agencies and b2b service companies:
Install a Repeatable Referral Engine to Fill Your Pipeline.
Generate warm intros weekly — without cold outreach or burnout.
Does this sound familiar?
New clients comes from unpredictable referrals.
You're BUSY and sales activity is inconsistent.
You've gotten ZERO results from lead gen companies and cold outbound.
You get results for clients but new business is unpredictable.
There's no system or structure, and everything comes from your personal network.
This makes it impossible to achieve long-term goals.
You’re not alone—and The Referral Engine is designed to fix this exact problem.
Install a reliable biz dev system.
With the right custom data, training, and accountability.
Drive high-value opportunities.
By getting specific intros to decision-makers consistently.
Keep the pipeline full without the heavy lift.
Get a high-leverage system you can run in just 2–5 hours per week, even if your team is small or you're busy.
What it's NOT:
What it is:
A course, partner list, or another lead gen tactic.
Done-alongside-you system.
Combines a custom data build-out with training and accountability.
Cold outreach.
Warm intros from people you know.
Double down on referrals, the one channel that's proven itself.
Mass automation or SPAM.
Tasteful, one-to-one messaging.
Protect your reputation - never send automated messages or spam to your network.
Last year we had campaigns that were too unwieldy for us to actually manage. Sales Schema's program was perfect based on the size of our agency and what we can actually manage ourselves.
-Lindsey Seyman, Fancy
Sales Schema put us in the driver's seat. We're now getting a steady stream of opportunities on a weekly basis.
-Rick Romot, PH3
We wrote the book on this:
The Process.
In 90 days, we will build your Referral Engine and show you how to drive revenue with it.
What's Included.
Leave with a complete referral system you will use to scale your agency.
Referrals already work.
But you've never optimized them.
How much more reliable could your pipeline be
if you focused on the right leverage point?
How is this different
than my usual networking?
Leverage real relationships.
❌ STOP: chasing cold leads and fake LinkedIn connections.
➡️ START: getting intros from those primed to help you (including the helpers you forgot about).
Use data to get direct intros.
❌ STOP: random, "Do you know anyone?" requests that go nowhere.
➡️ START: getting specific intros.
Make intros easy and tasteful.
❌ STOP: giving your network homework.
➡️ START: getting more intros by removing friction and respecting time.
My story.
Dan Englander, CEO and Founder of Sales Schema.
I started my career as the first employee in a creative agency, where I handled biz dev and account management. I wore too many hats. I spent my day balancing client projects and prospecting to funded startups, Fortune 100s, and everything company in between.
I tried everything keep the pipeline full - paid media, trade shows, early morning networking groups, content, outbound...
Eventually I helped the firm surpass seven figures and two-dozen Fortune 500 clients, and in 2014 I struck out on my own to found Sales Schema.
For the next decade, Sales Schema was a managed lead generation service for marketing agencies and B2B service companies.
We hit some big milestones:
Seven-figure revenues.
Worked with more than 200 agencies and B2B service companies.
Generated more than 10K qualified appointments for clients.
Helped clients win millions in lifetime revenue...
I wish I could say these wins happened easily, but we learned tough lessons along the way...
The Broken Outbound Playbook.
In the early days, we ran the same old lead generation playbook to build pipeline for clients.
The tactics varied, but it boiled down to building lists, cold emailing prospects, and hoping for meetings, all while annoying a lot of people.
The cold playbook worked for a while, but then it fell apart.
Around 2020, as the world got more digitized and globalized, B2B markets became more skeptical and competitive, and it got harder to get meetings.
We started losing clients, going through layoffs, and one winter I got stress-induced shingles.
I knew we couldn't sustain this state of affairs for long, but then we got a lucky break...
The Breakthrough Campaign.
How we shifted to a relationship-driven new business approach.
We were running outreach campaigns for a Bay Area agency that was perfectly positioned in enterprise tech.
The firm claimed almost every Silicon Valley giant on their banner, and after decades in business, the partners committed to selling the firm within the next 12 months.
We the usual playbook including cold email, phone, LinkedIn messages, as well as a ton of A/B testing and deliverability deep dives.
None of it worked, so I asked, "What if the usual playbook is broken?"
After all, the agency was almost perfectly positioned.
Since the client was likely going to fire us, we decided to try something new...
We stopped cold-emailing strangers and started leveraging existing relationships. We identified and built connections with executives who were in the agency's spheres of influence, including those who once worked for a key client and moved onto a targeted account.
The results were transformational - from a relationship and referral-driven approach, we secured dozens of quality meetings leading to at least two six-figure engagements.
Within a year, the agency was acquired by a large consultancy, achieving their longterm goals.
We doubled down on relationship-driven outreach, and clients started getting predictable results...
Opportunities generated:
Responses from prospects:
Rewriting the Playbook.
After going through this roller coaster ride, I was frustrated that there wasn't a better playbook for those selling upmarket complex services to smaller total addressable markets (TAMs).
It seemed like 99% of the sales tactics were designed for software and other low-ticket offers.
So I published our manifesto Relationship Sales at Scale (TM) to give complex service sales teams a winning playbook.
Don't worry - you don't need to read the book, here are the takeaways:
Agencies and complex services are different.
Here's why:
TIME TO VALUE.
