Diagnostics & the Action Brief (Revenue Mechanic)

Overview

Diagnostics turns the Revenue Engine’s signals into a prioritised list of things to do. It appears in two places: the Prescription band docked to the right of the canvas, which always shows your top risk and a short preview, and the full Diagnosticsslide-out (the Revenue Mechanic), which carries the complete brief and the conversion analysis behind it. Both follow your persona: the brief is titled, worded and prioritised for whoever is viewing.

This guide covers the Prescription band, how to open Diagnostics, and the two views inside it. For the rest of the page, see the Revenue Engine Masthead and Persona Views guides.

The Prescription band

The band sits beside the canvas and leads with a persona eyebrow, for example CRO BRIEF — AS OF TODAY or, for Sales Leaders, ACTION BRIEF — AS OF TODAY. It is built so your most important item is always visible:

• Depending on your persona, a highlighted lead line notes what to notice first, and a posture line sets the stance to take.
• The first slot is always your top risk, so it can never be pushed out of the preview. The second slot is the next-highest-priority action.
• A summary row counts what is waiting by time horizon (for example 3 today · 2 this week · 4 this month), with View full brief to open Diagnostics.
• In the top-right, an at risk · N deals stat shows the revenue at risk and how many deals carry it. Click it to open Diagnostics. It is hidden when nothing is at risk.

If there are no items to preview, the band shows your persona’s empty-state message instead (see Troubleshooting). While the brief loads, the column reads Loading brief….

Opening Diagnostics

Open the full panel with the Diagnostics button in the masthead, View full brief on the Prescription band, or the at-risk stat. The panel slides in from the right with the eyebrow DIAGNOSTICS and the title Revenue · Mechanic. Close it with Close, the ×button, Esc or a click on the dimmed page.

Two views: Action Brief and Conversion

A toggle at the top switches between Action Brief and Conversion. The subtitle tells you how the current view is ordered: Prioritised by time horizon or Ranked by revenue impact.

Action Brief

The Action Brief lists recommendations grouped by time horizon, in the order they need attention:

• TODAY — don’t let the day end without these
• THIS WEEK
• THIS MONTH
• THIS QUARTER
• ALREADY BEHIND — recovery window has closed

The Account Executive persona sees its own wording, such as TODAY — what I should move next and ALREADY BEHIND — recover or reset.

Each item states the prescription, the Evidence: behind it and a Why this horizon: note, with the amount exposed, a severity dot and, where set, the owner. Coaching items aimed at a rep carry a COACHING tag and an accent edge. The action button is worded for your persona:

• Sales Leader and VP Sales: Investigate on deals, Open agenda on reps.
• Chief Revenue Officer: Review risk and Review cohort.
• Revenue Operations: Inspect deal and Investigate rep.
• Customer Success: Open account and Review CSM.
• GTM Owner: Inspect and Review.
• Account Executive: Open my deal on deals.

The footer shows how many signals were evaluated, for example 42 signals evaluated.

Conversion

The Conversion view ranks the engine by revenue impact rather than time. It shows:

• A top-drag card for the single worst conversion problem, with its severity (and a capacity issue tag where relevant), its headline, the GAP to benchmark in percentage points, the REVENUE AT RISK and an Investigate button.
• A triage summary counting stages as Critical, Review and Healthy.
• An ALL STAGES list. Each card shows the stage’s severity, ACTUAL and BENCH conversion rates with a bar, the gap in points and the amount at risk.

Where benchmark options are available, a Benchmark toggle beside the view switch lets you change what the rates are measured against. Hover an option for its description. The footer shows how many stages were analysed.

Stage diagnosis detail

Click a stage card, or Investigate on the top-drag card, to open that stage’s diagnosis. It is headed by the stage name and severity, with GAP, AT RISK and DEALS figures. Three tabs break the problem down:

• Symptoms: the observable signs the stage is underperforming.
• Root Cause: the underlying reason.
• Prescriptions: specific fixes, each with a title, a description, an impact tier, a FIX IN time estimate and the IMPACT. A chip on the tab counts the prescriptions.

Use All stages to return to the list. Closing the panel also returns it to the list.

Work the brief

1. Read your top risk in the Prescription band.
2. Click View full brief.
3. In Action Brief, clear the TODAY items first, using each item’s action button.
4. If the forecast looks soft, switch to Conversion and click Investigate on the top-drag card.
5. Work through Symptoms, Root Cause and Prescriptions, then close the panel.

Tips

• The Prescription band is the home-screen pulse; open the full panel when an item needs its evidence and prescriptions.
• For whether past recommendations worked, see the Did our advice work? band, covered in Signals & the Loop.

Troubleshooting

• The panel says Loading diagnostics… The full diagnosis hasn’t arrived yet. Give it a moment, or press Refresh in the masthead.
• The brief is empty. Nothing is due for your persona, which is a healthy state. You’ll see your persona’s message, for example No immediate actions required. (Sales Leader), Pipeline coverage, new-logo velocity, and retention are within tolerance. (CRO), Team coaching and deal-execution signals are within tolerance.(VP Sales), Pipeline shape and retention indicators are within tolerance. (Revenue Operations), Renewal funnel and expansion pipeline are healthy — continue nurturing high-priority accounts. (Customer Success), Lead sourcing and funnel conversion are within tolerance. (GTM Owner) or My open book has no immediate evidence-backed actions. (Account Executive).
• There is no at-risk stat on the band. No revenue or deals are currently at risk.
• The Benchmark toggle is missing. It appears only in the Conversion view, and only when benchmark options are available for your data.