We’ve heard clients complain about agencies, and you probably have experiences of your own. Of course, there are many great agencies out there, but some just tend to be a pain. People complain long enough until they eventually get frustrated and fire their agency. What is often the last straw that breaks before this happens?
In this post, we’ll answer the question, “Why do agencies get fired?” by looking at several common reasons. If you are reading this and wondering whether to let go of your agency, the points here serve as warning signs, and if you run an agency, this post shows you some things clients consider red flags.
Overpromising, Underdelivering
There’s no promise that some agencies won’t make to close a deal with you. “We’ll fill every open position in your company within two weeks, guaranteed,” a recruitment agency might say. Or an app development agency claims, “Your mobile app will be live on both Android and iOS stores in 10 days—fully functional and bug-free.” Who doesn’t love big results? So, you finalize the deal.
However, as the two-week mark approaches, half of the open positions remain unfilled. Or your app took over 30 days to go live, and 60 days later, users are still reporting bugs. Most clients can forgive a slight mismatch between promise and delivery, but when the gap is too wide, it indicates deception, which affects their trust in the agency.
No one wants to keep working with an agency they no longer trust, so many clients pull the plug and call it quits.
Poor Communication & Transparency
You’ll think ghosting only happens in relationships until you meet some agencies. Communication is the backbone of remote work. When there is no update from the agency, the client is left confused. They don’t know if the project is on track, delayed, or completely forgotten. Some agencies fail to provide updates or respond to your request for weeks, which leads to doubt and frustration.
As for some other agencies, even though they won’t ghost you, their updates are hard to understand. You’ll get a report packed with jargon like “CTR fluctuations due to seasonal algorithmic variance” or “performance bottlenecks from third-party API latency,” but no clear insight into what’s actually happening.
They may do that to sound professional or dodge mentioning their failures. However, buzzwords do nothing for clients. Instead, clients want clear updates that they can plan with. Compare the examples above with an update like “Leads are coming in slower this month. We’re shifting budget from Instagram to LinkedIn since that’s where your conversions are stronger.” You quickly see the difference.
Besides ghosting and unclear communication, another issue clients hate is a defensive tone when they ask for updates. You just want to know why you haven’t seen any results yet, three weeks after hiring the agency, but you get a cold, “These things take time. You can’t expect miracles overnight,” response.
Responses like this shut down opportunities for productive communication. The client feels blamed and dismissed, so they eventually take their goals and projects to an agency where they are respected.
Poor Performance Compared To Client's Ability
A Redditor has this to say about why they fired an agency.
To summarize this person’s point in one sentence, they realized that the agency was performing poorly and could get better results by handling the project themselves.
Understand that many clients know how to execute different aspects of their work by themselves. They use agency help, not because of a lack of skill or knowledge, but to free up time for more important work. So, they can tell when the agency is performing poorly. They’ll let an agency that can do a better job take over instead of continuing to pay for results that feel like a waste of resources.
No Accountability Or Ownership
In a client-agency relationship, everyone has responsibilities. While the client must provide timely payment and communicate clearly and transparently, the agency should fulfill the tasks required to meet the client’s goals to the best of its ability and address any challenges encountered.
When a client consistently plays their part, the last thing they want to deal with is an agency that keeps dodging their responsibilities or shifting blame. “The algorithm changed suddenly, so there’s nothing we could’ve done,” or “Engagement dropped because your audience just isn’t active right now” are some things you may hear them say when you ask why results don’t meet the mark.
Of course, issues arise from time to time, but it’s part of the agency’s job to resolve them and communicate any changes to the timeline or methods to the client. When they blame everything else—the client, algorithms, audience, market, etc.—but themselves, it shows a lack of accountability and ownership.
Clients want agencies that hold themselves accountable and proactively work to improve poor outcomes. An agency that consistently makes excuses instead is sure to get dropped eventually.
High Turnover And Talent Gaps
High turnover causes two major challenges for clients: security and inconsistency.
Every new staff member or account manager who steps in needs access to the client’s accounts, which usually contain sensitive information they’d prefer to keep within a closer circle. First, it brings the extra work of changing passwords and keeping track of them.
