What to expect
What the first 90 days look like
In the first 90 days you get a diagnosis of what buyers actually hear, one proposition built on that evidence, the words for each buyer, and a sales team saying it the same way. By day 30 you know what is wrong. By day 60 you have the new story and proof it works with real prospects. By day 90 it is in the deck, on the site and in the sales team's mouths, and you can measure the difference.
Week one: diagnosis starts
Dan reads everything buyers see: the website, the sales deck, the last five proposals, the discovery questions. He interviews three or four of your salespeople separately and asks each to describe the company and why customers choose it. The gaps between their answers are the first finding. Interviews with customers and lost deals are booked in week one, and this is where we need you: introductions, quickly, to people who said yes and people who said no.
By day 30: you know what is wrong
You have a written diagnosis in plain words. What buyers hear versus what you think you are saying. Which buyer types you serve and what each one values. Where deals stall and why. The one sentence the sales team cannot currently say. This is The Mirror, and it stands on its own: some companies stop here, act on it themselves and come back later.
What you decide at day 30: whether the diagnosis is right, and whether to build the new story now.
By day 60: you have the story, and proof
One proposition, written in buyer language, with the evidence behind it. A version for each buyer type. The proof points, with numbers where customers allow. The objection answers. All of it tested in real conversations with prospects before it goes anywhere near the website, because a story that works in a workshop and fails in a sales call is worse than no story. This is The Message.
What you decide at day 60: the story, finally and in writing, with the leadership team in the room. One decision, not a series of amends.
By day 90: the team is using it
The sales deck, the discovery questions, the proposal template and the web copy carry the new story. The sales team has been through it, practised it and been heard saying it the same way. New starters get it on day one. This is The Engine. You can now measure what changed: how prospects describe you back, where deals stall, the win rate on the deals that reach a decision maker.
What we need from you
- Introductions to customers and lost deals in week one, because the evidence drives everything after it.
- Two to three hours a week from one senior sponsor for the first month, less after.
- The sales team's time for interviews, then for the sessions in the last month.
- One decision maker who can say yes at day 30 and at day 60.
- Honesty about what has been tried before and why it did not stick.
What slows it down
Slow introductions to customers. A leadership team that wants to redraft the story by committee. A website redesign running in parallel and pulling the words before they are proved. None of these are fatal, and all of them add weeks. The cost and timeline page explains what else moves the scope.
Questions people ask
Can we stop after the diagnosis?
Yes. The Mirror is designed to stand alone. You get the findings in writing and decide what to do with them.
What if the diagnosis says our story is fine?
Then Dan says so and points at the real problem, which is sometimes sales process, sometimes product and sometimes the market. It happens, and it is a cheaper finding than a rebuild.
Do you rewrite our website?
The words, yes, once they are proved. Design and build stay with your team or your agency. The Proposition is a messaging consultancy, and the comparison of a messaging consultant, a brand agency and an in-house team explains where each fits.
How much of Dan's time is this?
All of it on your project while it runs. Dan does the interviews, writes the diagnosis and the story and runs the sessions himself.
Get your Growth Story Score Or speak to Dan or start with the free sales pitch audit
What happens after you get in touch: you pick a 20-minute slot, Dan reads your website and sales deck before the call, and you leave with a view on whether the story is the problem and what to do first. A proposal follows only if you ask for one.