ExecSignal AI · Discovery Audit

Know exactly where
you stand. In two weeks.

A rigorous competitive diagnostic that maps your current thought leadership position, benchmarks you against your top competitors, and delivers a precise 90-day strategy to make you the most recognized voice in your market.

Book Your Audit See what's included ↓
$2,500
One-time fee · Delivered in 10 business days
Full fee credited toward your first retainer month if you sign within 30 days

Your competitors are winning deals before the sales conversation starts. Buyers evaluate executive visibility before they ever take a meeting — and most tech CEOs have no idea where they stand.

You have expertise worth amplifying. The problem isn't what you know — it's that the right people don't know you know it. Every week without a presence strategy is market share quietly lost.

Generic content strategies don't work at the executive level. You need a diagnostic built around your specific expertise, your specific market, and your specific competitive set.

The data is unambiguous

Decision makers evaluate your leadership presence before they take a meeting.

87%
of senior executives say thought leadership is critical when evaluating vendors
Edelman–LinkedIn, 2025
78%
are willing to work with providers of high-quality thought leadership
Edelman–LinkedIn, 2025
63%
of hidden buyers consume thought leadership at the same rate as key decision makers
Edelman–LinkedIn, 2025
55%
of hidden buyers use thought leadership in their vendor evaluation — before any contact
Edelman–LinkedIn, 2025
What you receive

Six components.
One complete picture.

The Discovery Audit is not a free strategy call. It is a paid professional engagement that delivers a 25–30 page strategic document you could present to your board.

📋
Digital Pre-Assessment
A 20-question structured survey completed before your interview. Four modules covering your expertise, current presence, audience and business objectives, and voice preferences. Completed on your schedule, typically 30–45 minutes.
Async — your schedule
🎯
90-Minute Executive Interview
A structured deep-dive conducted by Mike Harris personally. This is not a sales conversation — it's a professional diagnostic session designed to surface the expertise, opinions, and narrative assets that no survey can fully capture.
Live video · 90 minutes
🔍
Competitive Signal Scan
A thorough audit of 3–5 competitor executives across LinkedIn, content channels, press, and podcast presence. Scored across 8 dimensions. The side-by-side analysis is often the most clarifying document our clients have ever seen about their market position.
Desk research — no client time
👥
Audience Intelligence Profile
A detailed profile of your primary target audience: their role, pain points, media consumption habits, and — critically — what they need to believe about you before they'll buy. Built from your interview and backed by market research.
Desk research — no client time
📄
The Authority Blueprint
A 25–30 page strategic document covering your Signal Audit Scorecard, Authority Positioning Statement, Point of View Platform, Content Architecture, 90-Day Roadmap, and Success Metrics Framework. This is the deliverable.
Written report + live readout
🎬
60-Minute Blueprint Readout
A live video session where Mike walks through every section of your Blueprint, explains the strategic rationale, and answers questions. Most clients describe this session as the clearest picture they've ever had of their market opportunity.
Live video · 60 minutes
How it works

Two weeks.
Start to strategy.

The entire engagement is designed to be low-friction for a busy executive. About 3.5 hours of your time across two weeks — and you receive a strategic document most CMOs would spend months building.

1
Day 1
Payment & Onboarding
Welcome package and survey link arrive within 24 hours. Competitive research begins immediately — no waiting.
2
Days 1–4
Pre-Assessment Survey
Complete the 20-question digital survey at your convenience. Your answers let Mike arrive at the interview with deep context rather than starting cold.
3
Days 4–7
Executive Interview
A 90-minute video session with Mike. Structured, but conversational. This is where your distinctive perspective gets fully mapped — the stories, opinions, and expertise that no survey captures.
4
Days 7–14
Research & Blueprint Build
Mike conducts the Competitive Signal Scan and builds your Authority Blueprint. No client time required during this phase.
5
Day 14–15
Blueprint Readout
A 60-minute live session walking through every section of your Blueprint. You leave with a clear strategy and a plan ready to execute.
Authority Blueprint
Sample Contents
01
Executive Summary
2 pages
02
Signal Audit Scorecard
3 pages
03
Authority Positioning Statement
2 pages
04
Audience Intelligence Profile
3 pages
05
Point of View Platform
4 pages
06
Competitive Signal Analysis
5 pages
07
Content Architecture
3 pages
08
90-Day Content Roadmap
4 pages
09
Channel Strategy
2 pages
10
Success Metrics Framework
2 pages
25–30 pages · Professional PDF
⚡ 10 business days
Your time investment
Pre-Assessment Survey30–45 min
Executive Interview90 min
Blueprint Readout60 min
Total~3.5 hours
Right fit

Built for this executive.

The Discovery Audit works best for a specific type of leader. If this is you, it will be one of the most clarifying investments you make this year.

