Use case · Consulting
B2B prospecting for consulting firms
Consulting is sold on trust, and trust rarely starts with a cold message. It starts with a message that arrives at the right moment, on the right topic, with the person who owns the project.
Updated 2026-10-05
In short
The Sales Engine helps consulting firms spot executives who have a reason to buy advice now: a new role, a funding round, rapid growth, a transformation hire. A partner approves every prospect before anything is sent, then the platform reaches them on LinkedIn and email with a message built on their signal, until a meeting lands in your calendar.
Who this page is for
Firms advising on strategy, operations, transformation, HR, finance or IT, from solo consultants to practices of a few dozen people. What they share: partners or the founder do the selling, between engagements, and new business still comes mostly from their network.
The usual problem
While consultants are billing, nobody prospects. When the engagement ends, the pipeline is empty and the network gets a rushed round of calls. That feast-or-famine cycle is the most common symptom.
The second problem is the message. “We help companies through their transformation” means nothing to a CEO who gets thirty pitches a week. Buying advice is almost always triggered by an event: a new executive who wants to make a mark, a funding round that forces structure, growth that breaks the organisation. Writing without that event means writing at the wrong time.
How The Sales Engine handles it
Targeting
You describe your ideal clients: industries, size, the functions that buy your expertise, geography. The platform counts reachable companies and decision-makers and proposes prospects scored on fit.
Signals
Every day it watches for events that open a consulting project and ties each one to a named person: the new COO, not “the company”.
Approval
A partner reviews the list. Existing clients, competitors and sensitive accounts are removed before any message goes out.
Sequence
LinkedIn first, then email, in one thread. The opener starts from the signal and asks an executive-level question instead of presenting the firm.
Meetings
Replies are classified, the slot lands on your booking page and the prospect moves to “Meeting” in your pipeline or CRM.
Sample target (ICP)
For a firm focused on operations and performance:
| Criterion | Example |
|---|---|
| Industries | Manufacturing, specialist distribution, B2B services |
| Size | 100 to 1,000 employees |
| Decision-makers | CEO, COO, CFO, HR director |
| Geography | France, Benelux, Switzerland |
| Exclusions | Current clients, groups already handled by a partner, competitors |
| Triggers | New in role for under six months, funding round, new site |
Illustrative only. The full method is in the guide Define your ICP.
Signals worth watching
New decision-maker
The strongest one for consulting: a newly appointed executive reviews priorities and suppliers.
Fundraising
Money comes with targets: structure, hire, open markets.
Growth and expansion
New site, new subsidiary, acquisition: the organisation has to keep up.
Hiring
A posting for a “transformation lead” or “ERP project manager” announces a project.
LinkedIn posts
An executive who shares a problem publicly has opened the conversation already.
Sample sequence
Slow pace, peer-to-peer tone. Variables in braces are filled for each prospect.
Day 0 · LinkedIn profile visit
A light first touch, no message.
Day 1 · LinkedIn invitation
No note, or one line on the signal: “Saw you joined {company}, would be glad to connect.”
Day 4 · Email 1, signal-based opener
“Hi {first name}, congratulations on the new role at {company}. In the first months, people usually sort the projects they inherited from the ones they want to own. Which are at the top of your list?”
Day 8 · LinkedIn message
A useful point of view, no attachment: what you see in executives in the same situation.
Day 14 · Email 2, final follow-up
A simple offer: twenty minutes to compare their priorities with what you see elsewhere, with a link to your booking page.
It's for you if
- Your clients are companies whose executives are on LinkedIn.
- You can name the events that trigger your engagements.
- You want a pipeline that keeps moving while the team is on assignment.
- A partner can spend ten to fifteen minutes a day approving and replying, or you'd rather hand it to our managed service.
It's not for you if
- Your work comes only from tightly framed tenders or closed supplier panels.
- Your offer isn't clear yet: prospecting amplifies a positioning, it doesn't create one.
- You won't let AI help draft messages, even reviewed ones.
The Sales Engine is helping me build a base of qualified partners that are truly relevant to my business. […] their business sense makes a real difference in the quality of exchanges and opportunities generated.
Frequently asked questions
Doesn't cold outreach hurt a firm's reputation?
Mass campaigns do. Here you approve every prospect, volumes stay reasonable and each message starts from a specific fact about the person. It reads like a reasoned introduction, not a newsletter.
Can we exclude our clients and the accounts a partner already covers?
Yes. You exclude companies or domains in the target, and you drop any prospect you don't want contacted at approval.
Do messages go out in the partner's name?
Yes: emails leave from your mailboxes and LinkedIn messages from your accounts. The prospect talks to someone at the firm, not to a tool.
How soon do meetings come in?
First messages go out within the week. The first month tunes the target and the tone; for a consulting sales cycle, judge results over three months.
What if we have no time to run it?
The managed service hands campaigns to our team, with a review every two weeks. You keep prospect approval and the meetings.
Read next
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