--- name: proof-point-inventory description: "The evidence register discipline pointed at your standing message pillars: which claims are actually backed by real, checkable proof, and which pillars — or which specific claims — still have none, flagged plainly rather than assumed proven forever. Use when: A message architecture exists and you want to track every real proof point behind each pillar as more deals and evidence accumulate, not just the one that first proved it. A rep or a piece of marketing copy cites a specific proof (a customer quote, a stat) and you want to confirm it's actually been checked, not just repeated because it sounds plausible. Not for: You don't have a message architecture yet — build that first; this inventory tracks proof for pillars that already exist, it doesn't define them. You're checking a single deal's own specific pitch — that's a value hypothesis; this inventory tracks the standing message's proof across every deal." --- # Proof point inventory The evidence register discipline pointed at your standing message pillars: which claims are actually backed by real, checkable proof, and which pillars — or which specific claims — still have none, flagged plainly rather than assumed proven forever. Family: Problem solving / root cause analysis · Format: .xlsx · Domain: commercial ## What it is A proof point inventory is a real, checkable answer to 'do we actually have proof for this pillar, or are we just saying it' — the evidence register's exact discipline, pointed at a message architecture's standing pillars instead of a shop-floor claim. A pillar proven once in a single deal isn't the same as a pillar with a growing, checked body of evidence behind it — this inventory tracks every proof point logged against each pillar, and honestly flags any pillar with zero proof points, or any specific claim that hasn't actually been confirmed yet. ## When to use it Use it when: - A message architecture exists and you want to track every real proof point behind each pillar as more deals and evidence accumulate, not just the one that first proved it. - A rep or a piece of marketing copy cites a specific proof (a customer quote, a stat) and you want to confirm it's actually been checked, not just repeated because it sounds plausible. - You want to know honestly which pillars still have zero proof points, rather than assuming every pillar in the standing message is equally backed. Not when: - You don't have a message architecture yet — build that first; this inventory tracks proof for pillars that already exist, it doesn't define them. - You're checking a single deal's own specific pitch — that's a value hypothesis; this inventory tracks the standing message's proof across every deal. ## How to fill it in - **scopeNotes** — What set of message pillars does this inventory cover? - **categories** — List every pillar from your message architecture you want checked for real proof, even ones you expect are still empty. - **items** — For each proof point: the pillar it backs, the evidence type, source, date, and whether it's actually been confirmed — your own facts, never guessed. - **narrative** — Drafted from the inventory's own computed coverage. ## What good looks like The example below continues the Beacon Analytics storyline directly from its own message architecture — the same three pillars, with two backed by real measured trial data, a third claim honestly marked unverified pending a direct buyer check, and the spreadsheet-trust pillar still carrying zero proof points, the same gap the message architecture itself already flagged. Full worked example, on-screen and as a downloadable .xlsx: https://www.katafacts.com/katas/proof-point-inventory ## Common mistakes - **Treating a pillar as proven forever once one proof point exists.** — A proof point can age or a customer can churn — a pillar's real strength is the current, checked body of evidence behind it, not a one-time stamp from when it was first proven. - **Logging a rep's or a channel's claim as a confirmed proof point without checking it directly.** — A rep's deal-close note or a marketing claim is a lead worth checking, not evidence on its own — mark it unverified until it's actually confirmed with the source. - **Skipping a pillar in the inventory because you already suspect it has no proof.** — An unlisted pillar can't be flagged as a gap — this inventory only protects against an unproven claim shipping as fact if every real pillar is actually checked. ## What it connects to Upstream: - **Message architecture** (`message-architecture`) — The architecture's own pillars are exactly the categories this inventory checks for real proof — including whether the pillar it deliberately left unproven has earned any proof points yet. ## Where AI helps Judgement — stays with you: - Deciding whether something counts as a real proof point or is still just an unconfirmed claim - Deciding which pillar's coverage gap to close first Analysis — AI helps: - Tightening a claim's wording from rough notes into a specific, checkable statement - Drafting the narrative from the inventory's own computed coverage Drudgery — automated: - Identifying which pillars have no proof points logged - Identifying which logged proof points are still unverified - Exporting to xlsx in the house format --- Proof point inventory is licensed [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attribution: Katafacts (katafacts.com). ## Using this skill Apply this method as part of whatever broader task, instructions, or deliverable you're already working on -- it's a method to use, not a standalone conversation to start. There is no generation tool for this catalogue yet, so draft the artifact's actual content yourself, following the fields above, the same way a person filling this out by hand would. The canonical guide page and a downloadable worked example (.xlsx) are at https://www.katafacts.com/katas/proof-point-inventory.