The Diagnostic Guarantee: 3x Value or Your Fee Back
If a Workflow Diagnostic cannot evidence recoverable value worth at least three times its own fee, measured against criteria agreed in advance, your Diagnostic fee is refunded in full. This article sets out the seven mechanics that make that promise checkable.
A guarantee you cannot check is a hope. “We stand behind our work” tells a finance reviewer nothing: it names no number, no period and no referee. This one has seven parts, all fixed in writing before the work starts, so that either side can test it against the evidence.
01. The seven mechanics
| Question | The rule | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Three times what? | Three times the Diagnostic fee you paid. | The test uses your real fee, not a convenient one |
| Over what period? | Twelve months, counted once | Nothing is compounded forward to make the number look larger |
| Whose time counts? | Fee-earning expert time only. Administrative and junior time does not count | The figure is not inflated with cheaper hours |
| At what rate? | Your own stated rate for that time, agreed in writing before the Diagnostic starts | The rate is not chosen afterwards to make the arithmetic work |
| Which savings count? | Annual recurring value. A one-off saving does not count | The threshold reflects an ongoing improvement |
| What counts as evidence? | The baseline measured during the Diagnostic, from your own data, signed off by your sponsor | The evidence is measured, not estimated |
| Who decides? | We decide the result against the Value Basis - the data, assumptions and criteria agreed with you in writing before the work starts. | Neither side can move the bar after seeing the result |
02. A worked example of the threshold
The numbers below are an illustration, not a quote.
Suppose the Diagnostic fee you paid is €4,000.
- Three times the fee is €12,000.
- That must be evidenced as annual recurring value, counted over twelve months once.
- At a stated rate of €100 an hour for fee-earning expert time, €12,000 is 120 hours a year, or 10 hours a month.
So the question the Diagnostic has to answer, with your own data, is simple: does this workflow hold at least 120 hours a year of recurring expert time that could be recovered? If the measured baseline shows that it does, the fee stands. If it does not, your Diagnostic fee is refunded in full. A one-off saving, however real, would not count towards the 120 hours.
03. How the refund works
The Diagnostic is paid in full before it starts. If the evidence does not clear the threshold, we refund the full Diagnostic fee within 10 business days of the readout, and you keep the report.
04. Who decides, and why neither side can move it
We decide the result against the Value Basis - the data, assumptions and criteria agreed with you in writing before the work starts. A threshold that either side can move after seeing the result is not a threshold.
This removes a category of dispute entirely. A client who is unhappy for reasons unrelated to the numbers has no ground to invoke the guarantee, and we have no ground to resist a valid one. The test either clears the bar in writing, or it does not.
05. What the guarantee does not cover
The guarantee is specific to the Diagnostic. It does not apply to fees for AI set-up and team training or Managed System Operations. The build carries a separate assurance: a fixed price against written acceptance criteria, corrected at our cost if we do not meet them, with correction running for 90 days from acceptance. The two should not be confused: one tests whether a workflow is worth building, the other tests whether it was built to the agreed standard.
06. Why this sits with the Diagnostic
A guarantee only makes sense after a measurement. That is why we do not quote a build before a Diagnostic, as explained in why we don’t quote without a Diagnostic. The same logic of agreeing the test before the result runs through how we handle data, access and exit, which is set out on Trust & Security.
07. Frequently asked questions
Three times what, exactly?
Three times the Diagnostic fee you paid.
Over what period is the value measured?
Twelve months, counted once. Nothing is compounded forward over a longer horizon.
Whose time counts toward the threshold?
Fee-earning expert time only, at your own stated rate agreed in writing beforehand. Administrative and junior time does not count.
Can a one-off saving count?
No. Only annual recurring value counts, because the threshold is meant to reflect an ongoing improvement.
What if we disagree with the measured baseline?
The baseline is signed off by your sponsor during the Diagnostic, using data and assumptions agreed in writing beforehand. The criteria were fixed before the result existed.
Does the guarantee apply to every Diagnostic, and to the build?
It applies to every Workflow Diagnostic on the same written terms. The build has a separate assurance, detailed on the pricing page.
08. Next step
See the full terms alongside how each engagement is structured and paid. Pricing →
