R6 — Build Candid's own audited-reputation infrastructure (GuildQuality-style for marketing-agency-for-trades); the category lacks one — structural-hole opportunity

Rule: Adopt and publicly maintain the analogue of GuildQuality's surveying methodology: a third-party-administered, all-customer-included client satisfaction survey, with response thresholds, a "Likely to Recommend" benchmark, and disqualification rules for omission.

Why: The cost of building this signal is high — that is precisely why it would be valuable in a Spence sense ([[spence-1973-job-market-signaling]]). The marketing-agency-for-trades category does not currently have such an audited body. There is a structural-hole opportunity in Burt's sense ([[burt-structural-holes-1992-2004-broker-advantage]]) for the first firm to build one.

How to apply:

• Phase 1: Engage a third-party surveying provider (GuildQuality itself, if their methodology covers vendor-services or via parallel offering; or commission one). Survey all current Candid clients with a defined threshold (e.g., ≥85% Likely-to-Recommend over rolling 12 months with ≥X responses).
• Phase 2: Publish the methodology + the threshold + the current result publicly. The methodology being audit-defensible is the load-bearing element.
• Phase 3: Pitch the methodology to peers in the marketing-agency-for-trades space as a category-wide standard. Becoming the standard-setter is a stronger position than being the first holder of the standard.

Caveat: This is a 2-3 year arc, not a 90-day initiative. High upfront cost; the signalling-value payoff compounds. Worth flagging as a strategic investment, not a marketing project.