I believe that a lot of developers aren't very good at talking to customers. I've often seen developers advertise something like "Typo3 development services", b

I believe that a lot of developers aren't very good at talking to customers. I've often seen developers advertise something like "Typo3 development services", but their prospective customers have no idea that this is what they are looking for. So the agency translates between customers and developers. It's common that devs think that the agency isn't necessary, but only devs that are really good at talking to customers actually succeed in cutting out the middle men. (And I presume that these people end up startimg their own agencies sooner or later) The other important point that you mention is customer acquisition and trust. How should prospective customers find you? How should they evaluate you? From hiring designers, I know that portfolios are only part of the picture... hiring an agency at least gives you peace of mind that someone will answer your mails instead of ignoring you.