Before you enquire
Who we are not for, and what it is like to work with us
The Proposition is for B2B companies that already have customers, a product that works and a growth number that has stopped moving, where the leadership team is willing to hear what buyers actually say and act on it. It is the wrong spend for a business that has no customers yet to interview, for a company that wants a quick rewrite of the website rather than a diagnosis, and for a leadership team that has already decided the answer and wants it endorsed.
Companies we turn down
Pre-revenue and pre-customer businesses
The work is built on interviews with your customers and the deals you lost. With nobody to interview there is no evidence, and a proposition written from the founder's conviction alone is a guess with better grammar. Come back once you have ten customers and a few losses you can name.
Companies that want words, not a diagnosis
If the brief is "rewrite our homepage by Friday", a good copywriter will serve you better and cost you less. The Proposition starts by finding out what buyers hear, and that takes weeks, because the words only matter once the story underneath them is right.
Leadership teams that have already decided
Some companies want an outside voice to confirm a positioning the board has agreed. If the buyer interviews say something different, that becomes an awkward project for everyone. Dan will tell you what buyers said even when it is unwelcome, so if the decision is already made, save the fee.
Consumer brands and pure brand identity work
The method is built for B2B sales: multiple buyers, long cycles, a decision maker who was never in the room. Consumer brands, logos, names and visual identity belong with a brand agency, and Dan will point you to one.
Anyone who wants a retainer or a day rate
Every project is a fixed scope with a fixed fee and a defined end. Companies that want an ongoing fractional marketing lead need a different kind of partner.
What it is like to work with us
Fast at the start and uncomfortable in the middle. In the first fortnight Dan asks for introductions to customers, lost deals and your own salespeople, and he needs them quickly. By week three he is playing back what they said, in their words, and some of it will contradict what the leadership team believes about the company. That meeting is the most useful hour of the project and the least enjoyable.
From there it gets practical. The proposition is drafted, tested in real sales conversations and rewritten until prospects repeat it back. Then the sales team is put through it, and salespeople who have sold their own version for years are asked to change. Expect some resistance and expect Dan to deal with it directly rather than around it.
Where it gets messy
- Introductions. Projects slow down when customer introductions take weeks. Have five names ready before the kick-off.
- The findings meeting. Buyers rarely value what the company is proudest of. Leadership teams that argue with the evidence rather than act on it get less from the work.
- Decisions by committee. One story needs one decision maker. A proposition redrafted by six people reads like it was.
- Parallel projects. A website rebuild running at the same time will pull the words before they are proved. Sequence it after.
- Dan's directness. A former journalist, he says what he found. Companies that want it softened should say so at the start, and he will still say it.
Who it works for
UK and international B2B companies, typically mid-market to FTSE, with a product that works, a sales team that describes the company five different ways, and a CEO or CRO who would rather know what buyers think than be reassured. The first 90 days page shows what that looks like week by week, and the Growth Story Score is a four-minute way to find out whether the story is the problem before you get in touch.
Questions people ask
Do you work with start-ups?
With funded start-ups that have paying customers and a sales team, yes. Before that point there is nobody to interview, and the work does not hold.
What if we only want the diagnosis?
That is fine and common. The Mirror stands alone, and many companies act on the findings themselves.
Will you tell us if you cannot help?
Yes, on the first call. Plenty of enquiries are pointed somewhere else: a copywriter, a brand agency, a sales trainer or simply a wait until there are customers to talk to.
How hands-on is Dan?
Entirely. Dan runs the interviews, writes the findings and the story and leads 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.