Lead Generation Procrastination In Your Independent Consulting Business

Author: Melisa Liberman

Host of the ???Grow Your Independent Consulting Business podcast &?Creator of the?? IC Business Scalability Scorecard?

Are you procrastinating when it comes to generating leads for your independent consulting business?

You are not alone.?

In fact, this is one of the most common issues that people bring to me when they need help scaling their consulting business.?

You can’t scale if you don’t have leads, right?

One of the major factors at play that results in lead generation procrastination is balance.

It’s not exactly easy to juggle working in your business and on your business.

Lead generation probably isn’t your favorite thing to do either.?

Combine these two very real facts together and you have the perfect storm to produce lead generation procrastination in your independent consulting business.

In today’s article, I share 3 factors to help you stop procrastinating so you can increase your revenue, increase your profits and feel more in control of your business.?

Those 3 factors are:

• The reasons why you think you procrastinate (but actually aren’t the reasons why).
• The most common root causes of procrastination.
• A 3-part lead generation procrastination remedy.

These 3 Things AREN'T Causing You To Procrastinate Your Lead Generation Activities

1. Lack of time
2. Needing to figure out the best way or a better system first
3. Not needing to generate leads because you have a long-standing client contract

These are not the root causes of procrastination. These are red herrings.?

The real root causes?

There are 5.

Let's see which apply to you, so you can replace procrastination with consistency and a full, high-quality pipeline.

#1 - The 1st root cause of procrastination in your independent consulting business is scarcity thinking.

If you have done any form of personal development this concept should be familiar to you. When you think something like “I don't want to waste my chance”, you're going to procrastinate. You’re focusing on the worry of what could go wrong instead of everything that will go right.?

I had a client who decided that networking was going to be her form of lead generation.

So she made a list and started reaching out to people, but it wasn’t gaining much traction. When we started to dig into why this was happening, we uncovered that she was reaching out to people who were strangers.

And because she wanted to save those leads for when she felt like she would be more competent. This is the perfect example of scarcity thinking.

In order to get out of a scarcity mindset, you must first have awareness of what it is and why it’s happening. Then, you need to shift your perspective.

In this case, she needed to realize she wasn’t going to ruin her reputation in one conversation. One bad conversation wouldn’t ruin her chances with everyone in that particular industry.

#2 - The 2nd root cause of procrastination in your independent consulting business is perfectionist thinking.

Perfectionist thinking is usually associated with needing to find “the best way” to do something before you actually do it.

There are probably 20-40 different ways you can approach lead generation. There is no “best” way to do it.

The only way you need to generate leads is the way that works FOR YOU that you can be consistent with and that resonates with your ideal clients. That’s all that matters.

I had a client who was stuck in a perfectionist vortex.

First, she needed to gain awareness of why she was doing it. She was doing this because she was avoiding the discomfort of having these conversations and possibly experiencing rejection.?

After she gained this awareness, she was able to shift into an imperfect action mentality. This means she was able to shift into the ability to focus on getting into action and being really open to whatever would come from it.

#3 - The 3rd root cause of procrastination in your independent consulting business is making it about you.

We all are guilty of doing this because we're ultimately selling our services. And we are the one who delivers it. But it isn't about you. Tell me if any of these sound familiar to you:

• I don't want to be needy.?
• I don't want to come across as needy.?
• I feel bad asking people for things.?
• I don't want to ask for help.
• I don't want them to think I can't run my business on my own.
• I need someone else to help me do it.

This isn't about you. It is about you having interactions with other people so you can get to know them, make a connection with them, have a conversation with them to understand what their challenges are, and then offer something of value to them like your services.?

It’s not about approaching the conversation thinking you are going to turn them into a client right then and there.

Change your approach to lead generation from “you” to “them”.

• What are their needs?
• What are their struggles?

#4 - The 4th root cause of procrastination in your independent consulting business is not giving your lead enough credit to make their own decisions.

When you're thinking about interacting with other people for lead generation, so often you can make decisions on their behalf about what's important to them.

Why are you making decisions on their behalf? They're an adult. Let them make their own decisions.

I had a client who said he had exhausted his warm audience. When in reality, he had only talked to about 10% of his warm audience.

He was doing this because he was deciding for them that they shouldn’t waste their time on him.?

If you find yourself making this same mistake, you need to change your mindset.

First, you need to approach the conversation like you are adding value to their life/business.

Then, you need to lean back and let them decide what they want to do with that value.

Don't decide for them. Put the invitation out there and then you'll see how much more people are willing to have human conversations when you're approaching it from this perspective.

#5 - The 5th root cause of procrastination in your independent consulting business is you’re hiding from discomfort.

A lot of independent consultants I talk to want to automate their lead generation through ads or something of that sort.

The truth is the best way to generate leads as an IC is to have conversations with people. It’s as simple as that.

All you are trying to do when you automate with ads is avoid the discomfort of having those conversations. You are trying to avoid the discomfort of rejection.

The fix to overcome lead generation procrastination

To fix these underlying causes of your procrastination:

1. Become aware of where you're doing this. Where is this hiding concept creating procrastination or avoidance for you??
2. Then, adopt a mindset of walking before you run.?

Put it into action: My 3-part lead generation procrastination remedy for your independent consulting business.

1. Strengthen your business owner mentality, to create high-quality thoughts re: you, the lead generation process, and the willingness and interest of your ideal clients.
2. Separate yourself from the outcome of individual meetings and calls. Focus on the big picture.
3. Schedule your lead generation into your calendar to overcome procrastination. You have to be able to become the business owner who puts a plan in place and decides to honor it no matter what.

You absolutely can overcome procrastination and scale your independent consulting business into the business of your dreams.?

A lot of the time, you are just getting in your own way. Procrastination is a prime example of this behavior. So, discover the root causes of your procrastination and put a plan in place to feel in control and consistent.

Have you taken an IC assessment yet?

I have created two IC assessments for you.?

1. The IC Recession Readiness Assessment. This assessment will walk you through a series of questions and then give you a report at the end about where you can prioritize readiness for the recession. You can take this assessment at ICassessment.com.?
2. The IC Business Scaling Assessment. After answering 26 questions, you’ll receive a detailed report about where your business is really set up well for and positioned well for scaling and then the areas where you would want to dive in and strengthen. It gives you a really good blueprint in terms of scaling. You can take this assessment at ICscorecard.com.