The Diagnostic · Two weeks · $7,500
Two weeks, and you'll know what's broken.
A marketing diagnostic is a short, fixed-scope audit of your marketing stack, funnel data, processes, and team. It ends in a written set of findings ranked by impact on pipeline, a one-pager for your board, and a scoped, priced proposal for what to build first. Mine takes ten business days, costs $7,500, and is credited in full toward the build that follows.
It exists because nobody should quote a ninety-day build before looking under the hood. It is designed so you can stop at the end of it and keep the plan.
What I do
Seven things, in ten business days.
Stack and process audit
Your CRM, marketing automation, AI tools, web analytics, forms and lead capture, attribution if any, and the data flow between them. I document how a lead moves from first touch to sales-accepted today, and where it gets lost.
Interviews
Up to eight 45-minute interviews: you, the head of marketing, the marketing managers, the sales leader for each business unit, the owner of each business unit, and one subject matter expert of your choosing. Interviews are confidential and reported in aggregate.
Funnel and unit economics, by business unit
Lead sources and volumes, the current MQL definition and monthly counts, conversion by stage, average contract value, sales cycle length, LTV:CAC, and attrition. Where you don't have a number, I say so rather than estimate.
ICP and segmentation read
A map of who actually buys, how they're funded, and how that calendar should shape marketing timing. For companies with more than one motion, candidate subsegments sized against the pipeline data.
Request intake analysis
The last ninety days of inbound marketing requests, classified by source, type, and pipeline relevance. This answers, with data, whether the marketing team's request volume is the problem or a symptom.
Channel and calendar review
Conference load and cost per event, email and webinar performance, and a first read on which channels your buyer responds to that you're not using.
AI stack usage review
How the tools you've bought are being used today, by whom, with what review, and what a working process would need to include.
What you receive
Three documents and a conversation.
01
Findings document
What I found, ranked by impact on pipeline, with the evidence behind each finding. Written for you and your leadership team, not a slide deck.
02
Board one-pager
A single page you can put in front of your board: the state of the marketing function, the three highest-impact fixes, and what each one moves.
03
The Marketing Engine proposal
A scoped, priced proposal for the ninety-day build: which systems, in what order, what each one requires from you, who the named operator is, and what is explicitly excluded. Fixed price, not day rates.
04
Readout
A sixty-minute working session with you to walk through all three. An optional second readout with the marketing team, framed as what we're building and why, is included if you want it.
The ten days
Kickoff on a Monday. Readout two Fridays later.
Days 1 to 2
Kickoff (30 minutes). System access granted. Interviews scheduled. Data pull requested.
Days 3 to 7
Interviews. Stack audit. Funnel and intake data analysis.
Day 8
30-minute check-in with you: early findings, anything surprising, anything I need.
Days 9 to 10
Synthesis. Deliverables finalized. Readout.
What I need from you
- You, as executive sponsor, with the kickoff, day-8 check-in, and readout on the calendar at signature.
- One point of contact who can schedule interviews and chase access.
- Read-only access to your CRM, marketing automation, AI tools, web analytics, and any marketing dashboards, within three business days of kickoff.
- A CRM export of leads, opportunities, and closed-won and closed-lost for the trailing twelve months; the marketing budget by line; the conference calendar with costs; and the last ninety days of marketing requests in whatever form they exist.
- Interviewees available for 45 minutes each during days 3 through 7.
Terms
The whole agreement fits on this screen.
Fee
$7,500, fixed. Invoiced at signature, payable net 15. No expenses anticipated.
Credit
The full fee is credited toward The Marketing Engine if that build is signed within 30 days of the readout.
Timeline
Ten business days from kickoff. If access or interviews slip past day 3, the timeline moves with them and the fee does not change.
Data
Your customer data stays in your systems. Nothing goes into a third-party AI tool without your written approval of the tool and its data terms.
Ownership
The findings, one-pager, and proposal are yours on payment. My frameworks and templates stay mine, with a perpetual license for your internal use.
Ending it
Either of us can end it with five business days' notice. The fee is earned at signature. If you end it early, you get everything completed to date.
Not included
- Producing marketing assets of any kind
- Running or optimizing campaigns, paid media, or ad accounts
- Configuring or implementing tools (that is the build)
- Managing your staff, agencies, or vendors
- Personnel decisions. I may recommend changes to roles; the decisions are yours.
After the readout
Build it with me, or take the plan and run.
If we go on to The Marketing Engine, the $7,500 comes off the price and the build starts the week after. If we don't, the findings, the one-pager, and the proposal are yours, and you're free to hand them to anyone you like. Some people do exactly that.