7 Simple Steps to a Predictable Client Pipeline

How do consultants and coaches build a predictable client pipeline?

Treat your client pipeline as a system, not one-off leads. Get clear on your brand, right-size your lead generation goals, choose a marketing approach and tactics that fit your strengths, master landing clients, and clear out the marketing and sales ick.

All my clients (and me too!) are after the same holy grail: a predictable client pipeline.

The right clients, ready and eager to invest in your consulting or coaching, consistently coming your way. So you can rest easy.

But for a lot of us, getting clients still looks like waiting on referrals. Or hoping the magical client fairy will send people our way.

Here's the thing: A predictable client pipeline isn't just about marketing and attracting leads. For sure, that's a part of it. But getting leads isn't what determines whether you have predictable income. It's what you do with those leads, and how many of them actually turn into clients (and high-paying strategic partners).

So in this episode of Consulting Matters, I walk you through the seven steps to build one. (They're simple… but they're not easy!)

Listen to or watch the episode, or read the highlights below.

Why you (and your clients) deserve a predictable client pipeline

We all deserve financial security and the opportunity to create wealth. And we can't get that with feast or famine income cycles.

We're not after one or two good years, either. We want to know this thing is stable, it's scalable, and that we have what it takes to be a consulting or coaching business owner.

And how can we be fully of service to our clients, and be creative and innovative, if we're wondering where the next client is going to come from?

You deserve a predictable client pipeline. Your loved ones deserve it too.

And your clients deserve you to have that peace of mind.

So in this episode, I want to show you step by step how to replace the hustle and chase (and the hope and the prayers!) with a client pipeline you can trust.

Step 1: Understand your marketing and sales system

Before you build a predictable client pipeline, you need to understand what it is, what goes into it, and what's realistic.

Your client pipeline is a system. (You're a systems thinker, so I know you get this!) It isn't about attracting leads one-off, here and there. It's about consistency.

There's the marketing side of the system, which has three goals:

• Brand awareness. Making the market aware that you exist: what you do, who you help, the problems you solve, and what makes you different. You can't really get consistent client attraction if you're the world's best kept secret.
• Intent to try. Motivating the people in your ecosystem to take the next step with you, like signing up for your email list through a lead magnet or coming to a webinar.
• Intent to repeat and recommend. Keeping your past clients, furthering your partnership with them, and turning them into raving fans who sing your praises.

Marketing's job is done the moment someone expresses interest in working with you. Think of it like a baton being passed.

Then we're into what's commonly known as sales. I don't really call it sales. (You've probably heard me say this once, twice… many, many times!) I call it partnership setup. That's the way I was raised at Disney. It's not the second half of marketing. It's the first part of your client engagement: your discovery meeting, your proposal, and closing the deal.

So picture a process map. Marketing to build awareness, then your website experience, then the discovery meeting, then your proposal, and finally, closing the deal. That's the science of your pipeline: every piece is in place, effective, and aligned with the others.

The art is everything else. The messages you craft, the copy you write, the images you use. How you handle the vulnerability that comes with putting yourself out there. And your resilience.

As I put it in the episode: "So your success in your predictable client pipeline isn't that I get it right the first time. It's that I put my best foot forward and then I see how the market responds and then I tweak it."

It's kind of like the side to side movement of an ice skater moving forward.

And the biggest part of the art? Being clear on what you can control and what you can't.

You can't control the fact that the market is changing all the time. (Did any of us really fully appreciate what AI was going to do to the consulting or coaching profession? I don't think we did at all!) But you can control how you take charge of your brand, how you position yourself, how you build your marketing and sales system, and how you respond when it's working… or it's not.

So think about your current approach to getting clients. Are you more of the hustle and hope type? Spray and pray? Or are you being strategic and intentional?

Step 2: Get clear on your brand positioning and messaging

Before you even start thinking about filling your pipeline with the right clients, you need to be very, very clear on who those clients are.

