George James Consulting has worked with
What Pinnacle is
A diagnosis, not a strategy document
George James Consulting works with sales leaders around the world, specifically in life sciences, diagnostics and related markets. Our focus is commercial excellence, and in our experience the single most common problem we see is the poor or absent active management of an organisation's route to revenue, whether that route runs through a direct sales team or through partners. Pinnacle was built out of that experience.
Both applications work the same way. They combine structured questionnaires, team insight and management feedback to produce an evidence-based picture of current performance, then translate that picture into a prioritised set of actions. You can implement those actions yourself, or ask us to help deliver them. Whichever you choose, the diagnosis comes first and the recommendation follows the evidence.
The method
Diagnose, prioritise, improve
A structured but flexible process that helps sales leaders diagnose commercial performance issues, prioritise improvement opportunities, and decide where to focus effort first.
Diagnose
Use structured questionnaires, leadership input and team insight to understand how the sales funnel or channel network is currently performing. Anonymised and non-attributable, so the answers are honest.
Output: an evidence-based baseline, not a hunch.
Prioritise
Analyse the findings to identify performance gaps, misalignment, bottlenecks and missed revenue opportunities, then rank them by the commercial upside of fixing them.
Output: the two or three things worth doing first.
Improve
Agree practical actions, implementation support and next steps that create measurable improvement in commercial effectiveness. Run it yourself, or with our consultants alongside your team.
Output: a plan with owners, and change that sticks.
How it is organised
Two applications, one method
The diagnosis is the same discipline in both cases. What differs is where the revenue is actually being lost, and therefore what we look at. Choose the application that matches your route to market, or combine them if you sell both ways.
Pinnacle for Direct Sales
Sales funnel health check
Best for: sales leaders running their own team, who need an independent read on whether the funnel and the forecast can be trusted.
- ✓A 30-question survey completed independently by the sales team and by sales leadership.
- ✓Covers pipeline strength, opportunity qualification, stakeholder access, process, forecasting and selling skills.
- ✓Surfaces the disconnects between what the team believes and what leadership expects.
- ✓Fully anonymised and non-attributable, so people answer honestly.
- ✓Findings, conclusions and recommendations presented to leadership.
Entry point: a free health check call.
Outcome: up to three prioritised areas you can improve yourself, plus the areas that would benefit from support.
Pinnacle for Indirect Sales Channels
European distributor networks
Best for: IVD and diagnostics companies based outside Europe, building a European distributor network or turning around one that is underdelivering.
- ✓Two tracks: BUILD a network from scratch, or OPTIMISE one already in place.
- ✓A Channel Health Check scoring channel health across six dimensions, followed by a 45-minute readout call.
- ✓Assesses whether the network is correctly designed, selected, onboarded, managed and optimised.
- ✓Seven capability modules covering strategy, selection, contracting, exit, performance management and regulatory.
- ✓IVDR and UKCA fluent, across 30-plus European markets.
Entry point: a market-entry consultation, or the Channel Health Check.
Outcome: a live, contracted, actively-managed network delivering to its potential.
What both applications share
The diagnosis is only as good as the honesty behind it
Both applications are built on the same principle: ask the people closest to the revenue what is really happening, protect their anonymity so they will tell you, then compare their answers with what leadership believes. The gap between the two is consistently the most valuable output, and the hardest thing to surface any other way.
Which one applies to you
A quick way to tell them apart
If more than one row on the left sounds like your business, you probably need both. That is common, and the two run perfectly well alongside each other.
Why George James Consulting
Operators, not just advisors
George James Consulting is made up of business experts with over one hundred years of combined experience in commercial and leadership roles. Our experience is primarily in life sciences and diagnostics, and our clients sell sophisticated products, services and solutions to customers who are educated and technically demanding. We are well versed in working in challenging, competitive and highly regulated markets.
We deliver, not just advise
Pragmatic and solutions-focused. We don't just write reports advising what should be done, we add resources to our clients' organisations to deliver the implementation plan.
We have carried the number
Our consultants have run commercial teams, owned forecasts and managed distributor P&Ls themselves, so recommendations are grounded in what works in the field.
Built for technical selling
Long cycles, multiple stakeholders, procurement, tenders, reimbursement and clinical adoption. Both applications are designed around how complex products are actually bought.
Direct and indirect, under one roof
Most consultancies do one or the other. Running both means we can tell you honestly which part of your route to market is actually costing you revenue.
A note on confidentiality. Our clients compete with one another, and much of our work touches commercially sensitive information. Accordingly, we do not publish named case studies. We are happy to talk through anonymised examples on a call, and we can arrange references where appropriate.
Our areas of expertise include:
Next step
Start with the application that fits
Each page explains its application in full, and has its own short enquiry form. If you are not sure which applies, get in touch and we will point you at the right one.
Pinnacle for Direct Sales
For sales leaders running their own team who need to know whether the funnel and the forecast can be trusted. Starts with a free health check call.
Explore Direct Sales →Pinnacle for Indirect Sales Channels
For IVD companies building a European distributor network, or turning around one that is underdelivering. Starts with a consultation or the Channel Health Check.
Explore Indirect Channels →Not sure which one, or think you need both? Get in touch and we will help you work it out.