Getting Comfortable: The Part of the Network We’ll Explore

• In one sentence, which part of your network should we focus on for this engagement (e.g., North America finished-goods distribution, European inbound from Asia, last-mile to key retail partners)?
• Who on your team will be the day-to-day partner for data and decisions on this project? Options: VP Supply Chain Strategy, Network Design Manager, Operations Research Analyst, Head of Logistics/Distribution, IT/Data Owner, Other
• Which systems hold the history and cost inputs we should ingest first? Options: ERP (shipments/orders), TMS (movement-level), WMS, Carrier EDI/Rating, Rate tables/contract PDF, Other
• How mature is your internal modeling capability today—do you rely mostly on spreadsheets, have a commercial optimizer, or something in between? Options: Spreadsheets only, Hybrid (spreadsheets + some tools), Commercial network optimization platform, In-house optimization models, Unsure
• What prompted this re-evaluation now—pick the best fit (you can select more than one)? Options: Tariff or tax change, Acquisition/merger overlap, Capacity constraint at a plant/DC, Customer service failure or complaint, Board/CFO directive, Sustainability/carbon target, Other
• If there’s one immediate story you want the board or CFO not to ask you that you currently can't answer with confidence, what is it?

Are We Pretending Everything Is Fine?

• Where do you see the biggest gap between what your network model or reports say and what operations actually delivers?
• How often do service-level misses, cost overruns, or inventory surprises trigger emergency changes rather than planned optimization? Options: Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Rarely, Never
• When a shipment misses its service commitment, what typically happens next—who gets involved and how long before a workaround is in place?
• Tell us about a recent example where the current network design failed to prevent a material issue (what happened, impact, and how it was resolved).
• How does that recurring issue make you feel about the team’s ability to recommend a confident, board-ready plan? Options: Confident, Somewhat confident, Worried, Undecided
• What would have to change in your current reports or story to make you feel genuinely comfortable defending a network recommendation?

Where Contracts, Tariffs, and Reality Collide

• If we redesigned your network ignoring contracts and tariffs, what realistic element do you think would immediately invalidate the plan?
• Which of the following contractual or regulatory constraints are most likely to block a recommended change? Options: Long-term facility leases, Carrier minimums or lane commitments, Customer service-level agreements (SLAs), Import duties / tariffs, Regional labor agreements, Tax residency implications, Other
• How frequently do carrier rate changes or accessorials make your model’s cost assumptions obsolete? Options: Monthly, Quarterly, Annually, Rarely, Never
• Do you have penalty clauses or service credits in customer contracts that significantly constrain acceptable transit times? Options: Yes, material penalties exist, Yes, but penalties are infrequent, No, Unsure
• Which tariff or trade policy changes in the last 18 months forced you to re-run network scenarios or rethink sourcing? Options: Import tariffs, Export controls, Regional trade agreement changes, Sanctions, No changes affected us, Other
• Describe an instance where a tax or tariff outcome materially shifted your sourcing or routing decision—what was the insight and consequence?

When Capacity Suddenly Becomes the Center of the Room

• Which facilities (plants, DCs, ports) are currently the tightest against capacity limits?
• How predictable is your capacity crunch—seasonal spikes, rolling shortages, or sudden failures? Options: Seasonal, Gradual growth over time, Sudden outages/events, Rolling/variable, Not sure
• Tell us about a capacity workaround you relied on recently—overtime, temporary storage, expedited freight—and the downstream cost or service impact.
• What internal constraints must any feasible plan respect (e.g., production run lengths, safety stock minima, shelf-life, LTL handling limitations)? Options: Production run constraints, Minimum order quantities, Product shelf-life/temperature, Hazmat handling, LTL/palletization rules, Other
• How quickly can you increase capacity at a constrained site if a model recommends shifting more volume there (weeks/months/years)? Options: Weeks, 1-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12+ months, Cannot increase
• If we recommended moving volume to relieve a bottleneck, what operational or financial hurdles would be hardest to overcome?

