Weeks one and two: access and audit, not action
The first thing that should happen is access, not optimisation. You grant Seller Central or Vendor Central user permissions scoped to what the agency actually needs, advertising console access, and Brand Registry access if relevant. You should never be asked to hand over full account ownership or your primary login credentials. Scoped user access that you can revoke is the correct arrangement.
Alongside access, a competent agency runs a genuine audit before making changes: current advertising structure and spend efficiency, listing and content quality across the catalogue, account health status and any open cases, inventory position and any stranded or aged stock, and a review of past performance data to understand what has and has not worked.
If an agency starts changing bids or campaigns in week one before completing this audit, that is a warning sign, not a sign of speed. Changes made before understanding the account risk fixing the wrong thing or breaking something that was actually working for reasons nobody bothered to check.
Weeks three through six: the audit findings and the first plan
You should receive a written summary of what the audit found, prioritised by impact rather than presented as an undifferentiated list. A good audit tells you clearly what is costing you the most right now and what the sequence of fixes should be, not just a catalogue of every issue found.
This is also when the first concrete changes typically begin: campaign restructuring if needed, negative keyword cleanup, content fixes for the highest impact listings, and resolution of any urgent account health issues found during the audit. Expect advertising efficiency changes to start showing in this window, since that is the fastest moving lever.
Reporting cadence should be established clearly here too. You should know exactly what you will receive, how often, and what it will cover. If reporting expectations are still vague six weeks in, that is worth raising directly.
By month three: a working rhythm, not a finished product
By this point you should have a clear weekly or biweekly cadence with your account team, a reporting structure you actually understand and can act on, and visible movement on the highest priority items identified in the initial audit. Organic rank improvements, which depend on accumulated conversion history, typically start becoming visible around this point rather than earlier.
What you should not expect by month three is a finished, fully optimised account. Amazon account management is ongoing work, not a project with a completion date. What you are looking for at this stage is evidence of a working system: clear priorities, visible progress against them, and a team that communicates proactively rather than only when you ask.
Frequently Asked Questions
Scoped user permissions covering exactly what they need to do the work: Seller Central or Vendor Central access, advertising console access, and Brand Registry access where relevant. You should retain full account ownership and grant access you can revoke, never hand over primary login credentials or account ownership itself.
Urgent fixes, such as an active account health issue or an obviously broken campaign burning budget, are reasonable to address immediately. Broader strategic changes before completing an audit are not, since changes made without understanding the account risk fixing the wrong problem first.
Advertising efficiency changes typically show within four to six weeks once the audit is complete and initial fixes are in place. Organic rank movement takes longer, generally two to three months, because it depends on conversion history accumulating over time rather than a change you can make instantly.
A prioritised summary of findings across advertising efficiency, listing and content quality, account health status, and inventory position, with a clear view on what is costing the most right now and the sequence of planned fixes. A report that lists every possible issue with no prioritisation is less useful than one that tells you what matters most.
Raise it directly and ask for the specific cadence and reporting structure you were told to expect at signing. A properly run engagement has clear communication rhythms established within the first few weeks, and persistent vagueness this far in is worth treating as a real signal rather than early-stage noise.