Questions to ask a white label partner before you sign
30 questions on client contact, ownership, quality, dates, price, people and security. Each one comes with what a good answer sounds like. Use them on any partner, including us.
- Free · no login
- 30 questions in 8 groups
- Works for any partner
- Prints to a clean PDF
How to use it.
- 1Send the questions before the call. Written answers are easier to compare, and harder to walk back.
- 2Score the answers. Tick a question only when the answer is specific and in writing.
- 3Ask for the clause behind each promise. If it isn’t in the contract or the order, it’s a sales line.
A good answer is only as strong as the contract clause behind it.
0 of 30 answered well
Groups
Client contact and non-solicitation
Of everything that can go wrong in white label work, losing the client is the worst. We’d start here.
- Why ask it
- A non-solicit that runs out after a year or two only postpones the problem.
- A good answer sounds like
- A written clause that covers contacting, pitching, quoting and accepting work. It says how long it lasts, and it binds the company, its sister companies and each person on your projects, including after they leave.
- A red flag
- “We’d never do that”, with no clause. Or a clause that bans soliciting but says nothing about accepting work your client offers.
- How we answer it
- Zero-Poach Guarantee
- Why ask it
- Clients sometimes work out who built their site. The test is what the partner does next.
- A good answer sounds like
- They decline without discussing the project or confirming they work with you, and they tell you within a stated time. It’s written down, and it still applies if the client says they’ve left you.
- A red flag
- “It depends on the situation.”
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 14.4
- Why ask it
- A promise with no remedy costs nothing to break, and proving what a lost client was worth is hard.
- A good answer sounds like
- A remedy written into the contract: your fees for that client refunded, the fees they earned from that client handed over, and a fixed sum per client that you don’t have to prove.
- A red flag
- “We’d sort it out between us.”
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 14.10 Ours lists all three. Ask us for the fixed sum before you sign.
- Why ask it
- These clauses usually run both ways. Find out what yours costs before you sign; once you’ve made someone an offer, it’s too late.
- A good answer sounds like
- A stated period, a stated fee if you hire someone anyway, and an exception for general job adverts. All of it shown to you before the contract stage.
- A red flag
- A restriction with no end date, or a fee you only hear about once you’ve breached it.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, sections 14.12 to 14.13 Ours runs for 12 months and carries a placement fee: 3 months of the Dedicated Developer plan price.
Confidentiality and consent to show work
Your client believes your team built it. Check that nothing will tell them otherwise.
- Why ask it
- The first thing you send is a client name and a design file. That’s already confidential.
- A good answer sounds like
- Yes, before any client name or file changes hands. The NDA is mutual, you can read it first, and the relationship itself is listed as confidential: you may tell anyone, they may not.
- A red flag
- An NDA offered only after you’ve signed the main contract.
- How we answer it
- NDA by default
- Why ask it
- One portfolio tile with your client’s homepage on it ends the arrangement.
- A good answer sounds like
- Never without your written consent and your client’s, which you collect. The consent says what it covers, anonymised descriptions count too, and you can withdraw it and have the work removed within a stated time.
- A red flag
- Portfolio rights by default with an opt-out, or “we only show it anonymised”.
- How we answer it
- Confidentiality and consent-first portfolio
- Why ask it
- Leaks are rarely dramatic. They’re a staging URL, a commit author, a footer credit or an invoice address.
- A good answer sounds like
- A list, item by item: email addresses, domains, staging URLs, credits, invoices, metadata and tracking. None of it theirs, and a leak is treated as a defect they fix.
- A red flag
- Staging on the partner’s own domain.
- How we answer it
- We work inside your agency
- Why ask it
- A partner who will lie to your client for you will also lie to you.
- A good answer sounds like
- A set wording you can read: real first names, “I’m on the agency’s web team”, never a claim to be your employee, and questions about your company passed to you.
- A red flag
- Invented names, or “we’ll say whatever you need us to”.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 10.4
Ownership and IP
What you can hand your client, and what stays behind if you part ways.
- Why ask it
- Your client contract almost certainly promises them ownership. You can’t pass on what you don’t hold.
- A good answer sounds like
- All rights are assigned to you in writing at a named moment, usually when the order is paid in full, and you’re free to assign them on to your client.
- A red flag
- A licence instead of an assignment, or ownership that depends on staying a customer.
- How we answer it
- You own the IP
- Why ask it
- If the repository, the design file and the hosting are theirs, a dispute locks you out of your own project.
- A good answer sounds like
- In your Git, design, hosting and CMS accounts from the first day. You create the accounts, you can see everything, and you can switch access off whenever you like.
- A red flag
- “We’ll send you the files at the end.”
