How to choose an HVAC marketing agency in Australia: 12 questions to ask

Choosing an HVAC marketing agency is mostly a test of how clearly they answer plain questions. A good agency answers these in a sentence each. A bad one answers with a slide deck.

Below are the 12 questions we would ask if we were an installer with 3 to 12 vans looking at agencies. For each one: what a good answer sounds like, and the red flag. At the end, we answer all 12 ourselves, including the ones where the honest answer is "not yet".

We do not name any agency here. You do not need names. You need the questions.

1. Who owns the ad account and the data?

You should own it. The ads should run in your own Meta Business Manager and Google Ads account, paid on your card, with the agency given access. Enquiries should sit in a CRM you can log into. If you leave, the ad history, pixel data, audiences, pages and contacts should stay with you.

Good answer: "Your account, your card, your CRM login. We get access, you keep everything."

Red flag: "We run it through our agency account." That means your ad history and audiences leave when you do, and you start again from nothing.

2. What number do you report every week?

The number should be booked quotes, not leads. A booked quote is a qualified homeowner booked in for an in-home quote, in your diary, with a time. Ask for booked quotes, cost per booked quote and jobs won, every week, in writing. Clicks and reach are inputs, not results.

Good answer: "Booked quotes, cost per booked quote and jobs won, every Friday."

Red flag: A report full of impressions, reach and "engagement", or a cost per lead with no mention of what happened to the leads. Our breakdown of what HVAC leads cost in Australia shows why a cheap lead can be an expensive quote.

3. Is your pricing published?

It should be, or at least given in writing on the first call. An agency that knows its costs can publish them. If the price changes depending on how big your business looks, you are being sized up, not quoted.

Good answer: A number on the website, or a written quote the same day with every line explained.

Red flag: "It depends, let's get you on a call with our strategist." Then a second call. Then a proposal.

4. What is the minimum term, and what is the lock-in?

A short first term is fair, because the build and first weeks of testing cost the agency real time. After that, month to month with a notice period is the standard to hold them to. A 12-month lock-in means the agency does not have to earn month 13.

Good answer: A defined first period, then month to month with 30 days notice.

Red flag: 12 months or more, auto-renewing, with an exit fee.

5. Will you work with my competitors in the same area?

Ask how many HVAC businesses they run ads for in your suburbs. If it is more than one per service line, they are bidding against themselves with your money, and one of you gets the better offer. Exclusivity per area should be in writing.

Good answer: "One HVAC client per service line per area, and here is the area in writing."

Red flag: "We have lots of HVAC clients in Sydney, that is our experience." Experience is good. Three clients in the same postcode is not.

6. Who answers the leads, and how fast?

Someone has to reply within minutes, including after hours and when your techs are on a roof. Ask exactly who replies, by what channel, and in how many seconds or minutes. An enquiry that waits an hour has usually called someone else.

Good answer: A named process: SMS and call within a set time, with a person or AI receptionist behind it, and the booking going straight into your diary.

Red flag: "We send the leads to your email." Then it is your problem. Why this matters so much is in speed to lead for HVAC.

7. Can I see a real report from a real client?

A real report, with the client's name blurred if needed, tells you more than any pitch. Look at what it measures, how it is laid out, and whether it has dates and dollar figures. If the agency cannot show one, find out why.

Good answer: An actual weekly report, with booked quotes, spend and jobs won, dated.

Red flag: A "sample report" full of made-up numbers presented as real, or no report at all with no explanation.

8. Are your case studies dated and checkable?

A case study you can check has a business name, dates, the spend and the result, and the agency is happy for you to ring the client. Undated percentages like "300% more leads" with no business named cannot be checked, so they tell you nothing.

Good answer: Named clients, dated results, and "call them if you like".

Red flag: Big percentages, no names, no dates, no spend figures, and a reluctance to connect you with anyone.

9. What happens if it does not work?

Ask what "not working" means and what happens then. A guarantee on revenue usually has fine print, because the agency does not control your quoting, pricing or close rate. What you want is a clear exit, your assets kept, and some of the agency's fee tied to results.

Good answer: A clear exit, everything stays with you, and part of the fee waiting on results.

Red flag: "We guarantee results" with conditions in the contract that make the guarantee almost impossible to claim.

10. Is there a setup fee?

Many agencies charge one. Ask what it pays for and whether you own what it builds. A setup fee paid before anything runs means the agency's risk is covered and yours is not. If there is one, the pages, forms and automations it builds should be yours.

Good answer: No setup fee, or a small one with a list of what you get and own.

Red flag: A large fee for "strategy and onboarding" with nothing you keep if you leave.

11. Do you only do HVAC?

An agency that only works with air conditioning businesses knows ducted from split, understands seasons, and writes ads a homeowner believes. An agency that does dentists, gyms and plumbers will run your ads with the same template. Ask what share of their clients are HVAC.

Good answer: "Only HVAC", or a clear HVAC team that does nothing else.

Red flag: An HVAC page on a site that also has a page for every other trade, with the business name swapped.

12. Who actually runs my account day to day?

Find out who logs in, who writes the ads, and who you call when something is wrong. At many agencies the person selling is not the person doing the work. Ask for the name of the person running your account, and talk to them before signing.

Good answer: A named person, the same one you spoke to, who knows your area and your diary.

Red flag: "An account manager will be assigned." Then a new one every few months.

How do you check an agency's reported number?

Take their report and divide the total monthly cost, fee plus ad spend, by the number of booked quotes. That is the cost per booked quote, the number that tells you whether the marketing pays. A cheap cost per lead can hide an expensive booked quote.

How does Scale Theory answer these 12 questions?

Honestly, some of our answers are strong and some are "not yet". We are a new agency. We have no clients, so there are no reports, case studies or testimonials to show. Everything else, from price to exit terms, is published below and on our pricing page.

The answers that do not help us are 7 and 8. We would rather say so than fill the gap with something that is not true. The rest of the proof is the maths and the audit. The same system is described step by step on our HVAC Profit Machine page, and the areas we cover, all open today, are on the Sydney HVAC marketing page.

If you are comparing an agency against a marketplace instead, we set out the trade-offs in hipages vs building your own pipeline.

Sam

Co-founder. Audits, strategy and media buying

Sam runs every audit and buys every ad. Before going HVAC-only, he ran Scale Theory as a performance marketing agency: SEO, Meta and Google ads, CRM automation.

More about Sam