What Would Convince the Board to Say Yes?

• Imagine the board asks, 'Why should we change the network now?'—what single metric or story would most persuade them? Options: Quantified annual cost savings, Risk mitigation/story for continuity, Service improvement for key customers, Payback timeline, Carbon reduction impact, Other
• How do your board and CFO weigh risk vs. cost—is short-term cash preserved even if long-term costs are higher, or are multi-year ROI and resilience prioritized? Options: Short-term cash priority, Multi-year ROI prioritized, Balance depends on context, Unsure
• What level of modeling fidelity do they expect—high-level directional analysis or a board-ready model validated with actual shipment and contract data? Options: Directional analysis ok, Board-ready validated model required, Depends on the ask, Unsure
• Who besides the supply chain team must be comfortable with the recommendation before it reaches the board (e.g., CFO, tax, legal, operations, commercial)? Options: CFO/Finance, Tax, Legal/Compliance, Operations/Plant Managers, Commercial/Sales, HR/Labor, Other
• What is the firm deadline or event that would force a decision (e.g., next board meeting date, contract renewal, tariff implementation date)?
• What concerns would make the board delay or reject a recommendation even if it showed cost savings?

What If We Could Build a Baseline in Days, Not Months?

• We often build a validated baseline from ERP/TMS snapshots—are you willing to run a pilot on a single region or product set to test speed and fidelity? Options: Yes—single region/product, Yes—but need internal approval, No—not at this time, Unsure
• What shipment sampling window would you consider representative for a baseline—last 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, or specific peak windows? Options: Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 12 months, Peak season window only, Other
• Who owns data extraction for ERP/TMS and who will need to approve access for a rapid model build?
• Which data quality concerns worry you most when we ingest historical shipments (missing weights, incorrect SKUs, bad geo-coding, split tendering)? Options: Missing weights/dimensions, Incorrect SKUs/customer IDs, Missing cost fields, Bad geocodes/addresses, Duplicate records, Other
• If we surfaced a model discrepancy driven by data, how much time and resource can your team commit to remediation during the engagement? Options: Dedicated full-time data lead, Part-time support, Ad-hoc as available, Minimal availability
• What would success look like for a two-week baseline run versus a full engagement in terms of deliverables and confidence?

Implementation Reality Check: What Would Break the Plan?

• If the model recommends facility consolidation or relocation, which real-world constraints would most likely stop you from moving ahead? Options: Lease break penalties, Labor/union issues, Customer proximity requirements, IT/system integration burden, Regulatory approvals, Other
• How much lead time do your major leases and labor agreements typically require for changes (weeks/months/years)? Options: Weeks, 1-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12+ months, Varies widely
• Have you implemented network changes in the last 5 years? If so, what was the single biggest operational challenge during the transition?
• What governance or change-control steps must be in place before operations can enact a recommended shift (e.g., pilot windows, customer notifications, carrier tendering)?
• Which implementation risks would you want quantified up front so you can compare options side-by-side? Options: Lease exit costs, One-time transition freight, Operational downtime risk, Customer SLA breach risk, Labor retraining costs, Regulatory/compliance risk, Other
• If we surfaced a plan with attractive savings but meaningful implementation hurdles, how would you prefer we present trade-offs to the board? Options: Phased roadmap with pilots, Contingency scenarios, Full-costed ‘do nothing’ comparison, Sensitivity ranges, Other

Outcome Signals: What Will Make This Win Stick?

