Outreach is a network problem. Stop the scattergun strategy; data-driven networks are the smarter way to solve it, explains Luke Ibbotson, Manager at commercial data solutions provider JMAN Group.
If you’re trying to expand your client base, you’d know the problem: why do high-value prospects often slip through the cracks?
You’ve doubled down on investing in CRM systems, marketing tools, and sales teams. You’ve researched the prospect’s problems and have a great solution. You don’t want to hear about data, because you’ve got spreadsheets full of it and the needle hasn’t shifted.
The fact is, your “warm” lead is colder than you think. Many outreach strategies are still driven by gut feeling and sheer volume of activity, rather than precision and structure. This intuition-based approach leaves significant whitespace, or valuable opportunities and connections that are never fully leveraged or even identified. For investors and commercial leaders alike, this means that a substantial amount of untapped potential is left on the table.
The good news is that there are opportunities all around you – it’s just a question of being able to access them. To date, too many businesses have been looking, if not in the wrong place, then through the wrong lens. We believe that there is an approach that will help you find the connections that are easily within your reach – if you only knew it.
The Hidden Challenge: Unmapped Relationships and Cognitive Blind Spots
Your company’s network is not just a list of contacts, it is an intricate web of relationships – internal team members, external influencers, and revenue-generating opportunities. Without a clear map, crucial connections aren’t leveraged, and the true value of an individual’s or the firm’s network remains invisible. This leads to:
- High-value prospects that never enter your sales pipeline.
- Relationships that could open doors, but are never identified nor capitalised.
- Difficulty in quantifying the real return on your relationship investments.
With your prospects’ decision-makers under pressure, a cold call is still a cold call, however much research the sales team has done. Everyone knows that the best “in” is a genuine, authentic relationship. But how do you build that kind of relationship when the end of the quarter is approaching and you need results now?
The Game Changer: Rethinking Outreach as a Network Problem
What if you could apply data and structure to this inherently human challenge? This is precisely what a “network model” approach offers: a structured way to visualise and quantify the relationships between your internal team, external influencers, and your most valuable opportunities.
Think of it as building a sophisticated GPS for your business development:
- First, you identify your target: define the specific market opportunities your business wants to pursue and estimate their potential revenue.
- Next, you identify the key players who hold influence over these revenue opportunities – the decision-makers and key influencers.
- Then, you identify the people within your firm who are best positioned to initiate outreach, often senior leaders or business development teams.
- Each external influencer is then scored based on how much influence they have on a given opportunity, for example a CFO may be scored higher than a Head of FP&A.
- The strength of the relationship between your internal team members and these external influencers is quantified – moving beyond a simple “connection” to understanding the true warmth and depth of the relationship.
By combining these elements, a powerful picture emerges: a clear, ranked list of who within your team should reach out to whom, about which specific opportunity, and why that path is optimal.
Unlocking Untapped Whitespace: The Investor’s Perspective
For investors, the implications are profound, as this approach directly addresses the “untapped whitespace” problem:
- Quantifiable ROI on Relationships: This is where the magic happens. A recent project using this network mapping exercise identified a staggering $100 million in untapped pipeline opportunity – representing 7.5% of the client’s total revenue. This isn’t just a vague potential; it’s a measurable, actionable pipeline that was previously invisible.
- Higher Valuations: Firms that are data-driven in this manner often command a significantly higher EBITDA multiple than their traditional counterparts, reflecting their more strategic, de-risked approach to growth and their ability to extract maximum value from their networks.
- Faster, More Targeted Growth: By directing efforts towards prospects with the highest potential revenue and probability of conversion, a client we recently worked with saw win rates increase by over 10% in under three months. Efficient revenue generation and quicker conversion accelerates growth.
- Enhanced Due Diligence & Strategic Planning: Whether you’re assessing a new hire, a strategic partner, or even an acquisition target, a network model provides data-driven insight into network value. This allows for more informed investment decisions and stronger long-term planning.
- Improved Team Alignment & Revenue Growth: When marketing, sales, and leadership share a consistent view of your network’s value, it fosters better alignment. Organisational alignment on equity narratives drives revenue growth – with initiatives such as these proven to uplift ARR by over 3% within a year of implementation.
Beyond Intuition: A Strategic Path to Growth
This isn’t just about finding more contacts; it’s about transforming outreach from a reactive, fragmented activity into a proactive, coordinated growth engine. It allows leaders to focus resources on the actions with the highest leverage, significantly improving efficiency, conversion rates, and pipeline velocity. It also provides a definitive, numerical answer to the age-old question: “What is the value of my network?”