Invisible Demand Diagnostic: FAQ
By Dorian Kendal, Kendal Solutions. Published July 2026. Updated October 13, 2026.
What is the Invisible Demand Diagnostic?
The Invisible Demand Diagnostic (IDD) is a 45-minute assessment from Kendal Solutions that measures how much B2B buying activity is forming outside your funnel's view. It reads five signals from systems you already own, produces a Demand Visibility Score (0 to 25), and calculates the gap in dollars between what you spend on influence work and what your signals say you should spend.
What is the dark funnel?
The dark funnel is the part of B2B buying your tracking can't see: AI research, peer recommendations, community threads, podcasts, and anonymous visits to your site. Buyers do most of their research there before they ever fill out a form. Invisible demand is the buying interest that forms inside it. The Invisible Demand Diagnostic measures how big it is and what the gap costs you in dollars.
How do you measure the dark funnel?
You can't track it person by person, but you can measure its size. Read five signals from systems you already own: branded demand, anonymous engagement from right-fit accounts, AI discovery, repeat evaluation, and peer influence. The five-signal method walks through each one. The Invisible Demand Diagnostic scores them from 0 to 25 and turns the result into a dollar gap.
What is invisible demand?
Invisible demand is B2B buying activity that forms outside your funnel: research in AI tools, peer recommendations, community discussion, anonymous site visits. It decides most deals. 6sense found 84% of B2B purchases are effectively decided before the vendor knows the account exists.
What is a Demand Visibility Score?
A score from 0 to 25 that shows how much of your buyers' journey your marketing can see. Higher is better. It is built from five signals, each read from your own systems and scored against a published benchmark: branded demand, anonymous engagement from right-fit accounts, AI discovery, repeat evaluation, and peer influence. The five-signal method explains how each one is read.
What does the IDD cost?
The first assessment is free. After that, a single assessment is $2,500, or you can buy the annual program for $8,500: four quarterly runs with roadmap reviews.
How long does it take?
About 45 minutes. You provide five numbers from tools you already have (analytics, search console, CRM, your ABM platform if you run one). Nothing to install.
What do I get?
Three things: your gap in dollars (benchmark influence investment minus your current spend), your Demand Visibility Score with all five signals benchmarked, and a funded roadmap ranked by your weakest signals with 90-day indicators. Plus the full model workbook: every formula, weight, and benchmark, yours to edit.
Who is it for?
B2B marketing leaders at companies with $10M to $200M in ARR. Most are VPs of Marketing, Heads of Demand Gen, or CMOs at venture or PE-backed companies. Larger teams that run an ABM platform like 6sense or Demandbase fit too.
Do I need 6sense or Demandbase to run it?
No. The anonymous-engagement signal scores best with an account-ID platform, but there's a documented fallback path using firmographic enrichment of your existing traffic. The other four signals need only analytics, search console, and your CRM.
How is the dollar figure calculated?
A subtraction, not a forecast. Your Demand Visibility Score maps to a cited benchmark for what share of program budget belongs in influence work. That share times your budget, minus what you currently spend on influence, is the gap. Pipeline implications are shown as a 2x-to-4x range, clearly labeled as calculated rather than measured.
How is this different from attribution software?
Attribution tracks identified people on properties you own. The IDD measures the buying activity happening where attribution can't go, using indirect signals. It's not a tracking tool; it's a measurement of how big your blind spot is and what closing it is worth.
Is the methodology public?
Mostly. The five signals and the logic behind the dollar gap are explained on the How it works page. Clients also get the full editable workbook with their report, so you can check every formula. Every multiplier is shown as a range. If a number can't survive your most skeptical reader, we don't print it.
How often should I re-run it?
Quarterly. The annual program includes four runs. Signals move within a quarter (AI answers especially), and the re-score is how you prove the gap is closing while there's still time in the year to act.