Commercial Due Diligence · Our Core Offering
Two assessments. One method.
An independent read on the commercial engine,
before you commit to the number.
What It Is
Commercial due diligence is an independent, forward-looking test of the commercial engine behind a revenue number: the pipeline, the pricing, the retention, the incentives and the people that produce it.
It is our core work. We run it as two assessments, a three-day Stress Test and a ten-day Diagnostic Assessment, so the depth matches the decision in front of you.
Three questions every assessment answers.
Two Assessments
Both assessments use the same two-lens method and test for the same eight failure modes. The difference is depth: how much evidence you need before the decision in front of you.
| At a glance | Commercial Stress Test | Commercial Diagnostic Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Choose it when | You need a fast, evidence-based read before committing more time or money | A major commitment is imminent, the business is complex, or the CST has raised a question |
| Duration | Three days on site, report within five working days | Ten days, report and live readout |
| Depth | The two or three questions that decide the outcome | All eight failure modes, systematically |
| Evidence collected | CRM and commercial data, leadership interviews, a targeted set of customer conversations where access permits | Everything in the CST, plus managers and reps, customer calls at volume, mystery shopping, call listening, cohort-level data, comp plans and discount approvals |
| Not included | Customer calls at volume, mystery shopping, call listening, cohort-level cuts, full comp and discount review | Implementation, which is a separate and optional engagement |
| Output | Scorecard, findings report, priority roadmap, readout, verdict | All of the CST, plus full failure-mode analysis, quantified exposure and a remediation plan |
| Leads to | Proceed, proceed with conditions, or a CDA | Underwrite, reprice, restructure, walk away, or a fix plan |
When you need a fast, evidence-based read on whether the commercial story holds, before committing more time, capital or management attention. Every engagement starts here.
Commercial scorecard, written findings report, priority roadmap, a 90-minute live readout and a clear verdict.
Proceed, proceed with conditions, or go deeper with a CDA.
When real money or a major commitment is about to move, the target is complex, or the Stress Test has opened a question that needs answering properly.
Everything in the CST, plus a full failure-mode analysis, quantified exposure against your model, and a prioritised remediation plan.
Underwrite, reprice, restructure, or walk away. For operators: what to fix, in what order, and what it is worth.
The commercial engine holds. Proceed on the evidence.
Proceed with conditions. Specific, fixable gaps to close or price in.
Structural risk that moves valuation, timing, or viability.
The Method
Revenue is the output of human behaviour operating under a set of incentives. So every assessment runs two lenses in parallel: one tests what the numbers say, the other tests how the people producing them actually work. Where the two disagree is usually where the risk is.
What We Test For
Across both assessments we test for the same eight recurring ways a commercial engine overstates itself. They rarely appear alone, which is why we test for all of them rather than the one the story points at.
Deals that stay open in the CRM long after they are functionally dead, inflating pipeline coverage and forecast confidence. The tell is the activity log and the gap between pipeline age and the normal sales cycle.
Letters of intent and partnerships presented as traction that were never operationally real: not binding, not funded, and not going to convert into revenue.
Headline growth masking accelerating churn in older customer cohorts. New logos paper over a leaking base, and the blended retention figure hides it until you cut the data by cohort.
A significant share of revenue renewing in a narrow window, often on worse terms than the headline contract value implies. ARR looks stable until the renewals arrive.
Revenue that depends on one leader's relationships and involvement in deals, presented as a scalable sales motion. Take the person out and the engine stalls.
Revenue that looks diversified by customer count but flows through a single reseller, platform partner or one-off market moment the business does not control.
A market sized to support a growth story rather than built from the segments the business can actually reach and win. Vast in the deck, narrow in a bottom-up rebuild.
A defensibility story that does not survive real scrutiny of customer switching behaviour. The claimed advantage is a feature competitors can replicate.
How an Engagement Runs
We work before an offer is made and during exclusivity, and we build the timetable around your deal or decision rather than our own.
The decision in front of you, the timetable, and the two or three questions that will actually move it.
We agree CST or CDA, the questions, the depth and the timeline. No fixed packages, no filler work-streams.
A focused request built around the questions, so the business is not asked for everything at once.
Both lenses run in parallel: the data analysis alongside interviews, customer conversations and observation of how the team actually sells.
A written report with the evidence behind every claim, rated by risk and mapped to your thesis or plan.
A live session with the people who need to hear it, questions taken directly, and a clear verdict on what to do next.
The exact request follows the scope. We work with what is available and tell you plainly where a gap in the data limits the confidence of a finding.
What It Looks Like in Practice
Every finding comes with the evidence behind it, rated by risk and tied to the decision you are making. The output is short by design: what is real, what is at risk, and what to do about it.
Where the story is real, we say so. Where it is fiction, we show you where and why.
A business reports 3.6x pipeline coverage against its forward plan. The CRM is complete and tidy, and forecast accuracy has been strong.
Stage ageing and activity data show a large share of the pipeline has had no customer contact in months. Verdict: Amber, go deeper.
Stripped of dead deals and reconciled to the sales leader's own working forecast, true coverage is closer to 1.9x.
The forward plan is rebuilt on the real number before the commitment is made, not twelve months after.
Illustrative example, not a claimed client result.
The Same Diagnostic, Built Around Your Decision
Validate whether the target's revenue story is real before you commit capital, and price the risk you cannot see from the data room.
See moreAn independent read on your own commercial engine, the blind spots you cannot see from inside, and what to fix first.
See moreA clean commercial baseline before you commit management attention and capital to a value-creation plan across the portfolio.
See moreWhether the target's commercial relationships and synergy assumptions survive a change of owner and integration into your business.
See moreAfter the Verdict
Clients often ask us to stay for the fix. Implementation is always optional, and you can act on the findings with your own team.
Get in Touch
Get in touch. No obligation. A direct conversation about the decision in front of you, the timetable, and whether we are the right fit.