Every month inside the Fello I connect with CMOs who are pursuing aggressive quarterly pipeline targets that call for bold, proven playbooks. These leaders don’t need more philosophy - they need proven, repeatable plays that move revenue. So when Mitch Solway - the fractional CMO who’s scaled Lavalife, FreshBooks, Vidyard and half a dozen other Canadian tech companies - agreed to share the unfiltered version of his playbook, I took notes and immediately started testing the ideas with our AI, robotics and quantum clients.

The Two Channels Mitch Is Doubling Down On

Both focus on one thing: connecting with buyers before they're ready to buy.

Outbound That Starts Before Your Buyer Is “In Market”

Mitch's first principle is blunt: first to touch wins. If you wait for intent signals, you're arriving after the consideration window has already narrowed. But there's an important nuance here that most companies miss.

According to Mitch: "While outbound is definitely not being abandoned, it's almost exclusively being used to target in-market buyers. What most companies are missing is using outbound to spark initial interest and build relationships with future buyers who are not yet in-market."

The solution isn't to carelessly blast your entire TAM with the same message - an approach Mitch specifically warns against. Instead, he advocates for a more sophisticated strategy: "I am suggesting outbound motions that are not just focused on in-market buyers and also segmenting your TAM so you can reach them with the appropriate message as THEY move through their buying journey (not yours)."

Mitch breaks this down further: "Businesses should be looking at their total TAM and segmenting that list into buying lifecycle stages and building outbound programs to start adding value for potential clients before they are ready to buy (and those ready to buy too, of course). This builds your long-term pipeline and shifts your focus from moving customers through your internal buying phases to understanding how they are moving closer to their buying stage."

When your SDRs systematically engage your segmented TAM with stage-appropriate messaging, Mitch's philosophy creates several strategic advantages. Based on his approach, I see three key benefits:

1. Familiarity moats: By the time competitors surface with a demo request, the prospect already "knows" you from your value-driven touchpoints.

2. Direct buyer language: You gather raw insights about how prospects actually talk about their problems- before they're even shopping for solutions.

3. Better unit economics: Software continues to drive down the cost per touch, making it economical to reach your entire addressable market systematically.

Self-Hosted, Invite-Only Events That Warm Up the Funnel

Even the most elegantly personalized outbound sequence is still, by definition, cold. Mitch’s remedy is a second channel: small, problem-centric gatherings that create genuine intimacy.

Mitch Solway puts it perfectly: "No matter what, this is a time to “be there” for your prospects and show them you are willing to do the work to help them now - even if they don’t need your software or tech. When they start looking, they will know you - in the meantime, build the warmth. To me, this plays hand in hand with the types of programs you can offer via your outbound above and is a perfect complement."

To replicate this yourself, begin with one burning question your market is struggling to answer. Secure a respected voice - sometimes that’s a customer, sometimes an analyst - and frame the event around illumination, not product. Make the invite scarce. Ask registrants why the topic matters to them. Finally, hold yourself to a zero-pitch rule.

Relevance: The Ultimate Competitive Moat

Mitch calls relevance “the great separator,” and I couldn’t agree more. Automation and AI have helped us scale, but they’ve also numbed many teams to the nuance of buyer reality.

Mitch articulates this perfectly: "Being an actual authority on your customers - their daily lives, their challenges and pain points, and what they value - and integrating that into your brand, messaging, campaigns, sales pitches, and product: this is, was, and will continue to be what separates industry leaders from everyone else. Automation and AI are so rampant that people have stopped actually listening to their customers and being curious about what’s really going on in their worlds. They are buying into scale and efficiency but selling out on relevancy. That’s a losing proposition. I am not only doubling down on relevancy, I am on it 10X. Don’t force your prospects to choose on product because now you’ve let your competitors into the game, have them choose the brand that gets them. That you can own."

In my experience, relevance begins the moment curiosity becomes an operating principle.

You can embed relevance without burning out your calendar. Rotate listening duties across the leadership team, schedule a weekly debrief where you ask, “What did we hear this week that surprised us?” and force every campaign brief to cite at least three fresh customer quotes.

When done religiously, you move from guessing pain points to reflecting them - and that is the difference between being another vendor and being the brand that “gets” the buyer.

Where I’d Put the Next $1 Million: Word of Mouth

When I pressed Mitch on budget priorities, he chose word of mouth without hesitation. He argued that becoming the most talked-about brand in a category yields more compounding advantage than any paid channel, and it probably costs less than you imagine. I know that may feel intangible to a revenue-obsessed C-suite, but consider this: peer validation bypasses the trust hurdle you face every time you pitch. You can’t out-spend that human shortcut.

Building on Mitch's word-of-mouth priority, here's how I'd operationalize this approach: 

Start by identifying catalysts - customers who not only love your product but naturally evangelize. Co-create stories that make them the hero: joint webinars where they break down their process, unscripted videos shot on a factory floor, or LinkedIn carousels highlighting their internal wins. Then add unexpected generosity. Handwritten notes accompanied by a data set that solves a problem they mentioned on a call often spark delighted social posts seen by their peers. Each share plants another seed of organic discovery.

Stop Chasing $CPA Too Early

Many CMOs are evaluated on CAC and return. It’s rational to optimize for efficiency fast, yet Mitch insists that doing so before hitting meaningful volume is a silent killer.

Here's how Mitch put it, and I couldn't agree more: Optimizing for $CPA too early forces marketers to chase efficiency at the cost of volume. Instead, focus first on achieving volume, then optimize for efficiency. The first approach yields highly efficient but low-volume results, while the latter delivers high volume and high efficiency which is obviously far better. Let your marketers set aside $CPA in the short term to pursue volume then optimize to bring $CPA in line.

