What should a paid GTM Diagnostic include?
Updated
The short answer
A GTM Diagnostic should identify the cause of a defined go-to-market problem, show the evidence behind the finding, distinguish real constraints from fixable gaps, and tell the team what to do next. At Marketing Mercenaries, it is a paid, scoped engagement with a scorecard, annotated teardown, evidence and constraint map, prioritized action plan, and live readout. Implementation is a separate scope.
Start with a question, not a capability inventory.
“Our homepage is not working” describes a symptom. It does not establish whether the problem is the page, the positioning, the audience, the evidence, the traffic, or the approval process. A diagnostic makes those competing explanations explicit before choosing a fix.
We begin with one primary product or defined GTM problem, one primary audience or buying motion, and an agreed evidence set. A wider portfolio can be reviewed, but that changes the engagement rather than silently expanding the same package.
What is included and excluded?
| Core diagnostic scope | Separately scoped work |
|---|---|
| One defined GTM problem and primary audience | Additional products, business units, audiences, or markets |
| One core web journey and agreed existing materials | Finished website copy or a full website rebuild |
| Competitive review sized to the question | A comprehensive competitive intelligence program |
| Review of available customer, sales, and performance evidence | New customer interviews, surveys, or primary research |
| Root-cause findings, evidence gaps, constraints, and priorities | Finished positioning, campaigns, collateral, or implementation |
| Scorecard, annotated teardown, action plan, and live readout | Ongoing operating ownership and optimization |
What evidence does the work need?
Useful inputs include existing positioning, product information, sales materials, competitive context, relevant customer feedback, and available performance data. We also need to understand stakeholder responsibilities, internal mandates, approved claims, and the history behind earlier decisions.
Missing evidence stays visible. A plausible explanation is a hypothesis until there is enough support to treat it as a finding. If an answer requires new customer research, that recommendation belongs in the plan rather than being disguised as certainty.
Before confidential material enters the work, we agree on access, permitted tools, and handling requirements. Please do not send sensitive customer or product information through the public inquiry form.
Why is the fee scoped?
Company size alone does not determine the effort. A small company with a technically intricate product and an unresolved category can require more diagnostic work than a large company with a tightly bounded question and strong evidence.
Pricing and delivery depend on product complexity, market breadth, evidence readiness, stakeholder access, and the number of audiences or business units. We agree on the scope, fee, and delivery date after a complimentary fit and scoping call, before paid work begins.
The call establishes fit and boundaries. The diagnostic is the paid analysis and deliverable. There is no obligation to purchase a larger engagement.
What happens after the readout?
You receive a prioritized plan explaining what to fix first, what can wait, and what requires more evidence. Your team can implement it, use it to brief an existing partner, or discuss a Strategic Sprint or embedded GTM engagement with Marketing Mercenaries.
The diagnostic should earn its fee on its own. It is not a deliberately incomplete preview of a larger service.
Find out what the problem requires.
Bring the context. We will agree on the question, evidence, scope, fee, and next step.
Discuss a paid GTM Diagnostic →