Commercial Strategy Tools

The method has a name. Ten tools of our own, each with a concrete deliverable, a phase of the method and a classic framework behind it.

The tools are not templates to fill in. They are how we order the decisions in a project: what gets decided first, with what information and which document is left at the end.

Each one builds on a framework that has worked for decades, such as Rumelt’s kernel of strategy, the GE-McKinsey matrix or Webster and Wind’s buying center, and brings it down to the reality of a company or an agency in the Dominican Republic or Spain. Here we explain what each tool is, when it is used and what it delivers. How they combine in a project is in the method.

H-01Phase 1Diagnostic and Strategy

One-page thesis

The diagnosis, the policy and the actions on a single page: what is happening, what we will do and what we will not do.

What it delivers: One page signed by leadership that orders everything else.
Builds on: Richard Rumelt’s kernel of strategy: diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions.

H-02Phase 1Diagnostic and Strategy

Winnability matrix

Every segment scored by volume, winnability and value. It decides who we go after first, and who we don’t.

What it delivers: Prioritized segments with the reason for each position.
Builds on: The attractiveness-and-position logic of the GE-McKinsey matrix, with winnability as its own axis.

H-03Phase 1Diagnostic and Strategy

Decision-maker map

Who decides, who influences, who blocks and who pays in each purchase, by segment.

What it delivers: One map per segment with roles, motivations and objections.
Builds on: Webster and Wind’s buying center, brought down to real roles and conversations.

H-04Phase 1Diagnostic and Strategy

Promise and proof

What we promise each segment and how we prove it. Without proof, a promise is a slogan.

What it delivers: Message architecture by segment and channel.
Builds on: Jobs to Be Done: the promise answers the job the customer is trying to get done, not the product.

H-05Phase 2Playbook

Activation sequence

The order in which segments, channels and messages are switched on, with dates and the condition to move to the next step.

What it delivers: A launch roadmap in waves.
Builds on: Ansoff’s growth vector to choose the move and the AARRR funnel stages to sequence it.

H-06Phase 1Diagnostic and Strategy

Offer ladder

The tiers of the offer, what each one includes and why a customer moves up.

What it delivers: Tier structure, packaging and discount policy.
Builds on: The good-better-best principle and price anchoring.

H-07Phase 2Playbook

Action sheet

Every playbook action with owner, cost, KPI and date. If a field is missing, it isn’t an action.

What it delivers: The whole playbook as executable sheets.
Builds on: RACI ownership combined with OKR-style outcome measurement.

H-08Phase 2Playbook

Local layer

What changes by market without touching the method: vocabulary, decision-makers, channel and buying rhythm.

What it delivers: One adaptation of the same playbook per market.
Builds on: Glocalization: shared strategy, local execution.

H-09Phase 1Diagnostic and Strategy

Signed baseline

The measured picture of the starting point, signed by leadership before anything moves.

What it delivers: Indicators, sources and data owners.
Builds on: The North Star metric with a starting point agreed in advance.

H-10Phase 3Strategic direction

Period committee

The meeting where results are read against the baseline and leadership decides what continues, what changes and what stops.

What it delivers: A periodic report and leadership decisions.
Builds on: The cadence of quarterly business reviews (QBRs), adapted to companies without a strategy function.

The tools work best together.

In the first conversation we look at which decisions you have pending and which tools resolve them.

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The toolkit