Building Your Everyday Leads System

Summary

The Advanced Selling Podcast: Building Your Everyday Leads System Episode Release Date: May 12, 2025

In the "Building Your Everyday Leads System" episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, hosts Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale delve into innovative strategies for consistently generating B2B sales leads. This detailed discussion emphasizes shifting from traditional labor-intensive prospecting methods to leveraging automated systems that ensure a steady stream of potential clients. Below is a comprehensive summary of the key points, insights, and actionable strategies discussed during the episode.

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Introduction to Everyday Leads

Bryan Neale introduces the central theme of the episode: Everyday Leads, a mechanism designed to generate business opportunities continuously, around the clock. He explains that this system shifts the focus from sporadic prospecting efforts to a consistent, automated approach that maintains a robust sales funnel.

Bryan Neale (05:51):

"Everyday Leads is a mechanism to generate interest opportunities, business to business leads on a continual basis. So not just when you need new business but all the time, 24, seven, every day."

The Challenge of Traditional Prospecting

Bryan and Bill Caskey discuss the common issue sales professionals face: the depletion of the sales funnel after intense closing periods. They highlight how traditional methods rely heavily on manual prospecting, which often leads to an empty pipeline when sales teams focus solely on closing deals.

Bill Caskey (06:52):

"Those people who finished really strong in the first quarter have no Funnel left for Q2. What a great idea to have a system or mechanism or process that's doing that for me on my behalf while I'm focused on closing what I need to close."

Shifting from Labor to Leverage

The hosts emphasize the necessity of transitioning from labor-intensive prospecting to leveraging automated systems. They argue that while labor (e.g., cold calling, manual outreach) has been the traditional approach, it is neither sustainable nor efficient for maintaining a continuous lead flow.

Bryan Neale (07:04):

"We've always thrown labor at things. Labor, labor, Labor. More this SDRs BDRS FDRS FDR. But this mechanism sits in between sales and marketing. It is not only marketing and it's not only sales, but it's both."

Implementing the Everyday Leads System

The episode outlines a strategic approach to building an Everyday Leads system, emphasizing the importance of mindset and systematic processes. The hosts break down the implementation into actionable steps:

1. Mental Shift: From Labor to Systems

• Bill Caskey (09:56):

  "If I'm a sales and I do a podcast that doesn't feel like I'm doing my job."

• The mindset must transition from viewing prospecting as additional labor to recognizing it as an integral, systematized part of sales strategy.

2. Taking the First Step: The First Domino

• Bryan Neale (14:11):

  "The first domino of this would just be sketch it out."

• Initiate the process by outlining the system’s framework, whether it’s starting a podcast, creating a webinar, or another lead-generating tool.

3. Utilizing Digital Platforms

• Implement digital tools like automated webinars that present valuable content to prospects in exchange for their contact information, thereby generating qualified leads without direct sales intervention.

Bryan Neale (15:29):

"It comes from our emphasis on labor on sales labor as the remedy for empty funnels."

4. Stacking Efforts: Integrating Networking with Digital Outreach

• Combine traditional networking with digital lead generation. For instance, Bryan suggests that before meeting a connector, share a valuable video or presentation that clearly communicates your value proposition, making subsequent introductions more natural and effective.

Bill Caskey (18:49):

"Stacking. Love stacking."

Building and Leveraging Connector Networks

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the importance of establishing and maintaining a list of connectors—individuals who have existing relationships with your ideal clients. Regularly engaging with these connectors ensures a continuous flow of warm leads.

Bill Caskey (18:35):

"If you're listening to this podcast, you understand what I just said, but you don't have a list of the 20 people written down by name."

Key Strategies:

• Maintain a List of 20 Connectors: Regularly engage with these connectors through scheduled meetings.
• Request Introductions: Actively seek introductions to potential leads during these interactions to build a robust sales funnel organically.
• Avoid Awkward Outreach: By maintaining regular contact, requesting introductions becomes a natural extension of the relationship rather than a forced effort.