• What measurable KPIs would you use to judge whether a recommended change succeeded after 6–12 months? Options: Total landed cost, On-time delivery rate, Customer fill rate, Inventory turns, Carbon emissions, Working capital improvement, Other
• What is a realistic target for annualized savings or service improvement that would justify the effort for your leadership? Options: >10% cost reduction, 5–10% cost reduction, 1–5% cost reduction, Service improvement prioritized over cost, Not sure
• How comfortable are you with small short-term service degradation if it unlocks larger long-term savings (e.g., 2–4 week transitional service dip)? Options: Comfortable with clear mitigation, Somewhat comfortable, Prefer zero degradation, Not comfortable
• Who should own post-implementation validation and ongoing tracking if we deliver an executable plan? Options: Supply Chain Strategy, Operations/Distribution, Finance, Third-party implementation partner, Other
• Which dashboards or reports would make you feel confident the change is on track (frequency and primary viewers)?

Next Steps: What Would ‘Ready to Proceed’ Look Like?

• If we agreed a pilot or diagnostic, what is your target timeline for the next decision milestone (e.g., internal kickoff, board-ready draft)? Options: 1–2 weeks, 2–4 weeks, 1–2 months, 2–3 months, Unsure
• Who are the three people who must say yes for us to proceed to a pilot and who will be the single escalation if things stall?
• What would make you decline a pilot or diagnostic even if the scope and cost were reasonable? Options: Data access blocked, Leadership not aligned, Competing priorities, No perceived urgency, Other
• What level of commercial transparency do you need up front (fixed-fee pilot, success-fee structure, full engagement pricing) to feel comfortable committing? Options: Fixed-fee pilot, Success-based/contingent, Time & materials, Need to discuss internally, Other
• Last question—what would make you say this was the best diagnostic you've ever run (what outcome or experience would we need to deliver)?

Quick Intro: How You Work with Data Today

• What's the single most common source we should look at first to build a baseline (ERP, TMS, WMS, carrier EDI, spreadsheets, other)? Options: ERP (order/shipment records), TMS (shipment legs & events), WMS (inventory movements), Carrier EDI/CTPAT feeds, OMS/CRM exports, Ad-hoc spreadsheets, Other
• Who usually prepares that data today—an internal analyst, IT, 3PL, or the carrier—and how do they prefer to hand it off? Options: Internal analytics team, IT/BI team, Operations/Network design team, 3PL partner, Carrier, External consultant, Other
• What file formats and delivery methods are most realistic for your organization right now (CSV/SFTP, API, database read-only, EDI, manual upload)? Options: CSV via SFTP, API endpoints, Database read-only account (ODBC/SQL), EDI extracts, Manual spreadsheet upload, Secure file share (HTTPS), Other
• Roughly how many rows or shipment records should we expect for the sample window you plan to share? Options: <10k, 10k–100k, 100k–1M, 1M–5M, >5M, Unsure / need help estimating
• When data has been prepared in the past, what has felt easiest to coordinate? What has felt hardest?

If Your Data Could Speak, What Would It Complain About?

• Are you confident your shipment history actually tells the truth about where costs and service break down—or is that a risky assumption? Options: Confident, Somewhat confident, Doubtful, Not confident at all
• Where do you see the biggest gaps in the historical dataset we’ll need for a reliable baseline (missing rates, incorrect lane distances, inconsistent SKU mapping, incomplete cost fields)? Options: Missing freight rates, Inaccurate carrier segmentation, Inconsistent customer/ship-to IDs, Incomplete product/SKU mapping, Missing facility cost/lease data, Insufficient lead-time/service window data, Other
• Give a recent example when a data quality issue led to a misleading conclusion or delayed a decision—what happened and how long did it take to fix?
• How often have you been burned by late-arriving data or last-minute corrections during a modeling engagement, and how does that typically impact timelines? Options: Rarely, Occasionally, Often, Almost always
• If we found a critical data gap during baseline building, how would you prefer we surface it—an immediate escalation, a documented assumption with impact estimate, or a paused data-clean phase? Options: Immediate escalation to stakeholders, Documented assumption + impact estimate, Pause and request corrected extract, Proceed with best-effort imputation, Other