You can't be vague. "I'm here to support organizations or leaders." Well, what does that mean? What kind of leaders? What kind of organizations?

"So if you're not clear, you know, nobody else will be clear."

And you know what a confused mind does. It says no.

Let me give you an example. Jan is a coach who came to me wanting a more predictable client pipeline. One of her website headlines read: "When the old way ends, something new can begin."

Then she played around with AI to fix it and got something like: Get the life you want. Stop repeating what you don't like. Start living a life you love.

Clear? I think it's kind of clear as mud.

You can see why that messaging led her to crickets. It's too vague, and there's no person in there.

Here's what her messaging makeover sounded like: Finally find your forever person to build a life with for your next chapter. In-depth, highly individualized, step-by-step guidance that helps successful single professionals build the strategies, skills, and confidence to attract and build the healthy relationship they've always wanted…

Now you know exactly who she helps. And if you know someone who's really successful at work but not successful in love, you know who to send her way.

That's the litmus test I use with all my brand positioning and messaging clients: Do I see this client? Am I their ideal client, or do I know someone who is?

If I can't picture who I'd send their way (especially with all my years in the consulting or coaching industry), I'm positive their referral network won't know either.

Step 3: Figure out how many leads you really need

Every finals week in college, my roommate Rachel would start freaking out.

She was an English major, so she had a lot of reading to do. She'd come home saying, "I gotta read like a thousand pages this week!"

And I'd be thinking… well, but I only have to read like fifty pages each night. Or a hundred.

I think we do that with marketing all the time. I gotta get leads! I gotta get so many!

But we probably don't need as many leads as we think.

Marketing will definitely feel overwhelming until you break down how many leads (people who enter your business ecosystem) you actually need. Here's the math:

1. Take your revenue goal and divide it by your average client investment. That tells you how many clients you need per month and per year. (For a coach with a B2C business, maybe that's a $5,000 program. For corporate consulting, maybe it's more like $30,000.)
2. Based on your discovery meeting close rate, figure out how many discovery meetings you need per month.
3. Then decide how many leads you need to generate to get to that number.

And this is why I'm so passionate about partnership setup: "if you can increase your close rate and your fees, you can dramatically reduce your marketing pressure because you won't need as many leads as you did before."

Step 4: Choose a marketing approach that plays to your strengths

There are many different ways to approach marketing. Pick one, master it, then add another.

• Networking and referral-based. This one isn't passive. It's actively going to the networking events your ideal clients are at, having a really solid "what I do" script, and working the Rolodex. LinkedIn fits here too, because to me, LinkedIn really is a 24/7 networking event.
• Attraction-based. Content that brings potential clients to you. That's the one I choose. I have a YouTube channel, a podcast, and a blog, I get referred from AI, and I get hits from Google searches. Consistency really is key here.
• Community and list building-based. Maybe a free Facebook group or an email list where you're regularly putting value in front of people and motivating them to buy or sign up for something.
• Speaking and borrowed audience-based. Getting in front of an audience somebody else put together, whether that's a speaking gig, being a guest on somebody else's podcast, or getting your work published.
• Paid and earned promotion-based. Paying for ads to bring people to whatever you want them to see.

I recently had Dan Weedin on the show, and we talked about how differently we've each approached marketing over the years. Dan is very much referral-based and borrowed audience-based. When he does create content, it's really to equip his referral network. Mine is attraction-based.

The key is to do stuff you really enjoy. If you're not an extrovert and you don't love winning people over at events, networking is probably not your thing. But if you're an extrovert and sitting in front of a computer creating content makes you want to lose your will to live… networking might be a much better fit for you!

So rank order the five. Lead with one, do it well, and then start adding tactics from the others. You want to move your visibility a mile rather than a bunch of things an inch.

Step 5: Pick marketing tactics you can stick with

The key to marketing is consistency. So choose tactics you'll do with consistency, focus, and a continuous improvement mindset.