Leveraging Content for Lead Generation

Bryan Neale underscores the value of creating high-quality content that addresses industry trends and common problems faced by the target audience. This content serves as a magnet, attracting prospects by offering immediate value and establishing authority.

Bryan Neale (15:29):

"It's only 3%. Well, but the sales team didn't have to do anything to get that."

Implementation Tips:

• Create Valuable Presentations/Webinars: Develop content that resonates with your audience’s pain points and offers actionable solutions.
• Optimize Engagement: Analyze viewer behavior to refine content length and format for maximum engagement and conversion.

The Power of Systems Over Manual Effort

Drawing a parallel to physical training, Bill and Bryan illustrate how building a sales system is akin to weight training: it may not provide immediate visible results, but over time, it builds a strong foundation that supports sustained success.

Bill Caskey (12:17):

"This is like building sales. It requires a shift in mentality because early on I was, when I ran a whole bunch long ago."

Conclusion and Future Directions

The episode concludes with a reaffirmation of the benefits of adopting an Everyday Leads system. By integrating automated lead generation with strategic networking and content creation, sales professionals can maintain a healthy sales funnel with less manual effort, allowing them to focus on high-value activities like closing deals.

Bryan Neale (20:21):

"Think about that as you go through your week here about, you know, could you create a situation where you have something out there working for you on a daily basis all the time while you're doing."

Future Topics: The hosts hint at exploring promotional strategies for Everyday Leads in future episodes, ensuring the system's effectiveness is maximized through targeted outreach.

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Key Takeaways:

1. Automate Lead Generation: Implement systems that continuously generate leads, reducing reliance on manual prospecting.
2. Shift Your Mindset: Transition from viewing prospecting as additional labor to integrating it as a systemic part of your sales strategy.
3. Engage Connectors: Build and maintain relationships with connectors who can introduce you to potential leads.
4. Create Valuable Content: Develop content that addresses your audience’s needs and positions you as an authority in your field.
5. Take Incremental Steps: Begin with manageable actions to build your lead generation system, ensuring sustainability and consistency.

By adopting the Everyday Leads system, sales professionals can enhance their efficiency, maintain a consistent pipeline of qualified leads, and ultimately achieve greater success with less manual effort.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign. Welcome, everybody. Advanced Selling Podcast. The longest running sales training podcast in the history of podcast. My name is Brian Neal.

[B]

I'm Bill Caskey.

[A]

Here every week for your listening enjoyment. Bill's laughing maybe because I'm adjusting my hat.

[B]

Yeah, because I was looking for things to talk about and then at the very last second you go, oh, my hat's crooked. Oh, we can talk about that. It's like, oh, well, that's going to be our focus.

[A]

No, I just, I, My, my. When hats feel correct on my head, they look crooked.

[B]

They're not.

[A]

They look correct, they feel crooked. And I can't. Now I'm looking at a camera, I'm trying to fix it and am I turning my head wrong or whatever.

[B]

All the signs. That's what that is.

[A]

I had them backwards earlier for last one down in the Home basement episode. Hey, if you haven't joined the Insider, we've talked about it. I said stop not joining the Insider. Go to advanced sellingpodcast.com look up the insider program. It's live coaching. Bill runs it live. It's live. Their listeners in there with you from all over the world. Cool. They even have little subgroups they meet in between meetings. It's a really awesome group. We talked a little bit last time about things that have stood the test of time. Being part of a group has stood the test of time and being around other humans and it's going to keep standing the test of time. So just go join the program for goodness sake. You'll be glad you did.

