Landing a partnership with a billionaire who built a $10 billion company like Qualtrics and now owns the Utah Jazz doesn't happen by accident. Most growth teams send one or two emails, hear crickets, and assume the lead isn't interested. But in the world of high-ticket partnership sales, silence isn't a rejection—it is a test of your pain threshold. When Sean and Ben set out to record a podcast with Ryan Smith, they didn't just send a polite inquiry; they executed a relentless nine-email sequence that eventually led to a 6 a.m. basketball game at the Jazz practice facility and a world-class content piece. This is the breakdown of the high-persistence business development playbook that wins when everyone else gives up.
The Nine Follow-Up Rule: Why Early Quitting is a Strategy for Failure
In the world of Meta Ads Manager or automated influencer outreach tactics, we often get addicted to instant feedback. If a campaign doesn't convert in 48 hours, we pivot. However, when you are targeting elite partners—the top 1% of creators, CEOs, or athletes—the timeline shifts. The research into Ben’s outreach reveals a shocking reality: it took exactly nine follow-ups to get Ryan Smith to say yes.
Most sales professionals quit after the second or third touchpoint. They feel like they are being annoying, or they suffer from rejection sensitivity. But elite prospects like Ryan Smith are managing five kids, a family office, an NBA team, and a multi-billion dollar legacy. They aren't ignoring you because they dislike you; they are ignoring you because their attention is the most expensive commodity they own. Cold email persistence is the only way to prove that your request is worth their time.
"Your success is directly correlated with your pain threshold. How much pain can you handle?" — Ryan SmithPersonalization vs. Persistence: Decoding the Ryan Smith Sequence
Persistence without personalization is just spam. To land a high-ticket partnership, your sales follow up strategy must evolve with every touchpoint. Looking at Ben’s outreach, the emails weren't just generic "circling back" templates. They were hyper-specific, referencing local Utah news, the 6 a.m. basketball culture Ryan is known for, and recent player performances like Isaiah Collier in the summer league.
The sequence worked because it moved from a broad request to a specific, undeniable value proposition. Ben didn't just ask for a podcast; he promised it would be "one of the best conversations you've had" and offered to show up at a grueling 6 a.m. workout just to prove his commitment. This level of business development playbook execution requires deep research. You have to know that Ryan Smith has been playing with the same basketball group for 15 years, even through the pandemic while wearing masks in church gyms.
The Anatomy of a High-Persistence Email
- The Social Proof: Mentioning mutual connections like Hayes Barnard.
- The Specific Hook: Referencing the "6 a.m. Morning Ball" tradition.
- The Low-Stakes Challenge: Promising to hit at least one three-pointer.
- The Timing: Sending emails when the prospect is active, like during NBA summer league updates.
The 'Give Before You Get' Framework: Breaking the Noise
High-value individuals are constantly asked for things. To break through, your influencer outreach tactics must flip the script. Instead of asking for an hour of their time, offer an experience or a piece of value that aligns with their identity. In the Utah Jazz case study, the "give" was the physical presence of the crew at a time and place convenient for the prospect—even if that meant 4 hours of sleep and a 5 a.m. wakeup call.
This "sweat equity" signals that you aren't just a tourist looking for a quick win; you are a peer who respects the hustle. Ryan Smith noted that "winners seem to win in a bunch of areas," citing Travis Kalanick’s tennis ranking and Luka Dončić’s gaming skills. By participating in his 6 a.m. basketball ritual, the team proved they shared that competitive DNA. This is a core pillar of high ticket partnership sales: you must match the energy of the person you are pitching.
| Outreach Stage | Standard Approach | Elite 'Jazz' Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Follow-up Count | 1-3 emails | 9-12 emails |
| Personalization | "I saw your post on LinkedIn" | "I'll hit a 3-pointer at your 6am game" |
| Value Prop | "We want to feature you" | "We will adapt to your soul-nourishing Utah routine" |
| Outcome | Ignored / Marked as Spam | Strategic Partnership / Access |
Building a 'No-Ego' Outreach Culture
The biggest barrier to cold email persistence isn't technical; it's emotional. Most growth teams have too much ego. They take a non-response as a personal insult. Ben’s secret weapon is that he simply doesn't take it personally. He views the outreach process as a series of iterations, much like building software in Notion or managing a project in Asana.
In a "no-ego" culture, a rejection is just data. If you are reaching out to creators on platforms like TikTok or YouTube, you need to expect that their inboxes are a war zone. When using tools like Stormy AI, you can find and vet these creators efficiently, but the human element of relentless follow-up is what seals the deal. You are building a relationship, not just completing a transaction.
"Ben is the connector. He’s the guy who’s great with people and he’s a hustler. People don’t realize how relentless you have to be to make these things happen." — SeanSystematizing the Hustle: Scaling High-Touch Outreach
How do you scale this level of persistence without burning out your team? You combine the "hustle" of the 9-email sequence with AI-powered automation. For modern marketing teams, this means using a platform that can handle the heavy lifting of discovery and initial vetting so your "Bens" can focus on the high-level personalization.
Platforms like Stormy AI allow you to search for influencers and partners using natural language—for example, finding creators who are into fitness and based in Utah. Once you have your list, you can use AI to generate personalized outreach that references their specific content, then set up an automated AI agent to handle the follow-ups while you sleep. This ensures that you hit that critical 9-email threshold without manually tracking every single thread in Stormy AI.
The Long Game of Business Development
Ryan Smith’s philosophy of "constant iteration" applies as much to sales as it does to building software like Qualtrics. He bootstrapped for 10 years before taking a dime of venture capital. That same long-game mentality is required to land elite partnerships. You are not just looking for a "yes"; you are looking to become part of their ecosystem. By the end of the trip, the team wasn't just recording a podcast; they were being invited to the Jazz practice facility and planning future events with Ryan.
Whether you are trying to land a high-ticket partnership or scaling your TikTok Ads through UGC creators, the lesson is the same: the person who can handle the most "pain" (in the form of silence and rejection) usually wins the prize. Stop quitting at email three. Your breakthrough is likely waiting at email nine.
Actionable Playbook for High-Persistence Sales:
- Identify the 'White Whale': Choose 5-10 high-impact partners that could change your business trajectory.
- Research the Rituals: Don't just look at their work; look at their hobbies. Do they play basketball at 6 a.m.? Are they top-ranked Overwatch players?
- Draft the 9-Email Sequence: Map out a 30-day sequence that moves from professional to personal to "ridiculously committed."
- Automate the Foundation: Use Stormy AI to find contact details and automate the initial follow-up stages so you can focus on the final "closing" touches.
- Remove the Ego: Measure success by the number of high-quality touchpoints sent, not just the immediate response rate.