# CEO personal branding agency comparison worksheet

Use this worksheet to compare proposed service models against your brief and decide what to verify before shortlisting an agency. It does not rank providers or predict results.

## How to use it

1. Save a working copy. Complete your brief before recording provider offers.
2. Fill in the blank comparison from current proposals, calls and supporting material. Add columns or repeat the table for more providers.
3. Label information as a provider statement, reviewed material or independently checked evidence. Record the source and date in the evidence log. A sample shows the work supplied; it does not establish client outcomes.
4. Enter “unknown” for missing information and write a follow-up question. Unknown is not a zero, a negative score or proof that the provider lacks a capability.
5. Write a shortlist decision with any conditions still outstanding. Verify those conditions before relying on them.

Keep confidential client information and account credentials out of this file. Delete the fictional example from your working copy if it could be confused with your own research.

## Your brief

| Field | Your requirement |
| --- | --- |
| Executive role and business context | |
| Intended audience and situation in which they need your expertise | |
| Business goal the work should support | |
| Observable evidence you would use to assess progress | |
| Required execution, including who interviews, writes, reviews and publishes | |
| Work your internal team can own | |
| Available executive input and approval time | |
| Constraints that would rule out a service model | |

## Blank provider comparison

| Decision field | Provider A | Provider B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Provider name and proposal date | | |
| Fit with the audience and business goal in your brief | | |
| Work included and work excluded | | |
| Who owns interviewing, writing, review and publishing | | |
| Executive input required, including review and revisions | | |
| Relevant work sample or client evidence offered | | |
| What you have checked and what it establishes | | |
| Unverified provider statements or missing information | | |
| How progress would be assessed, including attribution limits | | |
| Next verification question or action | | |
| Person responsible for following up | | |

## Evidence log

Use one row per claim or unresolved question. Link to the specific material, or identify the proposal, call notes or reference conversation. Record what you examined rather than marking a whole provider “verified.”

| Provider and claim | Source and date | Evidence type | What it supports and does not establish | Open question and next check |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |

## Shortlist decision

| Field | Your decision |
| --- | --- |
| Provider to investigate further, or reason neither fits | |
| Fit with required execution and executive capacity | |
| Evidence supporting this decision | |
| Conditions still unverified | |
| Next action and owner | |

## Fictional worked example

The brief, providers, offers and evidence below are invented to demonstrate how to use the worksheet. They do not describe actual agencies, prices, client results or recommended time allowances.

A cybersecurity advisory CEO wants more conversations with technology buyers about procurement risk. The firm has no internal writer, needs interview-led LinkedIn drafts and publishing support, and can allocate 90 minutes of executive time per month. The team would record relevant conversations and ask how buyers encountered the CEO's work; that would not establish that content alone caused an opportunity.

| Decision field | Fictional Provider A | Fictional Provider B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Proposed work | Positioning workshops and editorial coaching; the client writes and publishes. | Interviews, draft preparation and publishing after executive approval. |
| Executive effort | One 60-minute monthly session, plus writing and review time that has not been estimated. | Two 20-minute monthly interviews, plus review time that has not been estimated. |
| Evidence available | A strategy sample supplied by the provider; writing delivery is excluded from its proposal. | A writing sample supplied by the provider; comparable client references have not been checked. |
| Next verification | Establish who would write and publish if this model were chosen. | Review a relevant sample and reference, and request an estimate of total executive input and revision time. |

### Example evidence entry

| Provider and claim | Source and date | Evidence type | What it supports and does not establish | Open question and next check |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fictional B says it writes in the executive's voice. | Invented proposal and supplied sample, dated November 10, 2026. | Provider statement and reviewed material; no independent reference checked. | The sample shows the supplied writing. It does not establish voice capture for this CEO, delivery reliability or commercial outcomes. | Ask how the sample was produced, review relevant work and speak with a comparable client reference. |

### Example decision

Provider A leaves the firm's production gap unresolved. The CEO would need a writer and publishing support elsewhere to use that model. Provider B warrants further verification, but 40 minutes of interviews does not establish that total executive effort fits within 90 minutes. Review and revisions remain unestimated.

The CEO will ask B for a relevant sample and reference, plus a complete workload estimate, before deciding whether to shortlist it. Neither provider has demonstrated an effect on qualified conversations in this example. There is no numerical score or automatic winner.

## After shortlisting

Use the [LinkedIn agency contract checklist](https://windmillgrowth.com/blogseo/linkedin-agency-contract-scope-of-work-checklist) for the later agreement review. This comparison worksheet does not replace contract review or legal advice.

For the agency comparison and instructions, return to [Best Personal Branding Agencies for CEOs & Executives](https://windmillgrowth.com/blogseo/best-personal-branding-agencies-ceos-executives).