"We need more sales."

ORIGINAL ASK: Implement software + get more clients

A construction business originally brought me in to implement new project-management software, then asked me to help generate more clients.

But once I got inside the business, it became clear that neither was the right place to start.

That conclusion took more than a quick look. I had to understand how estimates were being built, how information moved from one stage of a job to the next, how decisions were made, where project information lived, who was responsible for what, and where things were falling through the cracks.

What I found was a business with very few consistent processes. Estimating and project information lived in large spreadsheets, responsibilities were often informal, and the owner had become the bottleneck for too many decisions, approvals and pieces of information. New tools were being added in the hope that software itself would create structure.

It wouldn’t.

Before adding more leads, more jobs or more technology, the business first needed a workable operating model.

That meant understanding how the business actually functioned day to day, identifying the steps that mattered, deciding where consistency was necessary and where flexibility was useful, clarifying ownership, and designing a process grounded in how the company really worked, while improving the way work moved through the business.

Only then would it make sense to configure software around that process.

At the same time, I looked at where future growth made the most sense. That included competitive and market research, changing demand, the company’s crew capacity, build times and margins, as well as opportunities created by Vermont’s push to increase housing supply.

Rather than simply pursuing more of the same work, I developed a strategy around panelized homes. They offered shorter build times and lower labor requirements, which made them particularly well suited to the company’s constraints, while also positioning the business around an area of increasing demand.

I also explored how Vermont’s housing goals could create opportunities beyond individual projects, including the potential to become a preferred builder and whether state workforce or business-development programs could help support expansion if the company added crew.

The goal wasn’t simply to find more work. It was to identify the kind of growth the business was actually positioned to handle and benefit from. Diving straight into “we need more sales” would not have solved the problem. It would have exposed it.

"We need to grow."

ORIGINAL ASK:  HELP THE CLINIC GROW

A wellness clinic brought me in because it wanted to grow.

But before increasing marketing or trying to attract more patients, I needed to understand what the business was really offering, who it was best suited to help, how clearly that value was being communicated, and what happened once someone became interested.

The work started with an in-depth review of the brand and market. I looked at the competitive landscape, the clinic’s existing positioning, how its services were being described, who its strongest-fit patients were, and where there was a genuine opportunity to differentiate in a crowded wellness space.

That work surfaced an important issue: the clinic had valuable expertise and a strong approach, but the offer itself wasn’t packaged in a way that made the value easy for patients to understand.

So the next step was to rethink the service model.

Rather than continuing to sell primarily by the hour, I helped restructure the services into clearer, value-based programs built around patient needs and outcomes. That meant looking at what should be included, how the programs should be positioned, how they should be priced and explained, and how each one fit into the broader business model.

Then we mapped the patient journey from first contact through consultation, onboarding, treatment, communication and follow-up.

That required looking at the experience from both sides: what patients needed to know and feel at each stage, what the clinic team needed internally, where confusion or friction could occur, what should happen manually, and what could be supported or automated by technology.

Only once that journey was clear did it make sense to research and implement the supporting tools, create the patient materials needed at different stages, and establish KPIs so the clinic could track performance and identify where the experience could improve over time.

Once that foundation was in place, the clinic brought me back for a follow-on engagement to create and implement a marketing campaign designed around the clarified positioning, offers and patient journey.

The goal was growth. But growth depended on getting the positioning, offer, patient journey and supporting systems working together first. Driving more people into the business before that foundation was in place would have created more friction, not better results.