What cost per contract can an agency responsibly commit to for a new market

New to all of this so forgive me. What does speed to lead mean here, is it just how fast he calls back?

@megan_doyle15 yes, minutes between the form fill or call and the first human contact. It gets talked about constantly on the service side because it's the one variable that moves conversion and the agency doesn't own it.

@monica_tran3 the thing I'd want to know is whether you can see it. If his CRM logs first touch time and you get read access, then conditions in the proposal are enforceable. If you're taking his word for it every month, you've written a promise you can't defend.

I've been the client in this setup and I was the problem. Sat on leads, blamed the agency, canceled in month four. What would have saved that relationship was the agency sending me a weekly list of leads with time to first call next to each one. Uncomfortable meeting, right outcome.

On quoting contracts, I'd say no. You're selling a number three steps downstream of anything you touch.

Different angle. One wholesaler account for seven months in a market you know isn't a sample you can extend into a metro you've never bought media in. Auction prices, competitor count, the whole thing changes. I'd tell him straight that you need 60 to 90 days to find out what a lead costs there, and price that as a testing phase with a smaller retainer.

@ryanmck27 the testing phase is the answer and it also solves @nataliehsu's math problem, since it stops short of promising 2 contracts out of a budget that probably can't carry them. One pattern that translates across service businesses: every client who demands a guarantee up front is telling you what the fight in month five will be about. That's worth treating as data rather than ignoring. @samantha_ruiz at least owned it, most don't.