Marketing for B2B service firms where one signed contract is worth a year of ads.
You have contracts already signed, proposals moving through review and money already going into marketing. This is for the moment you stop trusting the reports and start asking what actually happens after the RFP goes out.
We work with managed IT support, commercial cleaning and facilities, staffing and recruiting, equipment sales and service, commercial security, and fleet and logistics firms, the ones already selling to other businesses on contract with a budget already going into marketing.
- The RFP went out and you never heard why you lost.
- The proposal sits in a folder, not in a pipeline anyone looks at.
- A referral from a client sat for a week because it came to the wrong inbox.
- Renewals come up and nobody owns them.
It's usually not the leads.
You might say the leads are weak. We'd say your systems probably are. Somewhere between the inquiry, the proposal and the signed contract there's a gap nobody owns, and that's where the money goes. If it all depends on you remembering, it isn't a system. And it's why the pipeline is full one quarter and empty the next.
What do you actually do for a B2B service firm?
We design the systems and work alongside you, so no inquiry goes unanswered, no proposal goes unchased, and every contract gets counted. Then the account comes back at renewal. All of it runs on the tools and people you already have.
- The page. We check where every ad, listing and proposal request actually sends someone, on a phone and on a desktop. A prospect comparing you against three other firms decides fast. If the phone number or the contact form disappears on a mobile screen, you already paid for that click and lost it.
- Where every inquiry lands. Every call, form, referral and RFP request lands in one place, and somebody knows the second it happens, even after hours. It's built around the software you already use to track accounts, not one more system to learn.
- The first answer. Somebody has a name on every new inquiry, and we know how fast they answer it. When that person's in a client meeting, somebody else has it. Written down, not assumed.
- The proposal that went quiet. We chase the ones who stopped answering and sort each one: not now, not you, or not ever. Guessing which one it is costs nothing and gets you nothing back.
- The honest count. What a signed contract actually costs to win, broken out by source: search, referrals, outbound, directory listings. That number tells you which one to cut and which one to feed more.
- The customer you already won. Staying in touch after the contract is signed costs less than chasing a whole new proposal to replace a client who already trusts you. The renewal that comes up every year, the added service, a referral to a sister company.
Have you done this for a business like mine?
We've worked with businesses from home services to coffee shops and everything in between. In B2B service firms, an RFP goes out, you lose it, and nobody ever finds out why. A proposal sits in a folder because the person who sent it moved on to the next meeting. A referral from a happy client lands in the wrong inbox and waits a week before anyone even sees it. We saw a version of this at MobileGroove, an industry analyst business where nine undocumented automations were running the operation. We retired them one at a time and made every change reversible. The fix is one place every inquiry lands, a name on who answers it, and an honest count of what a signed contract actually costs to win.
How does working with us go?
- We look at what's already public, your site, how you show up in search, before we ever get on a call.
- You get a straight read: what we'd fix first, what can wait, and when the honest answer is that you don't need us.
- We start with the biggest gap, not a package, and build and iterate from there.
- Everything runs in your own accounts and is yours whether we stay or go.
This is marketing operations: the systems that make sure every lead gets followed up, counted and brought back. It sits in the overlap between marketing, sales, operations and the owner, and that's exactly why nobody ends up owning it.
Who is this for, and who isn't it for?
This is for an established B2B service firm: a team already delivering on contracts, inquiries coming in steadily, and money already going into marketing you're not sure is earning its keep.
It's not for a firm chasing its first few contracts. If that's you, our free ten-minute checkups by email are built for exactly that stage.
Questions
Why am I paying for appointment setters and not getting signed contracts?
Usually because the setters are doing their job and the follow-up after isn't. An appointment setter gets you a meeting. Writing the proposal, chasing it once it goes quiet, and counting what a signed contract from that source actually costs you is separate work. Most of that happens after the meeting, and if nobody owns it, a paid-for appointment goes nowhere. Fix the proposal and the follow-up behind it before you blame the setters.
How do I stop losing inquiries when everyone's in client meetings?
Give every inquiry, whatever channel it comes through, one place to land and one name attached to it, with a way to flag it the moment it arrives even if that person is in a meeting. A referral that sits in someone's personal inbox for a week is the same as a referral nobody answered. Set a rule that any inquiry gets a reply within a business day, and check whether that's actually happening rather than assuming it is.
How do I follow up on a proposal without being pushy?
Set a schedule for it: a check-in about a week after the proposal goes out, another a couple of weeks later if it's still quiet, so it runs on a plan instead of memory. Most buyers who go quiet are still working through internal approval, not saying no. A short, professional nudge at set intervals catches a real share of those before the deal dies in someone's inbox. A written note of the last check-in keeps two people from chasing the same contact.
Should I stop using outsourced appointment setters or lead lists?
Not until you know what a signed contract from that source actually costs you to win, including the meetings that never turn into a proposal. Some setters and lists pay off fine once the follow-up behind them is solid. Some don't, and you can't tell the difference without the number. Track it the same way you'd track any other spend, because a source that looks cheap on paper can be the most expensive once you count the proposals that never close.
How do I know what a signed contract is really costing me to win?
Work backward from what you already have: how many contracts you signed this year, what you spent to get each one, and how much time it took your team to close it. Do that by source and the real cost per contract shows up on its own. Know your numbers walks through the math with numbers you already have, and most firms have this sitting in an accounts system or a spreadsheet already.
Start a conversation
Ready to find out where yours actually stands?
Tell us what the business does and what's actually bothering you. A paragraph is plenty.
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