Security aside, when a new person takes over a task, they start learning how to do it afresh. Even if they’re pros, they need to know the agency’s methods and adapt to the client’s unique instructions. Hence, quality drops and tasks slow down. A high turnover causes constant disruptions, which no client likes.
Another thing many agencies do is use seniors to sell their services and carry out tasks during test periods, but switch to juniors when their contract with a client begins. Clients are impressed by the seniors’ work during the testing phase. They may need assistance with bookkeeping, and the agency provides someone who presents spotless financial records, reconciles accounts without errors, and sends clear weekly reports.
But once the contract begins, juniors who miss transactions and send inconsistent reports replace them. The client finally realizes that the test period was staged to gain their trust, then their doubts snowball and ultimately lead to the agency being fired.
Stagnancy After A Long Period
While this client seems undecided about letting their agency go, they spot a problem that could lead to termination: stagnancy.
To grow and stay relevant, service providers must keep adapting and changing to fit the latest demands. Ideas from last year may not work anymore this year, so failing to restrategize is a sure path to failure. Imagine running the same ad copy and images for 6 months, as mentioned in the third point!
When ideas and results remain the same for months and years, clients start to wonder what they are even paying for. A business that is hungry for growth starts to see such an agency as just another expense rather than a growth partner, and they won’t hesitate to replace it when they find another with better promise, or even before they find a new one.
Complacency After The First Few Months
Have you ever started a thing with a heavy dose of passion that faded after a while? Maybe a personal blog where you shared your opinions daily, but after three months, you forgot the blog even existed and only posted once a month just to avoid feeling like you’re wasting your subscription fees?
Now, imagine if an agency handled your project like that. For the first few months, they are on fire. They suggest new ideas, fine-tune every little detail, meet all deadlines, and send weekly updates. Then momentum starts to fade—you may not even notice it until it’s a problem—and before you know it, deadlines start slipping and reports arrive only after you’ve sent countless reminders.
Condescending Approach
No one wants to work with an agency that looks down on them. While an agency already knows a lot about specific tasks because it’s something they’ve been doing for years, they must also listen to clients and consider their opinions. The client best knows the results they want to achieve, so an agency that doesn’t listen to their input ends up giving dissatisfactory results.
Here’s a simple example of how condescension may play out: A client may suggest that the humor in their ad campaign should be toned down because they have a largely conservative audience. Instead of listening, the ad agency dismisses it by saying, “We’ve worked for bigger brands and our way always works.”
It doesn’t matter if the campaign is successful or not. What matters is that the client’s suggestion was dismissed rudely, and that can affect their future working relationship. Clients like to be in control, and if their input is constantly ignored, they eventually lose patience with the agency.
Constantly Going In Different Directions
For a successful project, both the client and the agency must share the same vision of what success looks like. Priorities and expectations must align.
Just imagine how problematic things will be if a client cares more about getting new buyers and selling more items while the agency is chasing vanity metrics like post views and link clicks? Halfway through the project, the agency notices an increase in web traffic and feels they’re doing a great job, but the client remains dissatisfied because sales are not increasing.
The client will lose money by paying for results that don’t match their needs, as well as the time spent not only correcting the agency but also waiting for another round of disappointment. Mistakes are bound to happen from time to time, but if, after repeatedly discussing the problem with the agency, it persists, it makes sense to leave them for an agency better aligned with your goals.
Ignoring Client Feedback
Finn McKenty shared two things that had him wary of an agency in the image below. Pay attention to the second one.
He shared a problem with their work, likely expecting them to take responsibility for their mistake and fix it. Instead, they just acted like it wasn’t a big deal.
Feedback is given to improve work quality. A responsible agency won’t brush it aside; they will take ownership right away. They will acknowledge the mistake, explain what went wrong, and outline how they plan to fix it. They will also aim to win back the client’s trust, so the client can be comfortable working with them in the future.
Any agency that does otherwise is irresponsible. Plus, their actions create friction that makes future work awkward, and the client starts seeking a replacement who actually listens.
