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- The 7-Figure Sales Playbook
Before diving in, I want to pause and thank the people who made the below possible.
First, Peter Kazanjy, author of Founding Sales, who taught me the power of sending the brazen calendar invite without confirmation. Second, to Martin Roth, who has been a big help in codifying our sales playbook which produced the article below. These are two big-brain thinkers whose work has had a profound impact on the enterprise SaaS field, and I’ve been fortunate to learn from their examples.
I’ve also gained invaluable, sharp, and acute lessons from Mark Green, Brian Ondrako, Ralph Cartwright, Robbie Crabtree, and Zvi Band (all distinctly highlighted below)—each of whom has shaped how I think, act, and lead in meaningful ways.
I also owe deep gratitude to my parents. From my mother, I learned by osmosis: listening to her take calls on the way to basketball practice, watching her work late into the night with meticulous follow-ups, and absorbing her relentless dedication.
From my father, I carry forward a simple but powerful mantra: “It’s not that hard to be great. Just be a good person and work super hard.
Because the harder you work, the luckier you get.”
And lastly, big thanks to a couple team members.
Rafael, who has helped scale our outreach and sales process leveraging instantly, N8N, Hubspot, Apollo, and more.
Eli, who has created such beautiful sales assets with such tremendous heart and care.
What you’ll read below is not solely my own—it’s a combination of lessons from some of the best and most thoughtful people in my network, woven together with the bigger vision I’ve gleaned by throwing myself fully into a wide range of experiences.
Here’s the irony of building a consulting company: The more you double down on care, trust, and thoughtfulness, the faster you grow.
Over the past seven years, we’ve built Arcbound with a long term mindset.
Not through ads. Not through funnels.
But through a repeatable process rooted in relationships.
Here’s the exact step-by-step playbook we used (and still use today). You can copy this, adapt it, and build your own consultancy—with soul intact.
1️⃣ Define Exactly Who You Serve
Most firms fail because they chase everyone. We narrowed to three ICPs:
Active CEOs/Founders/Investors — too busy to build brands internally; visibility ties directly to company growth.
Exited Operators in Transition — sold or stepped back, now designing their “next chapter.” They’re responsive, resourced, and value platforms.
Authors/Speakers/Coaches — a team of one. They need structure without juggling 5 vendors.
Action: Write your 2–3 ICPs. List 10 names under each. Write down where they gather (YPO, Tiger 21, Modern Elder Academy). This gives you clarity of where to look!
2️⃣ Systematize Warm Outreach [To Your Existing Network]
Everything lives in a CRM (we use HubSpot). For a personal CRM, check out Relatable.
That way, no email is “lost.”
However, it’s your job to build the connection. Here’s our Relationship System.
Then: warm reconnects. Short, human, no agenda.
📧 Warm Reconnect Email
Subject: Reconnecting
Hi [Name],
Thinking of you + [personal note]. Quick update on what I’ve been working on (positive, momentous tone).
I’d love to connect and hear what you’re up to. Here’s my calendar: [link].
Looking forward to it!
Or, a live example.
📱 Warm Text
“Hey [name]! how’s life? It would be great to catch up sometime.”
I’ve found if you know someone super well, it’s much easier to get a meeting on the calendar with a text.
Live Ex. 1
Live Ex. 2
Meetings booked.
In the first example, they booked on my link.
In the second example, I sent invite.
Why this works?
A bit of mystery/intrigue. Opportunity to build the relationship. Drives curiosity.
Someone I know decent, but want to know better.
3️⃣ Cold Outreach (Without Feeling Cold)
We’ve found that when you reach out cold just to ask for a meeting, it rarely works. People are busy, and without a reason to engage, your message gets lost.
The key is to lead with value.
Recently, we hosted a webinar where 117 people registered—70% of whom I had never met before. The reason they showed up wasn’t because of me, it was because we created something worth their time: a value-packed learning event. We paired a podcast invite with exclusive webinar access, giving them both insights and connection.
