Start with the business problem
Marketing automation becomes valuable when it removes repeatable follow-up work without making the customer journey feel mechanical. The supplier should know what deserves automation and what still needs a person.
The safest automation design starts with a simple journey and clear stop conditions. More branches are not automatically better because every trigger and delay creates another path that needs testing.
Compare proposals on the same questions
| Compare | Ask before signing |
|---|---|
| Triggers | What event starts each workflow? |
| Channels | Are email, SMS, tasks or notifications included? |
| CRM | Does automation update the lead record and pipeline correctly? |
| Exceptions | What happens when a lead replies, books or becomes unsuitable? |
| Testing | How are duplicate sends and loops prevented? |
| Ownership | Can your team edit workflows after handover? |
Ask who is responsible for implementation
Ask the provider to document each workflow as trigger, conditions, actions, delays, stop rules and human hand-offs. Review this before messages are sent to real prospects.
Do not assume a strategy, audit or setup line automatically includes every practical change needed to make it live. Put dependencies and internal responsibilities into the proposal.
Agree how success will be measured
Do not measure automation by the number of workflows. Measure whether follow-up happens reliably, whether leads move through the correct stages and whether staff can see when human intervention is needed.
Decide the reporting model before delivery so both sides know which numbers are useful and which are merely diagnostic.
Protect ownership and handover
Keep appropriate business ownership of platforms, data and core accounts. Document administrator access, exports and what happens if the supplier relationship ends.
Ask for proof that matches the work
Ask to review the workflow logic in plain English and request test evidence for the main success and failure paths.
Where client information is confidential, a supplier can still demonstrate process quality through redacted documents, owned properties or implementation evidence without inventing outcomes.
Watch for this red flag
How Kydos fits into the comparison
Kydos publishes Basic Email Automation for one sequence and Advanced Automation for multiple sequences, Mailchimp or Brevo integration, analytics and performance tracking. Broader CRM automation can be scoped around the process.
Already comparing providers?
Use Kydos' published services as another benchmark before you sign.
View Kydos pricingFrequently asked questions
How should I compare marketing automation providers?
Use the same brief and compare deliverables, implementation responsibility, ownership, support, exclusions and the business outcome the work should improve.
Should I choose the cheapest provider?
Not automatically. Compare missing implementation, software, support and handover costs before deciding.
What should be agreed before work starts?
Agree the objective, responsibilities, access, approvals, deliverables, timeline, measurement and extra-charge triggers.
What is a warning sign?
The agency proposes a complex automation map without defining stop conditions, ownership or what happens when a person replies.
What proof should I request?
Ask to review the workflow logic in plain English and request test evidence for the main success and failure paths.
How does Kydos fit?
Kydos publishes Basic Email Automation for one sequence and Advanced Automation for multiple sequences, Mailchimp or Brevo integration, analytics and performance tracking. Broader CRM automation can be scoped around the process.