case study
A workshop facilitator with a method that worked built a routine that took the dread out of inviting people to it.
client: Team Liftoffs
founder: Neal
engagement: design partner, January to May 2026
category: workshop-based team coaching, B2B
01 / the problem
Neal Taylor, Team Liftoffs.
02 / where they were
03 / what we built
The 49 contacts on the Trello board moved across on 2026-03-16, with deals shown as cards in visual stages.
15 LinkedIn outreach templates across three audience segments, each built for a ten-second decision.
A weekly inspection rhythm in place of ad hoc guessing.
Work on who the workshop is for, and how to say it in the buyer's language.
04 / the moment it shifted
In the first week of seeing deals as cards on a board, the pipeline stopped being an abstract system and became something Neal wanted to open. Then he sent one email without agonising over how it would land. The reply came back: "thanks, tell me more." That reply was the proof. The fear had been bigger than the task.
05 / what was harder than expected
The starting assumption was that the workshop would sell itself. A few LinkedIn posts, carried by the network of the other co-founder, would fill the room. That was disproven quickly. It is worth saying plainly because many people hope some LinkedIn posts will suffice. Neal did.
After 300 to 400 contacts, conversion stayed modest at first. The audience Neal was aiming at shifted more than once before it settled on AI-augmented leadership. When the positioning felt wrong, he paused the workshop promotion and reshaped it rather than push on. The Neal from before the engagement would not have made that call.
06 / what changed
already landed
Neal picks up the phone now. He contacts people, pitches, tracks the work in his CRM and follows up. He reads pipeline value in columns and decides from the data. The first paid workshop seat was confirmed on 2026-04-20, and the workshop on 2026-05-07 filled.
at the Team Liftoffs workshop on 2026-05-07, described by Diana Larsen's newsletter as "a powerful success"
still tracking
Since June 2026, Neal and signalrev have continued working together on go-to-market.
07 / in their words
"It's taken the emotional baggage out of this and made it a systemisable workflow where I'm more orchestrating and managing with a stoic confidence." "It's a transformational journey of going from open-mic night to professional performance. From ad hoc guessing and fluffing to a targeted, sequenced, routine, polished and seamless end-to-end invitation engine."
Neal Taylor, Team Liftoffs
08 / the pattern
Proven expertise with no commercial routine points to an infrastructure gap. The avoidance fades once each step is small enough to start. A visual pipeline, templated outreach with a fast decision point and a weekly inspection rhythm remove the reasons not to act. It works fastest for practitioners with proven expertise and regular selling moments to keep a pipeline moving. Where a business sells a small number of high-value events a year, the system pays back first through preparation and positioning, and later through volume.
09 / next step
Thirty minutes on where your sales motion stands today. If there's a fit, we scope from there. Every call is with me, Richard.
book a callsee also: presence · inspection · how it works