Advisory: Service Definition

Overview

This document defines what LMC’s Advisory service contains, how we deliver it, what the client receives, and where its scope ends. It is the source of truth for sales conversations, contract drafting, and delivery scoping.

Advisory is a 2-hour paid session with an LMC specialist, department head, or the GM. No retainer, no long-term commitment, no sales call. The client self-selects the tier that matches the question, books a block via the Odoo booking flow, and receives a written debrief note after the session.

What it is

Advisory answers one question: “We have a specific eCom decision to make in Vietnam; who at LMC can we buy two hours with to get a direct answer?”

Advisory is the right service if:

• You have a bounded execution question and need a specialist walkthrough. “How do I set up a TikTok Shop flash sale?” “What is the Shopee Mall submission checklist?”
• You have a strategic question and need a department head’s judgment. “Should we launch on Shopee or TikTok Shop first?” “Is this affiliate program worth the ops overhead?”
• You have an investment or vendor-selection question and need a GM-level read. “Is this platform partnership worth the commitment?” “How do I evaluate this agency proposal?”
• You want a second opinion before committing budget, without hiring an ongoing partner.
• You are an active LMC long-term client (Marketplace Enablement, Brand Protection, Full-Stack Partnership) and want senior time on a discrete decision outside your current scope.

What it is not

Advisory is the wrong service if:

• You want someone to run your store or manage your campaigns on an ongoing basis - that is Managed Marketplace Operations.
• You want a retainer for continuous strategic access - that is Full-Stack Partnership, which includes an Advisory retainer as one of its components.
• You want research reports, market analyses, SOPs, competitor audits, or written strategic plans as deliverables - Advisory produces judgment and recommendations in the room, not authored artifacts. Deeper deliverables belong to Market Research or a scoped consulting engagement.
• You need legal opinions on IP, contracts, platform terms, or regulatory compliance - referred to a VN IP law firm or commercial lawyer.
• You want guaranteed outcomes. Advisory delivers judgment based on current information; marketplace conditions, execution quality, and client-side variables remain outside LMC’s control.

Process

1. Tier self-selection. The client picks the tier based on the type of question (see the tier table below). No sales call is required; tier is self-selected via the Odoo booking flow.
2. Session booking. The client books a 2-hour block via the Odoo booking flow (or via the Odoo contact form, interim). Invoice is auto-generated on booking confirmation. Payment clears before the session date.
3. Pre-session brief (optional, 24 hours before). The client submits a 3-5 sentence context note: what they are deciding, what they have already tried, what a good outcome looks like. Optional but strongly encouraged - it makes the session significantly more productive.
4. Session delivery. A 2-hour session via Google Meet or in-person (Ho Chi Minh City only). The LMC advisor takes notes throughout. Sessions are not recorded by default; the client may request a recording for their own use.
5. Post-session debrief note. Within 48 hours of session close, LMC delivers a written debrief: the question addressed, the recommendation given, and 2-3 prioritized next steps. One revision round is included.

Monthly capacity caps. Each tier has a per-month cap to protect senior bandwidth and create a scarcity signal. Once a tier fills for the month, new bookings open for the next available month. Cap numbers are confirmed with the department head before the booking flow goes live.

Tiers

The internal tier names - Specialist, Department, Executive - are organizational shorthand. Client-facing framing uses the question-type language above.

Deliverables

• Booking confirmation - Odoo-generated invoice and calendar invite on booking.
• 2-hour session - with the tier advisor, delivered via Google Meet or in-person (HCMC only).
• Post-session debrief note - written, delivered within 48 hours of session close. One revision round included.
• Optional session recording - client-owned, on request. Not stored by LMC.

Price

Packaging. Tiered SKU. All tiers are a 2-hour block minimum. No half-sessions are offered.

All prices exclusive of VAT.

Minimum block. 2 hours. Partial-session billing is not offered to prospects.

Volume discounts. The price per 2-hour block is fixed regardless of how many sessions a client books. Clients seeking sustained senior access should consider a retainer or a bundle rather than repeat Advisory bookings.

Session extension. Sessions end at the 2-hour mark. If more time is needed, a second session is a separate booking. No on-the-fly extension.

Billing flexibility for active long-term clients. The 2-hour block is the official minimum and the default quote. For clients on an active long-term contract (Marketplace Enablement, Brand Protection, or Full-Stack Partnership), if a session resolves the question in under 2 hours, the advisor may bill 1 hour at discretion. No partial-hour billing below 1 hour. This is an advisor judgment call applied case-by-case, not a published policy.

How Advisory connects to the rest of LMC

Out of scope

• Ongoing project management or execution. A session answers a question or provides a decision framework. LMC does not manage execution of the recommendations under Advisory. Execution belongs to Managed Marketplace Operations, Brand Protection, or a bundle.
• Deliverables beyond the debrief note. LMC does not produce research reports, market analyses, SOPs, competitor audits, or written strategic plans as part of an Advisory session. The debrief note summarizes the session. Deeper deliverables are separate engagements.
• Legal advice. LMC does not provide legal opinions on IP, contracts, platform terms, or regulatory compliance. If a session surfaces a legal question, LMC will name the issue and recommend appropriate counsel - not answer the question.
• Guaranteed outcomes. Advisory delivers judgment and recommendations based on current information. LMC cannot guarantee that following a recommendation produces a specific result.
• Discounted hourly rates for volume. The price per 2-hour block is fixed regardless of booking volume. Volume discounts do not apply to Advisory.
• Session extension beyond 2 hours. Sessions end at the 2-hour mark. A second session is a separate booking.
• Confidentiality of LMC’s proprietary playbooks. Advisors share judgment and frameworks but do not hand over internal SOPs, account templates, or operational playbooks as session deliverables.
• Temp-staffing arrangements. Advisory is a per-session engagement, not a short-term operations substitute. Clients seeking a 2-3 month bridge while hiring in-house should scope the strategic decisions under Advisory only; ongoing execution is not offered on this SKU.

How to engage

1. Pick a tier - Specialist, Department, or Executive, based on the type of question. No scoping call is required; tier is self-selected.
2. Book a 2-hour block via the Odoo booking flow. The invoice is generated automatically on confirmation.
3. Clear payment before the session date.
4. Submit an optional pre-session brief 24 hours before the session - 3 to 5 sentences on what is being decided.
5. Attend the 2-hour session on Google Meet or in-person in Ho Chi Minh City.
6. Receive the written debrief note within 48 hours of session close. One revision round is included.