Signs Of A Good Agency
Now that you know what makes clients fire their agencies, let’s show you what makes a good agency partner.
They'll Communicate Clearly And Proactively
When you work with an agency that consistently shares updates with you, reaches out before you do, and sends messages that are easy to read and understand, it feels blissful. A good agency knows that proactive communication also reduces mistakes and saves time, since errors can be corrected before the task progresses.
Proactive communication might involve saying, “We noticed ad engagement dropped slightly this week. We’re testing two new headlines and will share results by Friday,” or “Just confirming—should we keep the dark background for consistency with last month’s campaign?” The first example prevents surprises while the second confirms decisions to avoid future errors.
They'll Ask For Your Feedback Consistently
A good agency cares about what you think, so they ask for your feedback at the end of projects or at regular intervals. You’ll know they aren’t just putting on a show when they ask, because you’ll notice improvements based on your feedback going forward. Even when your feedback has been consistently positive, they’ll still ask for it.
They'll Share Problems Alongside Possible Solutions
Which would you rather hear? “Ad engagement has dropped in your campaign,” or “We noticed ad engagement dropped this week because of audience overlap, but we can test new targeting options to fix it. What do you think?”
While the first statement just lays the problem, the second shows you an agency that is proactive, creative, and knows how to handle issues independently. Such an agency will make things easy for you and save you from spending too much time on tasks you’re already outsourcing.
They'll Bring Improvement Plans/Suggestions
One way to identify an agency that can support your growth is if it suggests ways to improve your project. “We’ve noticed most of your conversions come from mobile users. What if we redesign your landing page to load faster on phones?” is an example of such suggestions. Of course, it’s going to be profitable for the agency to do extra work for you, as they’ll get paid more for it. However, clients can’t deny how invaluable suggestions like this can be.
They'll Value Project Success Over Inflated Paychecks
Some agencies continuously improve their processes to keep things efficient, and sometimes that results in them spending less money to achieve the same or better results. A good agency will allow the client to benefit from such process improvements by charging them less. That’s because they prioritize project success over draining a client’s resources for financial gain.
They will even advise the client on how to better use their financial resources to achieve the same goals, when possible. Sometimes this means they earn less, but they’re okay with that.
They'll Hold Themselves Accountable
An agency can make mistakes. How they react when they do shows the difference between a good and a bad one. While the bad ones may keep quiet about it until you discover and mention it, the good ones will bring it to your attention immediately, so it can be resolved before further complications arise. They won’t mind looking “bad” for a moment because they look at the bigger picture—your successful project.
They'll Have Opinions
Just because a good agency must listen to you and provide results that please you doesn’t mean they will respond “yes, sir” or “yes, ma’am” to everything you say. First, considering that they already have a working system for handling similar projects, they would prefer to use it rather than overhaul everything just to start new experiments because you prefer a different method.
Also, their experience kicks in when they see aspects of your projects that may be problematic. They might mention that your proposed strategy could stretch the budget too thin, that your timeline doesn’t align with realistic delivery windows, or that your preferred platform isn’t the best fit for your audience. With a good agency, you have a chance to consider extra factors before proceeding with your project.
They'll Have Senior Managers Assisting You
It’s not every time you’ll have the agency’s best talents working on your tasks. Sometimes junior staff take over, and they can slow down progress or make rookie mistakes if they aren’t adequately guided by the agency’s senior managers.
With a good agency, this isn’t something to worry about. Their senior managers will proactively train staff to put out results that meet the standards you prefer. They’ll also check in with you to collect feedback to improve the performance of those assigned to your project.
Conclusion
Above, we have not only answered the question, “Why do agencies get fired?” but also shown what a good agency looks like. This post is a guide for both agencies and clients, highlighting behaviors for agencies to adopt and those to curb, while helping clients distinguish red flags from green ones.
Still on the matter of agencies and clients, here’s something for you if you want to learn how to make your agency deliver the results you want. The knowledge from both posts will help you know how to choose the right agency and get the most out of it.
