Rainmaker: The Business Development Machine That Feeds a 22-Person Team, with Kimberly Laipple

In 2023, Kim Laipple led a 28-person team at Scientific Search and personally billed $1.4 million. Since then, the biotech market has been volatile. Between the downturn, retirements and other changes, the team dropped to about 16. Kim was also promoted to President after the previous owner retired.

Today, Scientific Search is back to around 22 people. Kim is running the business while still spending 30% to 50% of her week generating new business.

In this episode, Kim walks through the five channels feeding her pipeline: SEO that took nearly a year to produce consistent results, LinkedIn content built around the company and her personal brand, signal-based outbound using intent data, email marketing that depends on timing and relevance, and visibility through Claude and ChatGPT.

She also explains the 90-day training program she created for four new hires. Instead of giving inexperienced recruiters immediate ownership of live searches, the program allows them to build confidence on the phone while supporting established recruiters and protecting existing client relationships.

Kim is candid about the hardest part of becoming President. It is not learning new responsibilities. It is stepping back from the work that made her successful and allowing other people to do things differently.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

How Scientific Search contracted from 28 people to 16 and rebuilt to 22

Why do new hires spend their first 30 days building confidence on the phone

The five channels behind Kim’s business development machine

Why SEO took nearly a year to produce consistent leads

How ZoomInfo intent data changes who gets called and when

Why Kim tracks gross profit per fee earner across three groups