Pipeline has become unpredictable
The team sees the symptom, but there is no shared view of where the system is breaking.
A fixed-scope starting point
Find the constraint before you fund another initiative.
The Growth Diagnostic is a fixed-scope piece of B2B growth consulting. It identifies what is slowing growth, decides what matters now and leaves the team with an ordered 90-day plan. I work with founder-led companies in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
The right trigger
You do not need more ideas. You need an order.
A diagnostic is useful when the problem is still ambiguous. Pipeline may be uneven, teams may disagree on the cause, or several plausible fixes may be competing for time and budget.
It is deliberately separate from implementation. The aim is to leave you with a sharper decision even if we do no further work together.
When to use it
A lower-risk way to make the next growth decision.
Sales and marketing disagree
Each function has a different explanation, metric and plan for what should happen next.
You are considering a senior hire
You need to define the actual remit before committing to a permanent role.
A channel is underperforming
You need to distinguish an execution issue from a deeper ICP, offer, handoff or measurement problem.
What I review
The commercial system around the symptom.
The review follows the evidence. It is not a generic checklist applied regardless of the question.
- 01Business goals and commercial context
- 02Ideal customer profile and buying situation
- 03Positioning and offer
- 04Funnel stages and pipeline definitions
- 05Current acquisition channels and experiments
- 06Sales and marketing handoff
- 07Reporting, measurement and decision cadence
- 08Team ownership and external partners
What you receive
Clarity that can survive contact with Monday morning.
The output is concise enough to use. It is not a huge report designed to make the engagement look larger.
Constraint diagnosis
The clearest current explanation of what is limiting growth, with evidence, assumptions and open questions.
Current-state assessment
What is working, what is unclear, and where the funnel, ICP, offer, channel mix or handoff needs attention.
Prioritised 90-day plan
An ordered set of actions with owners, useful measures and explicit decisions about what to defer.
Leadership readout
A direct working session to challenge the diagnosis, align the team and agree the first actions.
Measurement gaps and risks
The missing evidence that could change the decision, plus risks the team should monitor.
Support recommendation
A candid view on fractional leadership, specialist delivery, an internal hire, more evidence, or no external support.
How the work moves
Brief, inspect, diagnose, decide.
- 01 / Brief
Frame the decision
Agree the commercial question, scope, access and people who need to be involved.
- 02 / Inspect
Follow the evidence
Review the relevant materials and speak to the people closest to the work.
- 03 / Diagnose
Separate causes from symptoms
Build a coherent view of the constraint and pressure-test the assumptions.
- 04 / Decide
Order the next 90 days
Align on priorities, owners, measures and what should not be done yet.
What happens next
The diagnostic does not create an obligation.
Your team can implement the plan. A specialist may be the right answer. You may need a permanent hire. Or there may be a useful role for me through fractional leadership or lighter advisory.
The recommendation is part of the work. Continuing with me is not a condition of receiving it.
Practical questions
A defined scope, agreed before we begin.
01Is this a free audit?
No. It is a paid, defined piece of senior diagnostic work. The value is in forming a commercially useful view of the constraint and deciding what should happen next, not producing a long automated report.
02How long does it take?
Timing depends on access and stakeholder availability. The exact delivery window is agreed in the scope before work begins; no unverified standard duration is published.
03What access will you need?
Usually, relevant pipeline and funnel reporting, current positioning and offer material, channel plans, recent campaign evidence, and time with the founder and people closest to sales and marketing.
04Do we have to retain you afterwards?
No. The diagnostic should stand on its own. The recommendation may be fractional leadership, specialist execution, an internal hire, further measurement, or no additional external support.
05Will you implement the plan?
Implementation is separate. If continued support is useful, I will explain whether fractional leadership, advisory or specialist delivery is the best fit. You are free to execute internally or with another partner.
06How much does it cost?
The diagnostic is scoped around the complexity of the business, the evidence available and the number of stakeholder conversations required. I will provide a fixed fee after a fit call.
Start with the problem
Need a clearer read on the problem?
Tell me what is happening, what you have tried and what decision you need to make next.
Discuss a growth diagnostic