How to Find Customers Without Feeling Like a Used Car Salesman

by

Most prospecting advice is either outdated (“just make 100 cold calls!”) or so generic it’s useless (“build relationships!”). After helping 47 sales teams fix their pipeline, here’s what actually moves the needle.

The Prospecting Lie You’ve Been Sold

You don’t need to:

  • Spam hundreds of leads
  • Use cringey “breakthrough” templates
  • Pretend to be someone you’re not

The best prospectors work less but smarter. Here’s how:

Your No-BS Prospecting Blueprint

1. Pick Your Battles (Not Every Lead is Worth It)

My client Mike sells industrial equipment. Instead of blanketing factories, he:

  • Identifies 20 ideal targets quarterly
  • Researches each for 15 minutes (LinkedIn, news, earnings calls)
  • Finds one personal connection point per lead

Result? 65% reply rate vs. industry average of 3%.

2. Play to Your Strengths

  • Hate cold calling? Don’t. Try voice notes instead.
  • Bad at writing? Shoot quick Loom videos.
  • Networking feels icky? Double down on referrals.

The marketing consultant who books $50k projects? She gets all her clients from Twitter threads.

3. The 3-Touch Rule That Works

Forget “7 touches” – nobody has time for that. Try:

  1. Value First – “Saw your post about X – here’s a case study you might find helpful”
  2. Social Proof – “Our clients in your space typically see Y result”
  3. Clear Ask – “Worth 15 minutes to explore?”

Space these out over 2 weeks. No reply? Move on.

4. Automate the Boring Stuff

My current setup (steal it):

  • Lemlist for personalized sequences
  • Clay for lead research
  • Calendly for booking

Total time: 3 hours/week. Pipeline: Always full.

When to Break the Rules

The best prospecting happens when you:

  • Send the risky message (“This might not be for you, but…”)
  • Reference something personal (“Congrats on the office expansion!”)
  • Admit you’re selling (“I know this is salesy, but…”)

Real beats polished every time.

Try This Tomorrow

  1. List your 10 dream clients
  2. Find one personal connection point each
  3. Send 3 emails that don’t sound like emails

Example:
“Hey [Name],
Saw you’re expanding to Austin – we helped [Similar Company] cut onboarding time there by 40%.
If that’s relevant, happy to share how. If not, no worries!

  • [You]”

In 30 days, you’ll:

  • Hate prospecting less
  • Get more replies
  • Actually enjoy the process

Because when you stop “prospecting” and start helping, everything changes.

Leave a Comment