CMG 360™, the platform
Two perspectives. One strategy.
Random Excellence™ is being world-class at one thing while failing at everything else. A company moves at the speed of its worst domain, not its best. CMG 360™ reads the business from the inside and its market from the outside, then turns what it finds into one ranked plan and tracks it every month.
Flag it. Name it. Fix it.
The same seven COMPASS™ domains run through all three, so the Lite, the Assessment and the Monthly read the business the same way, from first look to measured results.
| Compare | Optional first lookCMG 360™ Lite | Stage 1 · the coreCMG 360™ Assessment | Stage 2 · the follow-throughCMG 360™ Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| The question it answers | Is there an issue, and where? | What exactly is wrong, how big is it, and what do we fix first? | Is the plan getting done, and is it working? |
| What goes in | Three figures from the P&L and a short questionnaire. No financial statements needed. | Three parts: 5 questions on the owner’s general concerns and curiosities, the 160-question COMPASS™ survey, and 22 market questions for BEACON™. Plus the financial statements and industry benchmarks. | The annual plan and the Assessment’s findings, which become the issues it tracks. Then monthly financials, plus weekly cash and KPI data. |
| Who completes it | The owner, online, in about 20 minutes. | The owner and a seasoned professional together. The owner answers the questions and provides the financials; CMG FS or a CMG 360™ Certified Advisor completes the read and the report. | CMG FS or a Certified Advisor, working alongside the team. |
| What comes out | Where to look first. Seven scores from 0 to 100, with red, yellow and green flags. | What to fix, and what to fix first. A scored, benchmarked report and one ranked plan, with a 3, 6, 9 and 12-month roadmap. | Are we on track with the initiatives from the Assessment, and do the financial results reflect the improvements? A weekly cash and KPI update, a rolling 13-week cash forecast, monthly results against the annual plan, and every Assessment finding tracked until it is fixed. |
| Best for | Peer groups, and a quick first look when nothing material is known yet. | Any owner with a known issue, real uncertainty, or a big decision ahead. | Every company. Critical for companies with unpredictable results, margins below their peers, cash and margin challenges, too much growth or none at all, and owners thinking about buying, selling or recapitalizing the company. |
| To deliver it | No certification needed. | Certification required. | Certification required. |
CMG 360™ Lite
A fast, objective first read. It answers one question: is there an issue, and where?
- About 20 minutes, completed online by the owner.
- All seven domains, scored from 0 to 100 with red, yellow and green flags.
- In a peer group, results land on the chair’s dashboard, under the chair’s brand.
Not the right start when there is uncertainty, known issues, or a material problem. Then go straight to the Assessment.
Where to look first: Margins, then Systems. Two domains are holding the business back.
The problems it solves
Something feels off
I can’t put my finger on it.
What changes: You know where to look, in about 20 minutes.
Before committing to more
I’m not ready for a full assessment.
What changes: A low-risk first step before any bigger decision.
Everything feels urgent
Where do we even start?
What changes: One clear place to start.
A second opinion
Am I seeing this clearly?
What changes: An objective read, not just your own view.
Is it worth going deeper?
Do we need the Assessment?
What changes: A clear yes, or not yet, on the Assessment.
Peer groups
How is each member really doing?
What changes: The chair sees where every member is stuck, before the one-to-one.
CMG 360™ Assessment
Two perspectives, one strategy. The Assessment names the specific issues, sizes them, and ranks what to fix first.
- Your concerns first: 5 questions on the owner’s general concerns and curiosities, so the read is built around where this owner wants to go.
- Inside, COMPASS™: 160 questions across seven domains, benchmarked against companies of similar size in the industry.
- Outside, BEACON™: 22 market questions that size the market the company actually operates in, map its position today, and look ahead to the opportunities, threats and blind spots.
- One ranked plan, sequenced worst-first and opportunity-first, with a 3, 6, 9 and 12-month roadmap.