It wasn’t transactional—it was generous.
We didn’t charge for it. We simply offered something useful.
And in return, it helped us build community, deepen trust, and begin planting roots with new contacts.
📧 Cold Outreach (Podcast + Webinar)
Hi [Name],
I started Arcbound seven years ago to help leaders define and amplify their voices. Since then, we’ve supported hundreds of founders, investors, and executives.
Two quick opportunities I think you’ll find valuable:
Podcast Invitation → Join me on The One Away Show. 200+ episodes with top entrepreneurs and thought leaders. [LINK]
Webinar Invitation → Beyond the Seat: Building and Serving on Boards with Purpose and Impact with Marie Holive + Bob Arciniaga. [LINK]
Would love to connect and get to know you—here’s my calendar: [LINK].
PS: promise this isn’t pay-to-play.
👉 We send this in a 3-email cadence (intro → reminder → last call), spaced 4–5 days apart.
Everyone says you get a higher LinkedIn connection % if you don’t include a message.
But here’s what we found:
When you send a thoughtful message with value, the conversation rate is far higher.
Example: We recently ran a webinar where 117 people registered—70% of whom I had never met before. The reason they came wasn’t because I asked for their time. It’s because I offered them something valuable: a podcast invite + access to a free, value-packed learning event.
No pitch. No transaction. Just generosity.
That single shift—leading with value—helped us build community, trust, and start real conversations with people who would have ignored a cold outreach.
👉 Outreach isn’t about gaming connection %’s. It’s about giving people a reason to say yes.
Why did this approach work?
Targeted a specific network (YPO).
Instead of blasting invites, we focused on a community where trust and credibility already matter.Led with value in the copy.
Many seasoned leaders are curious about board seats—so the messaging spoke directly to their real interest.Built trust through association.
We co-hosted the webinar with another YPO member, which immediately boosted credibility and lowered the barrier to engagement.
4️⃣ Host Rooms of Great Energy, Not Funnels
When I have met a cluster of amazing people in one city on a 1:1 basis (and give them hand written thank you notes), I then like to take that a step further and host a dinner with 8–12 curated guests.
It’s not about “prospects.” It’s about bringing together the right energy and letting the magic unfold.
The ROI? Exponential. Countless new relationships. Everyone leaves with value.
Here’s an article I wrote called The Art & Science of a Great Event.
Side Story: When I first started Arcbound, or what was originally called BW Missions, I hosted events in D.C. at different restaurant venues. My inspiration on how to do this came from the legendary Zvi Band.
5️⃣ Nail Your Sales Arc (3 Conversations)
Then I got some sales training.
Most sales advice tells you to get to the proposal as quickly as possible.
But my friend Brian Ondrako (a great sales coach) reviewed my process and pointed out something game-changing: I was rushing. I was trying to close instead of helping the prospect open up.
He showed me that I needed to flip the paradigm:
Put in more effort on discovery.
Make prospects work harder to earn the chance of working with us.
Slow down in order to build trust.
Here’s the counter-intuitive part:
The more discovery I did—really listening, making a prospect feel seen and heard—the higher the conversion rate.
Sometimes the fastest way to win business… is to stop trying to rush the close.
PS, go work with Brian, he’s amazing. https://brianondrako.com/
Here’s what Brian taught me and how it changed our process.
Consistency beats charisma. We run every prospect through three calls:
Call 1: Discovery Call
Share your short origin story.
PS, I learned this from Robbie Crabtree who is a fantastic communicator.
I have shared the same story probably thousands of times in the past 2 years.
Talk 20-30% of the time.
2 ears, 1 mouth!
This is your chance to do deep discovery and really understand the pain
My friend Ralph Cartwright also was pretty influential in helping me get better at this reviewing my sales calls and helping me how to understand the core problem better
Read the book Gap Selling
Call 2: Proof Points
Show 2–3 client journeys that match your
We have built out client decks for the work we have done for all the services we provide
Once we understand the problem we are solving, we show our solutions for how we can help our clients overcome them, from proven work in the past
Let them see themselves in your work.