Who Holds the Keys? Mapping Access and Accountability

• Who are the specific people or teams with authorization to extract ERP/TMS data, approve secure connections, and sign off on sharing—list names, roles, and business email domains if possible.
• Which of the following groups typically control access to the systems we need (select all that apply)? Options: Central IT / Data Governance, Supply Chain / Logistics Ops, Finance / Cost Accounting, 3PL/managed services, Legal / Compliance, Business unit IT, Other
• Have we worked with these owners before on a similar extract—do they understand the fields we need or will this require re-education? Options: Worked together recently — they know the fields, Worked together long ago — some re-education needed, Never worked together — will need full briefing, Unsure
• What authorization steps usually trip you up (change request, security questionnaire, VPN approval, SOC2 review, legal data transfer approval)? Options: Security questionnaire, VPN/network access, SOC2/attestation review, Legal/data transfer approval, Change control window, Other
• If approval is likely to take longer than expected, who on your side can escalate to speed things up (role/title)?

Legal, Contracts & Privacy: What's Really Restricted?

• How comfortable are you that sharing shipment and customer-level data for modeling won't violate existing contracts or privacy obligations? Options: Very comfortable, Somewhat comfortable, Unsure, Not comfortable
• Which contractual or regulatory constraints should we anticipate (customer confidentiality clauses, cross-border data transfer limits, carrier contract non-disclosure, GDPR/CCPA concerns)? Options: Customer confidentiality clauses, Carrier/3PL NDAs, Cross-border transfer restrictions, GDPR/CCPA/other privacy regs, Proprietary rate clauses, None of the above, Other
• If redaction or anonymization is required, which fields must be removed or masked (customer name, exact address, invoice numbers, SKU descriptions)? Options: Customer name, Exact ship-to address, Invoice numbers, SKU descriptions, Unit-of-measure detail, None—full data allowed, Other
• Would a hashed ID mapping approach (we provide a mapping key that stays internal to you) be acceptable to keep analyst-level fidelity while protecting identities? Options: Yes - acceptable, Maybe - need legal review, No - cannot use hashed mappings, Unsure
• Do you have a preferred legal template (DPA, data processing addendum, DAA) we should use, or should we propose one? Options: You have a template, We should propose our standard DPA, Need to discuss with legal first, Unsure

Timeline Truth-Telling: What's the Real Deadline and Pain If We Miss It?

• If the CFO or board asked you to present a defensible network alternative, what is the calendar date you need model-ready results by?
• Which of these best describes the reason for that date—board review, budget cycle, tariff effective date, M&A close, capacity crisis, regulatory filing, other? Options: Board meeting, Budget cycle/annual planning, Tariff/tax change effective date, M&A/portfolio integration, Plant/lease capacity constraint, Regulatory filing, Other
• What happens if we miss that date—does the decision get delayed, does execution proceed with risk, or do you lose an opportunity (quantify impact if possible)? Options: Decision delayed (re-scope), Proceed with risky assumptions, Lose commercial opportunity, Operational disruption, Reputational/board confidence hit, Unsure
• How much runway do we actually have to iterate after initial submissions (days/weeks), and how many scenario runs do you expect within that window? Options: <1 week, 1–2 weeks, 3–4 weeks, >4 weeks
• Who on your team must approve a compressed timeline (title/role), and what evidence do they require to accept a faster baseline build?

What Would a Rapid Baseline Look Like to You?

• If we promised a validated baseline model in two weeks, what would worry you most about that promise—accuracy, completeness, stakeholder buy-in, or technical risk? Options: Accuracy of inputs, Completeness of data, Stakeholder acceptance, Technical integration risk, Contract/legal clearance, Other
• Which sample window best represents a meaningful baseline for your business—last 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, or a rolling 12 months excluding outliers? Options: Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 12 months, Rolling 12 months (exclude outliers), Other
• When building a baseline, which elements must be modeled absolutely correctly versus which can be treated as assumptions to be validated later (e.g., carrier rates vs. lease costs)? Options: Carrier rates must be correct, Facility fixed costs must be correct, Service windows/commitments must be correct, Inventory policy assumptions can be provisional, Other
• What visualization or deliverable would make the baseline 'board-ready' in your view (cost bridge, service heatmap, lane-level P&L, uncertainty bands)? Options: Cost bridge summary, Service level heatmap, Lane-level P&L, Scenario comparison dashboard, Uncertainty/assumptions appendix, Other
• If we had to accept one trade-off to accelerate delivery (e.g., model fewer SKUs, use representative customers, or use average lane costs), which trade-off would you accept and why?

