Stop Buying Solutions. Start Finding Problems
And then we'll figure out the best way to solve it—together
You've probably experienced this before.
You're sitting across from a consultant, explaining a challenge your business is facing. Maybe it's trouble finding new customers. Maybe your marketing feels like it's spinning its wheels. Maybe you're trying to break into a new market and don't know where to start.
And before you've even finished describing the problem, they're already pitching their solution.
"You need a new website." "Let's run Facebook ads." "We'll implement our proven marketing automation system." "Here's our standard market entry playbook."
It sounds confident. It sounds like they know exactly what to do. 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.
And if we jump straight to solutions without understanding what's really going on, we're just treating symptoms. We might get busy. We might spend money. But we probably won't solve the underlying issue.
A Real Example: The $60K Mistake He Almost Made
Let me tell you about a client who came to me recently. He's a commercial real estate broker, smart guy, successful business. He said he needed help with digital marketing. Specifically, he wanted to find warehouse owners in a particular geography so he could pitch his services.
Simple enough, right?
He'd already talked to several digital marketing agencies. They all gave him the same advice: run LinkedIn ads, boost your social media presence, maybe do some Google AdWords targeting commercial real estate keywords.
Standard playbook. Probably would have cost him $5-10K per month. And honestly? It probably wouldn't have worked very well.
Because when I sat down with him and started asking questions, I realized something: This wasn't a marketing problem. It was a data problem.
He didn't need to "raise awareness" or "build his brand" to a broad audience. He needed a very specific thing: a list of warehouse owners in his target area, with contact information for the decision-makers, so he could have direct conversations with the exact people who might need his services.
That's not a job for Facebook ads. That's a job for strategic data collection and targeted outreach.
So instead of spending thousands per month broadcasting to everyone, we built a custom database of warehouse properties and owners, identified the right contacts, and designed a personalized outreach strategy based on property-specific insights.
Same goal. Completely different approach. And it cost a fraction of what the ad campaigns would have run.
Why Does This Keep Happening?
Here's the thing about consultants (and I'm including myself in this): we all have expertise in something. Maybe it's SEO. Maybe it's paid advertising. Maybe it's CRM systems or sales training or operational efficiency.
And when you have a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail.
The SEO consultant sees every problem as a search rankings issue. The paid media expert sees every problem as an advertising opportunity. The sales trainer sees every problem as a sales process issue.
They're not wrong, exactly. Those things might be part of the solution. But they're jumping to tactics before understanding strategy. They're prescribing before diagnosing.
And that's backwards.
Most Business Problem Starts as a Data Problem
This is the insight that changed how I approach consulting work:
Most growth challenges aren't really marketing problems or sales problems or technology problems. They're data problems in disguise.
Let me show you what I mean.
When someone says: "We need more customers"
What they actually need to know:
Who their best customers are
Where those customers concentrate
What motivates them to buy
How to reach them efficiently
The real problem: Data they either don't have, aren't collecting, or aren't using effectively about customer patterns, prospect signals, and competitive positioning.
When someone says: "Our marketing isn't working"
What they actually mean:
We don't know if we're reaching the right people
We can't tell if our message resonates
We have no clear measurement framework
We're guessing at what works
The real problem: No measurement framework, wrong targeting data, or generic messaging without customer insights.
When someone says: "We're losing to competitors"
What's underneath that:
We don't understand where we have advantages
We lack competitive intelligence
We don't know what customers actually value
We're competing on price because we can't articulate differentiation
The real problem: Lack of competitive intelligence and customer preference data showing where differentiation opportunities exist.
You see the pattern?
The surface problem looks like tactics (marketing, sales, positioning). But the underlying issue is almost always information—data you don't have, aren't collecting, or aren't analyzing effectively.
What Happens When You Skip Diagnosis
Here's what I see happen over and over:
A company recognizes they have a problem. They bring in a consultant or agency. That consultant immediately recommends their preferred solution. The company implements it. Things get busy. Money gets spent.
And six months later, the original problem is still there.
Maybe they have a prettier website that isn't generating more leads. Maybe they're running ads that get clicks but don't convert. Maybe they've implemented a fancy CRM system that the sales team doesn't actually use.
It's not that these tactics are inherently bad. It's that they were prescribed without understanding the actual constraint.
If your real problem is that you're targeting the wrong audience, a better website won't help. If your real problem is that you don't know where your best prospects concentrate, more advertising won't help. If your real problem is that your value proposition isn't clear, a CRM system won't help.
You end up spending money, time, and energy treating symptoms while the disease persists.
My Approach: Listen, Diagnose, Then Prescribe
I work differently. And honestly, it's not because I'm smarter than other consultants. It's because I've made enough mistakes to learn this lesson the hard way.
