Client Case Study · Materials Handling Consultant
What Happens When You Properly Package Your Expertise.
From zero consulting clients to "as busy as I want" - in 90 days.
By the numbers · his story, his words
The challenge
45 Years of Expertise. Zero Consulting Clients.
Rick Otis has spent more than 45 years in the materials handling industry. He grew RPM Materials Handling from $3.3 million to $15.5 million in sales. He built a forklift dealership in Mexico completely from scratch - cash only, no financing, every peso reinvested. He managed 95 employees across three locations. He has an MBA from Georgia State. He's navigated recessions, scaled international operations, and built teams from the ground up.
At 70 years old, Rick wasn't ready to retire. He wanted to take everything he'd learned over four decades and hand it down to the next generation of equipment dealer owners - business owners drowning in the same operational chaos Rick had already conquered.
There was just one problem: Rick had no idea how to package any of it.
No consulting clients. No offer structure. No pricing. No content. No optimized LinkedIn presence. Forty-five years of hard-won expertise sitting inside his head with no system to get it in front of the people who needed it most.
So Rick had gone a different direction. He'd gotten insurance licenses in three states and was buying leads from an insurance company, cold-calling strangers all day. Getting hung up on over and over. Spending money to chase people who didn't want to hear from him.
"Looking for help. I am 70 yrs old, but not ready to retire. I really believe I have much to share, teach and mentor."
Rick OtisIn his first message to us
Rick had the expertise. He had the stories. He had the results. What he didn't have was the positioning, the content, or the system to turn any of it into a consulting business.
What we did
We Didn't Just Build Campaigns. We Built a Practice.
Because Rick was starting from zero, we didn't just run LinkedIn outreach. We helped him build the entire consulting infrastructure - from how he's positioned to what he sells to how prospects discover him.
Strategic Redirection
The first thing we told Rick was to stop selling insurance. His actual superpower - the thing people would line up and pay real money for - was consulting. A guy who grew a company from $3.3M to $15.5M, built an international business with no financing, and managed nearly 100 employees doesn't belong cold-calling insurance leads.
Offer Development
Most LinkedIn agencies don't touch this. But Rick needed it. We helped him design a tiered consulting structure: A diagnostic session for owners who want clarity and quick wins, a core monthly consulting package for deeper operational work, and a premium fractional-operator option for larger companies that need ongoing strategic leadership. We also helped Rick establish his positioning and pricing - giving him a real menu to sell from when prospects booked calls.
Profile Transformation
We rewrote Rick's LinkedIn profile to position him as the obvious choice for equipment dealer owners who are stuck in the daily grind. Not "leadership coach." Not "business consultant." A specific, niche headline that speaks directly to the people Rick can help most - and immediately communicates decades of credibility:
Business Consulting for Materials Handling & Equipment Dealers - Buy Back Your Time | 45+ Years of Experience
Custom Content Creation
We interviewed Rick at length and turned his best stories and frameworks into a professionally designed playbook: "Buy Back Your Time: How I Built Successful Materials Handling Companies and You Can Too."
It tells Rick's real story - his father dying when Rick was 31, his mother's faith in him, buying out her shares and paying off a 20-year deal in 12 years, building the Mexico startup brick by brick, growing RPM to $15.5M, and the hard lessons he learned along the way. It also delivers genuine value: Rick's insights on high-margin service operations, his "Three-Stage Freedom Blueprint" for transitioning from operator to leader, and the specific mistakes he sees equipment dealer owners make over and over again.
The playbook isn't a generic lead magnet. It's a real piece of content, told in Rick's voice, that makes prospects feel like they already know him before they ever get on a call.
Targeted LinkedIn Outreach
We built targeted lists of Rick's ideal prospects - owners and operators of materials handling equipment dealerships, field service companies, and lift truck businesses. Then we launched one-on-one outreach using permission-based messaging. No spam. No pitch. These are the actual invites and the first message, in Rick's voice:
When prospects said yes, they received the playbook. When they finished reading, many of them booked calls. And when they got on the phone with Rick, they already felt like they knew him - because the content had done the heavy lifting.
Why it worked
The Principles Behind the Results.
Razor-sharp niche positioning. Rick didn't position himself as a generic "business consultant." He positioned himself as an operations consultant specifically for materials handling equipment dealers - the exact industry he'd spent 45 years in. When a forklift dealer owner sees Rick's profile and reads his playbook, there's zero question about whether this guy understands their world.
Content that does the selling. Rick's playbook isn't a checklist or a PDF with five tips. It's his actual story, told in his voice, with real numbers and real lessons from real situations. When an equipment dealer owner reads about Rick growing a company from $3.3M to $15.5M and building a business in Mexico with no financing, they don't need to be "sold." They need to book a call.
Permission-based outreach. Rick's LinkedIn messages don't pitch. They offer value. "Can I send you a free copy of my new eBook?" is a question that respects the prospect's time, positions Rick as a helpful resource, and lets prospects self-qualify based on genuine interest.
Strategic business building - not just campaigns. We didn't just "do LinkedIn" for Rick. We helped him stop pursuing the wrong opportunity, design his consulting offer, build his pricing tiers, create his content, and launch his outreach - giving him a complete consulting practice, not just a lead generation campaign.
Authentic voice throughout. Everything about Rick's LinkedIn presence - his profile, his playbook, his messages - sounds like Rick. When prospects get on the phone, there's no disconnect. It's the same straightforward, experienced, mentor-like presence they encountered online. That continuity is what turns conversations into clients.
The result
As Busy As He Wants.
Within 90 days, Rick went from cold-calling insurance leads to a full consulting pipeline in the industry he'd spent his life mastering - built entirely from scratch.
"It worked - the updated profile, the targeted lists, the content and eBook ... I'm getting 1-2 new clients a week now. I can be as busy as I want."
Rick OtisMaterials Handling Consultant
The math
Run His Story Against Your Numbers.
Rick started from zero - no clients, no offer, no content - and had a full pipeline in 90 days.
Now the question we ask on every fit call: If I put 100 of your ideal prospects in front of you this year, how many would you close?
Multiply that by your average engagement value. If a close or two covers the year, this is math, not marketing.
Your next step
Ready To Fill Your Pipeline?
Are you a consultant ready for a predictable pipeline? Here's how we work with consultants like Rick.
John Nemo · Founder, LinkedIn Riches
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