Next Steps & Quick Wins to Unlock Access

• What small, immediate action could your team take today to unblock data access (approve an SFTP account, nominate a data owner, sign an NDA, or provision a read-only DB user)? Options: Approve SFTP credentials, Nominate a data owner/contact, Sign NDA/DPA, Provision read-only DB user, Provide a sample extract, Other
• Would a short technical workshop (30–60 min) with your IT/data owner to map required fields and delivery methods be valuable to accelerate the process? Options: Yes — schedule it, Maybe — need to check with IT, No — not necessary
• Which internal stakeholders should we bring into a kickoff call to prevent later surprises (titles only, e.g., Head of IT, Network Design Lead, Legal Counsel)?
• What concerns would you want us to document up front in a 'data readiness note' so stakeholders can approve access faster (privacy mitigations, sample window, assumed imputations)?
• Finally, how confident are you that with the right permissions we could deliver a defensible baseline within your deadline—and what would make you feel more confident right now? Options: Very confident, Somewhat confident, Skeptical, Not confident

Quick Check: Where Are We Right Now?

• How would you best describe your current readiness for deployment in one short phrase? Options: Not started, Data validated, no owners assigned, Model validated, owners assigned, no implementation plan, Implementation plan in progress, Deployment scheduled
• Which stakeholder groups have already reviewed and tacitly accepted the baseline recommendations? Options: Supply Chain Strategy / VP, Network Design / Manager, Operations / Plant Managers, Finance / CFO, Commercial / Sales, IT / Data Team, Legal/Compliance, None yet
• When was the last time your team validated the model against historical shipments (month/year)?
• What remaining assumptions or inputs do you feel are the least certain right now?
• Are there known contractual or regulatory constraints we must resolve before any cutover? Options: Yes - leases/real estate, Yes - carrier contracts, Yes - union/labor agreements, Yes - tariffs/regulatory, No known constraints, Unsure

If Launch Failed, Whose Head Would It Be?

• Who would ultimately be held accountable if an early deployment caused service failures or material cost overruns? Options: VP Supply Chain Strategy, Network Design Manager, COO/Operations Head, CFO/Finance, Plant/Region Manager, Shared accountability
• Please list the named decision owners who must sign final go/no-go (name and title).
• Is there an executive sponsor willing to publicly defend the program to the board if short-term metrics wobble? Options: Yes - strong sponsor, Yes - conditional sponsor, No sponsor yet, Unsure
• What is the formal escalation path for critical issues during rollout (who gets looped in, and when)? Options: Site-level escalation → Regional Ops → VP Ops → Exec Sponsor, Regional Ops → VP Supply Chain → CFO, Ad-hoc / depends on issue, No formal path
• How confident are the named owners in the model's assumptions and inputs today? Options: Very confident, Somewhat confident, Skeptical but open, Not confident

What Would Stop This from Going Live?

• Which single constraint—leases, labor, systems, or carrier contracts—would make the recommended change impossible to implement? Options: Fixed lease terms / penalties, Local labor / union constraints, Carrier minimums / contract floors, IT/system integration limitations, Regulatory/tariff barriers, None of the above / unsure
• Which facilities have lease clauses or termination penalties that materially restrict change, and what are the key dates?
• Where do you face the most acute labor or skills constraints that could delay ramp-up (sites, roles, or regions)?
• Are there carrier minimum volume commitments or guaranteed lanes that, if changed, would significantly alter cost assumptions? Options: Yes - major impact, Yes - minor impact, No commitments, Unsure
• How long (realistically) to obtain any external approvals or permits required for the changes we recommend? Options: <2 weeks, 2–6 weeks, 6–12 weeks, >12 weeks, Not required / unsure

Do Your Data and Systems Play Nice?

