I Help B2B Service Businesses Build the Sales and Marketing Systems They Never Had Time to Develop
Thirty years of frontline commercial experience. A structured mentoring approach that turns insight into action. Specific focus on B2B professional and technical services firms.
You are brilliant at what you do. Your clients value your expertise. You deliver genuine results.
But generating new business consistently? That's a different challenge entirely.
Perhaps you rely heavily on referrals and word of mouth. Perhaps your pipeline is unpredictable. Perhaps you can't clearly answer "what makes you genuinely different?" without hesitating. Or perhaps you know exactly what you should be doing but haven't yet built the systems that would make it happen.
I have been there. Not in theory. I have run businesses, managed feast-famine cycles, and worked out what actually creates sustainable growth for firms that sell expertise rather than products.
That experience is what I bring
How I Got Here
My career started in sales, and I discovered early on that the firms growing most consistently weren't the ones working hardest. They were the ones with clear systems and a structured approach to winning business.
I spent thirty years in frontline commercial roles, eventually leading sales and marketing teams generating significant revenue for organisations including GEC, Oracle, Infor and Lawson. Those years gave me a deep understanding of how professional and technical services firms win business, retain clients and build sustainable pipelines.
Then I did what many people do. I left corporate life and built my own businesses.
And discovered that knowing how something works and actually implementing it while managing client delivery, cashflow, proposals and everything else that comes with running a small firm are very different challenges.
I remember the feast-famine cycles. The weeks when client delivery took everything and business development fell entirely off the agenda. Winning work and having no clear idea why that particular client said yes when three others said no.
That experience shapes everything I do now. Not textbook frameworks. Not case studies. Practical knowledge built from three decades of doing it, making mistakes, refining the approach and building businesses that actually grew.
What Actually Works
(And What Doesn't)
After thirty years in commercial roles and working with dozens of business owners, here is what I have learned.
Most Marketing Advice Doesn't Fit Small Businesses
The frameworks designed for consumer businesses and large corporates don't translate cleanly to firms that sell expertise. Buying cycles are longer. Decision-makers are more sophisticated. The credibility signals that matter are completely different. Your approach needs to reflect that.
Generic Templates Don't Work
What works for a software company won't work for a consultancy. What works in one sector won't work in another. Every market has different buying processes, different language and different ways of building trust. I research your specific situation before we do anything else.
Consistency Beats Intensity Every Time
A simple system you can actually maintain consistently will always outperform an ambitious plan you abandon after three weeks. I have seen it repeatedly. Sustainable progress wins over unsustainable sprints
You Don't Need to Change Who You Are
The most effective approaches feel natural to you. If certain activities don't suit your personality or your way of working, we'll build around that rather than forcing you into approaches that won't stick.
Trying to Do This Alone is the Real Problem
Positioning yourself. Developing your marketing approach. Refining your sales conversations. Testing what works. It is genuinely difficult to see your own business clearly when you are inside it. That is where external perspective makes the biggest difference.
WHY WORK WITH ME
Most people offering business mentoring either have commercial experience without a structured approach, or a structured approach without real commercial experience. The combination of both is less common than you might expect.
I Have Been on Both Sides of the Conversation
Thirty years in commercial roles means I have been the person trying to win business from exactly the kind of buyers your clients are. I understand how decisions get made, how credibility gets established and what actually moves a professional services firm forward commercially.
When we talk about positioning, pipeline or sales process, I draw on situations I have navigated personally. Including the parts that didn't work and the approaches that failed.
Mentoring with Method
I use a structured approach to our work together. That means clarity about where we are going, a clear process for getting there and a consistent focus on implementation rather than just insight.
The methodology keeps us focused. The experience means the conversation stays grounded in commercial reality rather than theory.
A Focus on Implementation, Not Just Insight
Knowing what to do is rarely the problem for the business owners I work with. The gap is usually between knowing and doing. Every conversation we have is oriented towards practical action, not just better understanding.
AI-Augmented Research
I use AI to research your market, your competitors and your opportunities in depth before we begin, and throughout our work together where it adds genuine value.
You also learn how to use AI effectively in your own business, from prospect research to content creation to proposal writing. Specific applications for your situation, not generic advice about prompting tools.
What Working Together Actually Looks Like
No rigid programmes. No arbitrary timelines. Structured collaboration that fits your reality.
We start with a straightforward conversation about where you are, where you want to be and whether my approach fits your situation. If we are not right for each other, I will tell you directly.
If we decide to move forward, I spend time researching your market using AI. Your competitors, what is working in your sector, positioning approaches that are resonating with your target clients. This takes me a few days. You don't wait for it.
We then review the research together and use it as the foundation for your strategy. Your expertise combined with sector intelligence gives us a much stronger starting point than either would alone.
After that, we build your system. Through structured sessions, we develop your positioning, your approach to generating opportunities and your sales process. Through consistent implementation, we build the habits and systems that create sustainable results.
Regular sessions maintain momentum. Between sessions, email support means you are never waiting for the next meeting to move a decision forward.
Some clients move quickly and have a working system in place within a few months. Others work more slowly around client delivery commitments. Both approaches work. What matters is building something you can actually sustain.
Who This Is For
I work with B2B professional and technical services firms where the owner or leadership team are excellent at delivery but have not yet built systematic approaches to generating new business.
Professional Services
Consultants, accountants, solicitors and specialists who compete on expertise and need to demonstrate value more effectively to the right buyers.
Technical Consultancies
Software implementers, systems integrators, data and analytics firms and IT consultancies who win work on technical depth but find it harder to articulate that value to non-technical decision-makers
Creative Agencies
Branding studios, design consultancies and content agencies tired of inconsistent pipelines and clients who don't fully appreciate the expertise they're paying for
Specialist Advisers
Research, compliance, environmental, scientific and niche sector consultancies whose buyers often don't recognise they need specialist help until a problem has already surfaced
You're in the right place if:
-
You are generating £500K to £10M in turnover but growth feels inconsistent
-
Most new work comes from referrals and introductions rather than a managed pipeline
-
You can't clearly answer "who are you specifically for?" or "what makes you genuinely different?"
-
You are time-poor and cannot afford approaches that require weeks of setup before they produce results
-
You suspect the barrier is less about knowledge or skill and more about something running underneath: a habit, a belief or a pattern you haven't yet been able to name clearly
This probably isn't the right fit if:
-
You want overnight results without a structured approach
-
You want someone to run campaigns or produce content on your behalf
-
You compete primarily on being the lowest-cost option in your market
Background & Qualifications
Thirty years of frontline commercial experience, including senior roles leading sales and marketing at GEC, Oracle, Infor and Lawson.
Three businesses built from concept to profitable operation.
An approved mentor on the government's Help to Grow Management programme.
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring and a member of the Association of British Mentors. Currently working towards Individual Accreditation with the EMCC.
The combination of genuine commercial experience, structured mentoring methodology and deep familiarity with the realities of running a small business is what makes the work practical rather than theoretical.
Let's Talk About Your Business
If you'd like to explore whether working together makes sense, let's start with a straightforward conversation.
About where you are, where you'd like to be and whether my approach fits your situation.
No sales pitch. No pressure. Just an honest discussion about whether I can help.