Switching from three vendors to one agency, without losing anything

Why owners end up with three vendors

It usually happens one sensible decision at a time. A nephew or a freelancer builds the website. An ads rep from a directory or a phone call sets up a Google Ads account. A marketing company offers to "manage your reviews" and takes over the Google profile. Each one solved a problem at the time.

The cost shows up later:

• Nobody owns the path from search to phone call, so handoff problems never get fixed.
• Each vendor reports its own numbers, which never add up to the enquiries you actually received.
• Changing one piece needs coordination between people who don't talk to each other.
• You pay three management fees for what is, to the customer, a single experience.

Consolidating can fix all of that, as long as the move itself is careful.

Step 1: the ownership checklist

Go through each asset and confirm who holds the top level of access. Do this before telling anyone you're leaving.

If any line fails, ask the vendor to transfer ownership or add you at the top level. Put the request in writing and keep it polite. Most vendors comply; a few drag their feet when they sense you're leaving, which is another reason to do this first.

Step 2: collect what you'll need

Before anything moves, gather:

• a full backup of the website, or confirmation that the hosting account will transfer
• a list of every page on the current site that gets visits, so addresses can be kept or redirected
• the last 12 months of ad performance, exported from the ad accounts
• any reports the vendors have sent, so the new team can see what was tried
• a list of every place your business is listed online, with the name, address and phone used

This takes a few hours of your time or your office's. It saves weeks later.

Step 3: move in a fixed order

The order is designed so the phone keeps ringing throughout. Nothing customers rely on should go dark.

1. Domain and profile ownership. These are confirmed or transferred first, because everything else hangs from them. No visible change to customers.
2. Tracking. The new team sets up tracking alongside the old so there's a baseline. You'll want before-and-after numbers.
3. Google Business Profile management. The new manager is added; the old one removed once the handover is confirmed. Customers see no change.
4. Website. If the site is staying, the new team takes over updates. If it's being replaced, the new site launches with every old address kept or redirected, and search data is checked in the weeks after.
5. Ads, last. The new campaigns are built and checked, then switched on as the old ones are paused. Running both at once wastes money; a gap of several days costs calls.

Step 4: give notice properly

Once you know every asset can move, give notice to each outgoing vendor according to your agreement. Be specific about:

• the date their access ends
• what you need from them before then: files, exports, transfers
• confirmation that they'll remove their own access afterwards

Keep it short and businesslike. You may want to work with some of these people again, and a clean exit helps everyone.

Step 5: the first 60 days with one agency

The new team's first two months should look like this:

• Weeks 1–2: ownership confirmed, tracking live, profile handed over.
• Weeks 3–4: website fixes or rebuild under way; old ad data reviewed.
• Weeks 5–6: new ad campaigns live with a ceiling per enquiry agreed in writing.
• Weeks 7–8: first full report comparing enquiries before and after the switch.

If the first report doesn't show enquiries by channel, ask why. That's the main thing consolidation should give you.

Mistakes to avoid

• Giving notice before checking ownership. You give up your bargaining position, and some vendors become slow to cooperate.
• Letting the new agency register a fresh domain or ad account in their own name. You'd be recreating the same problem with a different vendor. Everything should be in your business's name.
• Launching a new website without redirects. Old addresses that disappear lose whatever search visibility they had.
• Switching off old ads before the new ones are checked. A gap in ads is a gap in calls.
• Comparing the new agency's report with the old one's. They'll measure differently. Compare against your own enquiry log.

A worked example

Picture a Brampton renovation company paying three vendors: $400 a month for website maintenance, $900 a month for ads management, and $500 a month for "review management". That's $1,800 a month, or $21,600 a year, before ad spend, with no single report.

On a Growth plan at $1,499 a month with annual billing, the yearly fee is $17,988. The saving is real but modest. The bigger gain is visibility: a single report showing whether each channel is under the ceiling per enquiry, which almost no three-vendor setup provides.

Do this arithmetic with your own invoices before deciding. If consolidating doesn't make the numbers clearer or cheaper, it may not be worth the disruption.

What to do this week

1. Work through the ownership table above, one line at a time.
2. Request top-level access to anything you don't control.
3. Export the last year of ad data while you still have easy access.

If you'd like help reading what you find, the contact page explains how to reach us. To see how one agency runs the whole system, read about the joined-up plan, enquiry tracking and our pricing.