Testimonials
Firsthand perspectives on lead generation, ETA coaching, training, and guest lecturing.
Showing Retainer Services testimonials.
Featured · Inc. 5000 Client
“Partnering with Jim is one of the best decisions that we made as we looked to accelerate the growth of our company. While I was originally hesitant to have a consultant represent our brand in the marketplace, Jim quickly became a part of our team – not just delivering high quality new business opportunities yet also taught the team about creating a true sales discipline and embracing the culture that differentiates small companies.”
Retainer Services
“Jim McAvoy has the experience, skill, and interpersonal qualities to understand client pain-points, position a solution value proposition, and generate important impact for sales professionals.”
Retainer Services
“His knowledge of lead generation coupled with his own highly personalized and engaging style opened doors with our target market.”
Retainer Services
“Jim is an absolute cold calling and lead-generation wizard! He’s resourceful, persistent, and so incredibly personable on the phone that whoever he’s calling has no choice but to have a fruitful conversation with him.”
Retainer Services
“Jim has a rare ability to instantly connect with prospects and reps alike, simplify a product's value into something that lands, and teach techniques that actually stick. He's one of those people you call when the stakes are high.”
Retainer Services
“Jim was an excellent partner for us. He cared deeply about helping us grow and was relentless yet calculated in his appointment scheduling. If it wasn't for Jim, I would not be able to share the success story that we have had!”
Retainer Services
“Jim completely transformed our startup, helping us grow from a small garage operation into a promising company with a top casino brand under our belt. His outstanding sales mentoring taught us how to run a successful funnel, generate leads, progress deals, and hit our targets. He is knowledgeable, supportive, energetic, and a fantastic teacher—we couldn’t be more grateful for his guidance.”
Retainer Services
“Working with Jim McAvoy at EDITED was an absolute pleasure. He was able to jump right in, get up to speed quickly, and was incredibly flexible throughout the process.”
Retainer Services
“Jim brings insight and energy to lead acquisition. His ‘hit’ rate is high, and prospects enjoy and feel well served by the contact. From a name to an appointment, he was excellent; he helped us improve both customer retention and new customer acquisition. He was also a great coach to both new and experienced account executives.”
ETA Coaching
“Jim McAvoy significantly strengthened my lead-generation execution at the very beginning of my search. At a time when email deliverability and response rates were declining, his coaching helped me build confidence and discipline. He improved my ability to navigate gatekeepers, sharpened my opening positioning, and elevated the quality of my conversations with business owners. As a result, five of the eleven companies I had targeted for the month were receptive to live conversations—my prior outreach to those same companies yielded no results. For ETA searchers relying on direct outreach, Jim’s guidance materially improves performance on live calls.”
ETA Coaching
“We had an amazing and informative discussion with Jim McAvoy as part of The University of Chicago Booth School of Business ETA Fellows Program. Thank you, Jim and Rodrigue Djikeuchi, for your insights and expertise.”
ETA Coaching
“Thank you both! The session with our Chicago Booth ETA Fellows was fantastic! Sincerely appreciate you both taking the time.”
ETA Coaching
“Thank you, Hunter Daniels and Jim McAvoy, for sharing your experience and expertise on one of the hottest topics in ETA right now: cold calling and lead generation!”
ETA Coaching
“Jim’s approach to outreach is human-first. As one of his coaching students, I learned how to incorporate genuine human connection into my outreach. With email and LinkedIn inboxes becoming increasingly crowded, his framework emphasizes picking up the phone and having real conversations. I went from dreading cold calls to genuinely enjoying them. My focus shifted from delivering a pitch to building a connection before making an ask. The training gave me a practical framework that transformed a daily challenge into an activity I now look forward to.”
ETA Coaching
“Becoming better at cold calling takes practice. There’s no shortcut, no magic formula. But repetition alone isn’t enough; you need micro-improvements and to develop your own style, which is nearly impossible without coached introspection.
Jim’s framework, shadowing, and tools for navigating conversations that go sideways dramatically improved my ability to connect with gatekeepers and reach owners.
When we started, I was candidly terrified of cold calling. I did it, but I dreaded it. Through repetition and coaching, I found my comfort zone. Today was our last day of coaching, and I closed it with a back-to-back three-hour session. 30 calls made, reached 5 owners and am following up with 3. I wish I’d started this at the beginning of my search. I finally reached a point where I’m excited to talk to an owner I don’t know.”
Training
“Jim facilitated a prospecting workshop at our 25-member national sales meeting. He has an array of methods and tools that enable salespeople to increase their confidence, competence, and commitment to using email and the phone to communicate the company value proposition and request a meeting or referral from a prospect. Our sales team exited the meeting with enthusiasm to deploy Jim’s tools.”
Training
“In an environment where many draw air from the room, Jim’s lead-generation process injects fresh oxygen into both novice and seasoned professionals. Jim facilitated a breakout session for 150 people at our Fall Conference in New York City. He was exceptionally well prepared, successfully articulated industry-specific challenges, and provided authentic techniques to overcome those objections. Jim should be the backbone of any dedicated effort to improve sales effectiveness.”
Guest Lecturing
“Quite possibly the best guest speaker I heard during my time at Kellogg.”
Guest Lecturing
“By far the most useful class I took at Chicago Booth, and Jim's presentation was one of the most memorable and useful sessions from your class.”