When an agency report cannot be verified

The client receives summary slides without access to the underlying account or definitions. The useful response is a diagnosis that changes a decision, not another report describing the symptom. Use this play with the paid-media owner and the downstream conversion-data owner. The working evidence should include query intent, landing offer and verified conversion records, with private or sensitive details removed from any shared example.

Confirm the problem in the actual workflow

Check ownership, read access, naming conventions and the source of reported conversions. Start with one representative case and follow it from the original action to the reported outcome. Identify where the observed behavior first differs from the intended process. A screenshot of a final dashboard can be useful, but it may hide the source record, a delayed update or a decision made elsewhere.

Keep the unit of analysis explicit: a qualified conversion within a comparable acquisition cohort. The same label can conceal different populations or stages. Before comparing two results, check that they describe the same kind of work and have had a comparable chance to complete it.

Separate the visible symptom from the cause

A platform event should represent the action used for the decision. Separate click, form submission, accepted evaluation and customer acquisition. Compare cohorts with appropriate time to mature, and do not let inexpensive low-fit forms conceal a weak commercial outcome.

The symptom in this case is specific: the client receives summary slides without access to the underlying account or definitions. Ask which piece of evidence would distinguish an operating failure from a measurement failure or a mismatch in the original plan. If the evidence is unavailable, record the missing source and its owner instead of treating the preferred explanation as established fact.

A situation to work through

A useful agency relationship allows the client to inspect the campaign and conversion definitions without relying solely on screenshots.

This is an illustrative situation, not a reported client case. Record the equivalent evidence and assumptions for your own workflow.

Choose the smallest useful correction

Keep client-owned access and document the reporting model and handoff requirements. Keep the change narrow enough that the responsible people can implement and inspect it. If a correction changes several things at once, describe it as a combined operating change; do not later claim that one small element caused the whole result.

Assign the correction to the paid-media owner and the downstream conversion-data owner. Agree which artifact will show that the work is complete. An owner without an observable acceptance condition can close a task while leaving the original problem unresolved. A detailed checklist without an owner creates the opposite problem: the evidence requirement exists, but nobody is accountable for producing it.

Preserve the important limitation

Do not grant unnecessary administrator access merely to make review easier. This condition belongs beside the recommendation because it can change the decision. It should not disappear when the plan becomes a short presentation or a status update.

If two campaigns spend the same amount but produce different shares of accepted evaluations, raw lead cost can point in the wrong direction. Inspect the query and landing promise before concluding that bidding is the only problem. Preserve the definition used for each comparison.

Verification worksheet

Download a working copy and follow the worksheet instructions. Keep unknown facts visible rather than filling gaps with guesses.

Decide whether to keep, revise or stop the change

Review reported outcomes traceable to authorized source records after the agreed observation period. Keep the correction when the intended behavior is verified and the guardrail remains acceptable. Revise it when the diagnosis was useful but the intervention did not resolve the cause. Stop and reassess when new evidence shows that the original problem was framed incorrectly.

Record what changed in query intent, landing offer and verified conversion records. This gives the next review a stable starting point and prevents a definition change from being mistaken for a performance improvement.

Related methods and next steps

• PPC agency vs in-house for SaaS
• SaaS PPC Agencies: How to Compare and Choose One
• PPC break-even bid calculator
• SaaS ROAS calculator

Return to the saas ppc topic guide, browse its complete resource collection, or use the working resource library. The primary reference provides relevant platform or methodological context; the diagnosis and example here are original editorial guidance.