How to find your next client without losing your soul

Lead generation gets a bad name, and most of the time it deserves it. The scripts, the cold sequences, the "Hey Phil, hope you're well" openers. The majority of business owners would rather do almost anything else, but that still leaves us with the issue of how to fill the pipeline.

Daisy Ferns runs a lead generation business and joined us on the latest episode of What One Thing with a refreshingly simple answer: talk to people. That's it. That's the strategy. Of course, simple and easy aren't the same thing, so we pushed her on what that looks like in practice. Here's what came out of the conversation.

1. You probably already have a list of 20 to 50 leads in your contacts

This was the bit that stopped us in our tracks. Daisy is convinced that almost any business owner with even a modest online presence could write down 20 to 50 people right now that they could reach out to. The list isn't strangers. It's people who have already chosen to be in your world: connections, ex-colleagues, people who once enquired and went quiet, people you met at an event and got on with. The mistake we make is assuming "lead" means "person I've never spoken to before."

Where to start: open LinkedIn, scroll through your connections, and write down the names of people you've spoken to in the past 18 months but haven't followed up with. Don't filter yet. Just get them on the page.

2. Know who your ideal client is before you start messaging

Talking to everyone is the same as talking to no one. Daisy made the point that the step before outreach is knowing exactly who you're trying to reach: what business they're in, what job title they hold, and how long they've been trading. Without that, you waste energy on conversations that were never going to lead anywhere, and you start to feel like outreach doesn't work, when really, you were just talking to the wrong people.

Where to start: write a one-sentence description of your ideal client. If yours is "small business owners," that isn't specific enough. Get to the version that includes size, sector and stage.

3. A first message that lands sounds like a human wrote it

Generic openers get ignored, and we all know one when we see one. Daisy's approach is to do a small amount of homework before sending anything: use their name, mention something from their profile, comment on a recent post, ask about a project. It doesn't need to be complicated; it just needs to prove you've looked.

Where to start: before you send a message, find one specific thing about that person you can reference. If you can't find anything, you probably don't know them well enough to message yet.

4. Don't pitch on the first message

This came up more than once. Daisy was clear that the fastest way to lose someone is to lead with an offer or a calendar link. Build the relationship first. Have an actual conversation. Ask what they do. Tell them what you do when they ask back. Let it breathe.

Where to start: when someone replies, resist the urge to send your sales page. Ask them a follow-up question instead.

5. Lead the conversation, don't dump it

Daisy's pet hate is the "let me know" message. The one that ends with a link and leaves the ball in the other person's court. Her view is that if you've started the conversation, it's your job to keep steering it forward, asking the next question, suggesting the next step, offering specific dates rather than "when works for you?"

Where to start: next time you'd normally write "let me know," write something specific instead. Three dates. A direct question. A clear next step.

6. Reframe outreach as a service, not a sale

This was the bit that really struck a chord with Hayley. If you genuinely believe what you offer helps people, then starting a conversation isn't pushy; it's useful. The mindset shift is moving from "I'm trying to sell you something" to "I have something I think could help, and I want to see if it's right for you." The conversation that follows is the same. It just feels completely different to be in.

Where to start: before your next outreach message, write down one sentence describing how the person on the other end would be better off after working with you. That's the message. Not the offer.

7. Following up isn't pushy; it's part of the job

Daisy was firm on this. Silence isn't rejection. People are busy, they forget, they get pulled into something, and your message slips down the inbox. Following up is part of the service, not an imposition. The follow-up that gets ignored is the "just checking in for the 15th time" sort. The one that lands is the one that adds something or asks a real question.

Where to start: pick one person you spoke to in the last six months whose conversation just trailed off. Send them a message today. Not a checking-in message. A "thought of you because…" message.

Daisy made the point that lead generation is rarely the bit that's broken. It’s usually the bit before it: not knowing who you're trying to reach, not believing you're worth the conversation, or being too afraid of being pushy to actually say anything at all.

Have a listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts. Search What One Thing.

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