Build a Business People Recommend, Even When You’re Not in the Room

Most people think selling is about grinding — more cold calls, more demos, more hustle.

But after building and selling a few businesses, here’s the truth: the best businesses don’t feel like they’re being sold at all.

They grow through relationships. They earn trust by adding value before asking for anything. And most importantly, they build the kind of strategic partnerships that do the selling for them.

If you want to build a business that sells itself, you don’t need to talk louder.  You need to get in the right rooms and make yourself indispensable.

Stop Networking. Start Connecting.

Let me be blunt: most business networking is a waste of time.You’ve been there with bad coffee, stiff handshakes, 50 people all waiting for their turn to talk. Everyone’s pitching. No one’s listening. That’s not business development. That’s speed dating in suits.

The people who win long-term aren’t the loudest in the room. They’re the ones asking better questions, making thoughtful introductions, and following up when everyone else forgot your name.

You don’t need more events. You need more connection. Your real opportunity is to build relationships with the people your customers already trust. That’s where the leverage is.

Strategic Partnerships Are the Shortcut to Trust

A strategic partnership is just a simple agreement between two businesses that serve the same audience but in different ways.

You’re not competitors. You’re complementary. You solve different problems for the same people.

Think of it like this: if your customer is on a journey, your business is one stop along the way. A great partner is another stop right before, or right after, you.

Here’s what that looks like in real life:

• A volunteer software company like Voltrak partners with hospital consultants who help improve operational efficiency.

• A warehouse using Foxfire Software aligns with a logistics staffing firm who provides the workforce to run it.

• A sales coach links up with a B2B marketing agency, helping clients convert the leads they generate.

These aren’t just nice-to-have connections. They’re growth engines. Done right, a single strategic partner can bring in more leads than a sales rep ever could because you’re borrowing trust, not just chasing attention.

Build a Business That’s Easy to Recommend

If you want people to send business your way, you have to remove friction. Not just conceptually—tactically.

Here’s where most folks fall short: they make it hard to refer them.

They’re vague about who they serve. They ramble when asked what they do. They don’t follow up when someone makes an intro. And worst of all, they assume referrals should “just happen.”

Being referable is a skill. It means you’re easy to describe, easy to trust, and easy to hand off.

So here’s what I tell founders:

• Know exactly who you help. Give people a crystal-clear picture of your ideal customer so they can instantly say, “Oh—I know someone like that.”

• Give people the words. If someone’s going to refer you, they shouldn’t have to write the pitch. Give them a 10-second explanation they can use without butchering it.

• Make it stupid simple. A copy-paste email, a case study, a one-pager—whatever helps your partner make the intro without friction.

This isn’t about fancy software. It’s about clarity, consistency, and doing the little things well.

And remember: the best partnership marketing doesn’t start with “What’s in it for me?” It starts with: “How can we help each other win?”

The Connector Always Wins

If you want to become unforgettable in your space, stop trying to impress people.Start connecting them. You don’t need to be the smartest person in the room. You just need to be the most useful. And the fastest way to be useful? Introduce people who should know each other.

Play long-term games with long-term people and you’ll become the one everyone wants in the room.

Be the person others associate with opportunity. Do that consistently, and the market will take care of you.

That’s relationship marketing at its highest level.

Play the Long Game

Here’s the hard truth: most business owners give up on this strategy too soon.

They try it once or twice, don’t see instant results, and go back to paid ads and cold calls. And sure, those things can work but they don’t build equity. Relationships do.

The compound interest of partnerships is real. One connection can unlock 100 clients, 1 major deal, or an entire new market.

You might not see the fruit in week one. But give it 6–12 months of focused effort, and you’ll wake up one day and realize you haven’t “sold” anything in weeks. But deals keep showing up. That’s a business that sells itself.

If you're tired of chasing sales and want to build a scalable business model that actually lasts, stop trying to go it alone. Invest in people. Build trust. Make yourself easy to recommend. Become a strategic partner, not just another vendor.

That’s how we built Sterling Sales, Voltrak, and Foxfire. Not by outspending or outshouting competitors, but by out-serving the right partners.

Let’s stop pitching. Let’s start partnering.