EP008: How To Generate Better Leads
Episode summary
Why visibility alone is not enough, and how to create better leads and warmer sales opportunities.
In this episode, I’m talking about how to generate more and better leads.
Lead generation is the most important activity in your business because all sales, client growth and long-term revenue sit downstream of it. But being visible and generating leads are not the same thing. I’ll walk you through how to think about lead generation as an ongoing business task and habit, why most small businesses need to be both the ‘lighthouse’ and the ‘door-knocker’, and how to create more warm sales opportunities.
We’ll also look at where to start first, how to spot the warmest opportunities already in your business, and what simple actions you can take this week.
By the end of this episode, you’ll know how to take lead generation beyond posting on social media and hoping for the best, and start using your time more strategically to create more leads, better conversations, better opportunities and, ultimately, more sales.
Key takeaways
- Lead generation is a core daily job, not a quiet-month rescue mission, and small, consistent actions compound.
- Visibility and a big audience help, but they don't equal leads: plenty of 100k-follower accounts make few sales, while sub-1,000 audiences turn over six and seven figures.
- Success leaves clues: look at where your last 10 clients actually came from, then double down before chasing anything new.
- Work out how many leads you genuinely need; your strategy should fit your business, not industry norms.
- Be both the lighthouse (content that draws people in) and the door knocker (proactive outreach, follow-up, networking).
- What you measure, you can manage, and Anna notes roughly 80% of sales happen between the 5th and 12th follow-up.
Episode outline / timestamps
00:00 - Welcome + why lead generation underpins everything
01:11 - Be more intentional, not just busier
02:14 - Lead gen as a daily habit that compounds (Sales First & sales fitness)
04:00 - The big myth: visibility and audience are not lead generation
05:55 - Success leaves clues: where do your clients really come from?
09:30 - How many leads do you actually need?
11:11 - The lighthouse vs the door knocker
14:54 - Track everything (and the 5 to 12 follow-up rule)
18:01 - Your practical actions + 30-day plan
20:00 - Strategy options: networking, workshops, borrowing audiences
22:00 - Recap + what's coming next week
Links + Resources:
- Want to see your greatest opportunities to increase sales? https://www.annapayne.online/quiz
- Join us for 30 days of free online networking? https://www.annapayne.online/networking
- Download your free leads tracker https://www.annapayne.online/tracker
- Book a free 15 minute sales game plan call with Anna https://calendly.com/annapaynecall/introduction
- Buy my best-selling book on sales here
- See a complete list of ALL the FREE and paid ways I can support you with sales https://www.annapayne.online/everything
Meet Your Host:
Anna Payne is a sales and business growth expert with almost three decades of experience across sales, leadership and entrepreneurship.
She has founded and co-founded three successful businesses since 2008, selling and delivering millions of pounds of consultancy and working with clients across five continents, as well as building and leading high-performing teams.
Anna is also the author of the number one bestseller Everything You’ve Been Taught About Sales is Wrong (*Probably) and a keynote speaker on sales and entrepreneurship.
Website: https://www.annapayne.online/everything
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