Give a floor coating marketing agency 60 to 90 days during your busy season to prove it can put estimates on your calendar, but check specific milestones every two weeks instead of waiting it out. By the end of week 1 the ads should be live and tested, by day 30 leads should be getting a call within minutes and booking estimates, and by day 60 you should see estimates showing up and closing. If an early milestone is missed with no plan to fix it, you do not owe the agency the full 90 days.
What should happen in the first 90 days with a floor coating agency?
Judge an agency on a timeline, not a feeling. This table shows what a working setup looks like at each stage and what should worry you.
| Stage | What you should see | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Ads live, your real floor photos in the creative, a test lead submitted and received, and a named person or team calling leads | No ads live by the end of the week, stock photos, nobody can tell you who calls the leads |
| Weeks 2 to 4 | Leads arriving most days, each one called within minutes, the first estimates booked on your calendar | Leads dropped into a CRM for you to call, reports full of clicks and impressions, no booked estimates |
| Days 30 to 60 | Estimates showing up, some closing, new creative replacing tired ads, a booking rate moving toward 60 to 70% of leads | The same ads from day one, no one tracking shows or closes, "the algorithm is still learning" as the only answer |
| Days 60 to 90 | A steady weekly count of booked estimates you can plan a crew around, and a clear read on which ads produce closed jobs | Estimate count flat or falling, excuses instead of changes, you are still the one chasing every lead |
This window assumes your busy season. Our floor coating benchmarks show Florida, the Gulf Coast, and the Carolinas book year round, while the rest of the country is strong spring through fall and drops in winter. Judging a new agency in January in a cold market is not a fair test. And you do not need 90 days to see that nobody is calling your leads.
Is it an ads problem or a follow up problem?
This is the question most owners skip, and it is why they fire one agency and hire another that fails the same way.
| What you see | Most likely problem | Who owns the fix |
|---|---|---|
| Very few leads, or none | Ads: creative, offer, targeting, or a broken page | The agency |
| Plenty of leads, most never answer | Follow up: slow first call, or low intent native form leads | Whoever calls the leads |
| Leads answer but will not book | Follow up: the caller cannot explain the product or offer a time | Whoever calls the leads |
| Booked estimates, many no shows | Follow up: no confirmation or reminders | Whoever books and confirms |
| Shows, but few closes | Could be lead quality, could be the estimate itself | Look at both before blaming anyone |
If the agency only runs ads and you call the leads, a follow up problem is yours, not theirs. About 90% of homeowners answer when called within one minute of submitting the form, and that answer rate falls fast after that. If you call back that evening, a new agency will not fix it. Our guide on why floor coating leads do not answer covers that side in detail.
If the agency handles the calling too, then both columns are theirs, and the timeline above applies to all of it.
What should you measure yourself, without relying on the agency's report?
Agency reports measure what the agency controls. You need the numbers that pay your crew. Keep a simple sheet, one row per lead, and fill it in every week.
| Number | How to get it | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Leads | Count every form or call, with the date and time it came in | Steady, most days, in season |
| Time to first call | Minutes from form submitted to first call attempt | Within minutes, not hours |
| Booked estimates | Leads that got a date and time on your calendar | 60 to 70% of leads when ads are high intent, go to a landing page, and every lead is called fast |
| Shows | Booked estimates where the homeowner was home and ready | About 80% with no reminders, about 95% with confirmation and reminders 24 hours and 1 hour out |
| Closes | Estimates that turned into a signed job | No single benchmark; compare to your own history and your product |
Time to first call is the one most owners never measure, and it explains more than any other number. If your agency cannot tell you that number for every lead, that is your answer about how it is being handled. Our post on floor coating contractor KPIs shows how to track these over a full year, and the lead to appointment rate post explains where the 60 to 70% comes from.
How do you have the conversation before you fire them?
Do this once, with numbers in hand. It either fixes the problem or makes the decision easy.
Bring your sheet.
Four weeks of leads, time to first call, booked, shows, and closes. Numbers end arguments that feelings start.
Name the stage you are stuck at.
"We are getting leads, but under half are booking" is a clear problem. "This is not working" is not.
Ask what they will change.
New creative, a landing page instead of the native form, faster calling, reminders. Ask for specifics, not "we will optimize."
Agree on a 30 day target.
One number, like booked estimates per week, that both of you can check.
Set the date you will decide.
Put it on the calendar. If the target is missed with no real change, you are done.
Before the conversation, read your contract so you know your notice period. When you are ready to leave, our guide on switching floor coating marketing agencies covers what to collect and how to avoid a gap in estimates. If you are not sure the next agency will be better, run through the questions to ask before hiring another agency first.
When should you fire them without waiting 90 days?
Some problems do not get better with time:
- You cannot see your own results, or they will not share lead level data.
- Nobody can tell you who calls the leads or how fast.
- Your leads are being shared with other contractors in your area.
- They keep reporting clicks and impressions after you have asked for booked estimates.
- You raised a clear problem, agreed on a fix, and nothing changed.
Any of those in the first month is enough. Our post on why floor coating contractors leave marketing agencies covers the bigger pattern behind them.
Frequently asked questions
Is 90 days too long to give a floor coating marketing agency?
Not in season, as long as you check milestones along the way. By week 1 the ads should be live and tested, and by day 30 your garage floor coating leads should be called within minutes and booking estimates. If those early milestones are missed with no plan to fix them, you can decide well before 90 days.
How many leads should an epoxy flooring agency get me in the first month?
Lead count alone is the wrong measure. Ask how many became booked estimates. When epoxy leads come from a landing page and are called fast, 60 to 70% should book. Lots of leads that never book usually point to the native Meta lead form or slow calling.
Should I fire my agency if my concrete coating leads do not answer?
First check who calls them and how fast. About 90% of homeowners answer within a minute of submitting the form, and the answer rate drops fast after that. If you are the one calling hours later, a new agency will not fix it.
What should a floor coating agency report to me every week?
Leads, time to first call, booked estimates, shows, and closes. Clicks and impressions are fine as background, but a polyaspartic or garage floor coating crew gets paid on closed jobs, so the report should get you as close to that as possible.
Can a floor coating agency be good at ads and still fail me?
Yes. Strong ads still produce leads that go cold when nobody calls them in time. That is a follow up problem, and it needs a follow up fix: faster calling, a setter, or a service that books the estimates for you.
Done giving agencies the benefit of the doubt?
If you are tired of judging reports instead of estimates, Appointly works differently. We run the Meta ads from our own ad account, call every homeowner within minutes, educate and qualify them, and book a confirmed estimate on your calendar. You measure us on the same five numbers in this guide. We work with one floor coating contractor per market.
We are not the right fit if you want to own and manage the ad account yourself, or if your current agency is booking well and the real gap is how estimates get run. Fix that first. Otherwise, Book a strategy call and we will check whether your market is open, your service area, how many estimates a week your crew can run, and where your current setup is losing leads.
About the author
Patrick Mietka
Co-founder, Appointly Solutions
Patrick runs the Meta ad campaigns and the numbers behind every Appointly client. He has managed lead generation and appointment booking for floor coating and home service contractors across the US, and writes about what actually turns ad spend into booked estimates.