Is your marketing moving you forward?

Many companies assume they have a marketing execution problem. 

Often, they do not. 

What they actually have is a leadership-level issue:

• The company, product, or service is hard to explain

• Leadership, sales, and marketing are not aligned

• Innovation is not fully connected to the market

• Marketing is reacting instead of guiding growth

This diagnostic is designed to help you see where the real issue sits.

In 5–7 minutes, this diagnostic will help you identify whether your growth is limited by unclear positioning, an inconsistent narrative, weak market expression, a lack of marketing direction, or disconnected commercial innovation. 

We are going to evaluate five different areas: 

Positioning Clarity
Can leadership clearly explain what makes the company different? 

Narrative Alignment
Are leadership, sales, and marketing telling the same story? 

Market Expression
Do the website, deck, and external communications reflect the business's true strength? 

Marketing Direction
Is marketing operating from clear priorities, or reacting to requests?

Growth Readiness
Does the company have the leadership structure to support the next stage of growth?

Instructions: 

Score each statement from 1 to 5.

1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Inconsistent/unclear
4 = Agree
5 = Strongly agree. 

At the end, add your score for each section and your total score. 

This is not a scientific instrument. It is a structured executive self-assessment designed to reveal where clarity is strong, where it is fragile, and where leadership may need to intervene.

1. POSITIONING CLARITY: 

Can leadership clearly explain what makes the company different? 

Score each statement from 1 to 5.

• We can explain what our company does in one or two clear sentences. __

• Leadership gives a consistent explanation of how the company creates value. __

• We can clearly articulate what makes us different from competitors. __

• Buyers can quickly understand why we are not interchangeable with other providers. __

• Pricing conversations are usually grounded in value, not just comparison. __

Section score

__  / 25

2. NARRATIVE ALIGNMENT: 

Are leadership, sales, and marketing telling the same story? 

Score each statement from 1 to 5.

• Sales, marketing, and leadership describe the company in the same way. __

• Our internal language around value and differentiation is consistent. __

• New hires quickly understand how to talk about the business. __

• Teams feel confident explaining what makes the company strong. __

• Internal disagreements are usually about decisions, not about what the company stands for. __

Section score

__ / 25

3. MARKET EXPRESSION: 

Does the market see the real strength of the business? 

Score each statement from 1 to 5.

• Our website reflects the scale and quality of the business. __

• Our decks, proposals, and external communication are aligned with how we want to be understood. __

• Prospects and partners tend to describe us the way we describe ourselves. __

• Our external communication has kept pace with how the business has evolved. __

• We rarely need to over-explain what we do in important conversations. __

Section score

__ / 25

TOTAL SCORE: 

Add your five section scores.

Total score:  __ / 125

HOW TO INTERPRET YOUR SCORE:

100–125

Strong foundation
You likely do not have a major leadership or clarity issue. The business may need refinement, not reinvention. 

75–99

Good business, uneven clarity
Your company likely has real strengths, but gaps in alignment, expression, or direction are making growth harder than it should be. 

50–74

Marketing leadership problem
This is likely not just a marketing execution issue. Positioning, narrative, internal alignment, or commercial direction may be limiting growth. 

Below 50

Strategic clarity is at risk
Your communication may be too fragmented to support the next stage of growth. This is likely a leadership-level issue, not just a tactical one.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR SECTION SCORES: 

Even if your total score is decent, one weak section can still create serious friction. 

Pay special attention if one of these is low:

• Positioning Clarity → The business may be hard to explain or weakly differentiated

• Narrative Alignment → Leadership, sales, and marketing may not be telling the same story

• Market Expression → The market may not see the real strength of the company

• Marketing Direction → Activity may be replacing strategy

• Commercial Innovation → Product, customer, and market understanding may not be tightly connected

A low score in a section = 15 or below out of 25. A single weak area can undermine the rest. 

What a low section score usually means: 

Low score in Positioning Clarity. 

The business may be hard to explain, underdeveloped, or overly dependent on relationships and reputation to carry the story. 

Low score in Narrative Alignment. 

Leadership, sales, and marketing may not be telling the same story, creating confusion both internally and externally. 

Low score in Market Expression: 

The market may not recognize the business's true strength. Your website, decks, and communication may be behind the reality. 

Low score in Marketing Direction. 

Marketing may be reacting to requests instead of operating from clear priorities and stronger strategic leadership. 

Low score in Commercial Innovation. 

Customer insight, product thinking, and commercial priorities may not be connected tightly enough to support growth.

Recommended next step: 

If one or more areas score 15 or below, the next step is usually a conversation to determine whether the issue is best addressed through: