Most owners ask the same handful of questions before hiring a marketing service, and they deserve straight answers. The full list is above. Below are the four topics that come up most in the corridor, with a little more detail than a short answer allows.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost?
Trades.Agency plans start at $1,999 a month on month-to-month terms, or $1,499 a month billed annually, with Elite and Enterprise tiers above that. Burnaby and Coquitlam clients add 5% GST, and ad spend is paid separately to the platforms.
Am I locked into a contract?
No. You pay one month at a time and can stop by giving 30 days' notice. Annual billing is a choice for owners who want the lower rate, not a requirement.
How soon will I get calls?
Paid search can produce calls within days of launch. Local SEO usually takes several months to show steady gains, and strata relationships often take longer still. We'll tell you which to expect for your situation.
We tried an agency before and got nothing. Why would this be different?
Maybe not, and you shouldn't take our word for it; what we can do is make the outcome easy to judge. We set a cost-per-lead ceiling from your margins, track calls, texts and emails by channel, and report them monthly. If the numbers don't work, you'll see it quickly and can leave on 30 days' notice.
Who owns my website and accounts?
You do. Your domain, website, Google Business Profile and ad accounts belong to you and stay with you if you stop working with us. We document access so nothing is held hostage.
I'm based in Burnaby but work in Coquitlam too. Can you handle both?
Yes, and it's the most common situation we see. We set your service areas, pages and reviews so searchers on both sides of North Road can find you, without fake addresses or duplicate listings.
Do you install, repair or service anything?
No. We are a marketing and business consulting service. We don't do trade work of any kind, and we don't sell your leads to other businesses.
What kinds of businesses do you work with?
Trades, home-service and local businesses in the corridor: plumbers, electricians, renovators, painters, cleaners, movers, locksmiths, landscapers and service shops. Heating and cooling companies are served by our sister brand HVAC.Agency.
How do you report results?
A short monthly report showing contacts by channel, cost per contact and per booked job, and where enquiries came from in the corridor. You also get direct access to your ad accounts and listings.
Can you promise rankings or leads?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Google states that nobody can pay for a better local ranking. We work on the factors that matter and report honestly on what changes.
Do I need a new website?
Not always. If your site loads quickly on a phone, names the places you serve and makes calling easy, we'll improve it. If it doesn't, ads and SEO will struggle until it's fixed.
Why would a Vancouver-based team understand the corridor?
Because we focus on it. We read the Burnaby and Coquitlam plans, check search results from points across the corridor and track which buildings are completing. The work itself happens in your listings, ads and website.
Is the first conversation free?
Yes. For eligible trades businesses the opening half-hour costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Money: what you pay and what you get
You pay a monthly plan fee and, separately, any ad spend. Plans follow Trades.Agency's published prices, from $1,999 a month on month-to-month terms. Ad spend goes straight to Google or the social platform from accounts you own.
The useful question isn't "what does it cost?" but "how many extra jobs would it take to cover it?" Divide your total monthly marketing cost by what an average job contributes after labour and materials. If that number looks achievable, the plan can pay for itself. Our pricing page walks through two worked examples, for a renovator and a cleaner.
Contracts and ownership
There's no long-term contract. You can cancel with 30 days' notice, and you keep everything: domain, website, Google Business Profile, ad accounts and their history.
We say this plainly because the most common complaint about past agencies is being unable to leave. Some agencies register the domain in their own name or run ads from their own account, so the owner loses everything on the way out. We do the opposite. If you're unsure who owns your current accounts, ask us in the first conversation and we'll help you check.
Working across two cities
The corridor's defining feature is North Road, with Burnaby on one side and Coquitlam on the other. Customers cross it constantly, while search results lean on the searcher's location and the city named in a query. Google's own help page describes local ranking in terms of relevance, distance and prominence.
That means a business can be easy to find on its own side and much harder to find on the other. We solve it honestly: correct service areas, useful pages about the places you serve, and reviews from customers on both sides. Our two-city local SEO service and the listings guide explain how.
Signs an agency isn't working for you
Owners who've been burned before often ask how to spot trouble early, with us or anyone else. Watch for these:
- Reports full of impressions and clicks but silent on calls. Contacts and booked jobs are what pay the bills.
- No access to your own accounts. If you can't log in to your ad account or profile, ask why.
- Vague answers about where leads come from. In the corridor, you should be able to see whether enquiries came from the Burnaby or the Coquitlam side.
- The same plan month after month. Markets here shift with every building handover. A plan that never changes is probably not being managed.
- Pressure to sign longer terms. Good work keeps clients without a contract forcing it.
If you recognise several of these in your current arrangement, it's worth a second opinion before spending more.
What to expect in the first 90 days
The first month is set-up: an audit, tracking, profile fixes, a cost-per-lead ceiling and any urgent website repairs. In the second and third months, campaigns run and get pruned, pages are published and reviews start building.
By day 90 you should be able to see:
- how many calls, texts and emails each channel produced
- what each contact and booked job cost
- whether enquiries are coming from both sides of the corridor
- what we plan to change next, and why
If those numbers aren't moving in the right direction, we'll say so and propose changes, or suggest stopping. To start, read about us, look at the services, or call, text or email.