Every week I talk to a trade owner in Austin or Round Rock or Kyle who's been paying a marketing company $1,500–$3,000 a month for six to twelve months. When I ask what they're getting for it, they say something like: "They send me a report but I don't really understand it." That's not a reporting problem. That's a results problem with a reporting cover story.
Here's a 10-minute audit you can run right now — no agency login required, no marketing degree needed. If your current company can't back up these five checkpoints, you've got your answer.
1. Can You Name Your Actual Cost Per Lead Right Now?
Not impressions. Not clicks. Not "reach." How much did you spend last month, and how many phone calls or form fills came directly from that spend? Divide one by the other. That's your cost per lead (CPL).
For home service trades in Central Texas — HVAC, plumbing, electrical — a Google Local Services Ad CPL typically runs $25–$80 depending on the service and season. If your agency is running Google Ads and can't tell you your CPL off the top of their head, they either aren't tracking it or don't want you to know it. Either way, that's a problem.
According to WordStream's 2025 Google Ads Industry Benchmarks, the average cost per lead for home services nationally sits around $66. If you're in a market like Austin where competition is dense, expect the high end. If you're paying $200+ per lead with no explanation, push back hard.
2. Where Is Your Google Business Profile Ranking Right Now?
Open an incognito browser window. Search your service and city — something like "AC repair Cedar Park" or "licensed electrician Georgetown TX." Where do you show up in the map pack? If you're not in the top three, you're essentially invisible for that search.
Now check your Google Business Profile reviews. How many do you have? When was the last one posted? If your last review is from four months ago, your agency isn't running any kind of review generation for you — and that's one of the highest-ROI activities that exists for local trades. A profile with 80+ reviews and consistent recent activity will outperform a paid ad for many search terms, every time.
If your marketing company has never mentioned your GBP ranking in a call or report, they're either focused on vanity metrics or they're not local SEO literate. Both are expensive problems.
3. Pull Up Your Website on Your Phone Right Now
Not your desktop. Your phone. Load the home page and time it. If it takes more than three seconds, you're losing leads before they ever read a word. Google's own data shows that 53% of mobile users abandon a site that takes longer than three seconds to load.
Then ask yourself: Is there a phone number visible without scrolling? Is there a clear button that says something like "Get a Free Quote" or "Call Now"? If a homeowner in Pflugerville lands on your site at 9pm with a busted pipe, can they figure out how to reach you in under five seconds? If the answer is no, your website is a liability, not an asset — regardless of how good it looks on a desktop demo.
This is often where the agencies that built your site for $5,000 and then "handed it off" let you down. A website that doesn't convert isn't a website. It's a digital brochure that costs you money every month in hosting and missed calls.
4. Ask Your Agency for a 90-Day Lead Source Breakdown
Send them this exact message: "Can you send me a breakdown of where my leads came from over the last 90 days — organic search, paid ads, GBP, direct, referral — and the volume from each?"
A competent agency sends this in an hour. They already know it. A bad agency takes three days and sends you a PDF with a pie chart that doesn't add up to anything useful.
What you're looking for: Are any channels actually producing leads, or is everything "brand awareness" and "top of funnel"? For local trades, top-of-funnel work that doesn't produce calls within 90 days is a waste. Your customers are not browsing. They have a problem and they need someone now.
The 10-Minute Verdict
If you ran through those four checkpoints and came up short on two or more, you're not in a partnership — you're in a retainer that benefits one party. That's not an accusation, it's a pattern I've seen from San Antonio to Waco, and it's fixable.
The trades deserve marketing that works like the trades do: show up, do the job, prove it happened.
If you want a second set of eyes on your numbers — no pitch, no pressure — reach out to Bizinabox. We work with trade businesses across Austin and Central Texas, and we'll tell you exactly what we see in plain English.