Find the real marketing gap, put a dollar figure on it, compare the options on equal terms, then land the decision.
Selling with DEEPER™, by Decision Forensics™
DEEPER™ Conversation
Cost & ROI
DEEPER™ Decision
Summary
Leave-Behind
Who You're Talking To
What's Driving It?
Tap the one that fits best. This drives the language in the Decision tab and the Summary.
Say This First
Permission Script
"Before we get into any numbers, can I share how I like to run these conversations? I use a decision framework called DEEPER™, built by a decision-making expert I work with. It keeps me from jumping to a fix before I understand what's really holding your marketing back. I'm not here to sell you a retainer. By the end of this conversation, I want you to be clear on what your marketing actually needs and what your next step is."
DEEPER™ Conversation Worksheet
A menu, not a script. Tap a question as you ask it, jot notes as they answer. No pitching yet, this is discovery.
Phase
Questions to Ask
Your Notes
Your Marketing Today
Rough numbers are fine. Leave any that don't apply at zero.
How many hours a week do you spend running marketing yourself?Planning, approving, managing staff and vendors, chasing results.
hrs/wk
What do you spend on marketing in a year?Ads, agencies, freelancers, tools, events and sponsorships, added up.
$/yr
What share of that spend can't you tie to a lead or a sale?Your best estimate. If you can trace all of it, enter 0.
%
How many new leads come in a month?Inquiries, form fills, calls, referrals, event contacts.
leads/mo
What share of those leads never get a follow-up?Never contacted, or contacted once and dropped.
%
Of the leads you do work, what share become customers?Your close rate on worked leads.
%
What is a new customer worth in their first year?Revenue from one new customer in their first 12 months.
$
Reference figures used below (editable)
Value of one hour of your timeU.S. median pay for chief executives is $213,990 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025), divided by 2,080 working hours. Edit it if you know your own.
$/hr
What Today's Approach Costs You
Cost of today's approach, per year
$0
Per month
$0 / mo
How this is calculated
Your time running marketing$0Spend you can't tie to results$0Leads that slip through$0
If Nothing Changes
1 year
$0
3 years
$0
5 years
$0
How this is calculated
Ways to Work Together
Fractional CMO is the engagement. Click Buyer Interviews to add it on. The return below updates to match.
Options
A year of marketing leadership, priced five ways, in dollars.
Benchmarks used for these options (editable)
Full-time CMO base salaryJRG Partners CMO Salary Guide 2026: $175,000 to $250,000 for companies under $25M in revenue, $225,000 to $300,000 for $25M to $100M. $225,000 shown, where the two bands meet.
$/yr
Executive search fee for a CMORetained executive searches run 30% to 35% of first-year pay (Talentfoot). Midpoint shown.
% of salary
Marketing manager base salaryU.S. median for marketing managers: $166,790 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025).
$/yr
Recruiting fee for a marketing managerContingency recruiting fees typically run 15% to 25% of first-year base salary (Pin). Midpoint shown.
% of salary
Benefits and payroll taxes, on top of salaryBenefits are 30% of total compensation for private industry (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026), which is 43% on top of salary.
% of salary
Marketing agency retainerAgency retainers run $5,000 to $25,000 or more a month (MarketerHire, April 2026). $10,000 shown.
$/mo
How this is calculated
Each option is priced for one year, so the totals compare directly. Per month is each total divided by 12.
Keep running it yourself$0Full-time CMO$0Marketing manager$0Marketing agency$0yorCMO fractional CMO$0
The Return
With Buyer Interviews, how much better could your close rate get?On the leads you already work, once you know what your buyers decide on and what holds them back. Enter 0 to count the add-on as cost only.
% better
How this is calculated
Talking Points
What's the Hesitation?
Tap the one that fits best. This drives the language in the worksheet below.
DEEPER™ Decision Worksheet
Built from the driver and hesitation you tapped. Pick whichever line fits the moment. If it isn't a yes yet, find the real decision and book the follow-up before you hang up.
Phase
What to Say
Your Notes
Call Summary
Recap for your notes or CRM. Fill in the outcome and next step, then copy.
Copied to clipboard.
Building the Case: a DEEPER™ worksheet for your marketing decision.
DEEPER™ is a structured way to think through a decision before you commit to it.
This worksheet prints as the last page when you use "Print for Client" on the Cost & ROI tab.
Phase
Questions to Sit With
Your Notes
What is DEEPER™?
DEEPER™ is a six-phase framework for working through any real decision: Define, Explore, Examine, Pattern, Empower, Release. It's the core methodology behind Decision Forensics™, used across coaching, leadership development and strategy work.
D
Define: name the real problem, and who actually owns it.
E
Explore: what's already been tried, and what else is on the table.
E
Examine: the honest cost or gap, not the assumed one.
P
Pattern: whether this has shown up before, here or elsewhere.
E
Empower: hand the decision back, with real information to decide from.
R
Release: clarity either way, whatever gets decided.
In this app, the six phases are pointed at a CEO's marketing decision: define the real marketing problem instead of the assumed one, examine what the gap honestly costs, and let them land on their own answer instead of being pushed to one.
DEEPER™ was developed by Jen McCorkle, founder of Decision Forensics™ (Jenesis Coaching LLC), and is used across her coaching, consulting and decision-making work. Adapted here for Dave Blanchard, yorCMO.