If LinkedIn is a key way you get clients, you can't pop in and out. The algorithms reward you for being a good citizen and a regular contributor. And please… don't boil the ocean. Don't try to do everything.

What will you do daily, weekly, and monthly? Maybe it's fifteen minutes a day posting on LinkedIn or reaching out to a potential referral source. Weekly, for me, is my podcast. Monthly might be something more strategic.

One more thing: You can hire out or use AI for some of these tactics, like social media posting, email marketing, and content creation. But before you do, "make sure you know what excellence looks like and what your voice sounds like."

Otherwise, you're going to be so disconnected from your marketing. And your marketing is a key way you connect with your clients.

Step 6: Have a go-to sales approach for landing clients

I can't emphasize this enough. This is the make or break moment that defines your impact and income potential.

You need to be clear on what you're going to do and say in your discovery meeting, your go-to proposal, the type of offers you want to put together, and what you'll do and say when you're closing the deal.

There are lots of ways to monetize an independent practice, from VIP immersive programs, group programs, and masterminds to fractional leadership, project work, and strategic trusted advisory. And you have more control here than you might realize. "Like you don't have to just say yes to whatever a client asks for." You can proactively advocate for what you think is in your client's best interest, based on the goals they share with you in your discovery meeting.

So how are you feeling about your close rates? What are you closing clients for, work-wise, pricing-wise, and business model-wise? And is this what you want?

Step 7: Get past the marketing and sales ick

Marketing and sales isn't a separate thing you do to get clients. It's an integral part of your client relationship. You're making it easy for the people who are looking for you to find you and get what you do.

"This isn't about being slimy or icky. You're providing a gift to them."

Clarity is a gift. You want clarity, and so do they. Everybody wants clarity.

But no matter what system you put in place, if you're struggling with putting yourself out there, you're not going to do what you need to do.

So rate yourself on a scale of one to ten:

• A 10: Even if I don't know yet how to market myself or land clients in a way that's more powerful and meaningful, I embrace this as an integral part of my business and an active service to the clients I'm meant to help.
• A 1: I'm really hoping, fingers crossed, that the magical client fairy will drop clients in my lap and I'll never have to deal with marketing ever.

Honestly, where are you on the scale? If you're anywhere less than a 10, reflect on and resolve what's holding you back.

Seven steps that are simple, but not easy

So that's the seven steps:

1. Understand the system, the art and science behind your predictable client pipeline.
2. Brand clarity. Make sure your foundational brand positioning and messaging are super clear.
3. Right-size your lead generation goals.
4. Choose a marketing approach that leverages your strengths and master the skills that come along with it.
5. Choose tactics that you can commit to doing on a regular basis.
6. Have a go-to approach for landing clients as strategic partners.
7. Address any marketing and sales ick that will keep you from your intentions.

And if you're wondering where to start? Get clear on your ideal client. You cannot have a predictable client pipeline if you don't know who you're trying to fill that pipeline with.

Then evaluate what you have in place for getting clients from awareness to working with you. What's working? What's missing? What do you need to do to fix it?

If you want to go deeper on building your client pipeline, check out these related episodes:

• How to Build a Consulting or Coaching Business That Lasts, with Dan Weedin (Ep176)
• How to Use a Discovery Meeting to Multiply Revenue and Impact (Ep132)
• Uneasy about Marketing? How to Fall in Love with It! (Ep158)
• How to Break Free from Relying on Referrals to Get Consulting or Coaching Clients with Cori Crawford Van Oss (Ep172)

Ready to Build a Predictable Client Pipeline You Can Trust?

It all starts with clarity in who you help, the problems you solve, what you uniquely do, and why working with you is so valuable, and then being able to express all of this in words that resonate.

And if figuring all this out alone is creating too much spin and stalling your progress, I got you. That's exactly what my VIP brand positioning and messaging programs are designed to do, with personalized, structured, step-by-step guidance.

Learn more about my highly personalized programs, or better yet, book a free strategic clarity call with me so we can co-create your custom solution.