Diagnose Before You Prescribe

Time-Stamped Key Points

0:00 – Opening and Welcome
Gary opens the call and introduces Courtney Lodge as the guest for the mastermind.

0:57 – Mastermind Framing
Courtney invites the group to bring any business coaching topic or challenge to the call.

1:36 – Mark’s Large Restaurant Opportunity
Mark shares that he has an opportunity to pursue one of the largest restaurateur groups in his state, with more than 50 diners.

2:39 – Higher-Level Client Concern
Mark explains that while he has corporate and operations experience, he has less experience selling coaching to higher-level executives.

3:15 – Franchise Structure Question
Courtney asks whether the restaurant group is a franchise, independently owned, or managed centrally.

4:04 – Diner Franchise Model
Mark explains that the company is a diner franchise group with a strong focus on community involvement and local footprint.

5:40 – Local Marketing Engagement
Mark shares that the organization has marketing reps who help each diner engage with community events, scholarships, and local activities.

6:41 – Premium Offer Mindset
Courtney explains that to sell a premium coaching package, the coach must first recognize that they already have a premium offer.

7:25 – Focused Framework as the Premium Package
Courtney reminds Mark that the Focused.com framework already provides a strong, high-value coaching package if he internalizes it.

8:54 – Human Anatomy Analogy
Courtney uses a medical analogy to explain that understanding business systems is like understanding how organs work in the body.

11:49 – Businesses Have Organs Too
Courtney explains that marketing, sales, operations, and other business functions operate like the heart, lungs, and kidneys of a company.

12:05 – Do Not Be Intimidated by Size
The point is that the size of the organization does not change the coach’s role. The coach understands how businesses should operate.

13:02 – Market Dominating Position at Multiple Levels
Courtney explains that MDP can exist at the personal, product, organizational, city, or state level.

13:17 – MDP as the Central Coaching Lens
Courtney says every Jumpstart 12 and Jumpstart 40 strategy helps strengthen the organization’s MDP.

15:21 – Franchise University Concept
Courtney suggests helping the organization create or improve a “franchise university” where franchisees can learn standardized systems.

16:00 – McDonald’s Hamburger University Example
Courtney compares this to McDonald’s training model, where franchisees are taught step-by-step operational standards.

17:03 – MDP as a Pizza
Courtney describes MDP as a pizza, with the Jumpstart strategies acting like slices that strengthen the whole organization.

18:13 – Alignment, Standardization, and Unification
Courtney explains that franchises need alignment first, then standardization, then unification across systems and operations.

19:26 – Mark’s Takeaways
Mark notes that the franchise university idea surprised him and fits well with his background in standard operating procedures.

20:53 – Visiting Locations Before Corporate
Mark considers visiting several local diners before reaching out to the corporate team.

21:26 – Collecting Ground-Level Data
Courtney agrees that visiting locations can help collect data, observe gaps, and compare consistency across operations.

23:24 – Talk to Frontline Staff
Michael recommends speaking with employees, not just managers, because the staff doing the work often reveal the real operational gaps.

24:04 – Mystery Shopper Approach
Michael suggests acting like a customer and asking staff about training, consistency, and what it is like to work there.

25:17 – Sales Respect Frame
Michael explains that coaches should treat executives with respect, but not so much deference that they lower their own position.

26:26 – Nobody Is Superior to You
Courtney reinforces that Mark deserves the same respect as any founder or executive, especially when he has valuable expertise.

27:23 – Data to Information to Intel
Courtney explains the progression from collecting data, turning it into information, and then converting it into actionable intelligence.

28:19 – Fear of an Already Successful Machine
Mark shares that his concern is approaching a company that already appears successful and well run.

29:32 – What Emotion Do They Own?
Gary asks what the diner group’s claim to fame is and what feeling the brand is trying to create.

30:41 – Community-Centered Diner Experience
Mark explains that the company leans into a 1950s diner experience and strong community involvement.

31:31 – Consistency Across Locations
Gary suggests checking whether each location creates the same emotional experience or whether every location has a different flavor.

32:33 – Growth Goal vs. Optimization Goal
Gary raises a key strategic question: do they want to improve the existing 50-plus locations, or scale to hundreds?

34:20 – Diagnose First
Courtney reinforces that coaches must diagnose before doing anything else. Starting with solutions is coaching malpractice.

35:39 – Every Organization Has Business Diseases
Courtney says every organization, no matter how successful, has some form of business disease or dysfunction.

36:44 – Gary’s Complex Sale Framework
Gary shifts into a larger-sale framework, beginning with the importance of understanding the relationship and decision structure.

38:27 – BANT Framework
Gary introduces BANT: budget, authority, need, and timeline.

39:28 – Sleuth Before Selling
Gary says Mark needs to act more like a sleuth than a salesperson at this stage.

40:05 – Online Research and Hiring Clues
Gary looks at the company online and notices open manager roles, suggesting that manager retention or staffing may be a challenge.

41:43 – Buying Influences
Gary explains that in a larger organization, the coach needs to identify all buying influences and understand each person’s role.

42:42 – What Does a Win Mean for Them?
Gary says the coach must understand what a win looks like personally and professionally for each decision maker.

43:30 – Position of Strength and Red Flags
Gary encourages Mark to identify his strengths, evidence, red flags, and next actions before treating it as a real opportunity.

45:37 – Marketing Reps as Buying Influences
Gary points out that the marketing reps may also influence the decision and should not be ignored.

46:53 – Value for the Whole Group
Mark apologizes for taking much of the call, but the group confirms the conversation is useful for everyone.

47:13 – Blind Spot Analysis
Mark offers to share his “blind spot analysis” product, which looks across operations, facilities, environment, purchasing, shipping, and more.

