Ep 76: You Probably Don't Need More Leads
One of the loudest things I heard from prospects toward the end of last year had very little to do with their services.
They kept telling me they needed more leads.
They needed a bigger network. They needed to get into better rooms. They needed to figure out where all the "right people" were hiding because the people already around them apparently weren't going to cut it.
I understand why service providers go there. When revenue feels slow, looking for someone new feels like the obvious answer. You start thinking about networking groups, content, cold outreach, new platforms, events, referrals, and all the other places where your next client could be waiting.
Meanwhile, you may already know them.
The Relationships Around You Are Easy to Discount
I am a big fan of looking at what you already have access to before deciding you need an entirely new lead generation strategy.
That includes current clients, past clients, old business relationships, people you have worked beside, people you have hired, people who have hired you, and connections who know the exact kind of person you want to meet.
A lot of service providers write those people off too quickly.
Maybe your past clients bought an older version of your service, so you assume they would never want what you sell now. Maybe someone in your network was not a fit the first time you talked. Maybe you have decided your current circle cannot introduce you to the level of client you want next.
Those assumptions can get expensive.
A conversation with someone does not need to result in that person hiring you for the conversation to matter. They may know someone who needs you. They may have a need you did not know about. Their business may have changed since you last spoke.
Sometimes the opportunity is sitting behind a conversation you have not had yet.
Four Conversations Turned Into Three Paying Clients
When I left the agency I had co-founded and run for eight and a half years, I was rebuilding from scratch in some very real ways.
I had my skills and experience, but I did not have a new email list, an audience for this business, clients, meaningful web traffic, or some giant lead generation engine ready to go. I had my personal Instagram account and a brand-new domain.
During the first one to two months, I had four conversations.
Three became paying clients.
One conversation was with my mom, who referred me to someone who hired me. Another was with an old friend I had not spoken to in a couple of years. She was hiring, although I was not the right fit for what she needed. She referred me to someone else, a person I already knew but did not realize was hiring, and that person became a client.
The fourth conversation was with someone who had actually been a client of mine in a different capacity during my agency years. I sent her a Voxer message, told her I was out on my own again and explained what I thought I might be doing. I assumed she might know someone who needed that kind of help.
Her answer was basically, "Perfect timing. I need you."
Those conversations became the beginning of the business. Within six months, I had contracted $104,000 in revenue. Some of those initial clients also referred me to other people, and a few of those referral relationships continued long after our own work together ended.
I was not relying on a huge content operation to make that happen. I was having useful conversations with people who already had a reason to trust me.
Your Existing Clients Can Hold Hidden Revenue Too
This same idea applies when you already have clients and need revenue for the next stage of your business.
One of my clients, a marketing agency owner, needed cash so she could hire. She had reached the awkward point where she could not confidently take on more client work at her current capacity, yet she needed more revenue before committing to bringing a team member on full-time.
Going out and creating a pile of brand-new leads would have created another problem. More new client work would have landed on her desk before she had the capacity to deliver it.
So we looked at the people already inside the business.
We audited her existing clients and looked for places where a conversation made sense. There were clients who could reengage, relationships that could be reactivated, and accounts where the scope or pricing needed another look.
Then she sent simple, custom messages based on what those people were already doing and what they actually needed.
That work led to $66,000 in contracted revenue within six weeks.
She had the cash and projected revenue she needed to move a part-time team member into a full-time role, and she did it by paying closer attention to relationships that were already there.
Lead Generation Includes What Happens After Someone Raises Their Hand
There is another piece of this conversation that I think service providers overlook.
Finding the lead is only one part of getting paid.
I see a lot of sales leak out during the weird middle stretch between "I'm interested" and an actual decision. Someone sends a DM, asks a question, requests information, fills out a form, or gets referred to you, then the process gets clunky.
The next step is unclear. Follow-up gets forgotten. The potential client is trying to figure out what happens now, while the business owner assumes they are "thinking about it."
I care a lot about client experience, but your prospect experience deserves the same level of attention.
How easy is it for someone who is interested to understand the next step? How well can you answer their questions without turning every inquiry into a giant sales production? Can you help someone reach the right decision, even when that decision is no?
I became particularly obsessed with this during a part-time sales role I took while rebuilding my own business. For seven or eight months, I was doing 30 to 50 discovery calls a week, plus five to 10 longer sales calls.
That volume gave me a ridiculous amount of practice. I was writing scripts, testing different approaches, and paying attention to what helped someone move from general interest into an actual buying decision. It was also where I got to pressure test the 15-minute Clarity Call Method and the sales call framework I now teach inside Sold Out Services.
You learn very quickly at that volume that more names entering the pipeline do not fix a messy process once they arrive.
Before You Go Looking for a New Room, Look Around the One You're Already In
If you have been telling yourself that you need more leads, I want you to get more specific.
Who have you worked with before who might need something different from you now? Who has sent good referrals in the past? Which current clients have needs outside the scope of what they originally hired you for? Who knows your work well enough to introduce you to the kind of client you want next?
You do not need to send everyone some generic "just checking in" message and hope something happens.
Look for a reason to have the conversation.
That may mean reconnecting with a past client because their business has changed. It could mean asking someone you trust if they know a person dealing with a problem you solve. For a current client, it may be time to talk about what comes after the project they originally hired you to complete.
This is the lead generation conversation I want to spend more time on in 2026 because there is so much revenue hidden inside relationships service providers have already built.
I am also considering putting together a free challenge where we work on this together, including warm leads that are already sitting in your network, past-client reactivation, referrals, client lifetime value, and the prospect experience that keeps interested people from disappearing halfway through the process.
If that sounds useful, I have a short interest form at soldoutservices.com/leads. Tell me where your pipeline feels stuck right now, and I will use those responses to shape what I build.
Chapters
00:01 Why I’m Rethinking Lead Generation in 2026
02:15 The Revenue Already Sitting in Your Network
04:38 Why “I Need More Leads” Can Be a Distraction
05:39 How Four Conversations Turned Into Three Clients
08:07 The Prospect Experience Most Service Providers Overlook
10:17 Finding $66K in Revenue From Existing Clients
12:43 The Four Conversations That Started My Business
15:08 A New Lead Generation Challenge for 2026
Ready to Restructure and Productize Your Service?
Inside Sold Out Services, I help service providers refine their positioning, productize their expertise, strengthen their delivery model, and create a more scalable path forward.
You do not need to assume that burnout means your only option is to leave client work and build a course business.
There may be a viable pathway using your current skills, results, and service container with a few strategic changes behind the scenes.
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