Clients don't get to benefit from your service until months after you delivered - this makes trust important.
SMALLER MARKET SIZE.
Mass cold outreach and similar tactics might work for software companies, but they fall apart when your prospects can fit into a high school gym.
BRAND AND REPUTATION.
You've worked hard to build it and you don't want to send the wrong message to a C-level executive.
The Reframe:
Trust is the missing ingredient, NOT information or persuasion.
So what channel best leverages trust?
Referrals and partnerships.
Unfortunately, for most agencies referrals are a weakness instead of strength...
Why Most Referral Strategies Fail
(and what we do differently).
Most agencies rely on rain.
The smart ones install an irrigation system...
REACTIVE.
You wait around for them to come to you.
REPEATABLE SYSTEM.
Don't reinvent the wheel - run a repeatable process for getting warm intros every week.
HIGH-FRICTION.
Asking, "Do you know anyone?" gives them homework! They have to understand your offer, think of right-fit prospects, and write intro emails...
LOW-FRICTION.
Get the right data and process so you can ask for specific intros and make things easy on you AND your network.
Most agencies don't have a referral strategy. They have hope.
Let's change that...
agencies and b2b service companies:
The Referral Engine.
We will help you install a system for referred intros every week, without cold outreach or burnout.
Zero-Risk Diagnostic Workshop (1:1)
Referral Introduction Maps (Long-Term Asset)
Connector Outreach Scripts + Follow-Up Language
1:1 Live Execution Sprints
Weekly Hands-On Group Support Calls
Step-by-Step Referral Engine Curriculum
Private Slack Workspace
Investment.
Starts with no-risk Diagnostic @ $497 (one-time).
Full investment based on network size and market - estimate provided on next call.
Sales Schema put us in the driver's seat. We're now getting a steady stream of opportunities on a weekly basis.
-Rick Romot, PH3
Is this for me?
Owner or biz dev person in marketing agency or B2B service company.
Sales process is consultative.
Average client LTV is AT LEAST $20k.
Assigned salesperson has at least 2k LinkedIn connections
Friendly and coachable :)
Owners with full pipelines.
"In less than six months Sales Schema has helped us generated dozens of solid prospects, one of which generated a six-figure account."
-Mark Scrivner, Snapshot Interactive
"Sales Schema set up our outbound function and ran it to drive repeated meetings at the CMO and CEO level."
- Morgan McClintic, Firebrand
"Sales Schema's program gave us the basics to build our business development program in the most efficient way without the fluff. The core fundamentals are laid out in a way that you can go down the list, check off each task, and get started."
-Laura Summa, KLM Creative
"If you are looking to build an outbound system at your agency or B2B service company, then I’d recommend Sales Schema."
-Lindsay Sutula, Top Fox Marketing
"Sales Schema put us in the driver's seat. We're now getting a steady stream of opportunities on a weekly basis."
-Rick Romot, PH3
"After going through Sales Schema’s program, our team was able to drive a number of high-value opportunities using targeted outreach, but more importantly, their mindset about sales completely changed."
-Ethan McCarty, Integral
"I got a ton out of Sales Schema’s program because it was organized in a way that allowed my team and I to see the big picture and snap everything into place."
-Adam Benjamin, Starke Marketing
"Sales Schema were able to drive quite a few qualified leads into our sales process. From that we were able to close very large pieces of business, from which we’re able to see long term lifetime value."
-Mike Gunderson, Gunderson Direct
"Last year we had campaigns that were too unwieldy for us to actually manage. Sales Schema's program was perfect based on the size of our agency and what we can actually manage ourselves."
-Lindsey Seyman, Fancy
"I gained the most from all of the resources and platforms in the program, and understanding the right combination for our agency based on who we are trying to reach."
-Todd Rimer, Element 212
Prospect responses and client results.
"In less than six months Sales Schema has helped us generate dozens of solid prospects, one of which generated a six-figure account"
-Mark Scrivner, Snapshot
"The program put us in the driver’s seat.
We’re now getting a steady stream of opportunities on a weekly basis."
-Rick Romot, PH3
Sales Schema gave us the basics to build our business development program without all of the fluff.
-Laura Summa, KLM
If you are looking to build an outbound system at your agency or B2B service company, then I’d recommend Sales Schema.
-Lindsay Sutula, Top Fox Marketing
Case study: How Integral empowered their sales team.
Case study: How Firebrand built pipeline using compelling commonalities.
Case study: generating deal flow using geo connections.
Case study: installing the right system to support a salesperson.
If you’ve read this far, you already know your current system isn’t scalable.
Now’s the time to install a warm-intro machine — and build the pipeline you actually want.
Let's build your Referral Engine.
FAQs
How much time will this take?
1-2 hours per week for approvals and feedback; once we deliver the system, plan for 2-5 hours per week to conduct outreach and secure warm intros.
What if I don't have a large enough network?
Don't worry - we will start with a low-risk diagnostic to ensure there is enough opportunity before you invest in the full build-out.
Will I have to spam my network?
No! The system is repeatable and leveraged, but it's not automated - you will have complete oversight and control, and the messaging approach is tasteful, honest, and professional.
How is this different than a lead generation agency?
We work with you hands-on to build the system so that you own your process instead of renting it out.
