The new hire guesses with a budget
Whoever starts as the first marketing person gets a job description with everything in it and no tested message. The first months go into testing assumptions nobody in the building has checked against a customer.
No Guesswork Growth Protocol · Twelve weeks, fixed scope
Before the first euro of ad budget runs, your message has been tested with your real customers.
15 interviews with people who bought from you. Out of them a buyer persona in their own words, a messaging matrix, the objections, and a digital sales strategy your team can execute. Twelve weeks, four phases, one result per phase that you review and approve before the next one is paid for.
For companies of ten to two hundred people that are hiring their first marketing person for campaign management, or where nobody in the building knows yet which message actually sells. I offer it to everyone, with or without campaign management. It is not a prerequisite for it.
Book a Discovery Call →
The twelve weeks
Up to 45 minutes. We qualify fit and work out whether what you are missing first is the message or the tracking.
How it goes from here
- Discovery call, up to 45 minutes, to settle whether it fits.
- Second call on scope, tier and price.
- Onboarding with the contract and the first invoice.
I only ever run one No Guesswork Growth Protocol at a time. It is around 180 hours of my own work over twelve weeks, and I do not thin that out.
01 The real problem
Paying an annual salary or an ad budget for a message nobody has tested yet.
The sequence is almost always the same. A company hires someone for marketing or gives an agency a budget, and on day one the question is in the room that nobody can answer: what do we actually say, and to whom? So the message gets written from what everyone inside the company believes is right. The ads run, the leads come in, and after four weeks sales says the leads are no good.
The ads are asked to solve a positioning problem
Ads can only amplify a message that already exists, because what you pay for is that your messages get seen. Advertising cannot find the messages. Optimise on assumptions and you teach the algorithm to find clickers or cheap leads who think like your own team, and those rarely buy. So you are running trial and error on your own budget.
Sales and marketing argue about the leads
Marketing celebrates the lead price, sales sees the appointments that cannot be closed. Both are right, and neither has the information that would settle it.
A quarter later you only know what did not work
The budget is spent, the message has changed three times, and the question from day one is still in the room.
I have been through this myself, on an account I ran. In 2023 a whole year of ads at Anne Jansson's ran on all sorts of lead magnets. Cost per lead was EUR 3.59, and the leads did not buy. In the first quarter of 2024 we switched the ads off and built the message from interviews with her best customers. The cost per lead rose to EUR 20 on purpose, and the quarter closed at 407% ROAS. Same client, same channel, same person on the account. That was the first run of the No Guesswork Growth Protocol.
Up to 45 minutes. We qualify fit.
02 The method
Four steps. Each one delivers something you can read, check and approve.
The No Guesswork Growth Protocol in plain words.
01 Align
Lock the foundation.
We settle what success means for you, which operational constraints apply and which one customer segment is examined first, so that sales and marketing stop pulling in different directions.
02 Listen
Real customer statements instead of internal opinions.
Buying triggers, phrasing and objections come from 15 interviews with people who bought, or very nearly did. A workshop with your own team does not replace that.
03 Decide
One direction.
The interviews become one message, one persona and one sales strategy your team can line up behind, instead of running three narratives in parallel.
04 Build
The plan your team can execute.
Digital sales formats, the content and funnel blueprint, the KPI framework and the resource plan, so that the ad budget becomes a decision instead of a bet.
03 Twelve weeks, four phases, one result per phase
You always know what happens next, what you get, and what needs a decision.
01
Format Two sessions of 90 minutes
What happens
Customer survey, choice of the segment, the definition of success and the constraints, interview planning. At the end it is in writing which segment is examined and how success is measured.
You get
- Alignment Map
- The chosen customer segment and the interview list
"This is our segment. This is what success means for us."
02
Volume 15 interviews, up to 60 minutes each
What happens
15 interviews with people from the segment who bought, or very nearly did. Depending on the tier you run them yourself or I have them run. I transcribe, pull out the patterns and build the persona, the messaging matrix and the objection document from them. Plus an analysis of the three most important competitors. One check-in meeting once the patterns are clear.
You get
- Buyer persona, backed with quotes in the customers' language
- Messaging matrix: pains, desires, objections, triggers
- Objection document
- Competitor analysis
You approve the persona and the message before phase 3 starts.
03
Format Two workshops of three hours
What happens
From the message we build an entry offer, the digital sales formats, the content and funnel blueprint and the measurement plan: which metric is measured where, and what it takes in resources.
You get
- Entry offer concept, aligned with your sales team
- Digital sales strategy with the content and funnel blueprint
- KPI framework and resource plan
"That is how it becomes executable. This is how we measure whether it works."
04
Format Handover session of three hours
What happens
All documents, raw data and transcripts go to you. Your team gets the plan explained, question by question. Within 30 days after that, a further 90-minute session on your written questions.