• If we requested two weeks of raw ERP and TMS exports today, could your team deliver clean, complete files within 10 business days? Options: Yes - complete in <10 days, Yes - but >10 days, Partial data only, No significant effort required, Unsure
• Who owns each extraction (ERP owner, TMS owner, BI/IT contact) and how do we get access (SFTP/API/manual)?
• Which data elements are commonly missing or unreliable in your current exports (e.g., customer IDs, product hierarchies, cost columns)? Options: Customer identifiers, Product hierarchies/SKUs, Actual landed cost, Carrier/SCAC data, Service commitments/dates, Inventory levels, Other
• What historical window is realistic for sampling and validation: 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, or rolling year? Options: 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, Rolling 12 months, Unsure
• Are there contractual, privacy, or regulatory constraints on sharing shipment or customer data with our team and tools? Options: Yes - needs NDA/controls, Yes - anonymized only, No constraints, Unsure

Who Will Do the Heavy Lifting?

• Who will be the day-to-day owner(s) responsible for executing implementation tasks (names/titles and % of time available)?
• Do you have a dedicated program manager or PMO assigned, and if so, what percent FTE is allocated? Options: Yes - >0.5 FTE, Yes - 0.25–0.5 FTE, Yes - <0.25 FTE, No PMO / not assigned
• Which external partners must be involved (3PLs, carriers, integrators, landlords) to execute the plan? Options: 3PL(s), Primary carriers, IT integrator, Real estate broker/landlord, Labor provider/agency, None / Unsure
• How many people from operations, IT, and finance can be dedicated to cutover activities (hours/week) for the next 8 weeks? Options: <20 hours/week, 20–40 hours/week, 40–80 hours/week, >80 hours/week, Not able to commit
• What training or enablement will be needed for site teams to operate under the new configuration? Options: Operational SOPs, WMS/TMS training, Carrier coordination playbooks, Change management sessions, No training needed, Other

What’s Your Plan B If Something Breaks?

• Before we go live, what fail-safe would you insist on—full rollback capability, parallel run, pilot at one site, or another approach? Options: Full rollback plan, Parallel / shadow run, Pilot at single site, Phased regional roll-out, Other / not sure
• What operational thresholds should trigger a rollback or pause (service level drops, cost variances, inventory outages)? Please be specific.
• If a recommended closure or consolidation is delayed by a lease, what short-term mitigation options are acceptable (subleases, temporary cross-dock, phased transfers)? Options: Sublease, Temporary cross-dock, Phased transfer by SKU, Increase safety stock, Accept delay, Other
• Who is empowered to make the call to pause or roll back during go-live hours (name/title)?
• How quickly can you stand up an emergency response team to remediate critical issues (hours to assemble, expected SLA)? Options: Within 2 hours, Same day, 24–48 hours, >48 hours, No plan / unsure

How Will We Know We’ve Succeeded?

• If the CFO asked today for three measurable signals that prove success, which would you choose? (select up to 3) Options: Total delivered cost reduction, On-time in-full (OTIF) improvement, Customer lead-time reduction, Inventory turns increase, Transportation cost per unit, Carbon emissions decrease, Service complaint reduction
• What are the pass/fail thresholds for each core acceptance metric (e.g., OTIF >= X%, cost delta <= Y%)?
• Describe the acceptance testing plan you'd expect — duration, sample SKUs/customers, and who signs off.
• Do you require board‑ready deliverables (executive slide pack, model appendix, risk register) as part of acceptance? Options: Yes - all of the above, Yes - executive pack only, Yes - model appendix only, No - not required, Unsure
• What documentation and handoffs must be completed before internal teams take operational ownership? Options: SOPs / runbooks, Data dictionaries, Cutover checklist, Training records, All of the above, Other

Ready to Commit to the First Step?

