An illustrative deliverable
See what a diagnostic makes clear.
A scorecard, the handoffs behind it, ranked constraints and a 90-day plan. One business question, brought into focus.
Fictional teaching example. Every business detail, number, observation and proposed action below is illustrative. This is not a client case study, benchmark, forecast or promised result.
The decision
Should the operator increase lead spending before the next planning period?
One brand, one service line, two locations and a 90-day lead cohort. The example links all 200 inquiries to final outcomes after the cohort has matured. Actual work would reconcile the dates, evidence and exclusions before drawing conclusions.
Illustrative recommendation
Hold the broad budget increase until booking outcomes, staffed capacity and contribution are reconciled. Test a defined response improvement first, then decide whether additional demand can be delivered profitably.
01 · Baseline and definitions
Follow the same work through the system.
| Measure | Illustrative baseline | Definition / decision use |
|---|---|---|
| Valid inquiries | 200 | Deduplicated, in-scope opportunities; spam and duplicates excluded. |
| Contacted inquiries | 160 / 200 = 80% | Two-way contact recorded; 40 have no documented contact. |
| Bookings | 100 / 160 = 62.5% | Appointments accepted from contacted inquiries; not completed work. |
| Completed jobs | 80 / 100 = 80% | Final completed jobs from the same matured cohort; resolve 20 other outcomes. |
| Staffed delivery slots | 90 planned; 80 completed | Like-for-like service windows; bookings exceed the plan by 10, subject to schedule reconciliation. |
| Completed-job revenue | $120,000 | 80 jobs at an illustrative average of $1,500, net of credits and discounts. |
| Direct delivery costs | $72,000 | Direct labor, materials, subcontractors and other agreed variable delivery costs. |
| Acquisition expense | $12,000 | Agreed acquisition costs allocated to the same cohort; avoid double counting. |
| Contribution after acquisition | $36,000 / 30% | $120,000 - $72,000 - $12,000. Before fixed overhead, financing and tax; not net profit. |
For the example, $150,000 of booked value would overstate completed-job revenue by $30,000. The difference is an outcome to explain, not a forecast of recoverable revenue. Contribution is $450 per completed job before fixed overhead, financing and tax.
02 · Handoff map
Find where the record changes hands.
| Handoff | Evidence to reconcile | Accountable owner |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiry → response | Lead ID, first-response timestamp, contact outcome and duplicate rules | Contact-center lead |
| Response → booking | Booking ID, accepted service, appointment window and declined reason | Booking manager |
| Booking → delivery | Dispatch record, skill match, capacity, cancellation and completed-job status | Operations lead |
| Delivery → contribution | Invoice, credits, direct costs and acquisition-cost allocation | Finance lead |
03 · Ranked constraints
Separate the signal from the explanation.
| Priority | Signal in this example | What it establishes | Next evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Reconcile outcomes | 20 bookings do not become completed jobs | A material reporting and outcome gap; it does not establish recoverable revenue. | Classify cancellations, no-shows, reschedules and true losses against final job records. |
| 2 · Test response coverage | 40 valid inquiries have no documented two-way contact | An uncontacted group worth sampling; it does not prove poor response caused every loss. | Review timestamps, attempts, demand quality and coverage by day and service window. |
| 3 · Reconcile capacity | 100 bookings against 90 planned staffed slots | A possible mismatch between demand promised and delivery available. | Check timing, skills, geography, overtime and reschedules before changing spend. |
04 · 90-day action plan
Give each action a decision gate.
| Period | Action and owner | Evidence / decision gate |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1–30 | Operations + finance reconcile lead, booking, job and invoice IDs. Publish the definition register and classify the 20 uncompleted bookings. | A reconciled cohort, documented exclusions and an agreed contribution calculation. Unexplained differences stay visible. |
| Days 31–60 | Contact-center lead pilots a defined response-coverage change for one service window. Operations compares booked demand with staffed slots each week. | Compare contact, completion, delivery cost and contribution with the baseline. Check whether demand mix changed; do not assume a causal lift. |
| Days 61–90 | Executive sponsor reviews the pilot and sets channel budgets by service, geography and available capacity. Assign continuing owners and review dates. | Expand only where additional work can be delivered at acceptable incremental contribution. Stop or redesign changes that only increase bookings. |
05 · Executive readout
A decision, an owner and the next review.
The executive readout separates observed facts, hypotheses, missing evidence and decisions. Each action has an owner, a review date and an explicit reason to continue, change or stop. The actual diagnostic is scoped around the buyer's question; this sample is a condensed example of its output.
Keep the sample PDF ↓Start with the business question
Give the next growth decision a clear basis.
The Growth Diagnostic establishes the baseline, traces the handoffs and sets a practical 90-day plan. Three working weeks. US$7,500 for the standard scope.