Pre-Engagement Brief // Rankona Mazon
How we work.
What we need to know.
Before the Terminal is operational, we need to understand the terrain. This brief covers how MERIDIAN approaches a joint engagement and the specific information required to configure, calibrate, and launch the system for your operation.
How This Engagement Works
Not a Tool
Joint Operations
MERIDIAN does not hand you a dashboard and step back. We work alongside your team — building, running, and refining the system together until it stands on its own.
Your Data, Your Output
Built on Your Patterns
The Terminal is trained on Rankona Mazon's catalog logic, your team's quality standards, and the markets you operate in. It does not work in the abstract — it works in your specific context.
Intensive Start, Lasting Output
Spartan Ramp First
The first 4–6 weeks are intensive. Daily collaboration, SKUs processed together with your team in the loop for quality sign-off. After that, the system operates and your team scales into it.
Engagement Arc
From Spartan Ramp to Scaled Operations
Four phases. Each one expands what is possible in the next.
Weeks 1–6
Spartan Ramp
Daily co-production. First SKU batches live. Quality loop established.
Month 2–3
Station Expansion
1B and localization active. Team operating with minimal MERIDIAN support per batch.
Month 4–6
Velocity Phase
Intelligence layer active. Market signals informing catalog decisions in real time.
Month 7+
Scale & Extend
New client onboarding. Advertising intelligence. Growth ops stations opening.
The system is only as powerful as the data it can reach. We need to know what is available, in what format, and how quickly access can be provisioned before we can commit to a go-live date.
Required — Day 1
SP-API Access
Has developer access been set up? Who controls the Amazon account provisioning? How long does the internal approval process take from contract signing to live credentials?
Required — Day 1
Seller Central
Which marketplaces will MERIDIAN have access to at launch — all 11+, or a phased rollout starting with priority markets? Who on your team handles access provisioning?
Confirm Package
Helium 10
Which subscription tier is active? Diamond-level includes API access — does Rankona Mazon have that, or is keyword and market data currently pulled manually? Can MERIDIAN be added as a team user?
Confirm Format
Catalog & SKU Data
Where does the master SKU catalog live — Seller Central reports, a spreadsheet, an internal system? Who runs Category Report exports and how frequently are they refreshed?
Confirm Scope
Additional Data Tools
What other tools does the team use today — keyword research, competitor tracking, market intelligence? Which have API access vs. manual export only? Are these client-owned or agency-wide licenses?
Confirm Access Level
Advertising Accounts
Who manages Amazon advertising currently? Does MERIDIAN get read-only visibility to optimize recommendations, or full campaign management access? What is the approval path for campaign changes?
MERIDIAN measures its impact against a baseline. Without a shared starting point, neither side can distinguish system lift from market movement. These are the numbers we need defined before we begin.
Revenue Baseline
What is the current monthly revenue across the Rankona Mazon client portfolio? Give us a representative 3-month average — that becomes the baseline we measure against.
This is the number that defines what "MERIDIAN worked" means. Every lift we create is measured against it.
Profit Definition
How does Rankona Mazon define profit internally — gross revenue minus Amazon fees and COGS, gross profit before operating expenses, or net income after all costs? Walk us through how a good month looks on paper.
The profit share structure requires one agreed definition from the start. We can work with whichever definition you use internally — we just need to know which one it is.
Seasonality
How does revenue move across the year? When is the strongest quarter, the slowest month? Does the business have a predictable Amazon holiday season spike, and by roughly what magnitude?
We need to separate system-driven lift from seasonal tailwinds — and make sure we are calibrated for Q4, which is typically the highest-impact period for Amazon revenue.
Client Distribution
How many active clients does Rankona Mazon currently serve? What is the rough breakdown by SKU count — which clients are largest by catalog size, and which generate the most revenue per engagement?
This determines where we start first for maximum impact and which client's catalog is the Spartan Ramp proving ground.
