Values
Partnership
The target is always the second engagement, not the first.
What this looks like
Partnership shows up most clearly in what we decline to sell. A client whose findings point to a smaller, cheaper engagement than the one they asked for gets told that directly, even though the bigger scope would be the better invoice. A growth retainer does not get pitched until Discover actually supports it, not because the client would say yes to it today. After launch, we check in on how the work is landing without a billable reason attached, because a relationship that only produces contact when there is an invoice coming is not a partnership, it is a sales pipeline with better manners.
Across the framework
- 01DiscoverBeing honest here about what the business actually needs, even when it is less than what was asked for, is the first test of whether this is a partnership or a sale.
- 05LaunchHandover happens properly here, with documentation the client can act on alone, rather than being held back to manufacture a reason for the next invoice.
- 06GrowThis phase only happens if the client chooses to come back. It is the one part of the framework that cannot be sold into existence, which makes it the real scorecard for whether the first engagement earned trust.