- How we answer it
- We work inside your agency
- Why ask it
- Most teams reuse their own starter code. That’s fine, as long as the site doesn’t stop working when you stop paying them.
- A good answer sounds like
- Their reusable code comes with a permanent, royalty-free licence that passes to your client. Third-party plugins, themes, apps and fonts are listed at handover, bought in your or your client’s name, and never unlicensed.
- A red flag
- A proprietary framework with a recurring fee, or plugin licences held on the partner’s own account.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, sections 13.5 to 13.6
Quality and QA
Your name is on the work, so ask how it’s checked before you see it.
- Why ask it
- People don’t find their own mistakes. If nobody else looks, your team does the QA, or your client does.
- A good answer sounds like
- Someone who didn’t build it, against a written checklist you can read, on real devices at a stated list of screen sizes.
- A red flag
- “Our developers test their own work.”
- How we answer it
- Quality standards
- Why ask it
- A named standard can be checked. “High quality” can’t.
- A good answer sounds like
- Named standards with their limits: an accessibility level, a browser and device list, performance as lab scores measured at handover. And a written list of what isn’t promised, such as search rankings or legal compliance.
- A red flag
- Guaranteed rankings, or “fully compliant” with an accessibility law.
- How we answer it
- Accessibility
- Why ask it
- Most arguments with a build partner are about this line.
- A good answer sounds like
- A defect is anything that differs from the order or the approved design, and it’s fixed free. A change is quoted in writing before any work starts. There’s a written step for when you see it differently.
- A red flag
- Fixes billed by the hour with no definition of either word.
- How we answer it
- Revisions, and what happens when the brief changes
- Why ask it
- The first weeks on a live site find what staging didn’t, and your client will call you.
- A good answer sounds like
- A warranty with a stated length, a stated start date and a response time, plus a list of what it doesn’t cover, such as changes made by someone else.
- A red flag
- Support that ends at handover unless you buy a monthly plan.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 9
Dates and what happens when they slip
You promise your client a date on the strength of theirs.
- Why ask it
- “Two to three weeks” isn’t a date, and “a first version” isn’t a delivery.
- A good answer sounds like
- A calendar date in the signed order, counted in business days in your time zone from a defined starting point. “Delivered” has a definition too: the complete build on staging, past their own QA.
- A red flag
- A date given on a call and never written into the order.
- How we answer it
- On time, or a full refund
- Why ask it
- Without a consequence, a deadline is an estimate.
- A good answer sounds like
- A remedy in the contract that says how much, how soon and whether you have to claim it. Ask the follow-up as well: is that the only remedy, and does it cover what you owe your own client?
- A red flag
- “We’ve never missed a deadline.”
- How we answer it
- On time, or a full refund Ours is a full refund of that order’s fee. It is the only remedy for lateness, and it doesn’t cover what you owe your client.
- Why ask it
- Every deadline promise has exceptions. They should be listed, not discovered.
- A good answer sounds like
- A closed list of reasons, such as late content, missing access, slow reviews and approved changes. Each pause is logged in writing on the day it starts, with the new date. Their own staffing, sickness and holidays are never on the list.
- A red flag
- The date moves and you find out when you chase.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, sections 5.5 to 5.7
Pricing and change control
You quote your client from their number, so it has to hold.
- Why ask it
- You can’t quote a client while you wait for a partner to quote you.
- A good answer sounds like
- A public price list, or a written fixed price within a stated time after a call. With it, a written list of what’s left out: hosting, domains, copy, licences, extra revision rounds.
- A red flag
- A day rate and an estimate, with no price until the work is done.
- How we answer it
- What’s in every project, and what isn’t
- Why ask it
- A fixed price is only fixed if you know every way it can move.
- A good answer sounds like
- Only when the scope changes, and only after you approve a written quote that states the price and the days it adds. Work done without your approval is at their cost.
- A red flag
- Extra hours that first appear on the final invoice.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 8
- Why ask it
- On a first project you’re paying someone whose work you haven’t seen yet.
- A good answer sounds like
- Payments tied to milestones you approve, and some protection the first time: escrow, a small paid pilot, or payment on delivery. Plus a clear answer on what you owe if you cancel halfway.
- A red flag
- The full fee upfront, with nothing in writing about refunds.
- How we answer it
- Escrow on your first project Ours covers the first fixed-price project only. Later orders are invoiced, and monthly plans are never escrowed.
People, continuity and time zones
Who you’ll deal with every day, and what happens when they’re not there.
- Why ask it
- A project that lives in one person’s head stops when that person does.
- A good answer sounds like
- One assigned person and a named backup, a stated time for the backup to take over, and no bill for the time it takes a replacement to catch up.
- A red flag
- A shared inbox, or a different person on every thread.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 16.4
- Why ask it
- A question answered overnight costs your client a day each time.
