The First Domino: How to Create Revenue Impact in 90 Days or Under

The First Domino: It only takes one.

Picture this.

It’s Monday morning. Your first day in a new sales role. You’ve worked for months to land this opportunity, and you’ve finally done it. New email signature, shiny new title, the buzz of possibility in the air. You should feel elated — but instead, you feel the weight of pressure.

Because now the real test begins.

How will you prove your value in 90 days or under?

The influence, contacts, and reputation you built in your last company don’t automatically transfer. You’re starting fresh, with no credibility in this new role. You know that leaders, peers, and clients are watching — not to see if you’ll fit in, but whether you’ll create impact.

The pressure is real. And in today’s world of shortened runways, aggressive targets, and unforgiving competition, the question is more pressing than ever:

How do you demonstrate revenue impact fast — with velocity and meaning?

That’s the moment The First Domino: How to Land Your First Client in 90 Days or Under is written for.

Why the First Domino Matters

When you strip away all the jargon, the dashboards, and the forecasts, business momentum comes down to one thing: landing that first domino.

That domino is the critical first proof point that changes everything:

• For a salesperson, it’s your first flagship client in a new role. The one that shows you can deliver revenue impact immediately, not “someday.”

• For a company rolling out a new product, it’s the early adopter. The brave client who gives feedback, validates your solution, and becomes your advocate in the market.

• For a founder, it’s the deal that unlocks funding. Investors don’t just want vision — they want proof that someone will pay. That first client is the ticket to your next round.

Once you tip that first domino, the rest fall faster. Momentum compounds. Trajectory shifts. Your career, your business, your product — all of it moves forward in a way that felt impossible just weeks earlier.

It only takes one.

The Chain Reaction Effect

Let’s zoom in on the impact of landing that first flagship client:

1. Credibility: You’re no longer “new.” You’re the person who delivered a win in record time. That changes how colleagues, leaders, and clients perceive you.

2. Case Studies and Testimonials: You now have tangible proof — stories you can share, quotes you can publish, results you can showcase.

3. Advocacy: A satisfied first client often becomes your loudest cheerleader. They introduce you to their peers, bring you on stage at conferences, feature you in trade press.

4. Iteration: Early clients uncover bugs, blind spots, and opportunities. Their feedback sharpens your solution faster than any internal brainstorm.

5. Confidence: Nothing beats the psychological momentum of seeing effort turn into revenue. That energy fuels more action, more calls, more meetings.

   
   

This is the wave — the chain reaction that transforms careers and companies. And it all starts with the first domino.

Motion Creates Momentum

Isaac Newton’s first law states: an object in motion stays in motion.

Sales, entrepreneurship, business development — they all obey the same principle. You can’t wait for momentum. You create it.

That’s why the “9 before 9” strategy is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.

Here’s how it works:

• Before 9 a.m. each day, take nine high-impact, revenue-generating actions.

• These could be tailored emails, coffee invites, referral requests, or meeting follow-ups.

• The focus isn’t volume for volume’s sake. It’s intentional action with qualified prospects — people with need, budget, and authority.

  
  

Do this daily, and your pipeline compounds. Follow up every three days with curiosity and value. Within weeks, you’ll have a flywheel of meetings, conversations, and deals that keeps building.

By 9 a.m., while others are still clearing email or sitting in internal meetings, you’ve already moved the needle on the only metric that matters: revenue impact.

Abundance Over Scarcity

In the first 90 days, pressure can make you retreat into scarcity. You feel like you don’t have enough time, enough knowledge, enough connections. The result? Playing small.

The antidote is to embrace abundance.

That means deliberately chasing one bold, high-stakes opportunity every week. What I call a “big rock.”

It could be an audacious client, a marquee partnership, a high-profile speaking slot. The kind of opportunity that feels out of reach.

Most new hires or founders avoid these in the early days — they want to build up slowly. But if you go after just one bold opportunity each week, and land even one of them, the payoff is exponential.

You stretch how people see you. You stretch how you see yourself. You set a new standard for what’s possible.

This is how you create not just motion, but momentum with magnitude.

Trusting Your Intuition

In high-pressure environments, your intuition sharpens. That inner voice becomes a guide — if you learn to trust it.

Imagine it’s week two. You’ve been asked to present at a stakeholder event on a product you barely know. Panic is natural. But panic doesn’t serve you.

Instead, flip the script with one question: “How can I make this awesome?”

That mindset shifts your energy from fear to creativity. You seek out colleagues for bullet points. You rehearse with intensity. You focus on creating a moment that people will remember.

Great careers are built not by avoiding scary moments, but by transforming them into opportunities.

Replace Hope With Commitment

Hope is not a strategy.

Too often, salespeople weaken themselves with language like:

• “I hope they’ll reply.”

• “I’ll try to get a meeting.”

• “Maybe they’ll sign this quarter.”

  
  

That language signals uncertainty — to yourself and others.

Replace it with commitment: “I will. I have. It’s done.”

When you adopt commitment language, you stop waiting for permission and start owning outcomes. You shift from chasing to attracting. You build confidence — in yourself, and in the people you’re selling to.

Curiosity Builds Trust

Here’s a truth few admit: when you’re desperate to land the first domino, it’s easy to get defensive.

A client raises an objection. You push back. Your tone shifts. You double down. And in that moment, you lose trust.

Defensiveness kills deals. Curiosity closes them.

Instead of fighting, ask: “What makes you think that?”

That simple question transforms the conversation. It opens the door to insight. You discover hidden fears, priorities, and constraints. You show the client you’re listening — not just selling.

Even better, over dozens of conversations you’ll collect patterns. You’ll spot recurring objections, identify trends, and create objection-handling frameworks that help your entire team.

This is how curiosity compounds into value.

The Playbook for Landing the First Domino

So what does it take, practically, to land the first domino? Here’s a distilled playbook:

1. Commit to motion. 9 before 9 a.m. Build daily momentum before distractions take over.

2. Focus only on qualified dominoes. Time is currency. Disqualify prospects who lack authority, budget, or urgency.

3. Chase one bold big rock each week. Stretch your reach. Even one win here changes everything.

4. Trust your intuition. It sharpens under pressure. Listen to it, and act.

5. Replace hope with commitment. Use decisive language. Own outcomes.

6. Stay curious, not defensive. Objections are opportunities to learn, not battles to win.

   
   

Follow this, and the first domino becomes inevitable.

Legacy in 90 Days

Here’s the deeper truth: the first domino isn’t just about revenue. It’s about identity.

When you land that first client, when you create impact in 90 days or under, you don’t just change your numbers. You change how people see you. You change how you see yourself.

You set a trajectory that can alter the course of your career — or your company — forever.

And when you look back years from now, these are the stories you’ll tell. The risks you took. The moments you leaned into courage. The time you turned pressure into possibility.

Because success isn’t built in giant leaps. It’s built by tipping the first domino.

The Chain Reaction of Possibility

Whether you’re starting a new role, launching a product, or building a company, the playbook is the same: land that first domino.

Because once it tips, everything changes. Momentum compounds. Opportunities multiply. Trajectories shift.

Success isn’t about sending thousands of emails, or sitting through endless meetings, or making hollow promises. It’s about decisive, deliberate action that delivers revenue impact.

That action starts with the first domino. And that domino could be you.

✦ This is the philosophy and playbook of The First Domino: How to Land Your First Client in 90 Days or Under. Head to the website to download the free resources.