> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://conversion.club/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to Write an Agency Brief - URL: https://conversion.club/playbook/how-to-write-an-agency-brief/ - Published: 2026-10-01T21:25:12.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T20:26:10.000Z - Description: By giving every agency the same problem, the same numbers and the same response format. A good brief fits on two pages, lets you compare proposals line by line, and checks along the way that your team is talking about the same project. - Author: Jeremie Werner - Tags: Run your e-commerce, #playbook, CRO By giving every agency the same problem, the same numbers and the same response format. A good brief fits on two pages and lets you compare proposals line by line. It also has a first reader people forget: your own team. --- ## The benchmark From our side of the table, we often see the same scene at the start of a project. Marketing talks about visibility, product about constraints, leadership about brand story, e-commerce about conversion. The brief was polished, full of goals and inspiration, but no one had stated the problem in it, and everyone had reread it and found their own project. That's why the first line deserves a pause. If the people around your table don't sign off on the same sentence, no agency can decide for you, and you'll be comparing answers to four different questions. Circulate it internally before you send anything. The rest fits into nine sections. Copy them, then rewrite them in your own words. | Section | What you write | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Context](https://conversion.club/e-commerce-cro-checklist-194-checkpoints-to-audit-your-store/) | Who you are, your online revenue, your traffic, your conversion rate, your average order value. | | Problem | [One sentence and one number](https://conversion.club/playbook/should-you-steer-by-revenue-per-visit-instead-of-conversion-rate/). For example: "On mobile, our add-to-cart rate is half what it is on desktop." | | Goal | The metric that has to move, and how it will be measured. | | Scope | What's included, and what the project won't be. | | [Constraints](https://conversion.club/playbook/what-should-you-audit-before-a-shopify-redesign/) | The theme, the apps, the tech team, the schedule, the dates when nothing can change. | | Data and access | What the agency can look at during the selection process, and after signing. | | Selection criteria | Three or four, with their weight. | | Budget | A range, stating whether you expect a fixed fee or an estimate. | | Response format | The shared outline, the page count, the deadline, the people who will present. | --- ## The rule [Give the budget range](https://conversion.club/playbook/how-much-does-a-cro-audit-cost/). Without it, you'll get three proposals in three different sizes, impossible to compare. The [advertiser-agency relationship guide](https://labellecompetition.fr/GUIDES/Guide%20AACC-UDA%20Relation%20Agence%20Annonceur.pdf?ref=conversion.club) that the UDA, which represents advertisers, and the AACC, which represents agencies, published together in 2005 already asked for this: proposals must fit "within the financial means defined in the brief." Also ask what the number you get back actually covers. A fixed fee and an estimate can show the same amount without promising anything in common. With a fixed fee, the price holds and the scope gives way at the first surprise; with an estimate, the scope holds and the bill moves. The authors face the same question with the brands they work with: they work on estimates, billed on time actually spent, and when a cap is essential, they set it at 15% above the estimate, with the scope unchanged. Ask each agency to write its own rule in its response. --- ## The steps 1. The problem. One sentence with a number, approved by everyone involved. 2. [The goal. What has to move](https://conversion.club/playbook/how-do-you-build-an-e-commerce-roadmap/), and how you'll measure it. 3. The resources provided. Access, data, contacts and their real availability. 4. The response outline. It's the same for everyone and starts with a page where the agency restates your problem in one sentence. In the authors' own proposals, the internal rule forbids copying the brief and requires rereading each page and asking whether it could have been written for another brand. Apply that test to the responses you receive: the restatement is often what sets them apart. 5. The team. Ask for names: who will actually work on your account? 6. [The sentence for leadership](https://conversion.club/playbook/what-should-go-in-the-monthly-report-to-leadership/): > "We'll choose the agency that best understood our problem, and we'll see it on its first page." --- ## The trap Many briefs ask for free recommendations in the response. You then get ideas thrown together in two days with no access to your data, and you end up choosing the agency that presents best. If you want real work during the selection process, the UDA-AACC guide recommends compensating the agencies that aren't selected, with the same amount for each, set before launch. The other blind spot is the person who presents, because they're rarely the one who will do the work. At agencies, the sale is often led by one of the founders, then a handoff meeting passes the file to [the person who will run the project](https://conversion.club/playbook/how-to-hire-an-e-commerce-project-manager/), along with the commitments made and the points to watch, which doesn't excuse you from checking for yourself. Ask to meet that person before signing, and call two of the agency's current clients. Ten minutes on the phone tell you more than forty pages.