48:41 – Leon’s Installer vs. Winger Challenge
Leon shares that he feels “installer-adjacent” but sometimes still feels like he is winging it with a larger client.

49:47 – Culture Problem Over Cost Cutting
Leon explains that his client’s deeper problem may be culture rather than cost cutting.

51:16 – Cost Cutting vs. Cost Control
Gary asks whether “cost control” or another term is better than “cost cutting,” since businesses cannot cut their way to profitability.

51:58 – Cost Saving Initiatives
Courtney introduces his CSI framework, which stands for Cost Saving Initiatives.

52:27 – Appropriate Cost Management
Courtney suggests the idea of appropriate cost management, since cutting the wrong things can damage an organization’s ability to innovate.

53:13 – Cutting R&D Can Hurt the Future
Courtney explains that cutting areas like R&D may save money short term but harm future innovation and MDP.

54:03 – Culture Symptoms in a Contractor Business
Leon explains that his contractor client has office staff, project management, and communication challenges that point to culture and process issues.

55:10 – Labor Tracking and SOP Gaps
Leon identifies operational gaps such as labor not being assigned to jobs and no clear end-of-day procedure.

56:25 – Pull Threads to Find Patterns
Courtney says the coach’s job is to pull threads, follow clues, and identify patterns that reveal deeper issues.

57:04 – Business Disease Framework
Courtney references possible issues like cultural toxicity, leadership deficiency, or market blindness disease.

58:47 – Follow the Why Chain
Courtney explains how to follow a symptom back through product, R&D, funding, strategy, and leadership to find the root cause.

1:00:12 – PAS and Broader Organizational Diagnosis
Courtney explains that PAS is primarily geared toward accelerating revenue, profit, and cash flow, but broader diagnosis may be needed.

1:01:24 – Profit First Approach
The profit-first approach gives the organization more money to fund deeper fixes.

1:02:04 – Five Whys and Gemba Walks
Mark introduces Five Whys and Gemba walks as useful tools for getting to root causes and understanding how work is actually done.

1:04:35 – SOP Review Gaps
Mark notes that many organizations have SOPs that have not been reviewed or updated as scheduled.

1:05:27 – Core Values as Operating Standards
Leon explains that he is pushing his client toward core values that can also support operational excellence and employee reviews.

1:07:09 – Final MDP Reminder
Courtney closes by saying that many organizational problems ultimately connect back to an MDP deficiency.

Five Key Takeaways

• Larger organizations still have business organs: marketing, sales, operations, people, systems, and cash flow.
• Do not sell before diagnosing. Starting with a solution before understanding the real problem is business coaching malpractice.
• For franchise-style organizations, alignment, standardization, and unification are major leverage points.
• Frontline employees often reveal the real gaps that leadership cannot see.
• Cost cutting is not always the right frame. The better goal is appropriate cost management that protects the organization’s vitality.

Notable Quotes

“You don’t have to focus on restaurant work. You have to focus on optimizing the organization.”

“Everything you do to help the business strengthen and grow is basically helping them strengthen their MDP.”

“You’re there to help that franchise organization become a stronger, more dominant player.”

“Start with your diagnosis 100% of the time.”

“If you do anything else, then that’s business coaching malpractice.”

“Every organization on the planet is suffering from one type or one level of business disease or the other.”

“You need to be a sleuth before a salesperson.”

“What does a win mean for them?”

“You can’t cut your way to profitability.”

“You can cut away the organization’s vitality.”

“You cannot fix what you cannot see.”

“Everything leads back to MDP deficiency.”

Action Steps from the Call

1. For larger opportunities, identify the organization’s structure before pitching.
2. Determine whether the locations are corporate-owned, franchise-owned, or independently operated.
3. Identify the real decision makers and buying influences.
4. Use BANT: budget, authority, need, and timeline.
5. Visit several locations before presenting to corporate.
6. Observe the customer experience across locations.
7. Talk to frontline employees, not only managers.
8. Use a mystery shopper approach when appropriate.
9. Look for consistency or inconsistency across locations.
10. Identify what emotional experience the brand is trying to create.
11. Ask whether the organization wants optimization, expansion, or both.
12. Diagnose before recommending any solution.
13. Look for gaps in alignment, standardization, and unification.
14. Consider whether the organization needs a franchise university or internal training system.
15. Use Jumpstart 12 and Jumpstart 40 strategies as pieces of the larger MDP.
16. Map symptoms to clues, clues to patterns, and patterns to underlying issues.
17. Use the Five Whys to follow problems back to their root cause.
18. Use Gemba walks to observe work where it actually happens.
19. Review whether SOPs exist and whether they are current.
20. Do not frame every savings conversation as cost cutting.
21. Focus on appropriate cost management.
22. Avoid cutting areas that protect future growth, such as innovation, training, and R&D.
23. Use profit-first wins to create funding for deeper organizational improvements.
24. Help clients connect core values to operations and employee performance.
25. Treat large executives with respect, but not intimidation.

Resources & Tools Mentioned

• Advanced Strategy Mastermind
• Profit Acceleration Software / PAS
• Jumpstart 12
• Jumpstart 40
• Market Dominating Position / MDP
• Franchise University
• Hamburger University
• Premium Offers
• BANT Framework
• Mystery Shopper
• Blind Spot Analysis
• Standard Operating Procedures / SOPs
• Alignment
• Standardization
• Unification
• Cost Saving Initiatives / CSI
• Appropriate Cost Management
• Five Whys
• Gemba Walks
• Core Values
• Business Diseases Framework
• MDP Deficiency Disease
• The One Thing
• Chamber of Commerce
• Restaurant Franchise Group