The standard every engagement operates under.
This document sets out how The Deady Group handles compensation, conflicts, vendor pressure, and accountability on every engagement. It is not a values statement. It is the operating procedure, published so that clients, partners, and providers can hold the firm to it.
Effective September 26, 2026. Version 1.
Why a written standard.
Most technology advice is compensated by the company whose product ends up recommended, and the client rarely knows how much or by whom. The Deady Group is sometimes compensated the same way, and sometimes by the client, and sometimes by both. The difference is not the source of the compensation. It is that the client knows before deciding, in writing, and that the recommendation is free to go against the money. A standard that lives only in conversation cannot be held to. This one is written down.
How the Standard is applied.
- Before the first assessmentThe Digital Presence & Technology Review is offered without charge. No provider pays for it and none is recommended in it.
- At the start of an engagementThe compensation arrangement, in plain language in the conversation and then in the engagement letter.
- When a recommendation involves a providerA written line stating whether that provider compensates the firm, and if so, how. The alternatives that do not, alongside it.
- When a partner is involvedThe existence of the partner arrangement, disclosed to the client.
- At any pointAn immediate, specific answer to "how is the firm paid on this?"
- If something is wrongA dedicated path to the founder, below.
The commitments.
Compensation is disclosed before work begins.
Whether the client pays a fee, a provider pays a commission, a partner arrangement applies, or a combination, the arrangement is stated in writing before the engagement starts and restated when a recommendation involves a provider. When a provider compensates the firm, the client is told which provider and how the compensation works.
Material conflicts are named.
Any relationship the firm holds that could reasonably influence a recommendation is disclosed to the client at the point it becomes relevant, not managed quietly and not left for the client to discover.
Honest alternatives are always presented.
Every recommendation is made alongside the options that pay the firm nothing: keeping the incumbent, renegotiating, choosing a provider outside the firm's relationships, or doing nothing for now. When one of those is the right answer, it is the recommendation.
A firewall stands between the client and the vendor sales process.
The firm handles vendor outreach, competing claims, technical conversations, and sales pressure on the client's behalf. The client is not placed in front of a sales process it did not ask for. Providers do not receive the client's contact details without the client's agreement.
The firm is accountable for the result.
Day-to-day work on an engagement may be carried out by specialists on the firm's advisory or growth benches. Accountability does not transfer with the work. A concern about the advice, the outcome, or the conduct of anyone the firm brought in comes to the firm, is reviewed personally by the founder, and is the firm's to resolve.
Capacity is described honestly.
The Deady Group is a founder-led firm that delivers through structured partner benches and a wider ecosystem. The firm says so, says which kind of work goes where, and does not present itself as larger or more in-house than it is.
What the Standard does not do.
It does not mean the firm is never paid by a provider; it means the client always knows when it is. It does not mean every engagement carries a fee; many do not. It does not replace the engagement letter; it governs what the engagement letter must contain.
Raise a concern under the Standard.
If you believe a recommendation was influenced by an undisclosed relationship, that a disclosure was missing or late, or that work delivered under the firm's name did not meet what was promised, use this form. It goes directly to the founder, is reviewed personally, and is kept separate from every other inbox the firm runs.
The Client-First Transparency Standard. Version 1, effective September 26, 2026.
Signed for the firm by William Deady, Founder.