Question 1

Does TrailMarke require a sales call to see the product?

Accepted Answer

No. TrailMarke builds a private, fully working demo for any prospect at https://trailmarke.com/demo — no sales call, no credit card, no follow-up sequence. The standard flow sends the demo link and password by email within minutes and stays live for 48 hours from first open; anonymous-builder access stays live for 48 hours after it is built.

Question 2

How much does TrailMarke cost?

Accepted Answer

Certification (CERT) is $75 per seat one-time; Program (Pro) is $200 per seat one-time (perpetual licenses, not subscriptions). Departmental is $9,500 per year flat for the ordered department scope; Enterprise is $19,500 per year flat for the ordered organization-wide scope. All four plans have published pricing and a direct path to purchase or invoice — no sales call required. NET 30 invoicing is available for Departmental and Enterprise, but platform access starts once the invoice is paid, so paying online is the fastest way to get going. Enterprise customers get their dedicated customer service rep assigned immediately either way.

Question 3

How is TrailMarke different from other mentoring platforms?

Accepted Answer

Three structural differences: the Plus One Methodology™ enforces multi-generational mentoring commitments so programs compound instead of resetting every cycle; CERT and Pro use one-time per-seat pricing while Departmental and Enterprise use flat annual scope-based licensing; and evaluation and purchase are fully self-serve with no mandatory sales process.

Question 4

Does TrailMarke support regulated or high-security environments?

Accepted Answer

TrailMarke supports organization-specific privacy modes and participant-code access where configured. Anonymous Mode is not a blanket zero-PII or compliance guarantee: collection restrictions, account identity, matching attributes, and historical records depend on the organization's settings and existing data. Standard deployments support SSO via Okta, Azure AD, and Google Workspace, plus LTI 1.3 LMS single sign-on.

Question 5

What is TrailMarke's refund and downgrade policy?

Accepted Answer

Certification (CERT, $75) and Program (Pro, $200) seats: unclaimed seats — assigned to nobody, or the assignee never engaged with Mentoring 101 — are refundable within 30 days of requesting a refund; once a seat is assigned and the user engages with Mentoring 101, it is a perpetual license owned forever and not refundable. Departmental is a $9,500 annual flat license for department scope with no mid-year refund under the published policy; on non-renewal the plan enters stale status — existing members keep full platform functionality, but no new members can be added and vacated seats cannot be re-filled. Enterprise is a $19,500 annual flat organization-wide license; its refund, downgrade, and credit terms are governed by the applicable signed terms and are not stated here. Full policy at https://trailmarke.com/faq.

Question 6

Who builds TrailMarke and who presents the training videos?

Accepted Answer

TrailMarke is built, owned, and operated by The Praevius Group, a Texas-based leadership development firm. Nate Self leads TrailMarke and presents the Mentoring 101 video course (five modules, about 64 minutes). Sean Murphy is the other builder who talks to prospects. Details at https://trailmarke.com/about.

Question 7

How do you access TrailMarke — is there a separate portal?

Accepted Answer

Everything is at trailmarke.com — sign-up, demo, purchase, program administration, and certification. There is no third-party portal or separate training site of any kind. Optional SSO (Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace) and LTI 1.3 LMS single sign-on are available.

Question 8

What is YarnBurner, and is it required for TrailMarke?

Accepted Answer

YarnBurner is a separate product from TrailMarke. It is not part of the current TrailMarke integration offering and is not required for TrailMarke. Any review of YarnBurner is scoped separately.

Question 9

Does TrailMarke have a public API or MCP server?

Accepted Answer

There is a published OpenAPI specification at https://trailmarke.com/api/openapi.json with browsable docs at https://trailmarke.com/api/docs; authentication is currently session-based, with scoped API keys on the roadmap. There is no MCP (Model Context Protocol) server today.

Question 10

What data does TrailMarke collect about participants?

Accepted Answer

Standard deployments store the participant data needed to run a program, such as names, work email, intake profiles, pairing history, meeting logs, and survey responses. Handling and visibility follow the organization's configured privacy mode and collection policy. Anonymous Mode can use participant-code access, but account identity, matching attributes, historical records, and other context may still be identifying.

Question 11

Does TrailMarke track visitors with advertising cookies?

Accepted Answer

We never sell visitor data. On explicitly public marketing routes, optional Google Analytics and LinkedIn Insight are denied by default and load only after consent; browser preferences can be changed or withdrawn after reload. Essential operational events for requested features, account security, billing, transactional messages, and demo operation are separate from optional marketing consent. Authenticated app routes do not load these marketing analytics scripts.

Question 12

How does TrailMarke use AI?

Accepted Answer

TrailMarke's compatibility matching uses local algorithmic scoring over participant profile inputs and configured criteria; administrators review pairing proposals before publishing. Separately, optional AI-assisted document and business tasks can be enabled for a defined purpose and input set. They are separate from matching, not a universal model applied to all program data, and their provider, locations, retention, human review, training settings, and deletion process depend on the enabled workflow and applicable agreement. Administrators retain final judgment over pairing decisions.

Question 13

What does Domain-Based mean, and how is it different from Cohort or Evergreen?

Accepted Answer

Domain-Based organizes matching around organization-defined stages, domains, or specialties. Participants indicate whether they Can Guide, Need Guidance, or are Neutral for each configured stage, so admins and participants can review complementary coverage. Cohort is a structured group with a shared start/end timeline; Evergreen is an always-open, self-directed pool where members find each other on their own timeline. The organization can enable Domain-Based, Cohort, and Evergreen together with separate toggles; enabling one does not require turning the others off.

Question 14

Can an organization configure its own Domain-Based stages or domains?

Accepted Answer

Yes. An admin can choose a stage preset, define custom stages, or use a competency map, and can add up to three custom matching dimensions. Domain-Based stage-posture intake lets participants choose Can Guide, Neutral, or Need Guidance for each configured stage. These settings supply the domain map and matching context; the organization chooses the labels and list.

Question 15

Does Domain-Based determine proficiency or automatically advance people?

Accepted Answer

No. Domain-Based is a matching and compatibility aid, not a proficiency assessment or progression engine. When stage-gate matching is active, configured stage postures can help score compatibility and screen out candidates with no compatible overlap; missing stage data is not screened out. Compatibility scores and eligibility signals do not certify proficiency, create a universal hard-stage qualification, or automatically advance anyone. Pairing decisions remain subject to the applicable member/admin workflow, and scores are advisory.

Question 16

Are Journeys, courses, or surveys required for a Domain-Based launch?

Accepted Answer

No. Domain-Based setup focuses on defining stages or domains, inviting participants, collecting stage intake, and reviewing complementary pairing opportunities. Journeys and surveys are optional enrichment over time, not default launch prerequisites. Mentoring 101 remains required for certification; assigning additional courses to a program or domain is not supported yet.

Question 17

Is mentor capacity required in Domain-Based programs?

Accepted Answer

Guide capacity is strongly encouraged by default, but the organization can choose whether to require it. If required, the policy applies to people offering guidance, including participants who mark Can Guide for a configured stage; people only seeking guidance are not required to provide capacity. If it is not required, a guide can set a number or explicitly skip for now.

Question 18

Does privacy change Domain-Based matching detail?

Accepted Answer

Yes. What participants and administrators can see depends on the organization's configured privacy mode and collection policy. Matching and connection workflows can remain available while raw intake details, scores, stage-match details, explanations, profile fields, or free-text are restricted or omitted. Anonymous Mode is not a blanket zero-PII or compliance guarantee: account identity, matching attributes, historical records, and other context may still be identifying.