Contacts are not a commercial history.
A database can contain names and still say very little about which relationships became valuable or why they appeared.
Commercial history research for founder-led B2B
Work out what has produced good business before you try to repeat it.
ProperBizFix is for small B2B businesses with years of client experience but an incomplete commercial record. I help establish which past relationships became good business, what was happening around them, and what that means for targeting now.
A clean CRM is not required. The first step is simply your company domain.
Founder-led B2B typically 5 - 50 people£1,650 fixed core review7 - 10 working days after main interviews
01
The gap
The business may know its clients better than the CRM does.
In a small relationship-led business, commercial judgement often sits across a few people, old conversations, introductions and client history. That can work for years. It becomes harder when growth has to be created deliberately rather than arriving through the same network.
The core team still holds useful evidence.
Founders and long-standing colleagues usually remember the clients, referrals and false starts that matter. The review starts there rather than demanding a clean data model.
Today’s client profile can be misleading.
A good client may look mature today but have bought when the business was smaller and going through a very different change.
02
When it becomes useful
Usually before the business spends more on acquisition.
First dedicated BDM
Sales is moving away from the founder and the business needs to make previously implicit judgement more explicit.
Outbound begins
The team can now reach many more companies, but volume does not answer which ones deserve attention.
Several channels at once
Referrals, events, partnerships, content and outbound are all present, making it harder to tell what is producing useful business.
ICP is mostly opinion
The company can describe its typical client but is less certain what separates a strong client from a merely familiar one.
CRM is being rebuilt
Before formalising fields and stages, it is useful to know which commercial distinctions are worth preserving.
Referrals feel less sufficient
The old mechanism still works, but the business needs a more deliberate way to decide where to look next.
03
The result
A clearer answer to what is worth repeating.
CUSTOMER PATTERN
Which types of past relationships became commercially useful, rather than simply which sectors appear in the database.
BUYING SITUATIONS
The business conditions that repeatedly appeared around stronger client relationships and may be more useful than firmographics alone.
EXCLUSIONS
Cases that look superficially similar but historically produced weak, one-off or difficult business.
OBSERVABLE SIGNALS
External signs that can make current account selection more deliberate and give further research a reason to start.
The review does not claim that a public signal proves intent or pain. It separates supported patterns from hypotheses that still need to be tested in the market.
04
Low-friction input
You do not need to clean the CRM before starting.
First
Your domain
I check the business, proposition and whether there appears to be enough history and public evidence to make the review useful.
If it fits
1 - 2 people from the core team
Usually the founder plus one person who knows delivery, operations, sales or finance. Short asynchronous clarification is included.
Evidence where useful
Only what adds value
Existing customer records, invoices, proposals, CRM, email or calendar history may be used selectively. You are not asked to rebuild the data first.
The detailed analytical method is part of the engagement. The website describes the scope and evidence standard, not the full research procedure.
Commercial History Review
£1,650fixed
- 1 - 2 core-team interviews
- Asynchronous clarification during the review
- Focused commercial history analysis
- External research where it changes the conclusion
- Written review and final discussion
- Typical delivery: 7 - 10 working days
Scope
One core product. One optional next step.
The core review establishes what the business has enough evidence to say about its own commercial history. It is intended to improve target selection and commercial judgement before more money is spent on sales activity.
If the patterns are strong enough to use externally, an optional Target Account Research extension finds a focused set of UK businesses where similar observable conditions appear now.
Core review£1,650 fixed
Target account extension£850 after a completed review
Combined project£2,400 fixed
No subscriptionA defined research project, not ongoing monitoring
Good fit
Built for businesses with history, not necessarily good systems.
- Founder-led B2B service business, usually 5 - 50 people.
- Several years of client relationships, referrals or repeat work.
- CRM is incomplete, lightly used or mainly a contact store.
- The business is trying to make acquisition more deliberate.
Probably not
Not every sales problem needs this work.
- Very early business with almost no client history.
- Mature RevOps team with reliable won/lost and profitability data already in place.
- A need for a generic lead list without prior analysis.
- A conversion, pricing or delivery problem already clearly established elsewhere.
Domain first
Send your company website.
I will first look at the business itself and decide whether this review is likely to be useful. At this stage I do not need your CRM, customer list or access to internal systems.
If it looks suitable, I will reply with the next step and what I would need for the first conversation.
If the problem appears to sit somewhere else, or the available history is too thin, I will say so before any paid work.
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