If you?re thinking about taking on a marketing company, here are 10 questions you can ask them, to help you decide who to work with and how much to spend.

1. Who do you specialise in working with? You want a company that has a track record of working with your type of business, in terms of size, industry, service and budget
2. What sort of results can you achieve? The results they get will depend on what they do for you and how much you spend, but they should still be able to give you an idea of what to expect for your investment
3. Can I speak to some of your clients? They should have a list of happy clients who are even happier to talk to you about the great job they do
4. What can you do for me? You might like to get a few ideas up front as to what they will do, to get a feel for how much input they will need from you
5. How much of my time will you need? If you?re expecting to hand everything over and let them get on with it, make sure they know this; they may need more time from you than you can give
6. What marketing tools will you use for us? Will they write a newsletter for you, or develop a website? Will they use telesales, telemarketing or telly advertising?
7. How much will it cost? How much do they actually charge for their different services?
8. Why should I work with you? They should know what makes them different to their competitors; if they don?t have a USP (unique selling point) how will they help you develop yours?
9. What are your credentials? How long have they been doing what they do? Have they won any awards or written a book about it?
10. Are you interested in my business? If they?re not excited about what you do, they won?t be able to really promote your business for you.

If you?re looking for marketing help to help you grow your business, ask some or all of these questions of the potential suppliers you meet, to help you decide who will do the best job for you.