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Ryan Sorley
Increasing win rates by improving win/loss programs for top tech firms - Founder - Board Member - Speaker - Writer
Professional Background
Ryan Sorley is a dynamic leader and the innovative founder of DoubleCheck Research, a premier firm specializing in win/loss analysis. Dedicated to empowering solution providers, Ryan’s firm plays a pivotal role in transforming buyer insights into a competitive advantage, helping businesses to significantly improve their win rates. With a rich professional history spanning over 15 years in the research and advisory sectors, he has developed an extensive understanding of enterprise B2B buyers, particularly in the retail and manufacturing industries. His experience at leading firms, complemented by his expertise in sales strategy, positions him as a trusted advisor to many organizations looking to refine their business approaches.
Prior to establishing DoubleCheck Research, Ryan held prominent roles at Gartner, where he excelled as the Area Vice President of Supply Chain Sales. In this capacity, he led an accomplished team of 34 field supply chain account executives and managers, collectively servicing more than half of Gartner's extensive global supply chain business. Ryan's leadership during this time was instrumental in achieving remarkable sales outcomes and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Before his successful tenure at Gartner, Ryan further honed his skills at AMR Research. As the Vice President of Retail & Manufacturing, he managed a highly skilled team focused on new business generation and client management. It was during this phase of his career that the unique insights Ryan gained from engaging directly with clients sparked the inspiration to create DoubleCheck Research. A pivotal moment arose during an analyst call with a disgruntled CIO, where Ryan first identified a significant disconnect between executives’ buying processes and the sales approaches employed by providers. This revelatory experience fortified his commitment to bridge these gaps, paving the way for the foundation of his own firm.
Education and Achievements
Ryan Sorley’s educational background has set a solid foundation for his impressive career. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from Gettysburg College, where he cultivated the skills and knowledge necessary for his professional journey. Additionally, he completed his secondary education at Staples High School, equipping him with a robust basis for future academic and career pursuits.
Throughout his diverse career, Ryan has achieved numerous accolades and recognitions for his contributions to the fields of business development and sales. His commitment to excellence is evident in his specialty areas, including win rate optimization, global business strategy, leadership, team building, coaching, and performance management. His emphasis on emotional intelligence and strong presentation skills, catering to both small and large audiences, distinguishes him as a compelling communicator and an inspiring leader.
Achievements
In his role at DoubleCheck Research, Ryan has successfully transformed client strategies by applying sophisticated methodologies to win/loss analysis. His leadership is characterized by a nurturing approach, focused on building caring connections and promoting individual and team recognition. Ryan’s strategic vision has enabled numerous organizations to refine their methodologies, adapt to changing market dynamics, and ultimately achieve more successful outcomes in their competitive landscapes.
In addition to his role as a founder, Ryan has previously served on the Advisory Board for HfS Research, contributing his vast expertise to shape the research landscape within the technology and supply chain sectors. His earlier experiences at Gartner and AMR Research further highlight his credentials as an influential force in the realms of supply chain management and business analysis. Furthermore, Ryan’s extensive travel experience, both domestically and internationally, underscores his commitment to understanding diverse markets and cultural nuances, which inform his global business strategies.
Ryan's ongoing pursuit of individual development and coaching reflects his passion for fostering the potential of others within the business world. By leveraging his profound knowledge of the retail and manufacturing supply chains, Ryan continues to empower teams and individuals, instilling in them the confidence and skills necessary to excel within their respective fields. He is an advocate for change management and goal-setting, striving to optimize the performance of organizations he collaborates with, and helping them navigate the complexities of today’s competitive landscape.
Through his roles and achievements, Ryan Sorley exemplifies the qualities of a visionary leader in the research and advisory industries. His expertise and contributions to optimizing business strategies not only enhance the success of solution providers but also advance the entire field of B2B sales and client engagement through insigh
Highlights
This is the story of how I ditched my cushy sales job and stumbled my way into building a $10 million research consultancy - in a field I knew next to nothing about when I started.
About a decade ago, I took the leap that I see many of you brave souls taking today.
I said goodbye to my steady paycheck and dove headfirst into the unpredictable world of entrepreneurship.
Looking back, it seems crazy. I had no real business plan, just enough savings to keep the lights on for a bit, and – oh yeah – a second kid on the way.
That first year? It was a rollercoaster.
I lucked out and managed to sign three clients.
Real talk: my first client was a buddy of mine, the second was married to someone at the first company, and the third? An old colleague who took a chance on me.
That third client changed everything. They introduced me to Rowan Noronha's Product Marketing Community – a group I owe big time. These folks didn't just welcome me like family; they gave me a platform to share what I knew, no strings attached.
Then something wild happened. People started noticing us, and leads began trickling in. Without a fancy sales team, those inbound inquiries were our lifeline.
At first, it was sporadic – a lead here, a lead there. But soon enough, it turned into a steady flow.
And man, did we grow.
As things picked up, we started bringing more people on board. First, it was part-timers, then full-time employees.
Before we knew it, the big guns like Gartner and Forrester were knocking on our door, wanting to chat and write about us. And a few even signed up for our services!
Suddenly, we were being called one of the top dogs in our field.
The cherry on top? We got acquired by the awesome team at Klue – a connection we made through that same product marketing community that gave us our start.
Now, that acquisition was a dream come true. But it wasn't the end of our story. If anything, it was like hitting the reset button with cheat codes. It's opened doors we didn't even know existed and let us dream bigger than ever.
So, how'd we pull it off? Here's the formula:
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Found a problem that needed fixing – one that lit a fire in my belly
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Believed in my bones that I was the right person to solve it
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Zeroed in on a niche that wasn't overrun and became a specialist in that niche
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Developed a plug-and-play system that allowed us to efficiently onboard new clients and deliver results like clockwork.
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Obsessed over giving clients an amazing experience and real value as a key differentiator
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Pitched my unique perspective and transferable skills instead of touting myself as an established expert
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Spent peanuts on marketing, but went all-in on client referrals
Remember, every expert was once a beginner. I'm living proof that with enough grit, a willingness to learn, and a bit of luck, you can build something amazing - even in a field you knew nothing about when you started.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.