• What is the earliest date leadership will authorize the first deployment milestone (data handoff, pilot kickoff, or cutover prep)? Options: This week, Within 2 weeks, Within 1 month, 1–3 months, No timeline / undecided
• Which internal approvals are still required before that date (finance sign-off, legal, board, union, other)? Options: Finance / budget, Legal / contracts, Board approval, Union/works council, IT security, None / all approved
• Is budget allocated for implementation activities and change management, or will we need a separate funding request? Options: Budget allocated, Partial budget - needs approval, No budget - funding required, Unsure
• Who from your side should sit on a weekly deployment steering committee (names/titles and primary responsibilities)?
• Which implementation approach do you prefer to start with: 30‑day pilot, phased roll‑out, or full cutover? Options: 30‑day pilot, Phased roll‑out, Full cutover, Prefer vendor recommendation

Getting Comfortable — Tell Us About Your Network Today

• How often do you formally review or re-run a network model today? Options: Annually, Quarterly, Biannually, Only after a triggering event, Rarely / never
• What recent event prompted you to engage in this review (pick all that apply)? Options: Tariff or trade change, Acquisition / M&A, Plant or DC capacity constraint, Board directive for savings/carbon, Carrier rate shock, Other
• In two sentences, describe the current network topology and one operational habit you wish would change.
• Who currently owns network strategy, modeling, and board reporting inside your organization? Options: VP/Head Supply Chain Strategy, Network Design Manager, Operations Research / Analytics, Third-party consultant, Cross-functional steering team, Other
• How confident are you that your existing baseline (rates, volumes, service commitments) reflects reality? Options: Very confident, Somewhat confident, Unsure, Not confident at all
• What is the single most important outcome you want this engagement to produce?

What If Your Board Asked for Proof Tomorrow?

• If the CFO asked you in next week's board meeting 'Why should we trust this recommendation?', what would you be most afraid they'd find wrong?
• Which model assumptions do you expect adversaries (CFO, legal, ops) to challenge first? Options: Carrier rates and accessorials, Inventory assumptions, Lease and fixed cost estimates, Service level guarantees, Tax / duty treatment, Other
• Can you share an example where a past network recommendation was pushed back or rejected—what broke down?
• How much lead time do we realistically have to produce board-ready materials? Options: Less than 2 weeks, 2–4 weeks, 4–8 weeks, More than 8 weeks
• Which stakeholders must sign off on a final recommendation (select all that will be involved)? Options: CEO/Board, CFO/Finance, Head of Supply Chain, Network/Operations, Commercial / Sales, Legal / Tax, HR / Labor, Other
• How would it feel professionally if you presented a recommendation and it didn’t hold up to scrutiny?

Where the Numbers Don’t Match the Reality

• How confident are you that ERP and TMS history reliably map to customer orders and true landed costs? Options: Very reliable, Somewhat reliable, Patchy; needs clean-up, Unreliable / missing large portions
• Which systems contain the master data we'll need (select all that apply)? Options: ERP (orders/invoicing), TMS (shipments), WMS (inventory), Carrier EDI / rate files, Custom spreadsheets, Other
• Are there contractual, privacy, or regulatory constraints that limit sharing of rates, customer addresses, or SKU data? Options: No constraints, Non-disclosure agreements in place, Carrier contract restrictions, Customer confidentiality constraints, Regulatory / export controls, Unsure
• What sample window would best represent your normal run-rate (pick one)? Options: Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 12 months, Seasonal period we prefer to define
• Who will be the day-to-day owners for data extraction and validation? (names/roles and availability)
• Tell us about the most common data quality issue you expect (eg. missing customer classifications, mis-routed shipments, or split ASN logic).
• How quickly can we get a sanitized, anonymized sample dataset for a 2-week rapid baseline? Options: Within 48 hours, 3–7 business days, 1–2 weeks, Longer / needs planning

What Keeps You Up at Night About Implementation?