- A good answer sounds like
- Working hours written into the order, in your time zone. A stated reply time and a written update on a fixed rhythm. And a straight answer on whether each of those is a target or a guarantee.
- A red flag
- “We’re available around the clock.”
- How we answer it
- Time zones Our reply time and weekly update are service targets. Only the delivery date carries a refund.
- Why ask it
- Your NDA and your non-solicit only bind the people who signed them.
- A good answer sounds like
- Not without your written consent. Everyone who touches the work is their employee or contractor, on written terms that match the contract you signed.
- A red flag
- Vague answers about a “network” or “extended team”.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 16.2
- Why ask it
- The exit terms tell you how the partner behaves when the relationship stops being worth anything to them.
- A good answer sounds like
- Notice periods for both sides, any minimum term stated upfront, payment only for work done, ownership of what you’ve paid for, and a written offboarding step.
- A red flag
- A minimum term or exit fee you first see in the contract.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 22 One of our plans, the Dedicated Developer, has a 3-month minimum term.
Security, access and data
You’re handing over your clients’ logins. Ask how they’re handled.
- Why ask it
- A password pasted into chat stays in that chat long after the project ends.
- A good answer sounds like
- Through a password manager only, never by email or chat. A named account for each person (never one shared login), with two-factor sign-in on and only the access the job needs.
- A red flag
- “Just email us the admin login.”
- How we answer it
- Security and access handling
- Why ask it
- Old access is how a finished project becomes next year’s incident.
- A good answer sounds like
- Written confirmation that everything is in your systems, a list of the keys and tokens to rotate, and local copies deleted within a stated number of days.
- A red flag
- No offboarding step at all.
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, sections 10.10 and 17.6
- Why ask it
- You have your own duties to notify, and the clock on those starts whether or not your partner has told you.
- A good answer sounds like
- A stated time limit in the contract. They tell you, never your client, and they give you what you need to make your own notifications.
- A red flag
- “That’s never happened to us.”
- How we answer it
- Partner Agreement, section 17.5
- Why ask it
- Your client’s procurement or legal team may ask you this, and you’ll need the real answer.
- A good answer sounds like
- A straight answer. If they hold a certification, they show it. If they don’t, they say so and list the measures they do have. Either way there’s a data processing agreement you can read before you sign.
- A red flag
- Certification logos with no certificate behind them.
- How we answer it
- Data Processing Addendum We hold no ISO 27001, SOC 2 or other security certification, and we say so in the contract.
- Why ask it
- Your client may have a policy on it, and their confidential material shouldn’t end up training someone’s model.
- A good answer sounds like
- A written list of what AI is and isn’t used for. A person reviews everything it produces, client information never goes into tools that train on what they’re given, and you can opt out.
- A red flag
- “We don’t use AI”, said without checking, or no policy at all.
- How we answer it
- How we use AI
Before you sign
Three last checks, once the answers are in.
Questions to ask a white label partner · studiopartner.co/resources/partner-vetting-checklist
Where our own answers have limits.
Use this list on us too. Most of our answers are in writing, with the clause beside them, but some of them stop short. Here’s where.
- No security certification. We don’t hold ISO 27001 or SOC 2. The measures we do have are listed in our Data Processing Addendum.
- A late refund is the only remedy for lateness. You get that order’s fee back in full. We don’t cover what you owe your own client.
- Reply times are targets. We aim to reply within 2 working hours during a project. Missing that doesn’t trigger a refund.
- Escrow covers your first project only. After that we invoice a deposit and milestones.
- Our liability is capped. For a project, at the fees paid for the order a claim relates to. Neither of us is liable for indirect losses.
Before. You can lay written answers side by side, and they show you how a partner writes when your client isn’t watching. Then use the call for the answers that came back vague.
Not for a small first job. Client contact, ownership and dates come up on every engagement, so ask groups A, C and E in full. Add security before you share any client login, and people and continuity before you commit to a monthly plan.
Treat it as a no. A promise that isn’t in the contract or the signed order usually can’t be enforced, and most contracts say that only what’s written in them counts.
No. It’s a list of commercial questions from a team that does this work for agencies. Use it to compare partners, and still have your own lawyer read the contract before you sign.
You can check. Each question links to the page or contract clause where we answer it, and the section under the checklist lists where our answers have limits. A few figures are set in the Partner Agreement and your signed order, so ask us for them before you sign.
Yes, in this browser only. Your ticks stay on your device (we never see them), and the reset button clears them. There’s no login and no email form. To score a second partner, clear the ticks or print a copy for each.
Ask us these questions. Our answers are public, with the contract clause beside each one.
Nothing is charged until you sign an order.