The process

Don’t jump from opportunity to solution.

We run the same six steps on every client, prospect, referral, and opportunity: understand, diagnose, prioritize, organize, execute, measure. Under those six there’s a thirteen-step internal checklist with a template at every step, so no job depends on somebody remembering what comes next.

The six stages

From what’s going on, to what’s causing it, to what happens first

UnderstandWhat’s going on? DiagnoseWhat’s really causing it? PrioritizeWhat needs to happen first? OrganizeWho and what do we need? ExecuteDo the work. MeasureDid it work?

The longer you wait to catch a bad decision, the more expensive it becomes to fix. This shows direction, not measurements. It says three things: what we still don’t know shrinks as we go, the cost of undoing a decision climbs, and at some point the two cross.

What we still don’t know What it costs to undo

Read it as a table

Stage	What we still don’t know	What it costs to undo
Understand	Almost nothing is confirmed yet	Nothing is committed. Walking away costs nothing.
Diagnose	We have your version, but we haven’t checked it	Only time spent so far
Prioritize	We know the likely cause and we can show why	A direction is forming. Changing it is still cheap.
Organize	The goal and the order of work are set	Specialists are being hired and scope is in writing
Execute	Not much left that would change the plan	Work is underway. Backing out means undoing it.
Measure	We compare the result to where you started	The money and the months are already spent

Understand What’s going on?

We write down the opportunity before we give any advice, decide whether there’s a real problem and a real job for us here, and then listen to your account of what you’re dealing with. The experience is yours and the diagnosis is our job, and we don’t mix the two up.

Diagnose What’s really causing it?

The problem you describe, the problem in front of you, and the thing actually causing both are usually three different things. We separate what’s known from what’s assumed or missing, flag what doesn’t add up, and write down how confident we actually are. We don’t assume we know the problem. We look at the facts first.

Prioritize What needs to happen first?

Almost every struggling business has several problems at once, and going after all of them at the same time is how owners run out of time and money before any of them get fixed. We figure out what needs to happen first, what can wait, and which single fix makes the rest easier.

Organize Who and what do we need?

Once the goal is clear, we figure out who and what we need to solve the problem: knowledge, experience, systems, people, relationships, money, and outside expertise. Then we work out who provides each piece. If the answer is an attorney, an accountant, a lender, or an engineer, we say so and we organize it. We choose professionals because we know they can help solve your problem, the same way they help us solve ours. There is no membership fee to join the network. Referral, affiliate, origination or other compensation arrangements may exist depending on the professional category and the engagement, but compensation does not buy access to RCAG clients and does not determine who we recommend.

Execute Do the work.

Work runs against a written scope with names and dates on it, after the agreement is signed and the first payment is in. Check-ins ask what changed, what got done, what didn’t and why, what new facts turned up, and what needs deciding now. Systems are only as good as the people running them, so we measure how the work is actually going, not just whether the plan looked good.

Measure Did it work?

We write down where you started, so the result can be compared to something instead of just described. If it falls short, the question is which part fell short: the strategy, the systems, the execution, the people, the money, the leadership, or the diagnosis itself.

The governing rule

We don’t assume we know the problem. We look at the facts first.

New Client & Opportunity Playbook, step five

Underneath the six

Thirteen steps, with a checklist for every one

We open a fresh copy of our playbook for every new client, prospect, referral, project, partnership, and opportunity, and we work the steps in order unless there’s a documented reason to skip one. The templates themselves are internal. The order isn’t a secret, because the order is the whole point.

It’s a loop, not a line. The six filled markers are the steps you’ll see. The thirteenth, Decide, goes back to the first.

CaptureWrite down the opportunity before giving any advice.

ScreenDecide whether to take it, refer it, or turn it down.

ListenGet your account of it without treating it as the diagnosis.

InvestigateSeparate the facts from what’s assumed.

DiagnoseWork out what’s actually causing the problem.

PrioritizeFigure out what needs to happen first.

OrganizeFigure out who and what we need to solve the problem.

ProposeTurn the judgment into a clear, priced offer.

ContractPut the scope, who does what, and the money in writing.

ActivateTurn a signed agreement into a real file and a starting point.

ExecuteDo the work in order, with someone’s name on each piece.

MeasureCheck whether the work did what it was supposed to.

DecideClose it, keep going, expand it, refer it, pause it, or end it.

Two of these do something most advisory relationships never do. Screen gives us a documented way to say no, which protects you as much as it protects us. Decide means no job drifts along forever. Every one ends with a decision, written down with the reason.

What you receive

If we can’t write you a real proposal, we’ll propose a diagnostic instead

Before we propose a job, we have to be able to tell you: what you’re trying to achieve, what we’re trying to achieve, what we understand about your situation, what kind of engagement we recommend, the scope, what you’ll get, what you’re responsible for, any outside professionals needed, what’s not included, the timeline, the fee, the payment schedule, what success looks like, and how we’ll know if we got there.

If any of those can’t be answered honestly, the honest proposal is a diagnostic rather than a guessed solution. That one rule is the difference between advisory work and selling a package, and it’s why our first job with most clients is an assessment rather than a program.

What’s excluded matters as much as what’s included. A proposal that only says what’s in it leaves you to assume the rest, and assuming is where these relationships fall apart. We tell you what we’re not doing.

Questions about the process

How the engagement actually runs

How long do the first two steps take?

It depends on how much of the evidence already exists and how fast you can get it to us. The questionnaire and a conversation come first, and we won’t rush the investigation to hit a start date. If something is genuinely urgent, we’ll handle that piece separately rather than cutting corners on everything else.

Will you tell me I’m wrong about my own business?

If the facts say so, yes. We don’t accept your diagnosis just because you’re willing to pay for the fix you already have in mind. Most owners describe the symptom accurately and the cause incorrectly. That’s not a failure on your part. It’s the reason an outside look is worth paying for.

What if you decide you shouldn’t take my case?

We say so, and we tell you why, and we either point you to someone better suited or turn it down. The screening step exists so that call gets made early and on purpose, instead of three months into a job that was never a fit.

Do you do real work before anything is signed?

No. Understanding your situation isn’t the same as consulting on it, and we don’t give away advisory work during discovery. Work starts after the agreement and scope are signed and any required first payment is in.

What if new problems show up in the middle?

We write them down. If they justify work beyond what we agreed, they become a new goal with a new scope, a new fee, and a written change order. We never let the job quietly grow, because quiet growth is how both the budget and the relationship break.

The first step is a questionnaire

Twelve questions about your business, your situation, and what would count as a win a year from now. You’re not expected to diagnose your own business.

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Roland Conner Advisory Group LLC provides business advisory and consulting services. RCAG does not provide legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice. Submitting information through this website does not create a consulting or advisory relationship.