John Dinkel Interviews Christina Ryan, Partner at Hartman Executive Advisors

Christina Ryan DiGiulian is a Partner at Hartman Executive Advisors, where she leads the business development and marketing team. Christina joined the company 15 years ago as Hartman’s first employee and has since had several roles at the firm. In her current role, she is primarily focused on growing the business and expanding into new markets. She and her team help mid-market companies position IT strategically to enable and accomplish their business goals.

Christina is well known for connecting leaders in the business and not-for-profit communities to create valuable introductions and help others. She is an active volunteer in her community and serves as a mentor to young professionals. Christina is a board member of CollegeTracks, Charter School Development Corporation and the Catholic Business Network of Washington, DC. She is a graduate of Elon University with a degree in finance and marketing.

John Dinkel is the Founder & CEO of Dinkel Business Development., a business development strategic advisory based in Baltimore City. DBD, LLC helps companies with business development planning, training & execution, relationship marketing lead generation, content strategy & creation as well as company-wide BD culture planning. Before starting DBD, LLC., John was the president and publisher of the Baltimore Business Journal (BBJ) for 11 years and VP of Sales for 5 years.

John has over 25 years of experience in business development, sales leadership and operations, and has worked in sales leadership roles at numerous organizations around the Mid-Atlantic. John also serves as an advisor for Truvelop, a local HR technology startup based in Baltimore City. He is also the host of iHeart Radio’s (Baltimore) CEO’s You Should Know weekly podcast.

John strongly believes in giving back to the community and is a board member of Business Volunteers Maryland. He is a member of the President’s Advisory Council for Stevenson University and the Greater Baltimore Committee. He was also appointed to the Bay Restoration Fund Advisory Committee by Governor Larry Hogan in 2017. John resides in Columbia, Maryland with his wife Nuala.

Connect with Christina and John on LinkedIn

Interview questions:

Q1: Please take a couple of minutes to tell us about Hartman Executive Advisors, your role there and your background.

Q2: What has been your greatest strategy around the growth of your business this year?

Q3: What are your three inhibitors to growth?

Q4: What’s more important to a company’s growth…inbound or outbound lead generation

Q5: How important is relationship building in today’s sales environment?

Q6: Are you leveraging your entire team to promote growth?

Q7: How do you identify the ideal customer profile?

Q8: In your opinion, how do you align sales and marketing?

Q9: What’s one thing you’ve learned recently about sales/marketing that has impacted your growth positively?

Q10: What technology are you using to enhance your inbound and outbound lead generation?

Q11: What do you feel has been your number one technique of getting in new business?

Hartman Executive Advisors is an independent technology leadership firm that works with executives to strengthen the role that IT plays in supporting their business goals. Hartman’s unique IT leadership model provides the opportunity for executives to work alongside senior IT and cybersecurity leaders who know their industry and their goals. Clients benefit from leveraging the depth and breadth of a full IT staff at a fraction of the cost while Hartman moves the needle on key issues.