Overview
The Strategic Partnerships SOP governs how Invisible North identifies, pursues, and manages client relationships outside of inbound RFPs. This covers proactive outreach, client tiering, capabilities presentations, and pipeline management.
Client Tiering
All prospective and existing clients are tiered based on revenue potential, strategic fit, and relationship depth:
- Tier 1 (Priority): High-revenue potential ($500K+), strong strategic alignment, active relationship
- Tier 2 (Developing): Medium revenue potential ($200-500K), growing relationship, or new contact
- Tier 3 (Nurture): Lower revenue potential or early-stage relationship. Maintained through periodic touchpoints.
Outreach Workflow
- Research: Identify target contacts, understand their brand’s experiential history, and find relevant case studies
- Initial Outreach: Personalized email or LinkedIn message referencing specific work or industry trends
- Follow-Up: 2-3 touchpoints over 2-3 weeks. If no response, move to nurture cadence.
- Meeting: If interest is expressed, schedule a capabilities presentation
- Capabilities Presentation: Tailored deck showcasing relevant case studies, capabilities, and team
- Post-Meeting: Send follow-up within 24 hours with next steps
Capabilities Deck Creation
Capabilities decks should be customized for each prospect. The process:
- Start from the master capabilities template
- Select 3-5 case studies most relevant to the prospect’s industry and needs
- Customize the intro slide with prospect-specific context
- Review with Leadership before sending
- Save in the BD folder under the client’s name
Sales Glossary
- MQL: Marketing Qualified Lead — a contact who has shown interest through inbound channels
- SQL: Sales Qualified Lead — a contact who has been vetted and is ready for direct outreach
- Pipeline: All active opportunities being tracked, from initial contact to close
- Win Rate: Percentage of RFPs/pitches that result in awarded projects
- Organic: Revenue from existing clients (repeat business)
- Net New: Revenue from clients who have never worked with IN before
Weekly Reporting
The BD team reports weekly on:
- New outreach attempts and responses
- Meetings scheduled and completed
- Pipeline movement (new opportunities, advances, losses)
- Revenue forecast updates