• If our model recommends closing or consolidating one or more sites, what is the single consequence that worries you most?
• Which of the following are real, non-negotiable constraints we must honor? Options: Existing lease terms, Union / labor agreements, Customer-specific service windows, Production capacity limits, Regulatory footprints (e.g., cross-border rules), None / flexible
• Have you ever had an 'optimal' recommendation fail during execution? What was the root cause?
• How much temporary service disruption is acceptable during transition (select the tolerance range)? Options: None — zero disruption, Up to 1 week for localized outages, 1–4 weeks acceptable, Longer acceptable with compensation plans
• What internal capabilities do you have to implement changes—project leads, PMO, change management, IT—select those available? Options: Dedicated PMO, Cross-functional steering committee, External integrator budgeted, Limited internal bandwidth, No formal capability yet
• Emotionally, what would make an implementation feel successful to you and your team?

Imagine a Board‑Ready Recommendation That Can't Be Dismantled

• What pieces of evidence would make a recommendation 'bulletproof' when a skeptical CFO looks at it? Options: Audited cost model, Validated historical baseline, Sensitivity and scenario analysis, Third-party reference case, Clear implementation plan with owners, Tax / legal review
• Which deliverables must be in final handover for you to consider the engagement complete? Options: Full model files and assumptions, Executive slide deck (board-ready), Implementation roadmap and owners, Detailed cost / ROI workbook, Risk & mitigation register, Validation test results
• What acceptance criteria would you use to sign off on our recommendation (examples: ROI threshold, service level maintained, break-even timeline)?
• What visualization style persuades your board—detailed financial tables, maps with heatmaps, scenario dashboards, or story-driven slides? Options: Executive slides + highlights, Interactive dashboard, Static financial appendices, Map-centric visuals with narrativized scenarios, All of the above
• Who will be the presenter at board level and who prepares the financial rebuttal if needed?

If We Showed You a Better Future — What Would That Feel Like?

• What are the top three outcomes that would make you call this engagement a success? Options: Sustained cost savings, Improved service levels, Reduced carbon footprint, Faster order-to-delivery, Lower inventory carrying costs, Stronger board confidence
• Do you have numeric targets we should hit (cost reduction %, service uplift %, emissions reduction %) — please list if available.
• How will you know in 6–12 months that the recommendation delivered value—what signals or KPIs will you watch?
• Which trade-off is hardest for your leadership team to accept (cost vs. service vs. carbon)? Options: Cost over service, Service over cost, Carbon prioritized, Context dependent / no single priority
• If a recommended change required us to run a pilot, what minimum pilot scope would you accept to prove the idea? Options: Single route or lane, One SKU family, One region or DC, Phased multi-site pilot, Not interested in pilots
• What would success feel like personally for you as the sponsor—career-wise, reputationally, or operationally?

Making This Fast, Accurate, and Non-Disruptive

• If speed mattered more than perfection, what is the minimum viable timeline you'd accept for a validated baseline model? Options: 48–72 hours (sample), 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks
• Which individuals or teams can commit to daily or every-other-day reviews during the rapid build phase?
• What level of external support is realistic and budgeted: advisory only, co-managed modeling, or turn-key implementation? Options: Advisory / coaching, Co-managed modeling, Full turn-key execution, Undecided / need guidance
• Which reporting cadence would keep your team engaged without derailing operations? Options: Daily standups during ingestion, Twice-weekly checkpoints, Weekly reviews, Biweekly steering committee
• What would trigger you to pause or stop the engagement (examples: data concerns, cost overruns, leadership change)?
• Finally, what one thing could we do in the first two weeks that would immediately increase your confidence in our approach?