Marketing Consultant Discovery Framework

—————————— *Marketing Consultant Discovery Framework* *Stage 1: Listen & Understand the Story*
(Start soft, let the client talk. Capture their pride + pain points.)
1. Tell me about your business journey—what has been your biggest strength so far? 2. What major challenges are you currently facing in sales and marketing? 3. Who are your best customers today, and what keeps them coming back?
—————————— *Stage 2: Market Positioning & Competition*
4. Who are your main competitors? 5. In your opinion, why are they doing better in certain areas? 6. What types of marketing activities have you noticed from your competitors? 7. Where have you seen their ads or promotions recently?
—————————— *Stage 3: Current Marketing Practices*
8. What marketing activities are you currently doing (ads, digital, referrals, events, etc.)? 9. How do you measure if these activities are effective? 10. Do you feel there’s a specific marketing tool or resource that, if you had it, would give your business a big boost? 11. Are you part of any industry associations, chambers, or trade groups? Do you actively participate?
—————————— *Stage 4: Customer Awareness & Engagement*
12. Do your customers recognize your *brand name* or do they know you mainly by personal name/reputation? 13. Do you regularly share updates, news, or value-added insights with your customers (e.g., WhatsApp, newsletters)? 14. How many new customers have you added in the past 12 months? 15. How many customers have you lost? Why did they leave?
—————————— *Stage 5: Growth Vision & Opportunities*
16. What would you like your brand to be known for in the next 2–3 years? 17. Which marketing channels or strategies do you want to explore but haven’t yet? 18. What role do you see a marketing consultant like me playing in accelerating your growth?
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✅ *Why this structure works:*
– Starts with empathy → builds rapport. – Moves naturally from *internal view → external market → competition → customers → future vision*. – Each stage uncovers insights you can later frame into *recommendations + quick wins*.
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*Hisham Kabir*
Author: Hisham Kabir
An MBA with 18+ years of experience, spanning senior roles across multiple industry verticals as an account manager with B2B Sales & Business Development in Events and Marketing, Food Buying sourcing and procurement, FMCG, New Product Development, F&B, Catering & Banquet, End to End Event Operations Management. LinkedIn sales navigator expert. LinkedIn helper2 sales automation and Zoho CRM. Extensive functional expertise in successfully managing end-to-end aspects of F&B operations spanning the front and back-office operations within budgeted guidelines and to the highest standards. People Management – Experienced in recruiting, training and managing F&B teams - Most recently managed a 50+ strong cross-functional team. Proven track record of managing 400+ catering events including numerous high-volume corporate and social events with more than 5000 pax. Further to MBA, completed a Management development programme in sales management from IIM which is among the leading business management school in India. Later ventured into independent entrepreneurial business by launching and retailing a ready-to-cook food gravy paste brand using retort technology called freedom kitchen. With significant insights into front-end retailing and a strong background in the Retail Industry, I shifted to Corporate Path by joining a food-based FMCG company as part of their rural market expansion.  My expertise is in operational excellence, channel sales development, team management, client relationship development, and Event Operations Management. large ticket banquet Management, Menu planning, costing and P&L, and people management. Driven by a passion for advertising have conducted an exhibition titled walk through the history of Volkswagen beetle. where I showcased several print ads released by Volkswagen Beetle in North America from 1958 to 1971. You can follow blogs on www.buyologist.in dealing with trends in marketing and advertising and behavioural economics.