[B]

You know, that's one thing that we, we talked about last episode. What, what are the elements that are kind of core principles of achievement and success in sales. And we, we didn't really talk about that so much. The idea of having a group around you that you can go to on a frequent basis and, and get energy, get inspiration, get ideas and give contribute ideas. We didn't talk about that. I think that's a, I mean, think about. That's as old as the oldest time. You know, people coming together, the disciples. And in the, you know, since we just celebrated Easter, there's, but there's always been this group of people. You know, Napoleon Hill talks about a mastermind group and Dave Ramsey had his Eagles group that he met with every, every week at breakfast with once a week for 12 years. And so I think that's a, that's probably an episode worth having on its own. Oh, I'm going to. You're a music, music guy?

[A]

Pretty much, yeah.

[B]

You ever heard of a guy Named Mickey Dolan's.

[A]

Oh, of course, the Monkeys.

[B]

Mickey Dolan's was one of the original members of the monkeys. The other three. Now, for those of you who are less than 80, we just lost. Probably lost you.

[A]

Yeah, we may have already lost that group. Like the 80s are pretty good, but they're kind of like boomers, so. Yeah.

[B]

Well, like you said though, on one of our pre show meetings that there are songs from the past that still live on.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

The Monkeys had a song called I'm a Believer. Been in tons of movies. Tons of movies. My daughter who's, you know, 50, 40 years younger than me, know all her friends know that song by heart. So the Monkeys are probably one of those classic bands that you know a couple of their songs and anyway, he's the only surviving member, so we're going to see him.

[A]

That's great.

[B]

Before he passes and then I don't know who we'll go see.

[A]

The Monkeys are done. The Monkeys are all gone. I think that song is from Shrek. Is that right?

[B]

I'm a Believer.

[A]

I think I'm A Believer was remade by. Oh, my God. The guy died. Oh, my God. People listen like they're yelling at the people listening. I'll get it here in a second. Was remade and then was in the movie Shrek, I think. Oh, I'm a Believer. Smash Mouth. Smash Mouth is the name of the band.

[B]

Do you know who I'm A Believer was written by?

[A]

Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. This is good. I know this one. I know this one. One of my all time favorite singer songwriters. Seen him three times. Not on tour anymore. He has Parkinson's disease. Neil Diamond.

[B]

Neil diamond wrote I'm a Believer.

[A]

Yes. Huge, huge Neil diamond fan.

[B]

And then I heard him sing it once.

[A]

I'm like, oh, no, no, it's great. That's. You know, you sell your good songs to other people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

God, I love Neil Diamond. He was so.

[B]

Anyway, I. Yeah, great whenever, you know, I think I talked last time about going to a concert where I. Pure Prairie League. They had one song I knew called Amy and so I had to memorize the words to that. But the Monkeys, you know, all those words come back to you because I was 12 years old when they were popular and so I remember all.

[A]

You know, where I learned about now, I knew them from just their songs, but where I really learned about DAV Jones was when he guest starred in a ser show, an episode of the Brady Bunch. Did he really had a crush on him and they were trying to like sneak in to see him sing and oh, Marcia and Greg dressed as waiters at a fancy hotel to try to get to see Davey Jones.

[B]

You remember weird things.

[A]

Oh, I, I do. I really do. My wife tells me this.

[B]

Okay, okay, so here's a topic today and we're not going to be able to go through the whole thing but I, I've been playing around bit with this concept that I've been promoting to my clients called Everyday Leads. And Everyday Leads is a, is a mechanism to generate interest opportunities, business to business leads on a continual basis. So not just when you need new business but all the time, 24, seven, every day. This thing, this mechanism is out there working for you to generate interest email addresses and there's lots of different ways to do it. So I've gotten a lot, a lot of people in my client list who love the idea. So I'm in the process right now building, building a kind of a program around it. And so I thought I would bring it up to you and see if you had any thoughts on the, on what it was, the value of it and then how would you. What are some important components to that as we talk through it?