The Spartan Ramp is a team effort. MERIDIAN brings the intelligence infrastructure. Your team brings the domain judgment and quality authority. We need to know who is in the room and what their bandwidth looks like.
Backend Lead
Who on Jennifer's team is the day-to-day contact for Station 1A — backend attributes and catalog structure? What is their availability during the Spartan Ramp — daily sessions, set hours per week, or as-needed?
Station 1A moves at the pace of the quality feedback loop. The faster we can get sign-off on each attribute batch, the faster the catalog is complete.
Localization Lead
Who owns the localization review on Johan's side? Which markets are they native to, and which require external native proofreading? What is their typical turnaround for copy review — same day, 48 hours, weekly batch?
Station 1B and 1C velocity is directly tied to localization review speed. We want to build around your team's real capacity, not an optimistic one.
Your Operating Role
During the Spartan Ramp, what is your direct involvement — review and approval, weekly check-in, or operational daily contact? Who has decision authority for SKU prioritization and catalog changes when you are not available?
Joint operations work best when decision authority is clear. We want to know who can move quickly on the ground without waiting for a full team approval cycle.
Weekly Map Cadence
We will produce a weekly operational map — what was processed, what is queued, what needs a decision. Who receives it? Who is responsible for actioning recommendations within 48 hours? Is there a standing weekly alignment call, or is async communication preferred?
The weekly map is how both sides stay accountable and aligned. It is the primary coordination layer during ramp.
We open one station at a time. The opening sequence matters — it determines what creates visible results fastest and what data pathways become available for the stations that follow.
First Client
Which client do you want to see results on first? Is there a client where the backend attribute gap is most painful, or where a successful SKU overhaul would have the clearest revenue impact? Or does MERIDIAN have discretion to select the highest-leverage starting point?
The first Spartan Ramp client becomes the proving ground — the results here define the roadmap that follows.
SKU Priority Tier
Within the priority client's catalog — which SKUs do we process first? Top revenue drivers, highest-traffic listings with weak copy, products entering new markets, or a specific problematic category? Walk us through how you would rank them.
Station 1A works most efficiently when the first batch is scoped tightly. One well-defined category is better than a full catalog dump on day one.
The 40,000-SKU Prospect
The large prospect identified in the April demo — is this a firm pipeline opportunity with a timeline, or a strategic target that may take 6–12 months to convert? Do you want Station 1A proven on existing clients first, or does the 40,000-SKU onboarding path need to be part of the Phase 1 build?
If the large prospect is a near-term client, the system architecture changes — we build for that volume from the start rather than scaling into it.
Market Expansion Targets
Which marketplaces are on the active expansion list for the next 12 months? Are there specific European markets where Rankona Mazon is building presence that should be prioritized in the Station 1B localization engine?
We build the localization engine for the markets you are actively entering, not the full 11+ universe on day one.
The engagement works when both sides agree it is working. We need your definition of success — in concrete, observable terms — before we build the measurement framework around it.
90-Day Milestone
At the end of the Spartan Ramp — what does a successful 90 days look like for you? Is it a specific number of SKUs processed, a first revenue lift signal, a team member who can operate the system independently, or something else?
This becomes our first delivery target. If we hit it, both sides have evidence the engagement is working.
End-of-Year Standard
By December 31, 2026 — what do you need to see to be confident this engagement continues into 2027? Revenue growth percentage? Full-catalog coverage for a specific client? Ability to onboard a new client in under two weeks?
We want your definition of the bar, stated in advance, so there is no ambiguity when we get there.
What You Want to Stop Doing
What is the one or two things your team currently does manually that you most want the Terminal to handle? Not the biggest technical problem — the one that is most draining to your team's time and attention right now.
The answer to this question tells us where to go first and fastest. The system that relieves the most friction soonest builds the most trust.
Answers move us to contract.
These questions are not a formality. They are the inputs that make the engagement specific — to Rankona Mazon's catalog, your team, and the markets you operate in.
Once we have your answers across all five sections, we produce the weekly map, lock the go-live timeline, and move to contract.