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Patrick Laing
Managing Partner - Certainty Management, Inc.
Professional Background
Patrick Laing is a seasoned professional with over 30 years of extensive experience in sales, management, and training. His career has been marked by a commitment to excellence and innovation, particularly in cost-reduction solutions through Certainty Management, Inc., which he co-founded. This dynamic firm, located in Vista, California, specializes in helping organizations reduce their print, copy leases, and service contract costs, achieving an impressive average savings of 40-60%. Laing's dedication to improving expense management for businesses of all sizes has positioned Certainty as a leader in the industry. In addition, Laing has played a crucial role in assisting non-profit organizations to enhance their fundraising capabilities through the innovative “Certainty Partners” program, reflecting his commitment to social responsibility and community growth.
Laing’s professional journey began after he completed a two-year service mission in Italy and Sardinia. Following this, he dedicated nine years to the U.S. Army in counter-intelligence, holding a top-secret security clearance and serving as an Italian interpreter. This experience not only honed his communication skills but also laid a fantastic foundation for his future endeavors in training and sales, where effective interaction is key.
Throughout his career, Patrick has collaborated with a variety of reputable organizations, including Wells Fargo, Delta Airlines, and Wyndham Worldwide, where he held various titles such as Vice President of Sales, Sales Director, and Consultant. His time as a national sales trainer for Beldon Home Solutions showcased his ability to inspire and educate sales teams nationwide. His leadership style is characterized by engagement and motivation, making him a valuable asset in any operational setting.
Education and Achievements
Patrick Laing holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Technical Writing from Brigham Young University, a testament to his strong communication skills and academic dedication. His educational journey, which he completed during a dynamic period including military service and a church mission, reflects both resilience and adaptability.
In addition to his academic qualifications, Laing has gained considerable recognition as a former instructor with Dale Carnegie Sales, further enhancing his reputation as an engaging speaker and trainer. His dedication to personal and professional development has made him an effective leader, capable of guiding teams through the complexities of sales tactics and strategies.
Achievements
Laing’s most notable achievement is the founding of Certainty Management, Inc., where he has positively impacted the bottom lines of countless organizations. Under his guidance, the company has successfully assisted numerous clients in realizing substantial savings in operational costs, emphasizing his strategic approach to business management. Moreover, his work with the “Certainty Partners” program has been instrumental in providing continuous funding to various non-profit organizations, demonstrating his commitment to giving back to the community. In summary, Patrick Laing is a multifaceted professional whose diverse background and extensive expertise make him a leading figure in sales management and cost-reduction strategies. Beyond his professional successes, Laing is a dedicated family man, happily married to Tessha Thomas Laing and a proud father of five children. His personal interests in fly fishing, travel, and live music reflect a well-rounded individual who values both personal growth and work-life balance.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.