[A]

The first bit of validation I'll say is that I agree you mentioned in the pre show that you observe and I also observe and you listeners do this. You know, you do. We prospect when we need to, we prospect when we need to and we need to. When the funnel's empty or we just get done closing a bunch of business. We run three VPs of sales peer groups. There's about 50, 55, give or take people in those between those three and in this last month's check and I can tell you that those people who finished really strong in the first quarter have no Funnel left for Q2. And it was a reminder to me that this still goes on. We work so hard to close what's in the funnel. We don't prospect and fill the funnel up. So what a great idea to have a system or mechanism or process that's doing that for me on my behalf while I'm focused on closing what I need to close for the end of the month of the quarter.

[B]

So yeah, I think, I think that comes. And what you're describing is exactly it, it comes from our emphasis on labor.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

On sales labor as the remedy for empty funnels.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Or a remedy to build a funnel is labor. We always throw labor at things. Labor, labor, Labor. More this SDRs BDRS FDRS FDR. But we've talked about this before, but this mechanism sits in between sales and marketing. So we've got sales up here and marketing down here, wherever you have them right in between there. And we've affectionately called it smarketing or sales. And mark is that is that gray area where this mechanism sits. And it is not only marketing and it's not only sales, but it's both. And if we can get this right, I think, I think then we sleep at peace at night, especially at the end of the quarter when we're, we're done and we have to wake up to start the year or start the quarter empty.

[A]

Yes, you should never ever have to.

[B]

Never ever.

[A]

And part of it I'm going to go a little a slightly different direction tactically on this too is so you know the plan, we talk about things like start podcasts or do things or get a publishing or get posting going or whatever. That's all great. The other little core discipline bit is held time on the calendar with others in a small group to do prospecting on a weekly basis. And so what salespeople, where salespeople fail at this is they, at best they block their own prospecting time. And this is labor. This is part of labor. But you could fill in this time with other non laborious things. But part of the problem is we don't block the time. Because I could even say here, hey, you should do a podcast. Like, oh, I don't have time to do a podcast. I'm too busy closing all these deals like you, you don't not have time to do a podcast. And so part of it is just having the discipline because people, I feel like people. Here's the thing with labor Bill. This is like, I think we're sort of hardwired America. That doesn't feel like work. It doesn't feel like I'm doing my job.

[B]

What doesn't?

[A]

If I do a podcast, if I'm a sales and I do a podcast that doesn't feel like I'm doing my.

[B]

Job, no question about it, I should.

[A]

Be calling someone to get a deal. See that, that's exactly right. And that's a. That' disconnect.

[B]

Our identity is so wrapped up in our ability to throw labor at a problem that we feel less than if. If all of a sudden we throw something out and we double our income. I think that F F's us up. Because now it's like, well, all this time I've been throwing labor, I've been throwing hours.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I work 20, 50 hours a day. Or 70 hours a week. I didn't need to do that. Yes, no, you don't. But. But it requires some thought up front. So I thought what we could do here is talk about what might be a couple of elements here. I'm going to start because I think what you just mentioned is really vital, and that is I've got my.

[A]

Look.

[B]

At that project plan here for everyday leads. And step number one at the very bottom is we have to. We have to have the mentality. Right. And the mentality must change from if it is to be, it is up to me. Which. Meaning labor.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

To if it is to be there. There needs. We. We need a system. If, if. If there's to be an automated way to generate everyday leads, a system is at the heart of that, not labor.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Now it requires labor to build the system, but once the system's built, then I'm not throwing labor at it anymore. You might even say that there's a, you know, you can either throw labor at something or you can throw leverage. The podcast is a. Is throwing leverage at something.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Labor is throwing, you know, hours in the day or feet on the street at something. So mentality could be something like, you have to feel like you have an obligation to your customer base to do this. If you don't have any obligation, that you. You think you've got something really special that you solve for people and that you bring to the world, you've got something really incredibly unique. Why wouldn't you want to expose this to as many people as you can? Why would you limit to the number of people that you can literally call every month?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So there's an obligation and a. Maybe a noble purpose part of that too.

