.py before delivery.

Quality Check

Before delivering, verify:

• Operating Model readiness assessed (process exists before outsourcing)
• Agency type matches the actual gap (not defaulting to outbound)
• Pilot goals are measurable with numeric targets and deadlines
• Suppression list and data verification requirements included
• Weekly scorecard template provided
• Kill switch defined at day 90
• In-house transition path documented if pilot succeeds
• Founder/strategy ownership explicit — agency executes, not decides

Common Pitfalls

1. Agency before process. Without pipeline-management stages and SPICED fields, the agency invents its own motion. Fix: document process first.

2. Outsourcing strategy. Agencies write messaging from scratch without your positioning. Fix: provide approved copy, ICP, and talk tracks.

3. Black-box reporting. Activity counts without pipeline impact. Fix: score on qualified meetings and cost-per-meeting, logged in your CRM.

4. Unverified data. Bad lists burn domain reputation. Fix: require verified emails and suppression checks before any send.

5. No kill switch. Sunk-cost extensions for 6+ months. Fix: 90-day pilot with explicit stop criteria.

6. Never bringing in-house. Perpetual agency dependency at 2–3x employee cost. Fix: graduate proven channels to hires.

Execution Artifacts

• references/framework-notes.md — agency types, scorecard, WbD readiness gate
• templates/output-template.md — agency evaluation and pilot plan
• scripts/check-output.py — validates deliverable sections

Related Skills

• hiring-contractors — Individual freelancers vs agency teams
• sales-team-building — In-house alternative and graduation path
• gtm-role-descriptions — GTM Engineer JD when graduating Clay agency work
• hiring-by-role — GTM Engineer scorecard after agency pilot
• pipeline-management — Process agencies execute against
• cold-email-strategy — Outbound agency messaging standards
• clay-automation — RevOps agency workflow requirements
• tool-selection-stack — Tool budget when agency brings their own stack