🚀
Tech CEO, $2M–$15M ARR
Strong product, weak market presence. Losing deals to more visible competitors. Investors or the board are starting to ask about awareness.
📈
Tech CMO, $10M–$50M ARR
You know executive content needs to happen. You don't have the bandwidth to build a strategy from scratch. You need a starting point that's actually right.
💰
Scale-up Executive, Post-Series A/B
Just raised funding and need to build market presence fast. There's a credibility gap with enterprise buyers that thought leadership directly closes.
💡
SaaS / IT Services Founder
Deep technical expertise, poor market narrative. Great product, invisible brand. Losing on perception, not capability.
Not the right fit if:
✕You want vanity metrics — followers and likes without business outcome orientation
✕You want to stay anonymous and let brand content do all the work
✕You're primarily price-driven and will not invest at the $3,000+ retainer level
✕You need a full marketing department, not a focused thought leadership engine
"
Mike helped us get established with strategic partners by delivering solid B2B partner marketing. We were acquired by DELL Technologies.
M. Zuhorski — VP Strategic Partnerships, DataFrameworks
Investment

Transparent pricing.
No surprises.

The Discovery Audit is a standalone paid engagement. The deliverable has value whether or not you continue to a retainer.

Discovery Audit
Authority Blueprint
$2,500
one-time
Delivered within 10 business days. Includes all six audit components and the written Blueprint.
✓Digital Pre-Assessment Survey (20 questions)
✓90-minute Executive Interview with Mike Harris
✓Competitive Signal Scan — 3 to 5 competitors
✓Audience Intelligence Profile
✓25–30 page Authority Blueprint (PDF)
✓60-minute live Blueprint Readout session
✓90-day ready-to-execute content roadmap
Reserve Your Audit →
Retainer credit: If you sign a Signal Starter or higher retainer within 30 days of Blueprint delivery, the full $2,500 audit fee is credited against your first month. You effectively start month one at no incremental cost.
After the Audit
Monthly Retainers
$2,199–$4,199
/month
The Discovery Audit is step one. If you decide to execute the Blueprint with ExecSignal AI, these are the ongoing programs.
→Signal Starter — $2,199/mo. LinkedIn posts, long-form articles, content calendar, monthly strategy call.
→Signal Forge — $3,199/mo. Everything in Starter + video content, email newsletter, quarterly white paper.
→Apex Signal — $4,199/mo. Full authority engine with original research, speaker content, and PR outreach.
View all service details →
Mike Harris, Harris CMO Partners
30+ years Fortune 500 & SMB CMO
Journalism degree + Vanderbilt MBA
SaaS · Data Analytics · IT Services · Data Storage
500+ content projects delivered
Multiple client exits to strategic acquirers
Who conducts the audit

The only service led by someone who has sat in your seat.

Every Discovery Audit is conducted personally by Mike Harris — not a junior analyst, not an AI, not an agency team. Mike has led marketing at the CMO level for over 30 years across Fortune 500 companies and high-growth SMBs in SaaS, data analytics, data storage, and IT services.

The difference this makes in the interview is significant. When Mike asks what keeps your buyers up at night, he already knows the categories of answer — because he's had those conversations with buyers for three decades. That context accelerates the diagnostic and sharpens the strategy.

You are not hiring a content vendor. You are working with someone who has built market presence for companies at every stage of growth — and who will tell you exactly what he sees, without the softening that most consultants apply.

Common questions

What people ask before booking.

Yes. The Authority Blueprint is a standalone strategic document with real value regardless of what comes next. Some clients take it and execute with their internal team. Some come back to us 6 months later. The Audit is not a retainer commitment — it is a rigorous diagnostic you can use however you choose.
A free call is 30 minutes and ends with a pitch. The Discovery Audit is two weeks of professional work: a structured survey, a deep-dive interview, a competitive research process, and a 25–30 page written deliverable. The price reflects the work. The credit offer means if you continue to a retainer, the Audit cost you nothing incremental.
Approximately 3.5 hours across two weeks: 30–45 minutes for the survey (done on your schedule), 90 minutes for the interview, and 60 minutes for the Blueprint readout. The competitive research, analysis, and Blueprint writing are done entirely by us.
Mike Harris conducts every interview personally. ExecSignal AI is a boutique practice by design. The CMO-level perspective Mike brings to the diagnostic is the core differentiator — that does not get delegated.
We stand behind the work. If the Blueprint does not deliver genuine strategic value — specific findings, a defensible positioning statement, a realistic 90-day plan — we will revise it until it does. The goal is a document you would not hesitate to share with your board.
The founding client rate of $1,500 is available to the first three Discovery Audit clients only and is not renewable. If it is still available when you inquire, we will let you know. The standard rate is $2,500.
Ready to start

Two weeks from now,
you'll know exactly what to build.

Most tech executives go years without a clear picture of where they stand in their market and what it would actually take to change it. The Discovery Audit ends that ambiguity — with data, strategy, and a plan you can execute.

Book Your Discovery Audit Email Mike directly
$2,500 · Delivered within 10 business days · Credited toward your first retainer month