Networking to Expand Client Base

One of the biggest shifts in Partner hiring is happening fast in the Consulting market. Firms aren’t just hiring Partners from other consultancies or promoting from within anymore. The traditional path, Analyst to Manager to Partner, or the familiar lift-out from a competitor is no longer the predominant source of talent. Clients want something different. Knowledge and frameworks are everywhere now. What carries weight is lived experience and the ability to influence. That’s why we are seeing Consulting firms increasingly sourcing their senior talent from Operating Partners in Private Equity, Senior Leaders from Industry, and Executives with real fluency in AI and Technology. Many of these leaders had some experience as Consultants earlier in their careers, but their real impact, and credibility, comes from sitting in the client’s seat, running a P&L, and delivering change under pressure. This shift is redefining what it even means to be a Consulting Partner. The leaders who thrive won’t just be great advisors; they’ll be operators, technologists, and business builders who can turn disruption into outcomes. The Partner of the future may not have built their career in consulting, and that’s exactly why clients want them.

Product-market fit (PMF) isn't a binary. The reality is that there are *shades* of PMF and you need an *action plan* to get there. Maja Voje — better known as the GTM Strategist — has worked with 350+ startups to help them achieve & expand on PMF. She's now sharing her tested frameworks with the rest of us. Here's the TL;DR: 1️⃣ Proof of concept: Get 10 testers - These tend to come from your personal network, advisors or warm outreach (from a founder) with a hook - Show "problem-solution fit" by starting to document "can we even solve this problem?" metrics with case studies 2️⃣ Proof of monetization: Get 5 paying customers - These come from retained PoC testers, cold outreach to adjacent segments, case studies sent as warm outreach with a hook, or via influential people in your network - Pro tip: you need an early customer profile before you can get to an ideal customer profile (ICP) 3️⃣ Proof of 1+ scalable GTM motion: Reach 20+ paying customers - Your GTM options: inbound (content), outbound (cold outreach), paid digital, community, partners, ABX and/or PLG - Pro tip: you need differentiated positioning to unlock this GTM motion; Maja's recommendation is to always position in relation to *something* (a service, DIY process, doing nothing or direct competitors) 4️⃣ Proof of a sustainable business model: Reach 50+ paying customers - If you were to only use this 1+ scalable GTM motion, would you be able to become break-even / profitable? - Look at: retention/churn, acquisition costs, customer referenceability 5️⃣ Proof of market expansion: Reach 100+ paying customers in 2+ markets - There's now clear evidence that you're ready to win on more fronts: opening new markets, launching new products, selling to new personas --- Read the full piece in Growth Unhinged: https://lnkd.in/guUFj-5H My favorite quote: "I like to think of PMF as a cycle... Every time I fail to validate something, I remember that Nokia started with toilet paper, Lamborghini with tractors, and McDonald’s with hot dogs." Can't wait to hear what you think 🙏 #pmf #startup #gtm

Fastest way to boost your agency's revenue in 2024: Set yourself up for success before you need it. 4 strategies I'm implementing this year: 1️⃣ Build a knockout portfolio: Yes, it's obvious, but it's crucial. Your portfolio is your agency's resume. Showcase diverse, high-quality work that speaks to your target clients. Remember, it's not just about quantity – curate projects that demonstrate your unique value proposition. Pro tip: Include case studies that highlight measurable results. 2️⃣ Develop a robust outbound strategy: Inbound is great, but outbound is where the real growth happens. Identify your ideal clients, craft personalized pitches, and consistently reach out. Set weekly outreach goals and stick to them. Remember, it's a numbers game – the more quality touchpoints you create, the more opportunities you'll uncover. 3️⃣ Hire ahead of the crunch: Don't wait until you're drowning in work to expand your team. Forecast your growth and hire proactively. This allows you to onboard and train new team members without the pressure of immediate deliverables. Plus, having capacity ready means you can say "yes" to unexpected opportunities. 4️⃣ Set and track sales targets: What gets measured, gets managed. Break down your revenue goals into monthly, weekly, and even daily targets. Make these targets visible to your sales team. Create a culture of accountability where everyone understands their role in hitting these numbers. Celebrate wins, big and small, to keep the momentum going. Bonus tip: Diversify your service offerings. Look for complementary services you can add that increase your value to existing clients and attract new ones. Remember, revenue growth isn't just about getting new clients – it's about setting up systems that allow you to scale efficiently. What's your top strategy for agency growth this year? #agencygrowth #revenueboost

