Leveraging networks to drive inbounds
This agency had never needed to sell. One client credited the agency on its project, and people who saw the credit got in touch. The founders wanted steadier work and more say over where it came from. We mapped the investors who backed their best clients, got in touch, built relationships, and now those referrals are more than the team can handle. They are having to turn away work until they hire further.
Professional services firm // Client story
7
people added to keep up
Three hires in the first two months, then four more contractors a month later as new work came in.
5 weeks
to close two of their largest deals
A retainer and a project, both five figures and already in the pipeline. The founders closed them with our coaching.
3 months
to turning work away
We worked a few hours a week. By the end the agency had more leads than it could staff.
Where the work started.
The founders are very good at the work and for years that was the whole sales process. Most new projects traced back to one client's credit and referrals, and a single partner supplied about a third of revenue. Nobody tracked where leads came from. Sales calls were friendly and often ended without a next step, so good leads went quiet.
//sales_calls
Calls that end with a date
Deals were stalling after friendly calls, so the aim was for every call to end with a next step. We listened to their recorded sales calls. They were warm and the advice in them was good, but they had no agenda at the start and no booked next meeting at the end. We added both, with follow-ups one, three and five days later. On pricing, when a buyer asks for a lower price, the scope comes down with it and the list price stays where it is. Two of their largest deals closed within five weeks.
//investor_referrals
The investors behind the client list
The founders wanted steadier leads from a source they could work on. Their clients are venture-backed, so those clients' investors had already seen the agency's work inside their own portfolio companies. We matched 28 clients to their investors, ranked more than 90 investors by how many of those clients each had backed, and had a second researcher check every match. The founders started with the investors who knew them best. Referrals from those relationships are now more than the team can handle.
//visibility
Rewarding clients for showing the work
Most of their leads came from people who'd seen the agency's credit on a client's project, and some clients had started asking to take it off. The goal was to keep the work visible. We suggested a trade, and the standard contract now offers 5% off for a case study and a short video, and another 5% for keeping the credit. The first proposal to carry the offer fit the buyer's budget, and the buyer signed.
//lead_handling
An automation with a brake
Slow replies had cost the founders most of the leads they lost, so every new lead had to reach the team quickly. We built an AI routine that checks their booking tool every four hours, finds where each lead came from and logs it in the CRM. It credits a referrer only with evidence it can quote. If a run finds more than ten new leads it stops and asks, since a number that high usually means something broke. Every new lead now reaches the team within four hours, with its source attached.
What the team was left with.
The agency has more leads than it can staff, so the founders' job now is delivering the work and choosing which projects to take. They run sales calls from a checklist, work through a ranked map of the investors closest to their clients, and use a contract that rewards clients for showing the work.