Agency scoring sheet

Type your own weights, agency names and scores. The weighted scores update as you type.

Weights and scores (1 is weak, 5 is strong)
Criterion	Weight	Name of agency 1	Name of agency 2	Name of agency 3
Fit with the briefDid the response answer your problem, or a generic one?	Weight for fit with the brief	Agency A, fit with the brief, score 1 to 5	Agency B, fit with the brief, score 1 to 5	Agency C, fit with the brief, score 1 to 5
Relevant workComparable companies, with references you could call	Weight for relevant work	Agency A, relevant work, score 1 to 5	Agency B, relevant work, score 1 to 5	Agency C, relevant work, score 1 to 5
The team you would getNamed people, their hours, their experience	Weight for the team you would get	Agency A, the team you would get, score 1 to 5	Agency B, the team you would get, score 1 to 5	Agency C, the team you would get, score 1 to 5
Measurement planWhat they will report, how often, against which baseline	Weight for measurement plan	Agency A, measurement plan, score 1 to 5	Agency B, measurement plan, score 1 to 5	Agency C, measurement plan, score 1 to 5
Commercial termsFees, transparency on media and third parties, exit terms	Weight for commercial terms	Agency A, commercial terms, score 1 to 5	Agency B, commercial terms, score 1 to 5	Agency C, commercial terms, score 1 to 5
Working styleHow the pitch team handled your questions and pushback	Weight for working style	Agency A, working style, score 1 to 5	Agency B, working style, score 1 to 5	Agency C, working style, score 1 to 5
Weighted score	100	3.70	3.50	3.40

On your weights, Agency A scores 3.7, Agency B scores 3.5 and Agency C scores 3.4 out of 5. The gap between the first two is 0.2 points, too close to call on scores alone: check references and meet the teams again.

How it is worked out

weighted score = Σ(weight × score) ÷ Σ(weight)

weight: how much a criterion matters to this hire; any numbers work, because the sheet divides by their total
score: 1 (weak) to 5 (strong), agreed by the people who read the responses and met the teams

Worked example, with the default inputs:

Agency A: (25 × 4 + 20 × 4 + 20 × 3 + 15 × 4 + 10 × 3 + 10 × 4) ÷ 100 = 3.70
Agency B: (25 × 3 + 20 × 4 + 20 × 4 + 15 × 3 + 10 × 4 + 10 × 3) ÷ 100 = 3.50
Agency C: (25 × 5 + 20 × 2 + 20 × 3 + 15 × 3 + 10 × 4 + 10 × 3) ÷ 100 = 3.40

Where the defaults come from
Input	Default	Source
Criteria weights and scores	25, 20, 20, 15, 10, 10	Example input, not a benchmark. Replace it with your own.

How to set the weights

Agree the weights before anyone reads a response, and write down why each one is where it is. Weights set after the pitches tend to drift toward the agency the room already likes, which defeats the point of the sheet. The defaults here are example inputs that put most of the weight on fit, relevant work and the team; change them to match the hire.

If commercial terms are a hard limit rather than a preference, take them out of the weights and treat them as a pass or fail gate before scoring.

How to score

Have each evaluator score alone first, then compare and agree a score per cell, noting the evidence for it: a line in the response, a reference call, an answer in the pitch. A score with no evidence behind it is a guess and should be marked as one.

Read the result as a summary of your own judgment, not as a verdict. When two agencies sit within a quarter of a point of each other, the scores are not separating them; the reference calls and a second meeting with the people who would run your account usually do.

Embed this calculator

Paste this into any page to show the live calculator, with its formula and sources, linked back here.

<iframe src="https://www.cmotribune.com/embed/agency-scoring-sheet" title="Agency scoring sheet, from CMO Tribune" width="100%" height="900" style="border:0;max-width:760px" loading="lazy"></iframe>