When clients ask about offshoring destinations, they are often surprised by my response. "It depends on what you need." After years of connecting global businesses with Filipino talents, I have seen the Philippines evolve far beyond call centers into a powerhouse for diverse business functions. What most leaders do not realize about Filipino talent today: For writing-intensive roles, the Philippines excels unexpectedly. With English as an official language and an American-influenced education system, Filipino content creators deliver work requiring minimal editing. Their cultural familiarity with Western references makes them valuable for content aimed at US and European markets. In tech development, we are witnessing a quiet revolution. The Philippines now produces over 130,000 IT and engineering graduates annually. These professionals combine strong technical skills with exceptional communication abilities. This is a combination many technical projects desperately need. For accounting and finance, Filipino professionals bring precision and meticulous attention to detail. Many are US GAAP-trained (Generally Accepted Accounting Principle) and CPA-qualified. Project management is where cultural advantages truly shine. The Filipino work ethic combines with a natural collaborative approach and remarkable adaptability. This leads to project managers who navigate complexity while maintaining strong stakeholder relationships. Despite these strengths, there are specialized functions where other locations might be more suitable. For aggressive cold calling and high-pressure sales roles requiring persistent outreach to strangers, the natural Filipino warmth and relationship-oriented approach sometimes creates challenges. The cultural tendency toward politeness and harmony that serves so well in customer service can be less effective when pure sales aggression is required. What sets the Philippines apart is its cultural compatibility with Western business practices. That distinctive "Filipino touch", which is a blend of empathy, positivity, and service orientation, adds value across all these functions. Yes, there is the time zone difference. But many Filipino professionals willingly adjust their schedules to overlap with US/European hours, transforming what could be a challenge into a benefit. Your business effectively runs 24/7. My key insight after years in this industry: success in offshoring is not just about cost savings (though the 60-70% reduction is compelling). It's about finding the right culture and capability fit for your specific needs.

Don't reach out cold until you have spoken and reconnected with all these people first and have asked for AIR + explained exactly what you are looking for. 🎈 Advice - career advice, job search advice, career pivot advice 🎈 Information - What's going on in the company, industry? What trends are they seeing? 🎈 Recommendations - Who do they recommend you speak with to learn more? What professional associations or groups do they recommend? Where do they go or what do they read to stay current? 🎯 Contact ALL these People So They Know What You Are Looking For 1. People You Used To Work With Your past work colleagues have seen you perform in the job and know your strengths and work ethic. These people make an excellent source of information to find out what changes are going on in the business and industry. You want to let them know you are looking for a new opportunity. 2. Friends, Family, Neighbors People you know are most likely to want to help you if they can. Your friends have a vast network of contacts you don’t know about. 3. Past Managers Assuming you and your previous manager or supervisor got along, it’s a good idea to reach out to them. Your past boss may know of upcoming opportunities at your old company 4. Target Company Employees Talking with people who work inside a company you're interested in allows you to learn what it is really like to work there. Plus they can provide advice and/or insight on the best way to apply. 5. Alumni/Classmates Don’t forget to tap into classmates, professors, and alumni as another potential pool of people to network with. Use LinkedIn's Alumni tool plus your school’s Advancement or Alumni office database. 6. Customers/Clients The people you’ve served already know you and are familiar with your work. Lean on them as a source of information about what’s going on. Your customers and clients have a feel of the work landscape and future needs. This information will help you position your most important skills and experience. 7. Vendors/Suppliers Similar to your clients and customers, these people know what it’s like to do business with you. They also have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in your industry because they are still servicing businesses. 8. Service Providers (Doctors, accountants, hairdresser, etc.) Don’t overlook the business relationships you have with professionals who provide you with services. These people have their own vast network of contacts. 9. Fellow Volunteers If you volunteer, you’ve likely established relationships with other volunteers and people within the organization. These people have seen you give your time and effort.

