A business does not always have a lead problem. Often one stage of its marketing is leaking while the budget keeps flowing somewhere else.
The High Tide Marketing Roadmap is the framework we use to find that stage. It's a free 8-page PDF: one page that maps how a business grows, a symptom finder, a diagnostic for each stage and a scorecard that tells you what to fix first.
What's inside
- The Marketing Roadmap. The five-stage framework on a single page.
- Find the stage that's leaking. A table that matches what you keep hearing to the stage to look at.
- Five stage diagnostics. A page for each stage with what builds it, a warning-sign checklist, what the leak costs you and the fix.
- The scorecard. Rate each stage from 1 to 5, total your score and pick your first fix for the month.
The five stages
Every business grows through five stages: attracting attention, building trust, making the sale, nurturing relationships and increasing customer value. The roadmap calls them Traffic, Trust, Action, Nurture and Profit, and lays out what builds each one.
- Traffic. Four ways to get attention: 1-1 warm (people who know you), 1-1 cold (new contacts), 1-many paid (bought attention) and 1-many organic (earned attention).
- Trust. Reviews, referrals, your website and videos.
- Action. The offer itself, packaged as a product (a packaged offer with a price) or a service (work you perform).
- Nurture. SMS, email, calls and a newsletter.
- Profit. Upsells (more for the buyer) and downsells (a way in for the no).
The rule behind the whole framework: your weakest stage sets the ceiling for what comes after it. Fix the first leak, not the loudest symptom.
Find the stage that's leaking
Page two translates what you hear every week into the stage to check. A few examples from the guide:
- "We just need more leads." Look at Traffic: not enough channels, or all your eggs in one basket.
- "The phone rings, but nobody books." Look at Trust and Action: weak proof, or an offer that is hard to say yes to.
- "Competitors charge more and still win." Look at Trust: they look safer to buy from than you do.
- "They ghosted after the estimate." Look at Nurture: there's no follow-up system.
- "We are busy, but the margins are thin." Look at Profit: every customer buys one thing, once.
A diagnostic for every stage
Each stage gets its own page. You'll see what builds the stage, a checklist of signs it's your leak, what that leak costs you, the fix and a space to write your first action. Check four or more signs on Traffic, Trust or Action, or three or more on Nurture or Profit, and that stage is likely a priority.
Traffic: not enough channels
One channel is one point of failure. When it dries up, revenue drops before you can build a replacement. The fix is to run at least one channel in each of the four Traffic boxes and tag the source on every lead, so you know what earns the most revenue.
Trust: not enough reviews or proof
Warning signs include fewer Google reviews than the top three competitors in your area, or a most recent review that's more than 30 days old. The fix: automate review requests, build a referral program, put credible proof on your key website pages and capture short videos of your team and customers.
Action: hard time selling the offer
If you hear "let me think about it" far more than "let's do it," or it takes longer than five minutes to respond to a new lead, start here. The fix: package the offer with a name, a price or price range and a defined outcome. Use one clear call to action, respond quickly and track your close rate weekly.
Nurture: leads go cold and customers forget you
When leads get one call or email and then nothing, you keep paying for new leads while the ones you already attracted buy from someone else. The fix: put unsold leads into an SMS and email follow-up sequence, personally call high-value quotes and send a useful monthly newsletter.
Profit: cannot upsell or downsell
If nearly every customer buys the same single offer, you're leaving relevant sales on the table. The fix: present good, better and best options, test a maintenance or membership plan and create a smaller entry offer for qualified buyers who say no.
Score your roadmap
The last page is a scorecard with one question per stage, like "Would a stranger trust you more than your top competitor?" Rate each stage from 1 (broken) to 5 (strong) and add them up out of 25.
- 20 to 25, strong system. Grow Traffic and tighten Profit.
- 13 to 19, leaking. One or two stages are capping growth.
- 5 to 12, rebuild. Fix the earliest bottleneck first.
Start with your lowest score. If two scores tie, work on the stage farther left on the roadmap first. Then write down your biggest leak and the first fix you'll make this month.
How to use it
- Review each stage.
- Check the warning signs.
- Fix the lowest score first.
If you want a second set of eyes on your scores, book a free discovery call with Chantz and the team.
