5-Client Sprint: A No-Nonsense Guide to Winning New Business
An easy to implement tactical campaign to set you up for 5 new consulting cleints.
Ever feel like you're doing everything “right” with your marketing - posting content daily, running ads, sending cold outreach yet still struggling to land new clients?
You're not alone.
Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of talk about “business development strategy,” “value proposition redesign,” and “offer pivots.”
The strategic ‘stuff’ has its place but sometimes you have to knuckle down and do the hard work that most wont.
So today, I want to give you something radically simpler:
A refreshingly direct outreach playbook designed to start your journey to win 5 new clients in the next 2 to 5 months.
No funnels. No content marathons. No ad spend. Just a focused BD sprint using what you already have: your network.
This is tactical. Action-oriented. Results now (ish - within the realms of B2B decision cycles).
The "Warm Network Sprint" Strategy
Often the biggest success criteria in launching and growing your consulting business is completely overlooked…
It’s adopting a constant mindset of ‘what can I talk about with buyers I can easily reach’
Most Consultants overlook their biggest asset when trying to land new work: the relationships they’ve already built.
They generally:
Access their network when they first start and then never proactively do anything with them ever again
Make an attempt to mine their network but don’t have a system or a plan
And I can hear your doubting inner demon already beginning to verbalise:
I tapped into my network before and it did/didn’t work so I can’t do it again?
I’m busy with clients right now?
I’m not confident on the proposition?
I don’t want to be pushy or been seen to be ‘salesy’
It’ll take me ages to sort through my network?
Don’t fall into these traps. Tell your inner demon to be quiet and follow this plan:
Here’s who we’re targeting:
Past business opportunities: Prospects that ghosted you, paused, or went cold and proposals that never went ahead because of ‘status quo inertia’.
Warm network contacts: Professional contacts who know your work
Personal network: Friends, ex-colleagues, acquaintances who can refer
While everyone else is planning campaigns and tweaking messaging decks, you’ll be having real conversations with people who already trust you.
First - Grade Your Network:
The first thing to do is work out the value in your network.
Download your network from Linkedin, your contacts and phone book.
Grade them based on their decision making or referral strength combined with your relationship strength.
heavily influenced by @david a fields
You can do this in a tool of your own. My clients get this one:
You can get it here
Or you can use a CRM. I show my clients how to use this CRM to do it:
Now you have clarity on your numbers. Start with the A1 then B1 and then A2’s.
Your 7-Day Sprint Plan
Here’s how to execute this in just one week:
Day 1: Build a list of 100+ people and write your outreach messages
Days 2–3: Message 50 contacts per day (keep it short and specific)
Days 4–5: Follow up with another 50 contacts
Days 4–7: Run short calls with those who respond
Day 7: Review what worked — double down on that
This is get-stuff-done mode. Not brainstorm mode. Not perfection mode.
Messaging Templates That Get Replies - [An insight from my library of playbooks].
For past leads/ghosts:
“Hi [Name] – are you still grappling with [specific pain point]?”
If they respond:
“OK… I’ve got a few new ideas on how to mitigate the risks of that. How are you fixed next week?”
For warm contacts:
“Hi [Name], had an idea I thought might help you [achieve goal]. Are you open to hearing it?
For personal network:
“Hi [Name], thought of you for something we’re working on. Would love your take on it?”
These are just a small selection from my playbook which you can get here
I know what you are thinking - those messages are a bit bland. And you are right. As
showed in The Psychology of Influence when referencing the Harvard study by Ellen Langer:
You have to give a strong reason why. Here’s some examples:
“I have some ideas for you” is not good enough. “I have some ideas for you that should allow you (the because) to engage the cross functional, cross region team responsible for that new product launch to significantly reduce time to revenue” = Better.
“I noticed your article on Forbes recently” is not good enough. Everyone can be a noticer - what is your point of view? “I noticed your article on Forbes recently and what struck me was when you said that you’ve struggled to align culture in the acquisitions that you made in 2023. I understand why you might think it’s an unavoidable consequence and I have a completely different perspective on this”
If you want my personal help to jump in and frame your ‘BECAUSE’ you can do so by getting me on your team here.
When you get responses run 2 calls. First is a low pressure 10 minute catchup with a plan laid out below. The structure of the 2nd is detailed here
The 10-Minute Call Framework That Converts
Once someone agrees to chat, keep it simple:
Intro: “We’ve developed a solution to [pain point].”
Permission: “Can I ask you a few questions first?”
Qualify: Ask 3–5 questions about goals, blockers, urgency
Share ideas: Offer 2–3 high-level approaches tailored to them
Bridge: “Interestingly, you talked about grappling with the challenge of X which you haven’t found a solution for yet. Would it make sense if me and my team put our thinking caps on and came up with some ideas to mitigate the risks of that?”
Don’t forget to modify your language, vision and appraoch depending on who you are talking to:
And also the impact of seniority in Organisations:
This research maps out Involvement over time of C-Level execs in large scale puchasing decisions. I think it’s pretty self explanatory?
If not ask in the comments.
Of course - there are many models around modifying value props, communication and messaging. Pick the one that directly relates to your market and ideal client.
Why This Process Works When Others Don't
Trust is already there – you’re not starting cold
The message is short + curiosity-based – not salesy
The call is tailored – not scripted, not one size-fits-all
It’s easy to do!
And most importantly: it puts you in conversations now, not 3 months from now.
What if’s:
“But I don’t have a big network…”
You don’t need one. Most consultants have 100+ relevant contacts between past clients, LinkedIn, and personal circles. You don’t need 100 replies. You need 5 that convert.
Start small: build a list of just 20 people you’ve spoken to before. Send them the message. You’ll be surprised what happens.
Your Action Step This Week:
List 20 past contacts who showed interest but never converted
Send one of the short message above
If you get stuck reply here and I’ll help
Or - if you want personal help to implement this and other practical, proactive business development activities then I’m curently running a small cohort of consultants with the simple aim of getting their next 5 Consulting clients.
I am incentivising enrolements for a few days - and yes, I do have a very good BECAUSE which you can read about here. I’m at 2 enrolements and I need 5. To get you moving use the code: 30off to get 30% off. I’ll probably be at the 5 sometime on Friday. Hopefully you’ll be one of them :-)