Some people rewrote the playbook for LinkedIn growth this year. The people winning here aren’t chasing hacks. They’re not gaming the algorithm. They’re not posting for vanity metrics. They’re showing up with value. Consistently. Intentionally. Relentlessly. And when you look at the numbers, the story tells itself. I just finished compiling the Top 100 Mortgage Professionals Ranked by Year-Over-Year Follower Growth % and some of the results are flat-out remarkable. René Rodriguez sits in the top spot with a staggering 499% growth rate. That’s not an accident. Rene repurposed video content across platforms and went all-in on visibility on LinkedIn. Varun Krishna stepped into the public conversation as Rocket’s CEO while navigating the Redfin and Mr. Cooper acquisitions. His presence jumped 235%. James Kleimann nearly doubled his audience while launching The Mortgage Scoop… and doing it the right way: value, transparency, and reporting leadership. Ally Carty? Up 146%. Rick Roque, CMB and Amir Syed? Both executing a highly intentional strategy and absolutely crushing it. Laura Escobar? Fresh off the MBA Chair role and zigzagging the country as a keynote—135% growth. Leadership content showed its power. Ryan Grant and Randell Gillespie both saw 133% growth by sharing real lessons for real professionals. Mat Ishbia added another 128% on top of an already massive base. The bigger you are, the harder it is to move that number… unless you’re actually providing something the industry wants. Association leaders like Robert Broeksmit (128%), Taylor Stork, CMB (144%), and Jonathon Haddad (155%) demonstrated exactly how relevance and advocacy shape visibility. Loan officers made noise too. Kayla Kallander (130%) and Ed Moloney (132%) are proof that you don’t need a national platform to grow—you need content that resonates. And IMB CEOs? Steve Majerus, Robert Pieklo, Matthew VanFossen, CMB, Joseph Panebianco, Keith Canter, Dan Snyder—every one of them saw triple-digit growth by consistently showing up. Here’s the thing… Growth on LinkedIn is not reserved for the people with big titles, big teams, or big platforms. It rewards the people who create big value. Commenting with intention. Sharing what you’re learning. Posting content that teaches instead of pitches. Being part of the business conversation—not just watching it. No matter where you sit today in terms of follower count, you can grow. And you can grow fast if you treat LinkedIn like the modern-day conference hall it’s become. This is the first post in a year-end series where I’ll be sharing more rankings, insights, and data around who’s shaping the mortgage conversation, and how. I’m especially interested in the people using LinkedIn to actually drive business, not just impressions. Who do you think has leveled up their presence the most this year? Tag them below. Let’s give visibility to the people earning it. #VieauxPoint