COMPASS™ · the inside read
| Domain | Score | Rating | CMG action plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Margins | 36 | Foundational | Rebuild cost by customer and lane; reprice the bottom quartile. |
| Systems | 42 | Foundational | Retire the spreadsheet dispatch board; one source of load data. |
| Operations & HR | 48 | Foundational | Name a dispatch manager; move pricing approval off the owner. |
| Sales | 55 | Developing | Reduce top-customer share below 30% over 12 months. |
+ Cash & Capital, Planning, Accounting
BEACON™ · the outside read
The market the company can actually reach, by industry and geography.
The ranked roadmap
3 mo
13-week cash forecastMonthly close by day 106 mo
RepricingDispatch manager9 mo
Budget and targets12 mo
New dispatch systemThe problems it solves
Cash and cash flow
Profitable on paper, short on cash.
What changes: You know exactly where cash is trapped, how much growth you can fund, and the first moves to free it.
Cash & CapitalMargins
We’re busier, but not earning more.
What changes: You know which customers, products and jobs make money, and how to fix the ones that don’t.
MarginsTopline growth
Growth has stalled, or it isn’t paying.
What changes: A realistic growth target, where it will come from, and what has to change to reach it.
Sales · BEACON™Pricing
We haven’t raised prices in years.
What changes: A pricing decision backed by facts, and the margin it adds.
MarginsProduct and service mix
Some lines carry the others.
What changes: A clear call on which lines and customers to grow, fix or let go.
Margins · SalesCapital requirements
We need equipment, a bigger line or a partner.
What changes: A funding plan in the right order, ready for a lender or investor.
Cash & Capital · PlanningSuccession and transition
Someday I want out.
What changes: A clear path to stepping back, and what it will take to get there.
Operations & HR · PlanningNumbers you can trust
I don’t fully trust my numbers.
What changes: A fix list for the close and reporting, so you can run on your numbers.
Accounting · SystemsOwner dependence
Everything still runs through me.
What changes: The roles and decisions to hand off, in order, so the business runs without you in every room.
Operations & HRCMG 360™ Monthly
The follow-through. The plan is worked every month, and the owner sees exactly where things stand.
- Built on the Assessment and the annual plan: every finding from the Assessment is carried forward as an issue to track, and results are measured against the annual plan.
- Every week, a cash and KPI update, with a rolling 13-week cash forecast.
- Every month, results against the annual plan, the status of every finding, and a review of what needs deciding now.
- The owner decides what, if anything, is shared with the bank or others.
Assessment findings, tracked until they are fixed
- Repricing, bottom quartileFixed
- Monthly close by day 10Fixed
- Dispatch manager namedOn track
- Customer concentrationOn track
- Dispatch systemStuck: decision needed
The problems it solves
Plans that stall
We know what to fix. We never get to it.
What changes: The plan gets done, finding by finding.
Cash surprises
Cash always surprises us.
What changes: No more cash surprises: a weekly update and a 13-week forecast.
Late numbers
We find out how we did weeks later.
What changes: You know how you did within days, not weeks.
Accountability
No one holds us to it.
What changes: Someone holds the business to the plan, every month.
Problems that come back
We fixed it once. It came back.
What changes: Fixes that stick.
A CFO without a full-time CFO
I can’t justify a full-time CFO.
What changes: A CFO’s judgment, without the full-time cost.
A track record
The bank or a buyer wants proof.
What changes: Proof of improvement for a bank or buyer, shared only if the owner chooses.
Knowing it worked
Is any of this paying off?
What changes: Progress you can see, in every domain.
Decisions that wait
We keep putting it off.
What changes: Decisions made on time, with the cost of waiting in view.
Subscribe to CMG 360™.
Pick the way in that fits how you work. Each one takes you straight to the platform to sign up.
CMG 360™ Lite
A 20-minute read for every member, on your own dashboard and under your own brand. No certification needed.
Subscribe to CMG 360™ LiteCertification
The full platform requires certification: a self-paced course, a written exam and a practical exam, in one to two weeks.
Get certifiedThe full platform
The Lite, the Assessment and the Monthly, for clients of any size in any industry. Your clients remain yours.
Subscribe to CMG 360™Already a subscriber? Sign in to CMG 360™.
Run it with your own clients and members.
Certified Advisors, investors and chairs use CMG 360™ under their own name. Their clients remain theirs.
Rather have us do the work? CMG Financial Solutions™ runs every engagement on this platform.