A great agency views data and tool access as a cornerstone of a strong partnership, not a concession to a client. It signals they are confident in their work and want you to be an informed, collaborative partner. Here’s a playbook I’ve developed for testing an agency’s willingness to be transparent and how you can approach the conversation.
- Start with Profitability, Not Platforms. Before you even mention tools, ask how they measure and report on profitability. On the Ecommerce Coffee Break podcast, Karl O'Brien shared a powerful insight from his own agency experience: they were often making decisions with revenue in mind, not profit. An agency that immediately talks about contribution margin, MER, or even order-level profitability is an agency that understands what actually matters to your business and is less likely to hide behind vanity metrics.
- Frame it as Shared Context. Taylor Holiday made the point on an episode of Firing The Man that a key role for an agency is to provide context on performance that a brand can’t get from its own data alone. Use this framing. Explain that you’re not looking to micromanage, but that having deeper access to data helps you understand their decisions and learn from their expertise. This turns a potentially adversarial request into a collaborative one.
- Use the "What If I Could See…” Question. During the interview process, before you’ve signed anything, pose a hypothetical. As Drew Sanocki discussed on The eCommerceFuel Podcast, the way an agency responds to your questions can reveal major red flags. You can say, “In a perfect world, our team would love to be able to look at the raw data in Google Analytics 4 from time to time. How does your team typically handle requests like that?” Their immediate reaction will tell you everything you need to know about their philosophy on transparency.
- Propose a Specific, Limited “Test.” Once you’re in a trial or initial engagement period, make a specific, low-risk request. For example, Taylor Holiday mentioned on Ecommerce Playbook that operators should be asking their agencies if they’re testing Meta’s new incremental weighted attribution tools. You could ask for read-only access to the ad account to see how they’re setting up these kinds of experiments. This shows you have a specific business reason for your request, not just a desire to look over their shoulder.
- Ask About Their Internal Tool Stack. James Dihardjo’s conversation on The Smartest Amazon Seller about agency tools revealed that sophisticated agencies are proud of the software they use to gain insights. Ask them what tools they use for analytics, reporting, and campaign management. An agency confident in its process will be excited to walk you through their stack. An agency that calls their toolset a "proprietary secret" is waving a massive red flag.
What it really boils down to is finding a partner who isn’t afraid to show their work because they believe in it. As Dave Hyman explained on the eCommerce Australia show, genuine transparency is key. Avoid any agency that talks about a “black box” approach; the best results come when you and your agency are looking at the same data, together.