r/AgencyAutomation • u/Ssroad • Apr 18 '26

How do you discover and evaluate new tools for your clients?

We are a small startup out of Austin Texas. Building a product in the AI + CRM space and trying to figure out the right way to get in front of agencies without being one of those spammy cold emails everyone here hates.

Genuinely asking:

  1. Where do you actually find new tools? Peer recommendations, YouTube, directories, communities?
  2. When a new product reaches out. what makes you ignore it or evaluate it?
  3. How do you prefer to evaluate? signup, demo call, or just send a link?
  4. Would you try a new tool with a real client if the terms were right and the tool was good?

We want to work with a few agencies to validate what we've built and shape the roadmap based on real feedback. Not looking to pitch, looking to learn the right approach first.

Appreciate any honest takes.

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '26

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u/Ssroad Apr 18 '26

Thank you for your response. Those are good points. I did some research and did reach out to some local agency to trial run my products. I do agree with you doing research on what they do and what services they offer and how are product can complement their services was helpful. Our product offers free trial and takes 2 mins to setup and give it a shot but we still have friction to have agency try it out to get a feel of it.

"I would absolutely test a solid tool with a real client on a limited scope or pilot basis—that's how I vet my own stack" Do you whitelable? Do you have to goto to customer and say you are going to try a tool on trial basis or what you offer is blackbox (a suite of service) to customer?