Every year, excavation and septic contractors across the country write checks to marketing agencies that deliver nothing but excuses. Impressive-looking reports full of impressions, clicks, and keyword rankings for terms nobody searches. Meanwhile, the phone stays quiet and the trucks sit idle. The problem is almost never that the contractor was foolish. The problem is that they never knew the right questions to ask before signing on the dotted line.

Scott Andreasen of Excavation Marketing Pros has spent years inside this industry, and in this video he lays out exactly what excavation and septic contractors need to know before hiring any marketing agency - including EMP. This is not a sales pitch. It is a straight-talking framework for protecting your money and finding a partner that actually moves the needle.

Do You Need a Marketing Agency - Or a Revenue Growth Partner?

The first question Scott asks every contractor is deceptively simple: are you looking for someone to execute tasks you assign, or are you looking for someone with deep expertise in your specific niche who takes ownership of growing your revenue? These are two entirely different relationships, and confusing them is where most contractors go wrong.

A task executor will do what you tell them. A revenue growth partner will tell you what to do - because they already know your market, your margins, and what it takes to keep a septic or excavation business booked out. For excavation and septic contractors specifically, the difference between these two types of partners can be worth tens of thousands of dollars per year.

"What I would want if I were you is qualified calls that turn into booked jobs - not vanity metrics. Not impressions, not clicks, not rankings for longtail keywords that nobody searches."

Know Your Numbers Before You Call Anyone

Before you get on the phone with a single agency, Scott recommends getting clear on four numbers that will protect you from making an expensive mistake. First, know your average job value - not your dream job, but the realistic average ticket for your top two or three service lines. Second, know your gross profit per job, because if your margins are thin, there simply may not be enough room to buy another customer profitably. Third, know your close rate - and be honest about it. If you are mostly word-of-mouth today, your close rate is inflated by warm referrals. Cold traffic marketing will produce a close rate closer to 25 to 30 percent, or up to 40 to 50 percent if you have strong reviews in the double or triple digits.

Finally, know which service lines you actually want to grow. Do not hand an agency a list of fifteen services and tell them to figure it out. Pick your top two or three money-makers - for most excavation and septic contractors that means installs, drain fields, and site prep - and focus your marketing dollars there first. The hierarchy of your marketing spend should mirror the hierarchy of your gross profit per job.

The Questions That Separate Good Agencies From Bad Ones

Scott provides a sharp set of questions that every excavation and septic contractor should ask before hiring any agency. Start with the obvious: have you worked specifically with excavation or septic contractors? Not home service contractors in general - that category is too broad. A roofing company and a septic installer are both home service businesses, but they operate in completely different markets with different buying cycles, different job values, and different customer psychology.

Then go deeper. Ask what kinds of leads they plan to generate - not just "excavation leads" but specifically what type of excavation work, in what geography, and how they plan to qualify those leads before they reach you. Ask how they will track calls all the way through to booked jobs, not just to form fills. And ask the question that Scott says reveals the most about an agency's character: "What would make us fire you?" The way an agency answers that question tells you everything about how accountable they are willing to be.

"The only reason you would hire an agency is to put more money back in your pocket than you paid them. They should be able to show you that."

Red Flags and Green Flags: How to Read an Agency Quickly

Scott outlines a clear set of red flags that signal an agency is guessing with your money. They guarantee rankings but cannot explain lead quality. They talk about impressions more than calls. They push every contractor into the same package regardless of market size or service mix. They blame the Google algorithm every time performance drops. And most telling of all - they never ask you how much a job is worth to you. If an agency does not know what a septic install is worth to your business, they are flying blind with your budget.

The green flags are equally clear. A good agency understands the difference between captured demand - people already searching for septic installers near me or excavation contractors near me, who are ready to hire now - and created demand, which targets buyers who are 30 to 60 days out and need to be educated before they are ready to call. Both types of demand matter for excavation and septic contractors, and a strong agency builds a pipeline that serves both. Google Ads, local service ads, and SEO capture existing demand. Facebook, YouTube, and educational content create new demand. You need both to build a business that is not dependent on word of mouth alone.

Stop Buying Cheap Leads - Start Buying a System

One of the most important distinctions Scott makes in this video is the difference between cheap leads and profitable leads. Many contractors have used lead vendors that charge $40 per lead - and those leads never answer the phone, never show up for estimates, and never turn into jobs. The math on that model is brutal. Meanwhile, a single $500 lead that has been pre-qualified through five to seven questions - confirming they are in your service area, they need the work done, they have their permit and design, they have a method of payment, and they are ready to start - can turn into a $15,000 septic install with $6,000 in gross profit. That is not an expense. That is an investment with a measurable return.

The first system any excavation or septic contractor needs, Scott explains, is one that turns attention into booked work. That means a clear offer, a strong landing page, a cleaned-up Google Business Profile, call tracking, a review strategy, before-and-after proof, follow-up scripts, and simple weekly reporting. Not activities. Not blog posts three times a week. A system with a clear path from lead to estimate to job to revenue.

"Do not buy marketing. Buy a system that turns attention into profit."

Is Your Excavation or Septic Business Ready for the Right Partner?

The contractors who get the best results from marketing are not necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets. They are the ones who know their numbers, know their best service lines, and come to the table ready to hold an agency accountable to real outcomes - booked jobs, gross profit, and revenue growth - not impressions and activity reports.

If you are an excavation or septic contractor who is tired of writing checks to agencies that deliver excuses instead of results, Excavation Marketing Pros was built specifically for you. We do not work with roofing companies or plumbers. We work exclusively with excavation and septic contractors, and we measure our success the same way you measure yours - by the jobs you book and the revenue you generate.