Act Like the Category Leader - Before the Market Crowns You

Mitch keeps it simple: if you want to lead, act like a leader. Too many companies just do the same marketing as everyone else.

Mitch's guidance boils down to this: "If you want to be the category leader, you need to do that by being bold in your marketing - by being the brand everyone else looks to copy, and by investing in building your brand’s reputation and trust in the market you serve."

Taking Mitch's principle of bold leadership positioning, here are some tactical approaches I'd consider: Publishing a contrarian "State of the Industry" report that surfaces an inconvenient truth competitors avoid. Sponsoring the niche podcast your buyers binge during commute hours, not the crowded webinar channel everyone else floods. And yes, staging the occasional stunt - an unexpected billboard outside a rival's user conference, or a roving demo van that shows off tangible ROI.

The takeaway is simple: leaders set the conversation; followers join it. If you’re not comfortable with that posture yet, ask yourself what story you want to tell analysts two years from now - then reverse-engineer the signals you need to send today.

First-to-Touch (FTT): Your 2025–2026 Advantage

Mitch’s recent customer-acquisition data confirms that brands winning deals in 2024 are those touching targets first, not last. By 2026, FTT will be table stakes. This is what Mitch is seeing this firsthand: "The companies winning right now are those scaling their reach across the entire TAM. They become the first brand to touch the customer - even if it’s years before that customer is in-market. So, if you’re waiting until prospects are in-market (last touch) to influence them, you’ve already lost. Getting in front of your TAM early is now table stakes for winning their consideration."

Budgeting for “Modest Success” - and Still Hitting Target

Mitch budgets assuming every initiative will perform only marginally better than break-even. He does this because, historically, one or two plays wildly over-perform while a few underperform. Planning for modest outcomes forces diversification and ensures the revenue target remains safe.

Here's how Mitch typically articulates this: “Even if we are just marginally successful, this is the outcome we can expect. This then forces me to ensure that I have enough initiatives in play such that if they all were just marginally successful, we would still hit target. Understanding all the while that some will do much better than “marginal” while others will do worse."

Putting the Playbook Into Action

Here's how to systematically implement Mitch's playbook using his core strategies as your foundation:

Phase 1: Build Your First-to-Touch Foundation (Week 1-2)

The Goal: Map and reach your entire TAM before competitors do

Week 1 - TAM Reality Check:

• Export every account from your CRM and cross-reference with external databases

• Segment accounts by buying horizon: "Ready now," "6-12 months," "2026 and beyond"

• Calculate current coverage percentage (most teams discover they're touching <20% of future buyers)

• Assign ownership for continuous data maintenance

Week 2 - Launch Pre-Market Outbound:

• Build cadences designed to educate the "future buyer" cohort, not sell them

• Create content focused on industry challenges, not product features

• Establish warmth metrics: positive replies, micro-engagements, future conversation invites

• Target the entire TAM systematically, starting with the furthest-out buying horizons

Phase 2: Add Warmth Through Intimate Events (Week 3-4)

The Goal: Transform cold outbound into warm relationships

Week 3 - Design Your Invite-Only Event:

• Identify one burning question your market struggles to answer

• Secure a respected voice (customer success story, industry analyst, or thought leader)

• Design application form that positions you as curator, not vendor

• Frame entire event around problem illumination, establish zero-pitch rule

Week 4 - Execute and Amplify:

• Host your first small-scale event (20-30 perfectly matched, out-of-market accounts)

• Focus on facilitating knowledge transfer between peers

• Document unexpected insights and connection points for future content

• Follow up with personalized insights, not sales pitches

Phase 3: Build Relevance Through Customer Intimacy (Week 5-6)

The Goal: Become the brand that "gets" your buyers better than anyone else

Week 5 - Establish Listening Systems:

• Rotate leadership team through 10+ customer calls

• Record, transcribe, and tag snippets by pain point and emotional language

• Schedule weekly debriefs asking: "What surprised us this week?"

• Create voice-of-customer database for campaign briefs

Week 6 - Integrate Customer Language:

• Rewrite outbound email openers using exact customer phrasing

• Update homepage hero copy to mirror raw buyer words

• Require every campaign brief to cite 3+ fresh customer quotes

• Transform early objections into content headlines and value propositions

Phase 4: Activate Your Word-of-Mouth Engine (Week 7-8)

The Goal: Become the most talked-about brand in your category

Week 7 - Identify and Activate Catalysts:

• Map customers who naturally evangelize your solution

• Co-create hero stories: joint webinars, unscripted factory floor videos, LinkedIn carousels

• Add unexpected generosity: handwritten notes with relevant data insights

• Focus on making customers the star, not your product

Week 8 - Scale and Measure:

• Launch customer advocacy content across multiple channels

• Track branded search traffic spikes after advocate sharing

• Monitor share of voice in peer channels (Slack communities, LinkedIn threads, industry forums)

• Measure word-of-mouth influenced pipeline alongside traditional attribution

Success Metrics to Track:

• TAM Coverage: % of accounts engaged in past 30 days

• Warmth Rate: Positive responses relative to outbound volume

• Pipeline Velocity: Overall conversion rates as word-of-mouth awareness amplifies outbound effectiveness

• Share of Voice: Brand mentions in peer conversations

• Relevance Score: Campaign performance using customer language vs. generic messaging

Final Word: Courage Over Consensus

Mitch finished our conversation with a challenge: “Don’t force prospects to choose on product. Make them choose the brand that gets them.” I think that line crystallizes the entire playbook. You can automate outreach, orchestrate flawless events, and model the perfect budget, but none of it matters if you play small. The market crowns brands that act like leaders before anyone else will.