Most Consultants Have a Hammer. Everything Looks Like a Nail
You've probably experienced this: You describe a pain point, and the consultant immediately jumps to their solution.
Need more customers? 'You need a new website and SEO.' Want to grow revenue? 'Let's run Facebook ads.' Trying to enter a new market? 'Here's our standard market entry playbook.'
But here's what I've learned after 20+ years solving complex business problems: The problem you think you have is rarely the actual problem.
Most growth challenges aren't marketing problems. They're not technology problems. They're not even sales problems.
At the core, they are data problems in disguise.
And until you diagnose the real constraint, you're just treating symptoms.
Most growth problems starts as a data problem
| What They Say | What They Actually Need | The Real Problem |
|---|---|---|
| "We need more customers" | We need to know who our best customers are, where they concentrate, and what motivates them to buy | Missing or unused data about customer patterns, prospect signals, and competitive positioning |
| "Our marketing isn't working" | We need to know if we're reaching the right people with the right message | No measurement framework, wrong targeting data, or generic messaging without customer insights |
| "We're losing to competitors" | We need to understand where we have defensible advantages and how to leverage them | Lack of competitive intelligence and customer preference data showing differentiation opportunities |
| "We want to enter a new market" | We need to identify the most promising segments and understand how to reach them efficiently | No market intelligence, unclear target profiles, and missing data on prospect concentration and accessibility |
We developed a customized assessment for companies like yours. Here are key areas we cover:
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"What are you actually trying to achieve?"
Not "what tactics have you tried" but "what business outcome do you need?" I spend time understanding:
Your growth goals (revenue, market share, new segments)
What you've already tried and why it didn't work
What assumptions you're making about your market
What data you currently have (and don't have)
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This is where most consultants skip ahead to solutions. I don't. I analyze:
Where your customer intelligence gaps are
What data exists (but you're not using)
What data you need (but aren't collecting)
Whether this is a targeting problem, a messaging problem, or a distribution problem
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Once we know the real problem, we design the solution - which might look nothing like what you initially asked for. I show you:
Who your ideal customers actually are (with evidence, not assumptions)
Where they concentrate (digitally, geographically, behaviorally)
How to reach them efficiently (data-driven outreach, not spray-and-pray)
What quick wins exist vs. what requires longer investment
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Depending on your team's capacity, we either:
Execute the strategy together (I build the data, run the analysis, launch the campaigns)
Train your team to execute (I document the playbook, provide tools, support the rollout)
Hand off to your agency/team with a clear roadmap
Here's What This Looks Like in Practice
A real example (details changed for confidentiality)
A commercial real estate broker came to me asking for help with digital marketing.
He wanted to find warehouse owners in a specific geography to pitch his services. Other consultants had told him to run LinkedIn ads and boost social media posts.
The common advice? Spend $5-10K/month on digital ads to reach your target market.
The real problem? He didn't actually need marketing. He needed data.
I stepped back and asked a different question.
- A list of warehouse owners in his target area (data he didn't have)
- Contact information for decision-makers (data that existed but was fragmented)
- A way to reach them that wasn't generic advertising (targeted outreach strategy)
We solved the real problem instead.
Instead of spending $5-10K/month on ads that might reach the wrong people, we took a strategic approach:
If I'd just done what he asked, he'd be wasting money reaching the wrong people.
Instead, I diagnosed the real problem (data gap) and solved that.
That's the difference between tactics and strategy.
Technical Capabilities
Data Science & AI
- Machine learning: Predictive modeling, segmentation, recommendation systems
- Natural language processing: Classification, entity extraction, sentiment analysis
- AI development: RAG systems, agents, workflow automation
- Tech stack: Python, SQL, cloud platforms (GCP Gen AI certified)
Strategic Consulting
- Customer acquisition strategy and analytics
- Data readiness assessment and roadmapping
- Vendor evaluation and selection
Industry Experience
- Banking and financial services (20+ years)
- Commercial real estate
- Mid-market B2B companies
