Why do agencies charge a setup fee, and what should it cover?
Nobody likes a fee before the work starts. So let's be straight about what a setup fee is, and when it's worth paying.
It's the foundation
A setup fee is literally what it sounds like. It pays for the foundation.
Before anyone can start fixing the holes that are costing you good jobs, your stuff has to be up to standard. You can't tune ads that send people to a website nobody trusts. You can't count calls you never answered. You can't grow on a cracked slab.
So the setup is the one time work of getting everything ready to build on.
What it should cover
For a home service business, the foundation usually means:
- A website that looks like the best in your industry.
- A complete Google Business Profile, with the right hours, services, categories and photos.
- A phone that works for you: spam calls screened out, every real call answered and every missed call texted back.
- Accounts set up in your name, so you own everything that gets built.
- Every review answered, so homeowners can see a real person behind the business.
After that, the monthly work is about growing on top of it.
"No setup fee" isn't always cheaper
Some agencies don't charge a setup fee. That doesn't mean the work is free. Element Three, an agency that publishes a guide to agency pricing, notes that firms without a separate onboarding fee make up that time in their hourly rate or in another type of fee.
In other words, you pay for the setup either way. The honest version is the one where you can see what you're paying for.
Questions to ask about any setup fee
- What exactly does it include? Get a list, not a sentence.
- When will each piece be done? The foundation should show up in the first month.
- Do I own what it builds? The website, the profile and the accounts should be yours.
- What happens after setup? Is it month to month, or is there a minimum on top?
How we do it
At Momentum, there's a one time setup fee for the foundation, then one monthly fee, month to month. The first month is the foundation: website, look, Google profile, phone and reviews, all brought up to standard so we can start fixing the holes.
If you want to see what the first month should look like in more detail, read what should a marketing agency do in the first 30 days? And for the bigger picture, start with marketing agency or growth agency? What to ask before you hire anyone.
Want to know where your foundation is weakest? Our free Growth Ladder assessment takes about four minutes.
