25 Qualified Opportunities in 60 Days

Client Overview

8 Ball Global is a Perth-based boutique management consulting firm helping businesses in the mining, industrial, and resources sectors improve revenue, dealer engagement, go-to-market execution, and commercial performance.

Founded by Gavin Maher, a former senior leader at WesTrac — the world's largest Caterpillar authorised dealer — 8 Ball Global occupies a unique position in the market.

Unlike large consulting firms that focus on enterprise transformation, or technical mining consultants who work with engineers and geologists, 8 Ball focuses on a specific commercial challenge: helping mining suppliers, dealers, contractors, and service businesses grow revenue and strengthen market access.

Despite deep industry relationships and decades of experience, the company had a relatively small digital footprint, with just 145 LinkedIn followers and limited outbound activity.

The challenge wasn't expertise. The challenge was creating a repeatable system to turn that expertise into conversations.

The Challenge

8 Ball Global operates in a niche where traditional marketing often struggles. Their ideal buyers include mining equipment suppliers, industrial service providers, safety and compliance companies, dealer networks, mining contractors, and businesses seeking entry into new mining markets.

Most prospects don't wake up looking for a consultant. Instead, they are looking for revenue growth, dealer performance improvement, market access, strategic introductions, and commercial execution support.

To generate opportunities consistently, 8 Ball needed a way to identify the right decision-makers, start conversations at scale, and position Gavin's industry knowledge as a competitive advantage.

Our Approach

We deployed a multi-channel outbound strategy using LinkedIn and cold email, run sequentially rather than in parallel.

Each prospect entered the LinkedIn sequence first. If they hadn't connected within 7 days, they were moved into an email sequence. This ensured we led with the higher-trust channel and used email to extend reach without overlap.

The objective wasn't simply to book meetings. It was to validate market positioning, identify the highest-converting buyer segments, and build a predictable pipeline of qualified opportunities.

LinkedIn was the primary relationship-building channel, targeting mining suppliers, industrial businesses, dealer organisations, and commercial leaders. Messaging centred around commercial growth, dealer engagement, market expansion, and industry-specific challenges.

Email was used as a secondary channel for prospects who hadn't connected on LinkedIn within 7 days, expanding reach while preserving the quality of LinkedIn conversations already underway.

Phase 1: Mining (Month 1)

The first month focused on market validation. We tested positioning, messaging, and audience segments to identify where the strongest opportunities existed.

LinkedIn
456 prospects targeted — 385 connection requests sent (remainder already connected or not reachable), 49 connections accepted (12.7%), 54 messages sent, 18 replies (33.3% reply rate), 6 qualified opportunities.

Email
472 prospects across three targeted campaigns, 3.2% blended reply rate, 5 qualified opportunities.

Phase 1 Total: 11 Qualified Opportunities

The biggest insight from Phase 1 was that prospects responded strongly to Gavin's mining industry background and dealer ecosystem expertise. This became the foundation for Phase 2.

Phase 2: Metal Ore (Month 2)

Armed with data from the first month, we refined targeting and doubled down on the messaging themes generating the strongest engagement. The positioning shifted away from generic consulting language and toward 8 Ball's unique commercial advantage: deep insider knowledge of the mining dealer ecosystem and access to relationships that most consultants cannot offer.

LinkedIn
639 prospects targeted — 605 connection requests sent, 86 connections accepted (14.2%), 91 messages sent, 37 replies (40.7% reply rate), 51.4% interested lead rate, 13 qualified opportunities.

Email
402 prospects, 1.57% reply rate, 1 qualified opportunity.

Phase 2 Total: 14 Qualified Opportunities

LinkedIn emerged as the dominant channel, significantly outperforming email for generating qualified conversations.

Results

Qualified Opportunities by Channel and Phase

X-axis: Phase 1 (Mining), Phase 2 (Metal Ore)
Two bars per phase: LinkedIn (blue) and Email (grey)
Values: Phase 1 — LinkedIn 6, Email 5 / Phase 2 — LinkedIn 13, Email 1

Campaign Performance Metrics

Executive Summary

• 1,095 prospects targeted via LinkedIn
• 874 prospects reached via email after not connecting on LinkedIn
• 25 qualified opportunities generated
• 19 from LinkedIn (76%)
• 6 from email (24%)
• LinkedIn reply rate improved from 33.3% to 40.7% month-over-month
• LinkedIn interested lead rate improved from 44.4% to 51.4%
• Connection acceptance rate improved from 12.7% to 14.2%

Why It Worked

1. Strong Niche Positioning
Rather than positioning 8 Ball as another management consultancy, we focused on what made them different: commercial growth expertise inside the mining supply chain. This immediately separated them from technical mining consultants, business coaches, and generalist advisors.

2. Industry Credibility
Gavin's background at WesTrac created instant credibility with decision-makers who understood the complexity of dealer networks, mining procurement, and commercial operations.

3. Relationship-Led Outreach
The campaign focused on starting relevant conversations, not pushing services. Many prospects engaged because they saw value in Gavin's experience, network, and market insights before any consulting discussion occurred.

4. Sequential Channel Strategy
Leading with LinkedIn and moving non-responders to email allowed us to maximise engagement quality. LinkedIn built trust first; email extended reach without cannibalising warm conversations.

5. Continuous Optimisation
The jump from a 33.3% to a 40.7% reply rate came from refining targeting, messaging, and positioning based on real prospect responses between months.

Conclusion

In just 60 days, 8 Ball Global transformed a largely untapped outbound channel into a repeatable source of qualified pipeline. The campaign generated 25 qualified opportunities, proving that even highly specialised consulting firms can build predictable pipeline when industry expertise is paired with a structured, sequenced multi-channel outreach strategy.

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