A mythical, highly cooperative target client who possesses an infinite budget, an urgent business need, and absolutely no procurement department to ruin the deal.
What they actually mean
They have zero budget and are just using us for free consulting.
Heard in the wild
"This lead doesn't quite fit our ICP, but they seem keen."
To nominally lead a high-stakes business deal from a safe distance, delegating all actual labor to juniors while reserving the right to accept the praise.
"I’ll quarterback the pitch, but I’ll need you to draft the slides, do the modeling, and present the actual proposal."
Translation
"I will say hello at the start of the meeting and take the credit at the end."
The desperate act of badgering multiple contacts at a target client organisation in the hope that at least one of them will accidentally reply.
"I'm multi-threading the account to make sure we have alignment across both IT and procurement."
Translation
"I am spamming five of them now instead of one."
The process of securing high-profile corporate clients primarily so their trademarks can be printed on a pitch deck, regardless of whether the contract makes any financial sense.
We need some quick logo acquisition in the retail sector to make the deck look respectable.
Translation
We are willing to do this work at a loss if we can put their picture on our website.