Professional Services Business Development

Strategies and methodologies for growing client relationships and revenue in professional service firms like law, consulting, and advisory practices.

14 episodes

Ep43 John Yates and Gregg Bedol—How Two Industry Veterans Are Solving Business Dev with TractionBD

Ep43 John Yates and Gregg Bedol—How Two Industry Veterans Are Solving Business Dev with TractionBD

John Yates, a tech attorney with 44 years of experience, and Greg Bedol, a serial entrepreneur and consultant, discuss their new venture Traction BD—a voice-enabled AI platform that automates business development for professionals. They explore how AI is revolutionizing relationship-based selling by making it easier to maintain consistent, personalized outreach without the emotional fatigue and time constraints that cause most professionals to abandon prospects after just 2-3 touches.

Ep 39—Neal Miller-Decades of Financial Strategy Across 70 Companies and Still Going

Ep 39—Neal Miller-Decades of Financial Strategy Across 70 Companies and Still Going

Neil Miller, a partner emeritus at Tech CXO with 19 years at the firm, shares his journey from public accounting through CFO roles at multiple public companies to fractional executive work. He discusses his involvement with 70+ companies including Cloud Sherpas and Boomtown, offering insights on fundraising challenges, the fractional executive model's value during economic uncertainty, and how AI is compressing business cycles while changing capital requirements.

Ep37—Mike Martin: Big Tobacco to Government Contracts: Building Breakthrough Brand Campaigns

Ep37—Mike Martin: Big Tobacco to Government Contracts: Building Breakthrough Brand Campaigns

Mike Martin, fractional CMO at Tech CXO, discusses his career journey from landscape architecture to advertising, including breakthrough campaigns for the Truth anti-smoking initiative and Monster.com's Super Bowl ads. He shares insights on modern marketing challenges, the role of AI in creative work, and lessons learned from both toxic leadership and successful brand building across hospitality, e-commerce, and government sectors.

Ep 34 - Brantley Fry: Why Connecting People and Process Is Your Secret Weapon

Ep 34 - Brantley Fry: Why Connecting People and Process Is Your Secret Weapon

Brantley Fry, partner at Tech CXO's human capital management practice, shares her unconventional career path from environmental lawyer to political state director to HR strategist. She discusses her work on major environmental cases including the TVA coal ash spill and BP oil spill, her role as state director for Senator Doug Jones, and her current focus on helping high-growth companies optimize people operations. The conversation explores M&A communication strategies, non-traditional hiring approaches, and Birmingham's emerging biotech ecosystem.

Ep32 Joe Gruca—From Pink Slip to Pivot: Predictable Sales in Unpredictable Markets

Ep32 Joe Gruca—From Pink Slip to Pivot: Predictable Sales in Unpredictable Markets

Joe Gruca shares his journey from corporate VP of Sales at Computer Associates to co-founding Higher IQ, an AI-powered interview automation platform, after being laid off in 2008. He discusses pivoting the business model, raising venture capital, successfully exiting, and now helping early-stage tech CEOs as a fractional revenue leader at Tech CXO. The conversation covers sales methodology evolution, startup lessons, and navigating economic uncertainty.

SpeedRun Ep 05 Projects with SOW from Notes and Emails -Tales from the Sky Lounge

SpeedRun Ep 05 Projects with SOW from Notes and Emails -Tales from the Sky Lounge

A demonstration of using Claude Desktop with MCP integrations to automate proposal generation. The host connects Google Drive and Gmail, feeds meeting transcriptions and email threads into Claude, and generates a complete statement of work by synthesizing client requirements, meeting notes, and web research—all formatted to a template and saved automatically.

SpeedRun Ep 09 Resource Use for ICP + GTM Plan -Tales from the Sky Lounge

SpeedRun Ep 09 Resource Use for ICP + GTM Plan -Tales from the Sky Lounge

A fractional CTO demonstrates using Claude AI with deep research mode to generate a comprehensive business development and go-to-market plan for his consulting practice. By uploading PDFs of marketing materials, case studies, and service offerings, he prompts the AI to identify ideal customer profiles across four tiers, create multi-channel outreach strategies, and produce detailed execution plans including email templates and event recommendations—all refined through iterative conversation.

