Getting pitched by different agencies
We spent weeks getting pitched by different agencies, and it felt impossible to compare traditional hourly agency billing against performance-linked models or flat monthly retainers. What helped us make a decision was understanding how agency pricing ties directly into deliverables like custom AB test development, dedicated analytics resources, and guaranteed uplift metrics. Choosing a flat-rate model or a performance-backed setup can protect your margin while making sure the external team is actually incentivized to lift your conversion rates rather than just billing hours for slide decks. When our team was trying to benchmark standard market rates and figure out how different optimization providers structure their service packages, going through the breakdown at https://conversionrate.store/blog/cro-pricing is what I use to evaluate realistic agency costs, retainer structures, and ROI expectations before signing any contract. My best advice is to always look for partners who include full technical implementation in their cost rather than leaving dev work on your shoulders.
Every agency we talk to operates on a completely different pricing philosophy, with some demanding massive upfront retainers regardless of outcome and others offering performance-backed models, making it super confusing to evaluate who actually delivers continuous uplift versus who just sells pretty wireframes.