Referrals can fuel an agency’s early growth—but they may not be enough to carry it forward. This conversation explores how agency owners can build a more intentional, adaptable pipeline before they urgently need one.

In this episode, Josh Hoffman and Jason Graub discuss:

• The podcast’s audience and interview format
• Recognizing when referrals are no longer enough
• Founder involvement in agency sales
• Testing channels to build a consistent pipeline
• North Pulse’s tailored outreach strategies and campaigns

Key Takeaways:

• Referrals are valuable, but their unpredictability makes it risky to rely on them as the sole source of new business.
• Agency sales often depend on demonstrating the founder’s expertise, making it difficult to hand the process off entirely.
• There is no universal pipeline playbook; test multiple channels, then focus on what works for your business.
• Conference outreach is more effective when it starts before the event, with specific meetings in mind.
• Watch for market changes early and build new ways to generate demand before pipeline pressure becomes urgent.

“If you don't think referrals are going to necessarily carry the business in 2027, how do you think about the different ways now, not in January when you're like, ‘Crap, I don't necessarily have the leads and pipeline that I would want to have.’” - Jason Graub

About Jason Graub:

Jason has built go-to-market from nothing at three companies, carrying the number himself before building the systems that carried it. At Tourial, he took revenue from $100K to $1M ARR in under a year. At Navless, he built the foundation that reached the first $500K in six months. At Eventup, he ran the function and the team.

He also builds the software. Bespoke applications, internal tools, and automations, fitted to whatever a client already runs rather than requiring them to adopt something new. That includes the systems behind our own outreach, and production builds for clients where the process was too specific for anything off the shelf.

Having run sales teams is why the software he builds fits how people actually work instead of forcing them to change how they work.

Connect with Jason Graub:

Website: https://northpulse.ai/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-graub/

Connect with Josh Hoffman:

Website: https://northpulse.ai/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhoffman610/

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.