Ep30 Bob Brogan—Road Warrior to Business Architect: 40 Years of Transforming Companies

Ep30 Bob Brogan—Road Warrior to Business Architect: 40 Years of Transforming Companies

Bob Brogan shares four decades of experience transforming companies across operations, IT consulting, and strategy. From early data warehousing in Canada to leading a $100M exit for a 43-year-old online ordering pioneer, he discusses business cycles, modular design principles, and the transition from tactical execution to strategic leadership. Now managing partner at Tech CXO Great Lakes, he emphasizes paying forward through mentorship, angel investing, and community work including founding the Legacy Guild scholarship program.

Ep28 Michael Weinstein—Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty - How We Got Here & What's Next

Ep28 Michael Weinstein—Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty - How We Got Here & What's Next

Michael Weinstein, a fractional CFO with extensive Wall Street experience, discusses the current economic uncertainty driven by tariff policies, Federal Reserve decisions, and structural market challenges. He explains how tariffs function as a massive tax increase, analyzes the compounding effects of policy uncertainty on corporate investment, and examines the clogged venture capital pipeline. Weinstein draws historical parallels to past economic cycles while noting this situation is unique—a self-inflicted late-cycle shock with no clear playbook.

Ep21 James Rozich— Sales, Marketing, Sumerians and Avoiding Founder's Disease!

Ep21 James Rozich— Sales, Marketing, Sumerians and Avoiding Founder's Disease!

Jim Rozich, founder of Wheels Up Sales and Marketing, discusses helping early-stage startups build effective sales processes and avoid common founder mistakes. He emphasizes value-based messaging over feature lists, proper CRM implementation, and understanding buyer psychology. The conversation covers cold email strategy, multi-channel outreach, AI tools for sales, and the importance of discovery calls that prioritize listening over pitching.

Ep16 - Rich Makover—Leadership, Resilience, and Sales Mastery

Ep16 - Rich Makover—Leadership, Resilience, and Sales Mastery

Rich Makover, a fractional Chief Revenue Officer and executive coach at TechCXO, shares his journey from Penn State lacrosse player to CPA to sales leadership at Avon and beyond. He discusses the value of athletic resilience in sales, the evolution from individual contributor to C-suite executive, and his transition into fractional leadership and executive coaching. The conversation covers sales strategy, team building, leadership development, and helping professionals navigate career transitions.

Ep 13 - Marc McCarthy— Mastering Market Entry from Either Side of the Pond

Ep 13 - Marc McCarthy— Mastering Market Entry from Either Side of the Pond

Mark McCarthy, founder of Pro Consult IQ, discusses the complexities of cross-Atlantic business expansion for B2B software companies. He covers cultural differences in sales approaches, regulatory considerations across US states versus UK markets, and the critical importance of hiring locally and understanding regional business practices. McCarthy emphasizes that successful market entry requires more than language compatibility—it demands cultural adaptation, proper incorporation, local partnerships, and strategic timing for direct market presence.

Ep12 Katherine Hunter-Blyden: Tips on the Modern Marketing Landscape from a Seasoned Expert

Ep12 Katherine Hunter-Blyden: Tips on the Modern Marketing Landscape from a Seasoned Expert

Katherine Hunter-Blyden, a fractional CMO, discusses her career journey from Fortune 500 companies like Ford and Progressive to serving small businesses. She shares insights on modern marketing strategies, the importance of email marketing and content distribution, measuring business growth, and how AI tools are transforming marketing efficiency. The conversation covers practical approaches to brand building, direct response marketing, and the critical differences between marketing at scale versus scrappy startup environments.

Ep 07 - Christy Johnson - Cultivating Resilience Through Adaptation, Partnership and Growth

Ep 07 - Christy Johnson - Cultivating Resilience Through Adaptation, Partnership and Growth

Christy Johnson, performance engineering lead at VIP Ventures, shares her unconventional path from international microfinance to steel manufacturing to venture capital. She discusses her seven-year tenure as interim-then-permanent CEO of a portfolio company, the firm's hands-on 'performance engineering' approach to supporting founders, and how COVID-19 transformed her company into a successful fully-remote operation.

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