Common questions about the products
Can I start with Product 01 and upgrade later?+
Yes. Every product credits in full toward the next tier. Starting with the Business Profile at $297 and upgrading to the Open Fronts product costs $300 (not $597). Upgrading from there to the Full Briefing costs $400. Sequential purchase equals the same cost as buying the Full Briefing outright at $997.
How long does the questionnaire take?+
The entry questionnaire is 18 questions and takes most clients 20–30 minutes in one sitting. From those answers, we construct and infer the full 97-question profile, which you then confirm. The confirmation step typically adds another 20–40 minutes but is often described as the most clarifying part of the whole process.
What is the inference layer?+
The inference layer contains findings derived from patterns across the full questionnaire — not from any single direct answer. These surface what the data implies rather than what was stated directly, and are provided alongside the main profile as sharper readings of your actual commercial position. They are clearly marked and rated by confidence level.
How is the briefing delivered?+
Your briefing is delivered to a private subdomain — your business name followed by thedowdingsystem.com. Access is credential-gated with a username and password we provide. The documents are not publicly listed, indexed, or accessible to anyone without your credentials. Most clients receive their briefing within two weeks of confirming their questionnaire.
Is Product 03 just Products 01 and 02 combined?+
Product 03 includes everything from Products 01 and 02, and adds a third document: the Ideal Gap Analysis. This is a completely separate intelligence piece — it profiles the strongest realistic version of your specific business, identifies the six gaps between where you are and where you could be, maps five fundamental limits, produces ten prioritised gap-closing moves, and gives you a phased implementation sequence with a realistic timeline. It is the piece that turns the other two documents into a forward-looking action framework.