In consulting, colleagues are your first market. EY partner Meribeth Banaschik shows how empathy, reciprocity, and disciplined internal networking turn colleagues into advocates who carry your name into client meetings. Those advocates multiply your opportunities well before you ever deliver a pitch.

The meeting room had gone quiet. Meribeth Banaschik looked across the table at a senior EY partner known for staying calm under pressure. “On a scale of one to ten,” she asked, “how stressed are you right now?”

He hesitated, then gave an answer she didn’t expect:“Eight.”

For Banaschik, who today leads innovation across 25 countries in Western Europe, that moment was an eye-opener. She saw that in consulting, trust begins not with clients but with colleagues who are willing to be open. A partner who feels safe enough to admit pressure is also a partner who will bring you into critical conversations and mention your name to clients. Sales rarely start with a pitch; they start with the confidence of peers who choose to back you.

The Market Inside the Firm

When Banaschik joined EY, she wasn’t a traditional Big Four insider. Trained as a lawyer, she had to navigate a new culture defined by entrepreneurial freedom. “They give you a lot of room for ideas,” she recalls, “but you need to make sure those ideas succeed.”

She quickly realized that ideas didn’t spread on their brilliance alone. They gained traction only when colleagues believed in them enough to advocate.“You can multiply your sales capabilities by having a large internal network so that when your network goes to market, they’re also selling you,” she says.

Before clients buy your expertise, your colleagues must. In a matrixed firm, if peers can’t explain your value in their own client meetings, you often won’t get the chance to explain for yourself.

“You can multiply your sales capabilities by having a large internal network.”

Across Borders and Ranks

As Innovation Leader for Europe West, Banaschik sits on a regional leadership team of 25–30 people spanning 25 countries, which means progress often depends on what colleagues across the region have already tried and learned.

In her words,“sometimes they have solved problems that I need to solve on my next project,” and the ability to draw on those prior solutions meant she could move faster, with less risk of repeating mistakes.

When she explains how she broadens a relationship, she uses a simple illustration:“It might be that I meet someone from a law firm’s litigation department… And the next time I meet with him, I might want to meet with the data privacy lawyer. Or I might want to meet with the M&A transactions group. And it’s the same within EY… EY Law, forensics, the auditors, strategy and transactions.”

The point, she stresses, is not just hierarchy but breadth. Internal networks become stronger when they cut across specialties and levels. Juniors can surface overlooked insights, peers can offer collaboration, and seniors can provide sponsorship.

“Sometimes they have solved problems that I need to solve on my next project.”

Trust Built Through Empathy

That stress-level conversation reshaped her approach. Empathy, she concluded, is what cements credibility. “What is your stress level on a scale of one to ten?” became a disarming question that cut through polished exteriors and revealed the human reality beneath.

She also learned that empathy could improve workflows. At one point, she and her partners were caught in a cycle of endless 30–45 minute update calls. Everyone felt drained, yet no one broke the pattern. When she learned that this was the route of her colleague’s stress, and the reason why he was an eight out of 10, she proposed quarterly in-person sessions instead. “Let’s meet once a quarter,” she suggested, “have the real conversation, maybe over lunch.” The change reduced fatigue and strengthened trust, showing that deeper conversations often outperform frequency.

The takeaway: trust forged in candor translates directly into advocacy. Colleagues who feel heard are more likely to back you when it counts.

“Trust forged in candor translates into advocacy.”

Reciprocity as a Sales Strategy

Long before she became a partner, Banaschik saw how reciprocity compounds. As a young lawyer in Dallas, she supported a senior colleague through the transition from paper files to digital. Years later, that act was repaid when he sponsored her admission to the U.S. Supreme Court Registry.

At EY, she saw the same pattern. A senior colleague privately admitted she was “too scared” to ask basic questions about generative AI. Rather than dismissing her, Banaschik created a safe space for those questions, inviting her innovation team to help. That trust eventually led to introductions with some of Germany’s top lawyers, expanding Meribeth’s reach in the legal sector. “I’m a big believer in the good karma rule,” she says.

Reciprocity, she argues, isn’t a tactic. It’s a career-long practice. Consultants who give first, whether by sharing expertise, making introductions, or supporting colleagues under pressure, build networks that will one day return the favor.

“Helping colleagues without an agenda can produce returns far greater than any immediate transaction.”

Discipline: Staying on Speed Dial

What sustains these networks isn’t luck. It’s discipline. Every week, Banaschik blocks a one-hour “accountability slot” devoted solely to her relationships. Alongside a senior manager and an aspiring manager, she reviews a spreadsheet of contacts: who she’s met, who she would like to meet, and who could use her help right now.

The team scans LinkedIn for birthdays, sends relevant articles, and looks for opportunities to turn digital connections into in-person meetings. “Even if it’s one or two things a week,” she says, “those moments make the difference. They keep you on speed dial.”

She also uses a deceptively simple method to grow networks: the “bring a friend” rule. After a successful meeting, she suggests that next time each side invite a colleague. A one-to-one quickly becomes a one-to-two, then a one-to-four. The result is organic expansion without the awkwardness of cold introductions.

Here, too, she notes trade-offs. “You don’t want seven EY people facing one client,” she cautions. The key is balance: expand networks without overwhelming the room.

“Even if it’s one or two things a week, those moments make the difference.”

5 Moves to Turn Colleagues Into a Sales Force

For CEOs, CXOs, and partners in consulting firms, Banaschik’s approach offers a practical playbook grounded in her experience:

1. Win the hidden market first. Make sure colleagues can explain your expertise as clearly as you can. Without their advocacy, you’ll never reach clients.
2. Expand across borders and ranks. Build ties with juniors, peers, and seniors to tap solutions already tested elsewhere, and get ground level insights.
3. Lead with empathy. Replace shallow updates with candid conversations. Asking about stress or challenges creates trust that slides can’t.
4. Play the long game of reciprocity. Help colleagues today without expecting immediate return. Over time, those acts build powerful advocates.
5. Systematize discipline. Protect one hour weekly to review contacts, send touches, and track progress. Treat internal ties like a client pipeline.

Multiply connections. Use the “bring a friend” method to expand meetings naturally, but curate carefully, so clients feel supported, not swarmed.

Why the Internal Market Decides Your Future

Consultants are taught to see growth as an external game: more pitches, more clients, more deals. But as Meribeth Banaschik’s career shows, the decisive factor often lies inside the firm.

The colleagues who trust you and believe in your value will carry your name into conversations you’re not even a part of. They become your first sales force, and often the one that matters most.

The uneasy truth? If you fail to cultivate this internal market, you may never even reach the external one. In a firm as complex as EY, and in consulting firms worldwide, the internal market doesn’t just shape opportunity. It decides whether you’re in the game at all.

“The client market pays the bills, but the internal market decides whether you’re in the game at all.”