When a marketing agency says "no contract," it means something different depending on who's saying it.
Sometimes it means genuinely month-to-month — you can stop at any time with reasonable notice. Sometimes it means there's a contract, but it has a short initial term. Sometimes it means the contract renews automatically and "no contract" refers only to the initial sign-on.
At Crow & Pitcher, "no contract" means: three-month initial term, then month-to-month. This post explains what that actually means for you, why the initial term exists, and what exiting looks like in practice.
Why Most Agencies Use Long Contracts
Long contract terms protect agencies from the consequences of underperformance. If an agency locks you in for 12 months and results are disappointing in month three, you're still paying through month twelve. The contract turns slow results into guaranteed revenue for the agency.
This is why the pitch at the start often includes phrases like "it takes six months to see real results" — which is sometimes true, but which also conveniently explains away any accountability window. By the time it's clear the results aren't materializing, you're too far in to exit without paying out the contract.
Short terms flip this. If we can only keep a client for three months before they're free to leave, we need to produce something worth staying for in those three months.
The 3-Month Initial Term
We use a 3-month initial term. Here's why that specific number:
Month one is setup and data collection. Your ad account gets built, targeting gets configured, ads go live, call tracking gets connected. The first batch of calls comes in. You and we both learn how your intake handles inbound advertising leads.
Month two is first optimization. We have enough call data to see what's working — which search types are generating the best calls, what time of day your calls come in, whether the initial ad copy is landing. We adjust based on real data, not assumptions.
Month three is a real read. By the end of month three, we have a genuine picture of what advertising produces for your firm at your current ad spend level. If the math is working, you stay. If it isn't, you should leave — and you can.
Three months is also the minimum time it takes to get clean data. Month one alone almost never tells the full story: some weeks are slower, some calls take time to convert. Three months gives you a pattern, not a data point.
After the Initial Term: What Month-to-Month Looks Like
After the first three months, the engagement is month-to-month with 30 days' notice to exit.
Practically, this means:
You decide at the end of month three whether to continue
After that, you're not committed beyond the current month plus 30 days
If something changes — you hit your capacity, you want to try a different approach, you're going on trial for two months — you give 30 days' notice and we wind down cleanly
There's no penalty for leaving. There's no "you need to pay us for the remaining six months of your commitment." The notice period is 30 days so both sides have time to wrap up cleanly — it's not a financial obligation, it's just responsible offboarding.
What Happens to Your Account When You Leave
Your ad account is yours. It's built under your Google login from day one. When you stop working with us, the account stays with you — all the history, all the data, all the call tracking records.
If you want to take it in-house, you can. If you want to hand it to another agency, you can. If you want to pause it entirely, you can. We get removed as a manager on your account and you move on.
This is the part many agencies don't tell you upfront: some agencies build your account in their infrastructure, which means when you leave, you leave without your data. We don't do that. The account belongs to you because it's your business.
The Real Meaning of Month-to-Month
A genuinely short-term arrangement means we need to earn continued business every month. That's intentional.
If advertising is working — your phones are ringing with new client calls, the math is favorable, the reporting is clear — you stay because it's the right business decision. If it's not working, you leave and there's no financial penalty for doing so.
That's the model. We'd rather have clients who stay because the results justify it than clients who stay because they feel trapped.
What the Agreement Actually Says
Our engagement agreement is one page. It covers:
The monthly fee and what it includes
The 3-month initial term and month-to-month structure after
That the ad account belongs to the client
That ad spend is paid directly to Google and we never handle it
The 30-day notice period to exit
If you want to read it before any conversation about signing, that's a reasonable request and we'll send it.
Book a 15-minute call to talk through the structure and get any questions answered before you decide anything.
Crow & Pitcher uses a 3-month initial term followed by month-to-month with 30 days' notice. Flat $1,000/month management fee. No long-term commitment.
Ready to see the math for your firm?
Book a 15-minute call. No slide deck — just your numbers and an honest conversation about whether it makes sense.
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