Consulting firms live and die by partner networks and referrals. Cold outbound to CEOs and COOs is considered impossible by most consulting partners, and the few firms that try it default to thought-leadership-style emails that read like LinkedIn posts. Stratechi had a differentiated offering in strategic planning facilitation but was entirely dependent on the founder's personal network for new business. Revenue was capped at what one person's relationships could produce. They needed a scalable acquisition channel that could reach CEOs who had never heard of them.
We built signal-based lists targeting companies that had recently closed a funding round, made a major leadership change, or announced an expansion into a new market. These events create a natural need for strategic planning support. Approximately 700 emails per month across 8 sending domains. Short, direct emails of 60 to 80 words that referenced the specific event and named a strategic challenge it likely created. For example: You just raised $20M and announced plans to expand into EMEA. Most companies at this stage underestimate the operational complexity of international expansion. Worth a 20-minute conversation about the three things that typically go wrong? No attachments, no links, no marketing language. Just a relevant observation and a soft ask.
Key Insight: CEOs responded best to emails that named a specific strategic challenge their company was facing right now, not general thought leadership or capability pitches. The trigger event was essential: a CEO who just raised $20M and is planning to enter a new market will take a meeting about market-entry risk. The same CEO will ignore a generic email about strategic planning services. Stratechi closed 5 engagements from the 33 meetings at an average deal size of $85K.
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