Every agency site shows polished work and happy quotes. None of it distinguishes one firm from another, because nobody publishes the project that went badly.
These are the questions that do separate them — and, to be fair, the ones we would want asked of us.
Ask what they would talk you out of
A firm that agrees with everything in your brief is either not listening or not experienced. Both are expensive.
The useful answer sounds like: "you have asked for a mobile app, but everything you described works in a browser, and you would save six weeks and two app store reviews." A partner who will not disagree with you during the sale certainly will not during the build, when it matters more.
Ask who is actually doing the work
The people in the pitch are frequently not the people on the project. Ask directly: who writes the code, where do they sit, how many other projects are they on this month.
There is no wrong answer here — subcontracting and distributed teams both work fine — but there is a wrong reaction, which is evasiveness.
Ask about a project that went wrong
Everyone has one. The answer tells you two things: whether they are honest, and whether they learned anything.
"The client changed the scope" is a non-answer. "We under-estimated the data migration, ate the difference, and now we audit the data before quoting" is a firm that has been paying attention.
Ask what happens after launch
- Who owns the code and the repository? The answer should be you, in writing.
- Who holds the hosting, domain and third-party accounts? Also you.
- What does support cost, and what response time does that buy?
- If we parted ways tomorrow, what would another team need to pick this up?
The last one is the sharpest. A firm confident in its work will answer it comfortably. A firm whose business model depends on you being unable to leave will not.
Compare like with like
Three quotes against three different interpretations of your idea tell you nothing. The cheapest will be cheapest because it scoped least, and you will discover that in month four.
Write one brief and send the same one to everyone. Our project brief builder produces a document you can send to any firm — including ones that are not us, which is rather the point.
Watch what they do during the sale
The sales process is a free sample of the working relationship. If replies are slow, questions go unanswered, or the proposal is a template with your name inserted, that is the standard you are buying.
Conversely: a firm that asks awkward questions, pushes back on your assumptions and sends a shorter proposal than you expected is usually the one that has understood the problem.
What should I ask a software agency before hiring them?
Ask what they would talk you out of, who is actually writing the code, and about a project that went badly. The last one is the most revealing: "the client changed the scope" is a non-answer, while "we under-estimated the data migration, ate the difference, and now we audit data before quoting" is a firm that has been paying attention.
How do I compare quotes from different agencies fairly?
Send all of them the same written brief. Three quotes against three different interpretations of your idea tell you nothing, and the cheapest will be cheapest because it scoped least — which you discover in month four. One brief, same document to everyone, and the numbers become comparable.
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