We made a big bet on Enterprise Sales - and nearly pulled the plug. Then Dylan Steele hit 204% in Q2. Crushed it. ACV 2x’d. A $480K deal closed. That’s when we finally felt it: the system was clicking. But getting there? Not fun. Here’s what I wish we’d known sooner (and what actually worked): 1. Specialize Early We thought our senior AEs could handle all deal sizes. “We’re a small team, no time to specialize.” Wrong. Win rate dropped to 20%. Why? Because our AEs were stuck chasing 10 $10K deals or one $100K deal, and missed both. The context switch is brutal. Different buyers. Different tempo. Different stakes. Enterprise needs depth, not speed. Specialize early. Do it. Result: Win Rate >30%, ACV 2x’d in Q2, 100% of Enterprise AEs overachieved. 2. Inbound Misses Execs We’re 100% inbound. 1,000s of users sign up for our free plan or request demos every month. Our SDRs follow product signals and work their way up. It’s great for volume. But execs don’t fill out forms. We’d find champions. But without exec buy-in, deals died at the top. Now we blend outbound from day one and run exec-to-exec outreach. CROs on first calls. Result: In Q2, a big logo closed in 64 days with CRO & VPs engaged on day 1. 3. Upmarket Is a NEW Market Enterprise wasn’t just bigger deals. It was a different game: New personas, requirements, and entirely new competition. We weren’t just selling Digital Sales Rooms anymore; we were up against Sales Enablement giants buyers had used for 10+ years. Don’t assume what worked downmarket still applies. The playbook MUST be rewritten. Result: In Q3, we displaced 3 legacy vendors. 4. Weekly War Rooms Every week, we deep-dive into all strategic deals. I join these calls to help. These kinds of deals must be orchestrated, not sold to. We get requirement docs, uncover existing executive connections, tackle issues that require unique troubleshooting. Every AE has the entire team at their service. Result: Today, every big deal has an Exec Sponsor. 5. Protect Seller Focus Big deals don’t need more hours. They need better ones. More research. Better business case. Sharper strategy. Most companies buy tech to help. We’re building ours in-house, customized and soon productized. Agents that help reps prep, update CRM, raise flags, and move faster. Result: Every deal now has a Business Case using Aligned's AI. 6. Brand Brand Brand The more we invest in what we can’t measure, the faster we scale. When buyers already trust you, deals move faster. They loop in execs. They have fewer objections. They know your name. You can’t calculate the ROI, but good luck closing 6-fig deals when your AE is the only engine building trust. Result: We show up 10x per day in our ICPs feed. 700+ join our webinars. —— Stop hiring enterprise reps hoping they’ll fix your GTM. If the system’s not built, they can’t win. It’s not on them. It’s on you. Don’t blame the people doing the hardest job. What’s worked for you going upmarket?

Referrals aren’t a strategy. They’re a starting point. A corporate finance advisor came to me after 15+ years in the game. Sharp, credible, experienced. But still stuck in the same loop: → Word-of-mouth referrals → Low-quality inbound → Platforms that didn’t match his pricing or positioning He wanted to break into the English-speaking market. Attract more sophisticated clients. And finally stop explaining his value to the wrong people. So we rebuilt everything around authority and alignment. Here’s what that looked like: ✅ Repositioned his profile to reflect global credibility ✅ Built a clean, consistent content matrix (no more ad hoc posts) ✅ Shifted away from low-ticket platforms to premium lead magnets ✅ Added warm engagement flows to start strategic conversations ✅ Created visibility in new markets without cold outreach In 90 days: 📈 +87% growth in visibility 📈 +6.7K new members reached 📈 6+ discovery calls booked in first 2 weeks, 1 from a major international firm 📈 Ranked Top 25% in Financial Markets (his region) And more importantly? → A brand that matched the value of his offer → A pipeline he didn’t have to chase → A system that works while he does the real work If you’re an operator, investor, or advisor still relying on referrals this is your sign. Your personal brand shouldn’t just reflect your resume. It should sell your thinking. Before you ever enter the room. — 👩🏼💻 DM me “VISIBILITY” if you’re ready to turn presence into deal flow. ♻️ Follow me, Mariam Gogidze, for more on personal brands, positioning, and digital authority.

