# Is an agency reliable to work with?

**Short answer.** Reliability is not a property of an agency but of a team, and teams turn over: in 2024 the median Belgian agency lost 34.6 percent of its staff. So ask who stays, not whether the agency is good.

Reliability is not a property of an agency but of a team, and teams change. In the Belgian agency market, median staff turnover was 34.6 percent of headcount in financial year 2024; at a quarter of agencies more than two in three walked out the door.

That figure changes the question. Not "is this agency reliable", but "who stays, and what happens if that person leaves".

## What you can check

**Financial continuity.** Four of the five health figures are free in the filed annual accounts, and the [factsheets](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/) work them out per agency next to the market median. They say nothing about quality, but they do say whether the agency will still be there in a year. See [how to know whether an agency is financially healthy](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/is-een-bureau-financieel-gezond).

**Legal continuity.** The Crossroads Bank and the Official Gazette show director changes, name changes and mergers. Three director changes in two years is a conversation topic.

**Reputation with clients the agency did not put forward itself.** Call two and ask about the moment it went wrong.

## What to ask about the people

1. How long have the people on my account been here?
2. What happens if the most important of them leaves: do I get a replacement, and who decides who that is?
3. How many people left the team I would get over the past year?

The third question sounds indiscreet and is not: you are buying a team for years, and turnover in that team is part of what you are buying.

## Write down what matters to you

If the presence of particular people was decisive, put their names in the contract, with an agreement on what happens if they are replaced. That is not distrust but a normal clause, and it makes the promise from the pitch room checkable.

See also: [how to know whether an agency is good](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-weet-ik-of-een-bureau-goed-is) and [who works at an agency](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wie-werkt-er-bij-een-bureau).

## Related questions

- [How do I know whether an agency is any good?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/hoe-weet-ik-of-een-bureau-goed-is): Call two clients the agency did not put forward itself, and ask about the time it went wrong. A portfolio shows someone at their best; a reference shows how they work when things go badly.
- [Who works at an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wie-werkt-er-bij-een-bureau): The question that matters is not who works there but who will be on your account, and whether that person was in the pitch room. Ask for names, not job titles, and put them in writing at the start.
- [How do I know whether an agency is financially healthy?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/is-een-bureau-financieel-gezond): Four of the five numbers you need are free at the National Bank: EBITDA margin, gross margin per employee, the three-year trend and equity. Only the share of the largest client has to be asked.

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IKAg is the business consultant for marketing and agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Market figures come from the Agency Barometer, calculated on the annual accounts agencies filed with the National Bank themselves. Figures on pitches and satisfaction come from IKAg-guided processes, and are always presented as such.

- All questions: https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq
- Last updated: 2026-08-19