The sales process · Lead generation
A shared contact will introduce you, but only if you write the ask for them.
Mutual connection sourcing is finding a person who knows both you and the buyer you want, then asking for an introduction in words they can forward without rewriting. It is the cheapest first meeting a small business can get, and the easiest one to waste by asking vaguely.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Mutual connection sourcing is finding a person who knows both you and the buyer you want, then asking for an introduction in words they can forward without rewriting. It is the cheapest first meeting a small business can get, and the easiest one to waste by asking vaguely.
You already know somebody who knows your next customer. The problem is the ask. Most owners send a message saying, if you hear of anyone who needs what we do, please pass my name on. That is a request to do your thinking for you, and it earns a polite nothing.
This step sits after qualifying criteria and lead scoring on purpose. You have to know which companies are worth an introduction before you spend a relationship on one. A warm introduction is limited stock. The same contact will not forward a request every month, and asking as though they will is how the well runs dry.
The work itself is a list and a paragraph. The list matches a company you want to reach against somebody who can reach it. The paragraph is what your contact pastes into their own message. Both fit in an afternoon. Then you wait on other people's replies, which is the slow part.
Where this sits
Stage 4 of 10, lead generation. The routes an enquiry can arrive by, and what each one costs in money or in time.
- The stage before
- Prospecting
- The stage after
- Sales enablement
If you want this done for you
Your team can sell once they are talking to the person who decides.
The work
What this step is actually like.
“A vague ask gets a vague refusal”
Do you know anyone who might need industrial flooring is a question with no answer in it. Your contact would have to audit their own address book on your behalf, so they say they will keep it in mind. Name the company. Name the person. Give one line on why you are worth ten minutes.
“You are spending their reputation”
An introduction attaches your contact's name to how you behave for the next hour. That is the real reason people hesitate, and chasing does not change it. Write the ask so they can read it and think, I am comfortable being the person who sent this. Not how good you are. What you do, and why it fits this company.
“Ask when something has just changed”
An introduction lands better with a reason attached to this week. New premises. A name you recognise who has moved there. That is trigger events, the step straight after this one, and the two work as a pair. The change gives the reason, the connection gives the door.
“When this route is the wrong one”
A shop selling to walk-in customers has no shared contacts to work with. Neither does a firm opening in a city where nobody has heard of it yet. Both are better served by search or by advertising until there are a few customers who can introduce them.
What we do
What you end up with.
The artefacts this step produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The introduction sheet
One row per target. The company, the person you want to reach, the contact you share, how those two know each other, the reason to ask this week, and the date you asked. A spreadsheet, nothing more clever.
Result: You can see which asks are sitting with somebody else and which ones you have simply not made yet.
The forwardable paragraph
Four lines your contact can paste without editing. Who you are, what you noticed about the target company, the specific thing you want, and a sentence that makes refusing easy. Written in your voice, not in that of a job applicant.
Result: Your contact forwards it in under a minute, and the reply comes back to you rather than to them.
The permission note
A short message to the connector first, asking whether they are comfortable making the introduction at all. It goes before the paragraph, never attached to it. A no at this point costs nothing and leaves the relationship where it was.
Result: Nobody is put on the spot, and you learn early which relationships are warmer than you assumed.
The report back
A message after the meeting saying what happened and whether it was any use. People skip it, which is why most relationships produce one introduction and then go quiet.
Result: The same contact offers a second name without being asked for it.
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 1, prospecting and lead generation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
What exactly do I write in the request?
My contact said yes and then nothing happened. What do I do?
Is this the same as messaging strangers on LinkedIn?
Who should make the ask, me or my salesperson?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this step further.
The rest of lead generation
Or read the whole sales process in order.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.