[A]

You act out of duty. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is. I'm gonna 1A that because I'm trying to also think about it, because I used to have this issue when I put it into health things. You've got like cardio running and treadmill and StairMaster, and that was always the path to weight loss in the 80s. Like, you just gotta, you know, go farther, go faster. And then comes along weight training. People like, no, you need to build lean muscle mass. But when you lift weights, I mean, a lot of people sweat when they lift weights, but you can lift a lot of weights and not really sweat. And you feel like you're. Don't. You feel like you're not doing anything. But then a good trainer will say, look at the people lifting and look at the people on the treadmills who's Leaner, who has more muscle, who looks better physically, you know, and it's because lean muscle mass will build over time, but it's not as instant and you don't feel the sweat or the. That kind of exhaustion you feel after you run or work on. On a StairMaster for. But then that's fleeting. It goes away and it stops working. The muscle works for you over time. This is like building sales.

[B]

Exactly. This is exactly the same thing.

[A]

Yes. That requires a shift in mentality because early on I was, when I ran a whole bunch long ago, I running was my thing. But my trainer was like, you need to lift. I'm like, no, I don't get a good sweat lifting. He's like, you're. You're gonna stay like scrawny or, you know, weak, or you're gonna be a fat, skinny person, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it just didn't feel right. I gotta switch the mentality. It's really good. Yeah. Let's see. So I there I want to tactically so love them and mental shift first. And then I'm going to go to something. I talk about my clients all the time. I do it when I keynote speak to called the first domino. And that is you need to take a first step. Now. Tony Robbins talks about massive action. You gotta take massive action, Bill. I don't think that Tony's great, not dissing that, but I think that makes some people uncomfortable. So I say take a little action. Just anything that moves towards this thing. So I've changed my mentality now what? So in the, in the health situation we just said, I'm going to start to build muscle mass. Okay, first step, I'm going to go to Amazon, I'm going to buy some weights. The first step is just buying the weights and they'll show up on my doorstep and they'll sit out there as long as I want them to sit out there. Eventually I'll bring them downstairs and put them back here in the basement and then I'll stare at them like, well, they're sitting there. I might as well pick one of them up. You know, I think that happens. So if you're going to start a podcast, I always tell people the first step in the pot. And I do this. Bill, asking your clients, what's first step in getting a podcast? People like, well, plan the show, figure out what to talk about, blah, blah. I'm like, nope. You go to Amazon and you type in the search engine podcast starter bundle. It's 80 bucks, a thousand of them. And you hit Buy now on Prime. It'll be there this afternoon. First domino. You got to take your first step if you're going to host an event. Pick the date, pick the date. You can always change it. Record a podcast, you know, with your new equipment, you don't have to release it, just start. Anyway. That's my first thing.

[B]

No, it's good. That's good. So the first, the first domino of this would just be sketch it out. I mean, sketch it out on a piece of paper. What, what is the thing, what is the thing that you're going to do?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, I had another one here. And that is the. What's the platform that you're going to use to create these leads? So one example, I've got a client who runs a, an automated webinar where every, a prospect can go to this page, they can put in their email address and name. And this webinar, or this pre, we'll call it a presentation, is titled something very compelling and it's a very useful, full of value presentation. So the customer puts in their name and they get access immediately to this 30 minute presentation on how to fix a problem. And what they have found is that people usually watch those things 15 to 20 minutes. So now they're going back in and they're reducing the length by that because they feel like that's kind of our sweet spot, 15 to 20 minutes. But of 100 people that watch it, three or four people book a call with their salesperson who is where it shows up underneath the, the, the video.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And so you say, well, it's only 3%. Well, but the sales team didn't have to do anything to get that. So get out of this mode of. Well, that's 3%. That's a 3. No, it's, it's 3% of people who watch this that you didn't even know were interested in this thing. And now you know they're interested in this thing that you sell.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So whether it's a web, a webinar or a presentation, you don't have to do. What I would recommend people do is do some kind of a video that talks about the trends in the industry, the problems that people have that maybe your cohort has, your ideal avatar has, and then ask, book a call, just say, look, if you'd like to hear more about this, I've got one client who takes them from that to a actual live webinar that they run every month. So the, the possibilities are endless. But you start to, you have to start thinking From a. From a whole process standpoint, not just how do I make a cold call. No, it's how do I get people to see this thing. Once they see it, what. What are the options? What do they need to do? And that's why I say sketch it out is one of the first steps.

