# Agency operations maturity check and SOP register

A worksheet to score your agency's seven operations areas on a four-stage maturity model, find the weakest area, and plan which SOPs to write first.

RevSmith, updated 4 November 2026. It goes with the guide [Marketing agency operations](https://revsmith.in/guides/agency-operations). Copy it into a doc or a sheet and fill it in; nothing here needs any software.

## How to use it

1. **Score each area.** Read the four descriptions in Part 2 and mark the one that matches how the work runs today, not how the SOP says it should run. If two fit, pick the lower one.
2. **Write the number.** Note the area's metric and last month's value. If you cannot find that number in ten minutes, you are not measuring the area yet; say so in the box.
3. **Find your constraint.** Your overall stage is your lowest area's stage, because clients feel the worst handoff, not the average. Fix that area before you automate anything that depends on it.
4. **Plan the SOPs.** Fill in the register in Part 3, then order it with the count in Part 4.
5. **Re-score every quarter.** Compare with your own last score, not with another agency's.

## Part 1: the four stages

| Stage | In one line |
|---|---|
| 1. Memory and spreadsheets | The owner and one or two leads hold the state of every client in their heads and a few sheets. |
| 2. Documented SOPs | Checklists and templates exist in a doc or wiki, but they sit apart from the work. |
| 3. Connected systems | Scope, tasks, approvals, reports and invoices hang off one record per client. |
| 4. AI-assisted operations with human approval | AI drafts from the client's confirmed context; a named person approves anything that reaches a client or an invoice. |

Do not skip stage 2. AI cannot follow a process nobody wrote down; it only drafts faster versions of the same confusion.

## Part 2: score each area

Mark one stage per area. Then fill in the metric, last month's value and the one person who owns the area. Two names in the owner box means nobody owns it.

### Area 1: Intake and onboarding

| Stage | What it looks like here | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Each new client is set up from memory. Logins arrive by email over weeks, and nobody can list what access is still missing. | |
| 2 | A written checklist and intake form exist and get followed, but progress sits in a separate doc and kickoff starts before access is complete. | |
| 3 | The checklist, access status, contacts and scope sit on the client's record. Delivery does not start until access on every platform is verified. | |
| 4 | AI reads the client's website, brief and notes and suggests the client's details; a person confirms each one. Missing access shows up as an item for a named owner. | |

- Metric to watch: days from signature to verified access on every platform.
- Last month: ______  Owner: ______

### Area 2: Scoping and change control

| Stage | What it looks like here | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What was sold lives in a proposal PDF. "Quick" asks get done because nobody checks. | |
| 2 | A scope ledger and a change-order form exist. Big asks get checked; small ones slip through. | |
| 3 | Every client request is logged against the scope ledger with an answer (included, uses an allowance, replaces a deliverable, extra, not offered), and every extra becomes a priced change order. | |
| 4 | AI drafts the scope check and the reply from the scope on record; a person records the answer and approves the change order. | |

- Metric to watch: out-of-scope asks per client per month, and the share that were priced.
- Last month: ______  Owner: ______

### Area 3: Delivery and approvals

| Stage | What it looks like here | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sign-off is "looks good" in an email or chat thread. Nobody can say which version the client approved. | |
| 2 | A playbook per deliverable type and a revision limit exist. Approvals are tracked in a sheet, when someone updates it. | |
| 3 | Each approval is tied to one exact version. Rounds past the limit show up as they happen. Each deliverable's tasks carry their SOP steps. | |
| 4 | AI drafts first versions and the follow-up on overdue approvals; a person approves anything the client sees. | |

- Metric to watch: days waiting for client approval; rounds past the revision limit.
- Last month: ______  Owner: ______

### Area 4: Reporting

| Stage | What it looks like here | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Each report is built by hand from screenshots and exports, and the narrative is written the night before. | |
| 2 | A template, a number-QA checklist and a named approver exist. The checks happen most months. | |
| 3 | Numbers come in from the platforms on a schedule. QA and approval are recorded steps, and the report goes out on the agreed day. | |
| 4 | Code produces every figure and AI drafts the words around them; a person approves the report before it is sent. | |

- Metric to watch: reports sent on the agreed day; corrections after sending.
- Last month: ______  Owner: ______

### Area 5: Client health and renewals

| Stage | What it looks like here | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | You learn a client is unhappy when they give notice. Renewal dates live in one person's calendar. | |
| 2 | A monthly health review happens as a meeting. Reasons are discussed but not written down. | |
| 3 | Each client's health is written down with reasons (delivery, performance, relationship, commercial), each linked to the record behind it. Renewals start from a checklist 90 days before the date. | |
| 4 | AI drafts the renewal pack from the year's results, scope used and promises; a person decides the conversation and the offer. | |

- Metric to watch: clients flagged at risk, each with a written reason; renewals started on time.
- Last month: ______  Owner: ______

### Area 6: Finance handoffs

| Stage | What it looks like here | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Extras are remembered at month end, or not. Invoices are built from the proposal. | |
| 2 | A month-end checklist compares approved change orders with invoices. It runs when someone remembers. | |
| 3 | Every accepted change order becomes an invoice line exactly once. Logged hours and margin per client are visible to finance. | |
| 4 | AI drafts the month-end reconciliation and lists approved extras not yet invoiced; finance approves every line. | |

- Metric to watch: approved extras invoiced; value billed and collected against value logged.
- Last month: ______  Owner: ______