You get
- All results, raw data and transcripts
- Handover session and one follow-up session
You name who executes the plan in-house, or you hand it to me in campaign management.
Book a Discovery Call →
Up to 45 minutes. We qualify fit.
04 What you hold at the end
Seven documents your team can execute. Plus all the raw data.
Each of them is a document that stays in-house when I am gone.
Alignment Map
The definition of success, the operational constraints and the segment examined first, in writing, so the discussion does not start over every quarter.
Buyer persona, backed with quotes
Who buys, why, and what tipped the decision, in the words of the people from the interviews. A definition you can defend internally.
Messaging matrix
Pains, desires, objections and buying triggers, phrased the way the customers said them. Ads, landing pages and sales conversations stop sounding interchangeable.
Objection document
Why good leads stall, and what is said about it before sales gets the call.
Competitor analysis
Three competitors, read with the interviews in mind: what they promise, what your customers believe of it, and where the gap is.
Entry offer concept
The offer a prospect takes the first step with, built from the persona.
Digital sales strategy with the content and funnel blueprint, KPI framework and resource plan
Which formats, in which order, with which content, which metric measured where, and who is needed for the execution.
All raw data and transcripts
The interviews are yours. Every statement in the persona can be traced back to the conversation it came from.
05 Three tiers
The same twelve weeks and the same results. The difference is who runs the interviews.
The prices are here so you know what we are talking about before the call. All prices in euros, fixed scope, in three instalments: 20 percent on signing, 40 percent once the interviews are recorded, 40 percent at the handover. You see each phase before you pay for the next. It is not a retainer.
Interviews run by you
EUR
30,000
Your team runs the 15 interviews with my guides. Everything else, every hour of analysis and every result, comes from me. For founders who want to hear their customers themselves. One limitation I say up front: customers are polite to the person they bought from. If the interviews are delegated to employees, that is recorded as a limitation in the persona.
Interviews included
EUR
50,000
All 15 interviews are run for you. You get the recordings and transcripts as usual. You may listen in on any interview. Recruiting the participants stays your job, at every tier.
Interviews included, method licensed
EUR
80,000
Everything in tier 2, plus the licence to repeat the method yourself for further segments, offers or markets: three playbooks with guides, templates and prompts, three handover sessions and four question rounds in the 90 days after. It breaks even at the second segment and pays from the third. If you have one segment, tier 2 is the right one, and I say so on the call.
06 Who has to be there
Who has to be in the room, and what you actually decide.
This goes quickly when the right people are in the room at the same time.
These roles have to be there.
At the North Star Workshop, at the approvals and at the handover.
CEO
Head of Sales
Head of Marketing
The interviews: listen yourself.
At tier 1 your team runs the 15 interviews. At tiers 2 and 3 they are run for you, and you can watch the recordings. Either way: whoever has heard the conversations themselves stops arguing about opinions afterwards. The CEO, the head of sales and the head of marketing have heard the same reality, and the approvals in phases 2 and 3 go through in one session instead of four.
Involvement by phase.
| Role | Weeks 1 to 2 · North Star | Weeks 3 to 7 · Interviews | Weeks 8 to 10 · Strategy | Weeks 11 to 12 · Handover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO | Decides | Decides, listens in, runs interviews or delegates them | Approves | Decides |
| Head of Sales | Input | Input, listens in or runs interviews | Input | |
| Head of Marketing | Input | Input, listens in or runs interviews | Input | Attends |
| Sales and marketing teams | Run interviews at tier 1 | Attend |
What the CEO decides inside the twelve weeks
- Confirm the definition of success and the constraints in the Alignment Map.
- Lock the customer segment for the interview list.
- Approve the persona and the messaging matrix once the interviews are analysed.
- Approve the entry offer and the sales strategy.
- Name who executes the plan in-house.
Time required
- North Star Workshop: up to two sessions of 90 minutes.
- Offer and strategy workshops: up to two sessions of three hours.
- Handover session: up to three hours, plus one follow-up session of up to 90 minutes.
- Interviews: 15, up to 60 minutes each, run by your team at tier 1.
- Approvals: consolidated feedback within three business days. The twelve weeks depend on it.
07 Is it a fit?
If you are looking for someone to run ads and see what sticks, you are on the wrong page. The right one is campaign management with solid preparation.
The No Guesswork Growth Protocol delivers the plan, never the execution. What it delivers is above. What it does not deliver is here.
It fits if
- You run a company of ten to two hundred people and are hiring your first marketing person for performance marketing right now, or have posted a role because marketing is supposed to grow now.
- At your company nobody can yet say, with evidence, which message sells, and you want to know that before a salary or a budget runs behind it.
- You can reach 15 to 30 customers from one segment, so that 15 interviews come together in weeks 3 to 7.
- The CEO, the head of sales and the head of marketing sit in the North Star Workshop together and give feedback within three business days.
- You want to execute the plan yourself at the end, or hand it to me in campaign management.
