Episode #146 Agencies Suck but Yours Doesn’t Have to with Greg Haines

Host Megan Kendrick welcomes back Greg Haines of Compass Digital to discuss how spa retailers and small businesses can avoid being mistreated by marketing agencies and how to evaluate agency performance. Greg shares examples of dealers being “tethered” by contracts claiming agency ownership of Shopify websites or ad accounts, locked into expensive long-term agreements with low-value deliverables, and misled by claims of proprietary dashboards or special Google partnerships. They outline what good agencies should provide — transparent monthly activity reporting (not just numbers), insights and context, regular meetings, responsiveness and periodic strategy reviews — plus what to look for when hiring, including meeting the actual account team, clarifying pricing and deliverables and ensuring the dealer owns all intellectual property. They also discuss budgeting, market positioning, CRM/automation and preparing websites for AI search. https://sparetailer.com/feed/podcast/ Show Notes with Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome Back Greg00:48 The Rant Email Story01:28 Agency Horror Stories04:35 Why Dealers Get Burned06:45 Audit Your Agency09:23 Reports Versus Insights11:51 What Agencies Should Do13:05 Marketing Budget Basics14:20 Customer Journey Playbook16:23 How To Find An Agency17:59 Vetting And Pricing Questions18:57 Red Flags And Ownership20:00 Interview The Whole Team20:34 Meet Your Account Rep20:49 Avoid the B Team21:19 Agency Tethering Trap22:17 Own Your Channels23:01 Agencies as Fractional Team23:57 Hold Them Accountable25:59 Reporting and Constraints27:43 Quarterly Strategy Reviews29:10 When to Fire an Agency29:53 Red Flags and SLAs31:24 Judging Results Fairly33:31 Partnership and Gut Check37:00 Closing and Resources