### Area 7: Knowledge and SOPs

| Stage | What it looks like here | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Processes live in people's heads. A new hire shadows someone for weeks. | |
| 2 | SOPs exist in a wiki. Some are out of date, and nobody owns their review. | |
| 3 | Each SOP has a trigger, an owner by role and a review date, and sits where the work happens. Client facts sit on one record, confirmed by a person. | |
| 4 | AI tools read the same SOPs and confirmed client facts the team uses. A new fact is added only after a person accepts it. | |

- Metric to watch: repeat processes with an SOP reviewed in the last six months.
- Last month: ______  Owner: ______

### Your summary

| Area | Stage (1 to 4) | Metric, last month | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intake and onboarding | | | |
| Scoping and change control | | | |
| Delivery and approvals | | | |
| Reporting | | | |
| Client health and renewals | | | |
| Finance handoffs | | | |
| Knowledge and SOPs | | | |
| **Overall stage (the lowest above)** | | | |

**Reading the result.** Three or more areas at stage 1: write SOPs before you buy software. Most areas at stage 2: move each SOP to where the work happens and start measuring. Most at stage 3: automate the repeat steps of your strongest area first, behind a test run that sends nothing. Any area at stage 4: keep its approval gates and widen what AI drafts one workflow at a time.

## Part 3: SOP register (starter)

A starter list of twelve SOPs for a retainer agency. Keep the rows that apply, add your own, and fill in the blank columns. Name a role in the owner column, never a person: a step that names a person breaks the first time that person is on leave.

| # | SOP | Area | Trigger | Owner (role) | Client sees it? | Runs a month (yours) | Definition of done | Last reviewed | Next review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Client onboarding | Intake and onboarding | Contract signed | Operations manager | Yes | | Access verified on every platform, scope ledger filled in, contacts and approvers named, kickoff held | | |
| 2 | Platform access and offboarding | Intake and onboarding | New client, new team member, or a client leaving | Operations manager | Yes | | Every login is named and at the lowest level the work needs; all agency access removed within ___ days of the end | | |
| 3 | Change request (out-of-scope ask) | Scoping and change control | A client asks for something | Account manager | Yes | | The ask is logged with one answer; any extra is priced and approved or declined in writing | | |
| 4 | Scope ledger update | Scoping and change control | First working day of the month | Account manager | No | | Used against sold is current for every allowance and deliverable | | |
| 5 | Approval and revision round | Delivery and approvals | A deliverable is ready for client review | Delivery lead | Yes | | Approval recorded against one exact version; rounds counted against the limit | | |
| 6 | Deliverable playbook (one per type) | Delivery and approvals | Work starts on that deliverable type | Delivery lead | No | | Each step has an owner by role, a check and a definition of done | | |
| 7 | Meeting follow-up | Delivery and approvals | After every client call | Account manager | Yes | | Decisions, tasks and promises recorded with an owner and a due date within one working day | | |
| 8 | Monthly report | Reporting | The agreed report day | Account manager | Yes | | Numbers checked against each platform, narrative written, approved by the named approver, sent on the day | | |
| 9 | Client health review | Client health and renewals | Monthly | Operations manager | No | | Every client marked ok, watch or attention, with written reasons | | |
| 10 | Renewal | Client health and renewals | 90 days before the renewal date | Account lead | Yes | | Results, scope used and promises reviewed; proposal sent; decision recorded | | |
| 11 | Month-end billing handoff | Finance handoffs | Last working day of the month | Finance | Yes (the invoice) | | Every approved extra is on an invoice, or written off with a reason | | |
| 12 | SOP review | Knowledge and SOPs | Every quarter | Operations manager | No | | Every SOP read, then updated or retired; next review date set | | |

## Part 4: which SOPs to write first

Write onboarding first, whatever the counts say: every other SOP reads what onboarding captured (scope, access, contacts and who approves). Then order the rest by how often they run and whether the client sees them.

**The count.** For each client-facing SOP: runs a month = clients × runs per client per month. Sort from most to least. Write the report's QA checklist early even if it ranks low: the client's boss reads the report.

**Worked example (example numbers, not survey data).** A 12-person performance agency with 18 retainers.

| SOP | Runs per client a month | Clients | Runs a month | Runs a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change requests | 5 | 18 | 90 | 1,080 |
| Approval rounds | 4 | 18 | 72 | 864 |
| Monthly report | 1 | 18 | 18 | 216 |
| **Total client-facing handoffs** | | | **180** | **2,160** |

If 2% of those handoffs go wrong, that is 3.6 a month (180 × 0.02) and 43.2 a year. At 3 hours to put each right, that is 129.6 hours a year (43.2 × 3), or $12,960 at a $100 blended hourly rate (129.6 × 100). The order after onboarding: change requests, approvals, then the monthly report.

**Your numbers.**

| SOP | Runs per client a month | Clients | Runs a month | Runs a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| **Total** | | | | |

Share that goes wrong (your estimate): ____%. Hours to put one right: ____. Blended hourly rate: ____. Hours a year = runs a year × share × hours. Cost a year = hours a year × rate.

## Part 5: the SOP template (five fields)

Every SOP in the register uses the same five fields. If one is blank, the SOP is not finished.

1. **Trigger.** The event that starts it (a signed contract, a client ask, the report day).
2. **Owner (role).** One role that answers for it. Not a person's name.
3. **Steps.** Numbered. Each step names the role that does it and what "checked" means.
4. **Definition of done.** What is true when it is finished, in one sentence someone else can verify.
5. **Last reviewed and next review.** A date for each. An SOP nobody has reviewed in a year usually describes how the work used to run.

Two optional fields help on client-facing SOPs: **what the client must give us, and by when** (their side of the promise), and **where it is recorded** (the one place anyone can check its status).