Not the right thing if
- You want me to run ads, build creatives or edit videos. It contains no execution. Campaign management exists for that, with or without the No Guesswork Growth Protocol.
- You want a CRM or a marketing automation set up. You get the logic, not the configuration.
- You want a results guarantee. Your creatives and your sales team decide the second half, and I do not promise that.
- You sell web3, crypto or fintech.
- You expect a revenue record in the first quarter. The twelve weeks deliver the message and the plan. The revenue comes from the execution after it.
Book a Discovery Call →
Up to 45 minutes. We qualify fit, and whether you need the No Guesswork Growth Protocol at all.
08 Proof you can check
The No Guesswork Growth Protocol is a process with approvals, not a promise.
Four things you can check without expertise, and one case you can read.
Twelve weeks, fixed scope
Four phases, one result per phase, three instalments. Each phase is paid for only once the previous one is delivered.
Raw data, as it comes into being
You see the transcripts and the analysis as they come into being. Every statement in the persona can be traced back to the interview.
A strategy that can be executed
Sales formats, blueprint, KPI framework and resource plan. Your team can start with it on Monday, with me or without me.
Everything stays with you
Documents, raw data and transcripts sit with you, and nothing depends on my account or on me.
64
Clients since 2017
407%
ROAS in the first quarter after the first run of the No Guesswork Growth Protocol, 2024
0
Results claimed without tracking to the sale
The No Guesswork Growth Protocol ran for the first time in this form in 2024, at Anne Jansson's. The message from the interviews with her best customers turned the account, and the numbers stand as ratios in the case study, without ad spend and without revenue. What I could not trace to the sale is not in it.
09 Guarantees
What I guarantee is the delivery.
Half of the result depends on your creatives and your sales team. I do not promise that. What I promise is here, and it is in the contract in the same words.
The persona is delivered 15 business days after the last interview recording, or you pay less.
For every business day of delay, EUR 250 comes off the invoice for the next phase, up to EUR 5,000. The clock starts once the last recording is in the shared folder and at least ten interviews are in.
What comes with it
Every recording is uploaded within two business days of the interview. If more than five land in the last five business days, the deadline extends by five business days. An approval that is outstanding stops the clock.
If the strategy is not clear and executable, I revise it against your written questions until it is.
30 days after the handover, questions as comments in the document, each referring to a section, answered within three business days. It covers clarifying the strategy as delivered, not new strategy work or execution.
You see the raw data and the analysis as they come into being, not at the end.
Transcripts, patterns and drafts sit in the shared folder as soon as they exist. If something is off, you see it as early as week 5.
10 FAQ
The questions you ask before you plan twelve weeks and EUR 30,000.
Short answers. Bring the details to the call.
Why not just run ads?
You can, and I do that without the No Guesswork Growth Protocol too: you deliver the message and the creative, I build tracking, testing and creative strategy around it. It makes it complete, because the message has then been tested with real customers before ad budget runs behind it. It gets risky when a message nobody has tested gets scaled.
We already have personas and interviews. Do we still need this?
Maybe not. If your material is based on conversations with real customers from the last few months, I work with it, and you start directly in campaign management. If the persona came out of a team workshop, I tell you so on the discovery call, and then you decide.
Sales says the leads are no good. Does this help?
Usually it comes down to the message: the ads attract the wrong buying intent, or the objections are only handled in the sales conversation. The messaging matrix and the objection document exist for exactly that, so the message filters for buying intent before a lead reaches sales.
Does this work with our sales cycle?
The cycle is accounted for in the strategy: in the message, in the objection handling, and in which metric is measured where. What it does not promise is revenue in the first quarter. It delivers the message and the plan.
What do you need from us?
Four things: the CEO, the head of sales and the head of marketing at the North Star Workshop, at the approvals and at the handover. 20 to 30 reachable customers from one segment, so that 15 interviews come together. Every recording in the shared folder within two business days. Consolidated feedback within three business days.
Why EUR 30,000?
Because that is one month of ad budget you will spend in the first quarter anyway. Spent once, up front, on knowing what that budget should say, it is cheaper than a year of ad budget and employee salaries to find out the message was a guess. And you pay in three instalments and see each phase before you pay for the next.
Book a Discovery Call →
Ask the uncomfortable questions. You get clear answers, without jargon.
11 Your next step
The message your marketing works with comes either from interviews or from assumptions. Both cost money. Only one of them costs a quarter.
In up to 45 minutes I ask you the questions no agency website answers: what your marketing really needs, what is documented about your customers today, and whether you need the No Guesswork Growth Protocol at all. You leave with a clearer brief, even if you then hire someone else.
Book a Discovery Call →
Read about campaign management →
See the case studies →
The path
- Discovery call, up to 45 minutes, to settle whether it fits.
- Second call on scope, tier and price.
- Onboarding with the contract and the first invoice.