Agency Bait and Switch: How to Spot It Before You Sign the Contract

The Pitch Was Perfect. The Delivery Was Not.

You had a great pitch meeting. The strategist was sharp, the portfolio was impressive, and the proposal felt custom-built for your business. You signed the contract feeling confident.

Three weeks in, you realize the sharp strategist has vanished. Someone named "Coordinator" is running your account. The strategic depth from the pitch meeting is gone. Your questions get routed through layers of project management. The deliverables feel generic — like templates with your logo dropped in.

Welcome to the agency bait and switch.

This is the most common complaint in the agency industry. It has a name because it happens constantly. The A-team pitches. The B-team delivers. And you do not find out until the invoice is already running.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: it is not always malicious. Most agencies are structured this way by design. Senior people sell because they are good at it. Junior people execute because they are cheaper. The economics of the traditional agency model require this split — otherwise margins disappear.

But understanding the pattern helps you avoid it. And if you are about to sign a contract with an agency, here are the seven red flags that signal a bait and switch is coming.

---

7 Red Flags of an Agency Bait and Switch

1. The Pitch Team Disappears After Signing

This is the most obvious red flag and the easiest to test. Ask directly during the pitch meeting: "Will the person presenting today be the person doing the work?"

Listen carefully to the answer. If it is clear and specific — "Yes, I will be your strategist for the duration of the project" — good. If it is vague — "You will work closely with our team" or "I will be involved in key milestones" — that is your answer. "Involved in key milestones" means they will show up for the kickoff call and the final presentation. Everything in between belongs to someone you have not met.

The pitch meeting is a performance. The question is whether the performer is also the builder.

2. The Proposal Is Heavy on Discovery and Light on Deliverables

Open-ended discovery phases are where agencies pad timelines and costs. "Phase 1: Discovery and Research (8-12 weeks)" is a red flag.

Discovery is important. Understanding your business, your market, your audience — that matters. But a good agency can scope discovery in 1-2 weeks, not 3 months. They have done this before. They have frameworks. They know what questions to ask and how to synthesize the answers quickly.

When discovery takes 12 weeks, one of two things is happening: the agency is figuring out your business on your dime, or they are padding the timeline to justify the fee. Either way, you are paying for inefficiency.

A good agency can tell you what they will deliver and when. "You will have positioning locked by day 14, identity concepts by day 28, and a live website by day 60." If they cannot give you that level of specificity, they do not have a process — they have a calendar they are filling.

3. They Will Not Name the Team

"You will work with our team" is a red flag. Which team? Who are these people? What are their names? What is their experience level? Have they done this kind of work before?

You should know the name, role, and experience level of every person touching your project before you sign the contract. If the agency will not tell you, ask yourself why.

Common deflections: "We assemble the right team for each project" (they have not decided yet), "Our team is cross-functional" (you will get whoever is available), and "We will introduce the team at kickoff" (you will meet the B-team after you have already signed).

4. Pricing Is Custom With No Ranges Published

Transparency is a choice. Agencies that hide pricing are usually hiding something else too.

"Contact us for a custom quote" is the agency equivalent of "market price" at a restaurant. It means the price depends on how much they think you can pay.

Good agencies publish their pricing ranges. Not because every project costs the same — they do not — but because clients deserve to know whether they are in the right ballpark before investing time in a sales process. If an agency will not tell you what things cost until after two meetings and a proposal, they are optimizing for their close rate, not your experience.

5. The Case Studies Are Vague

"Increased engagement by 300%" with no context, no baseline, and no client name. This tells you nothing.

300% of what? If they started at 10 Instagram likes and got to 40, that is 300% growth and completely meaningless. Real results have specifics: client name, starting metrics, ending metrics, timeline, and what they actually did.

When case studies hide the client name, ask why. Sometimes there are legitimate confidentiality reasons. But if every case study is anonymous with vague metrics, the agency either does not have strong results or does not have strong client relationships. Both are problems.

6. They Pitch Capabilities They Do Not Have In-House

Ask: "Is this done by your team or subcontracted?"

Many agencies are a sales layer on top of freelancers. They pitch you strategy, design, development, video, content, SEO, and paid media — but half of those services are subcontracted to freelancers or white-label partners.

This is not inherently bad. But you should know about it. If you are paying agency rates, you should know whether you are getting agency talent or freelance talent with a markup. And you should know who is managing the quality of that subcontracted work.

7. The Contract Locks You In With No Performance Clauses

If they will not tie their contract to deliverables and timelines, they do not plan to be held accountable.

Watch for contracts that lock you into 6-12 month commitments with no exit clauses, no deliverable milestones, and no performance benchmarks. These contracts protect the agency, not you.

Good contracts have clear deliverable schedules with specific dates. They have performance expectations. They have exit clauses if the agency fails to deliver. If the agency resists these terms, they are telling you they do not trust their own ability to deliver.

---

The Alternative: The Named-Operator Model

At Branded Mayhem, we run a named-operator model. The person who runs the strategy call is the person who does the work. There is no pitch team and delivery team. There is one team.

We publish our pricing. We name our people. We ship deliverables on fixed timelines with weekly check-ins. And we publish a Build Tape — a transparent record of what we shipped, when, and why — so there is never a question about what you are paying for.

Brand Guardrail #4: Never pitch with the A-team and deliver with the B-team.

This is not about being better than other agencies. It is about running a different model entirely. Traditional agencies separate sales from delivery because their economics require it. We do not, because ours do not.

The named-operator model works because it eliminates the layers. No account coordinator translating between you and the strategist. No project manager scheduling meetings about meetings. No junior designer interpreting a brief that was written by someone who understood your business and handed off to someone who does not.

One team. One point of contact. One standard of quality.

For more on why this model produces better outcomes, read Senior-Led vs Committee Branding.

---

How to Protect Yourself

If you are evaluating agencies right now, here is the checklist. Ask these questions before you sign anything.

The Evaluation Checklist:

If any of these questions make the agency uncomfortable, that tells you everything. A confident agency with strong results and a transparent process will welcome these questions. An agency that relies on the bait and switch will deflect them.

You are not being difficult by asking. You are being smart. And any agency worth hiring will respect that.

---

What to Do Next

See how we work differently — Our Presence Architecture system is built on the named-operator model. One team, published pricing, fixed timelines, measurable outcomes.

Book a Brand Therapy Call — A free 55-minute diagnostic call. No pitch. If you are evaluating agencies, this is a good way to see what a transparent process feels like.

---

*Michael Sebastian is the founder of Branded Mayhem, a brand strategy and digital marketing agency in Richardson, Texas. He works with founders and operators 6-18 months from a raise, launch, or market move.*

*Last updated: February 11, 2026*

— The Mayhem Crew