[A]

I love it. I love it. It's a great first domino. Just sketch it out.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The next one I'm gonna say has to do with leverage. You, you mentioned last episode. Was that last episode when you said labor or leverage?

[B]

I think so.

[A]

That was the last episode. I think it was a really great quote that Bill said, we throw labor at it, we need to throw leverage at it. This is throwing leverage at it, is leveraging people that already have relationships with your ideal clients, whether it's digitally or otherwise. And that is creating a list of connectors. So the tactical side here is we require or encourage, as close as we can require our clients to have a list by name of 20 connectors that they're actively engaged with and actively engaged with. That means they see them three times a year, once a trimester. And in those meetings, they're not only they're constantly looking to connect other people, but they're also asking for connections and that sort of thing. If you get on that path where you're meeting with 20 connectors each three times a year, you're going to have regular connector meetings, two to three a month, give or take. And if in those meetings you're asking for introductions, you will never have to worry about the top of the funnel ever. You won't have to worry about it. And you're getting good, warm lead and connections. The problem is people get their funnel full and they don't do any connector work, and then they go, oh, then they outreach to their connectors, like, hey, man, it's been a while. Let's get together, you know, and everybody knows what's.

[B]

Everybody knows what's coming.

[A]

Exactly. So if you do it regularly, it's not weird like that anymore. And if you balance it out. Bill talked about going to a group last episode, and you're going to a group to give, to contribute, like the insider group. And so my. My gut tells me that if you're listening to this podcast, you understand what I just said, but you don't have a list of the 20 people written down by name. And if I audited your calendar, you don't have regular meetings booked with those people. It's certainly not a once a trimester goal. So just get specific.

[B]

That A great goal. You, you. Yeah, and I would say you could also stack. So what I'm talking about with this, this presentation, what Brian's talking about with networking is you could stack those together.

[A]

Amen.

[B]

And so before you go out to meet this person, you could say, hey, by the way, this is something that we share with all of our potential customers. Thought you'd like to see it. And then they watch this thing and then they say, oh well, now that you say it that way, I've got three people I want to introduce you to because that's, you're, you're not left trying to describe what you do in a, in a coffee meeting. It can become kind of awkward and you, it can take you 20 minutes. And then I'd rather put that on video, put that somewhere digitally so that this networking per, this person that you're networking with can, can consume it in some way. You might even have another version for that. If you get super serious about networking, have a version just for your network.

[A]

So. Good. That's a great one right there. Stacking. Love stacking.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So think about that as you go through your, your week here about, you know, could you create a situation where you have something out there working for you on a daily basis all the time while you're doing. Because you, you know, if you're, if you're in professional selling that it's the face to face time with prospects. It's the highest value time. That's your high paid thousand dollar an hour time. You're not spending all that much. But I don't want you to spend thousand dollar an hour time doing ten dollars an hour cold calls. And if you can create this mechanism that works in the background, I think you'll find that within a quarter you don't, you don't need a cold call anymore. It, things become on autopilot. And then we might even talk next time about okay, how do you promote this thing? Because at some point you got to get people into this thing. But we'll, we'll save that for another episode.

[A]

That's really, really good stacking. Love stacking. It's from the movie Meatballs. Remember the movie Meatballs? Really old movie.

[B]

No, I don't.

[A]

The spaz. I don't know. Google it. That's it.

[B]

I will, I will. All right man, see you next time. Good job today.