Over the past 9 years, I’ve acquired 1,000+ clients for my agencies. If I were starting over today, here’s exactly how I’d land my first 10 clients: Step 1: Start with the right data The biggest challenge when starting out? Finding highly targeted prospects who are ready to buy. Here’s how I’d solve that: Google Maps. Yes, I said Google Maps. Why? Because it’s an untapped goldmine for qualified leads. With over 4,000 B2B categories, it’s packed with local businesses and SMBs often overlooked - or missing - from LinkedIn. These are hidden gems waiting to be discovered. Scrap (https://scrap.io/s/9MYK) transforms this goldmine into actionable leads by extracting from Google Maps listings: - Emails, phone numbers, & websites - Social media profiles - Website technologies - Even Google Maps ratings & reviews Filter and focus on your ideal targets in just 2 clicks. For example: - Restaurants with 4+ ratings but no Instagram. - Local businesses with websites but no ad pixels. - SMBs in specific niches or locations. Scrap’s real-time data extraction ensures you always have the most accurate info - and it’s available as a Chrome Extension for instant insights. Step 2: Personalize your outreach Generic outreach doesn’t work - relevance is everything. Try this playbook: - Subject Line: Use something attention-grabbing like “Quick question about [business name]” or “Idea for [service].” - Personalize: Reference their Google Maps reviews, website, or niche. For example: “Congrats on your 4.9-star rating - I can see why people love your café.” - Partner Up: “I help cafes like yours boost foot traffic through email marketing. I noticed a few opportunities I’d love to share.” - CTA: End with a low-pressure ask: “Does this sound worth exploring?” Pro Tip: Pair the emails from Scrap (https://scrap.io/s/9MYK) with LinkedIn outreach - connect or engage with their posts to build trust. Step 3: Stay consistent and scale your efforts Build momentum through persistence: - Follow Up: Most responses come after the 2nd or 3rd touch. Example sequence: Email → LinkedIn connect → Follow-up email → Call. - Track Metrics: Monitor open rates, replies, and booked calls. Aim for a 20%+ email response rate and 10%+ meetings booked. - Leverage Referrals: Once you’ve landed a few clients, ask, “Know anyone else who might benefit?” and share testimonials like, “We helped a local coffee shop grow foot traffic by 20% in 30 days.” - Automate: Use Scrap for fast lead gen and a CRM to manage outreach. Recap: - Use Scrap (https://scrap.io/s/9MYK) to turn Google Maps into a lead-gen machine for local businesses, SMBs, and niche prospects. - Personalize your emails with insights and a clear CTA. - Stay consistent by following up, tracking results, and leveraging referrals. - And remember: Your first 10 clients lay the foundation for scaling. #ScrapPartner

Our client landed a Director of Product role. In a brand new industry. With a $155K+ offer. They did it by ditching job boards and going all-in on relationships. Here’s a 6-step breakdown of the “Service-First Networking” strategy they used to win: Context: When our client joined us, they were stuck. 3 months of cold applications had led to burnout and dead ends. They were juggling a data science bootcamp, parenting, and a job hunt that felt like a second job. Interviews were exhausting and ultimately went nowhere. Then they learned a better way to stand out. 1. They Dropped The Cold Applications Endless job boards. No responses. Hours tailoring resumes. That wasn’t working. So we helped them shift to a new system. One focused on clarity, relationships, and high ROI actions. 2. They Got Clear On Their Ask Before, they struggled to articulate what they wanted. That made networking feel vague and ineffective. We helped them narrow their focus to data analytics roles and gave them language that positioned them as a high-value candidate with a clear goal. 3. They Reframed Networking The breakthrough? A mindset shift. From “Can you help me?” → To “How can I help you?” They told us: “This program taught me to focus on others’ challenges. That shift changed everything, and it goes beyond job hunting.” 4. They Led With Insightful Outreach Using our templates, they sent personalized outreach messages to people at target companies. Not to ask for a job, but to share interest, insight, and thoughtful questions. That started real conversations and built trust. 5. They Created Real Value In Conversations When opportunities came up, they didn’t just show interest. They offered ideas. Showed research. Asked about team pain points. That positioned them as a strategic partner, not just a job seeker. The Outcome? Those conversations turned into interviews. One led to an offer from HazelTree for a Director of Product role. With coaching support, they negotiated the comp and walked away with a $155K+ offer in hand. Still Stuck In The Cold App Trap? You can’t build trust (or land interviews) by blending in with 200+ other applicants. Our clients ditch job boards and land faster offers with this system: ✅ $44K+ Avg. Raise ⏰ Avg. Time To Offer: 3.5 Months ⭐ Satisfaction: 9.52/10 🤝 End-To-End Support Guarantee Book a free 30-min Clarity Call to see how we’d map it to your job search: https://lnkd.in/gdysHr-r