Frequently Asked Questions
Want to go deeper?
Common questions about Highland Edge, the C.L.I.M.B. framework, working with Tom, and how AI fits into your growth strategy.
About Highland Edge
What does Highland Edge do?
Highland Edge is a strategic advisory practice for B2B professional service firm founders. We combine growth strategy, positioning, and AI implementation to help founders build businesses that work without them in the room. Think of it as a fractional chief strategist who also builds the systems.
Who does Highland Edge work with?
We work with executive coaches, leadership coaches, fractional executives, consultants, and founders of B2B professional service firms. The common thread: people who are brilliant at their craft but need help building the business around it.
How is Highland Edge different from a marketing agency?
Agencies execute campaigns. We work upstream of that. Highland Edge helps founders figure out their positioning, pricing, and growth model first, then builds the systems (including AI-powered ones) to make it all work. Strategy before tactics, always.
Where is Highland Edge based?
Highland Edge is based in Scotland and works with English-speaking B2B founders globally. All advisory sessions are conducted remotely, so geography is rarely a constraint.
Is Highland Edge just Tom Pearson?
Highland Edge is led by Tom, a CIM Fellow with twenty years in marketing and business strategy. The practice brings together experienced growth advisors, strategic coaches, and tactical marketers. Tom leads every advisory engagement personally.
The C.L.I.M.B. Framework
What is C.L.I.M.B.?
C.L.I.M.B. stands for Clarity, Leverage, Infrastructure, Momentum, and Balance. It is a diagnostic framework that maps B2B service businesses across five dimensions of founder-independent growth. Each dimension is scored to reveal patterns, constraints, and the highest-impact area to work on next.
How does the C.L.I.M.B. assessment work?
The C.L.I.M.B. Quick Check is a free online tool at climb.highlandedge.com. You answer structured questions across the five dimensions and receive a scored breakdown showing where your business is strong and where the bottlenecks are. The full assessment goes deeper and is part of the advisory engagement.
What do the five dimensions measure?
Clarity measures positioning, messaging, and market focus. Leverage assesses how well you convert expertise into scalable assets. Infrastructure looks at your systems, processes, and pipeline. Momentum tracks growth drivers like lead flow and conversion. Balance evaluates founder dependency and business resilience.
Is C.L.I.M.B. relevant to my type of business?
C.L.I.M.B. was designed specifically for B2B professional service firms, particularly founder-led practices. If you sell expertise, coaching, consulting, or advisory services to other businesses, the framework will map directly to your growth challenges.
Working With Tom
What does a typical advisory engagement look like?
Founders Edge is a monthly advisory programme. Each month includes a strategic session with Tom, a C.L.I.M.B. diagnostic review, AI-built systems and automations, and access to the Highland Edge portal for tracking progress. The first month focuses on positioning and growth model design. From month two, we build and implement.
How long do clients typically work with Highland Edge?
Most Founders Edge clients stay for six to twelve months. The first three months are the heaviest lift (positioning, systems, pipeline). After that, engagements shift to refinement and scaling. There is no lock-in. Clients stay because the work is producing results with our engagement ROI tracked right on the homepage of our dashboard.
What is the investment?
Pricing depends on the engagement type. Founders Edge (monthly advisory) and Strategic Advisory (project-based) are the two main formats. Book a discovery call to discuss which fits your situation. There is no charge for the initial conversation.
What happens in a discovery call?
A 30-minute conversation about where your business is now and where you want it to be. No pitch, no pressure. Tom will ask about your current challenges, growth goals, and whether Highland Edge is the right fit. If it is, you will leave with a clear picture of what an engagement would look like.
Do you offer one-off strategy sessions?
Yes. The Strategy Session is a 90-minute diagnostic workshop followed by a written strategic report. It is a standalone engagement, though many clients use it as a starting point before moving into the monthly advisory programme.
AI and Implementation
What kind of AI does Highland Edge implement?
Practical AI systems for B2B service businesses. That includes automated content pipelines, lead scoring and qualification tools, CRM and pipeline automation, client onboarding workflows, and reporting dashboards. No hype, no experimental research. Tools that save time and produce measurable results.
Do I need technical knowledge to use AI tools?
No. Highland Edge builds AI systems that non-technical founders can use. Every tool comes with training and documentation. The goal is to give you capabilities that would normally require a marketing team, without needing to hire one.
How does AI fit into the advisory programme?
AI implementation is woven into the Founders Edge programme, not a separate add-on. As we work on your strategy, positioning, and pipeline, we build AI-powered systems to operationalise each piece. Strategy and systems move forward together.
Can Highland Edge help with AI strategy without implementation?
Yes. Strategic Advisory engagements can focus on AI readiness assessment, workflow mapping, and tool selection without building the systems. This works well for firms with existing technical teams who need strategic direction rather than hands-on build.
Higher Ground. Clearer Edge.
Ready to talk?
If you're not sure which path is right, a discovery call is a good place to start. No pitch, no pressure. Just a conversation about where you are and where you want to be.
Book a Discovery Call