Call 3: Proposal Review
Walk through objectives, timeline, investment.
📧 Follow-Up to Get Deal over the line – Taught by Executive Coach Mark Green
Hi [Name],
We’d love to work with you and sense it would be a strong collaboration.
We only onboard a few clients/month. We have 2 slots left this month.
If you can let us know by [date], we’ll hold it for you.
For us at Arcbound: We only onboard a few clients/month. We are boutique. Not scale.
We can’t serve everyone who comes into our door and that’s intentional.
It’s also important we maintain quality control.
6️⃣ Follow Up Like You Actually Heard Them
Most deals die in the inbox. They die because you’re too slow.
Ours close because we show care, speed, and follow through.
After the First Call:
Send a [Company Name] Materials Follow-Up subject line with curated work samples.
For us, this lists
Clients we’ve worked with
Client sample work
Industry Articles we’ve written
Our Own Podcast
After the Second OR Third Call:
Then send a deep personalized recap to make the prospect feel seen and heard acknowledging where they are, what they’re trying to solve, and how you can help.
We are in an industry where clients need to feel a strong connection to us — and vice versa. Shoving a price in their face without a connection just doesn’t work. Thus, the level of effort and care around our process is extremely high from the start and throughout the client journey.
Usually, this is when we’d attach our roadmap/proposal.
7️⃣ Productize Your Offers
Custom work = chaos.
Simplicity = more customer success.
Thanks to Blaire Kotsikopoulos, we’ve streamlined our service offerings. 2 years ago, we had a lot more complexity in our service infrastructure. In the past 24 months, we’ve really tightened what we sell and who we sell too so we can drive consistency and customer success.
Creating a Way In:
Define the Brand: In the early days, we only sold brand activation services on retainer.
Retainers are great for revenue—but we ran into a problem:
Clients didn’t always understand why they were building a brand. Without clarity, the relationship felt shaky.
So we changed the model.
Now, we always do the upfront brand strategy work first. That foundation cements the relationship, gives clients a clear north star, and makes activation 10x more effective.
It’s been one of the biggest differentiators for us.
Lesson: Don’t just sell execution. Sell clarity first. Execution works best when it’s anchored to purpose.
Arc Launch/Brand Strategy + Website
Arc Launch/Brand Strategy (no site)
Activate the Brand:
Weekly Podcast
Newsletter
LinkedIn posts
Short-form video
8️⃣ Scaling with Brand Ambassador Infrastructure
We just rolled out our Ambassador Program with the aim to create a few full time sales reps and potential long term sales leaders by the end of the year.
See how to build this for yourself.
Part 1 | Part 2
9️⃣ Onboard Like It Matters
Momentum = trust.
The moment someone says yes:
Set kickoff date (even pre-contract). This takes friction out of the process.
Follow Up Email Introducing Client the team
Designated Team Members Handling Specific Functions
Pedro = contracts
Sid = scheduling
Blaire = kickoff
Send a Welcome Email introducing your company, the clients team that will be supporting them, and what to look forward to ahead.
🔟 Content Is Your Silent Sales Team
We run a strict cadence, consistently:
LinkedIn: 4–5 posts/week
Newsletter: 2x/month
Podcast: 4x/month
Not just “branding tips.” Stories, philosophy, lessons. Why? Because clients buy why you do it, not just what you do.
1. Check out Denise Gosnell’s new website. She just finished our Arc Launch Process. It’s amazing 🤩 🤩 🤩
2. Due to an exciting announcement ahead, I am scaling myself out of sales. We have a strong plan to do it. If you know anyone who is a fit for our ambassador program, please introduce me or have them apply. We have 3 out of 8 people registered.
3. If you have any questions on this process (e.g. like what a proposal template looks like), or want more behind the scenes info (to our example materials we typically send), please let me know and I’d be happy to share it with you.