Here's how I approach every engagement:
First, I listen. Not just to what you think the problem is, but to what you're trying to achieve. What does success actually look like? What have you already tried? What assumptions are you making about your market?
Then, I diagnose. This is where I earn my keep. I analyze where your customer intelligence gaps are. I look at what data you have (and aren't using). I identify what data you need (but aren't collecting). I figure out whether this is a targeting problem, a messaging problem, a distribution problem, or something else entirely.
Only then do I prescribe. And the solution might look nothing like what you initially asked for. It might be simpler than you expected. It might be more complex. But it'll be designed around what you actually need, not what I happen to be good at selling. I might even send you to someone else if the solution is outside of my knowledge base.
What This Means for Your Business
When we work together, here's what changes:
You stop guessing. Instead of "we think our customers want X," you'll have evidence-backed insights into what actually drives their decisions. No more throwing darts in the dark.
You stop wasting money. When you know exactly who to target and how to reach them, your marketing spend becomes strategic investment—not hopeful expense. Every dollar works harder.
You compete smarter, not bigger. Big companies have data science teams and market research departments. You'll get the same intelligence without building an entire function or paying enterprise consulting fees.
You get a roadmap, not dependency. I'm not here to create an ongoing retainer relationship you can't escape. I'm here to diagnose your problem, help you solve it, and give you the tools to move forward—with or without me.
The goal isn't to make you dependent on a consultant. It's to give you clarity on what needs to happen next.
The Real Competitive Advantage
Big companies figured this out a long time ago. That's why they have data science teams, competitive intelligence analysts, and market research departments.
They don't just guess at who their customers are or what motivates them. They know. And they use that knowledge to make better strategic decisions than their competitors.
But here's the thing: you don't need a whole team of data scientists to get the same advantage.
You need someone who knows how to ask the right questions, find or create the right data, and turn that into an actionable strategy. Someone who starts with diagnosis, not tactics.
That's what I do. I bring the diagnostic thinking and strategic experience—knowing which questions to ask, what data matters, and how to turn insights into action.
Who This Works For
This diagnostic approach has helped companies across industries uncover what's really holding them back:
A commercial real estate broker who thought he needed digital marketing—but actually needed a targeted database of warehouse owners and a personalized outreach strategy. Result: Direct access to decision-makers for a fraction of what ad spend would have cost.
A B2B software company struggling with sales conversions—turns out they were targeting the right companies but pitching to the wrong people in those organizations. A simple shift in who they contacted changed their close rate dramatically.
A professional services firm losing deals on price—they lacked competitive intelligence showing where they had unique value. Once they understood their differentiation, they could articulate it and stop competing solely on cost.
A manufacturing company trying to expand into new markets—they needed market entry intelligence and prospect identification, not more salespeople or generic advertising.
Industries vary. Company sizes vary. But the pattern is remarkably consistent: most growth challenges look like marketing or sales problems on the surface, but they're actually data and intelligence problems underneath.
If you're spending money on tactics that aren't moving the needle, chances are you're treating symptoms instead of solving the real constraint.
An Invitation
If you're reading this and thinking "yeah, I've been there"—spending money on marketing that doesn't quite work, trying tactics that seem logical but don't move the needle, or feeling like you're competing with one hand tied behind your back—maybe it's time to try a different approach.
Maybe instead of jumping straight to solutions, we start with diagnosis.
What if we took a few weeks to really understand:
Who your best customers actually are (not who you think they should be)
Where the real constraints in your growth are
What data you're missing that could change your strategy
What approaches might work for your specific situation
No generic playbooks. No predetermined solutions. Just honest analysis and strategic thinking.
Because here's what I've learned: the right diagnosis is worth more than a dozen tactics.
When you understand the real problem, the solution often becomes obvious. And more importantly, it actually works.
So if you're tired of consultants who show up with hammers looking for nails, let's talk. I promise to listen first, diagnose second, and only prescribe solutions after we know what we're actually solving for.
That's how it should work.
Let's Start With a Free Diagnostic
Here's how it works:
1. We schedule a 30-minute call where I ask about your business challenge. No pitch. No sales pressure. Just questions to understand what you're trying to achieve.
2. I'll tell you honestly whether you have a data/intelligence problem or something else entirely. If it's not my expertise, I'll point you in the right direction—even if that means recommending someone else.
3. If I think I can help, I'll outline what a diagnostic engagement would look like: 2-3 weeks, specific deliverables, clear pricing. No surprises.
Either way, you'll walk away with more clarity than you had before.
Schedule Your Diagnostic Call