If you keep telling yourself you need more leads, there’s a good chance you’re overlooking people who are already showing you they’re interested. In this episode of The Real Truth About Business podcast, I’m breaking down the difference between a contact and a lead, and why recognizing buying signals earlier can completely change your pipeline. Service-based entrepreneurs often wait until someone books a discovery call, requests a proposal, or says, “I think I need to hire you,” before considering them a lead. That’s way too late. After 9 years of experience working with business owners, I’ve seen how much revenue growth gets left on the table because potential buyers aren’t being identified, nurtured, or followed up with. Your business strategy and lead generation process need to account for the quieter signals too. Email replies, questions, workshop attendance, content engagement, and conversations about problems you solve can all indicate interest. You may not need significantly more leads. You may need to recognize and intentionally nurture the ones already hiding in your network.

What You'll Learn:

• How to distinguish a business contact from an actual lead in your pipeline
• Which buying signals indicate someone may be interested before they explicitly ask to hire you
• Why waiting for someone to request a proposal or sales call can cost you revenue opportunities
• How to identify potential leads hiding in your emails, DMs, calendar, and existing network
• Why leads can be cold, warm, or hot and still deserve a place in your lead generation strategy
• How intentional follow-up and nurturing can improve your sales process without becoming pushy

Episode Highlights:

[00:00] Introduction: Why you're probably identifying leads too late

[01:30] The difference between a contact and a lead

[03:00] Buying signals you're probably overlooking

[04:00] A real example of someone quietly identifying herself as a potential lead

[05:15] Why your pipeline may already have more opportunities than you realize

[06:15] Following up doesn't mean immediately asking someone to buy

[07:15] How to audit your calendar, emails, and DMs for hidden leads

[08:15] Why intentional listening is essential for identifying buying signals

[09:00] The difference between treating someone like a contact versus a lead

[09:30] Wrap-up: Find the leads already hiding in your business

Key Takeaways:

A Contact and a Lead Are Not the Same Thing

Most of us have plenty of contacts.

They're people in our communities, social media followers, people we've met networking, email subscribers, former colleagues, and other business owners we've connected with.

But a contact becomes a lead when they demonstrate some level of interest, need, engagement, or another buying signal.

That's the distinction.

The problem is that many business owners wait until someone says, “I'm interested in hiring you,” books a discovery call, or requests a proposal before moving them into the lead category.

Your leads are showing up much earlier than that.

Start Paying Attention to Buying Signals

Someone doesn't need to explicitly tell you they're ready to buy before you consider them a lead.

Maybe they're consistently engaging with your content.

They're replying to your emails.

They're clicking links.

They're attending your workshops or conversion events.

They're asking questions about your service.

Or they're having a conversation with you and saying something like:

“Oh my gosh, that sounds exactly like what I need.”

That's a buying signal.

It doesn't necessarily mean they're ready to hire you today. It means they've demonstrated enough interest that you should start paying attention.

Inside the Focused Visionary Framework, this is an important part of the Pipeline pillar. You need to recognize when someone moves from simply being aware of you into demonstrating genuine interest in what you solve.

Someone Can Be a Lead Without Being Ready to Buy

There are different temperatures of leads.

Some are hot and ready to make a decision.

Others are warm.

Some are still very cool.

They can all belong in your pipeline.

I recently had an email conversation with someone while explaining my shift into more profit strategy work. She told me she had no idea whether her business was actually profitable or even how to calculate it.

Then she asked me to keep her updated as I continued developing this side of my business.

Did she say, “Michelle, I want to hire you”?

No.

But she literally told me she has the exact problem I'm building solutions around.

That's a potential lead.

Maybe she isn't ready today. But if that problem becomes more important in a few months, she's eventually going to start looking for a solution.

My job is to make sure she knows I can help solve it.

Follow-Up Doesn't Mean “Hey, Do You Want to Buy?”

This is where people get uncomfortable.

You identify someone as a lead and immediately think you have to start selling them.

You don't.

Following up can mean continuing the conversation.

It can mean asking another question.

It can mean remembering what they told you.

It can mean sending them a relevant resource.

Or it can mean reaching out months later when you've created something directly related to the problem they mentioned.

You could say:

“You mentioned a few months ago that you were struggling with this. I created something specifically around that problem, and I thought of you.”

That's not random outreach.

You're paying attention.

And you're giving someone the opportunity to decide whether your solution is relevant to them.

The Best Follow-Up Starts With Listening

I've personally told multiple people in recent months that I'm a potential lead for their businesses.

Nobody has followed up.

Why?

They may not have recognized the buying signal because I wasn't explicitly saying, “I'm ready to hire you.”

That's why identifying leads requires intentional listening.

If someone tells you they have the exact problem your service solves, listen.

If they tell you they're interested in what you're doing, listen.

If they ask you to keep them updated, listen.

People want to feel seen and heard. Remembering what someone told you and following up accordingly can be far more effective than waiting for them to eventually come back and ask how they can hire you.

Your Pipeline May Not Be as Empty as You Think

When clients inside the Focused Visionary Accelerator tell me, “I need more leads,” I want to know whether they actually need more people or whether they haven't identified the leads already around them.

This connects directly to the Pipeline and Sales pillars of the Focused Visionary Framework.

You absolutely need new people entering your world.

But before you pour all of your energy into more lead generation, look at who's already there.

You may have people actively demonstrating interest who haven't made it into your lead tracker because you're waiting for a much stronger buying signal.

Don't overlook the opportunities you've already created.

Go Find the Leads Hiding in Your Business

Here's your action step from this episode.

Go back through your calendar.

Look at the conversations you've had recently.

Go through your email inbox.

Review your DMs.

Think about coffee chats, networking conversations, workshops, and other interactions.

Who has mentioned a problem you solve?

Who asked questions about your work?

Who said something you offer sounds like exactly what they need?

Who asked you to keep them updated?

Who has consistently engaged with something connected to your offer?

Move those people into your lead tracker and decide what the appropriate next step is.

That doesn't mean aggressively selling every person.

It means recognizing that they're no longer simply a contact.

Treat Leads Like Leads

A lead is someone who has demonstrated some level of interest or given you a buying signal.

The moment you recognize that signal, it's your responsibility to determine the appropriate next step.

Maybe they need nurturing.

Maybe they need another conversation.

Maybe they need follow-up.

Maybe they're ready for an offer.

But if you continue treating every potential lead like a casual contact, you're leaving the responsibility entirely on them to eventually come back and tell you they're ready.

Your lead generation strategy shouldn't depend on that.

Before you decide your pipeline is empty, go find the opportunities that are already there.

You probably have more leads than you think.

Resources Mentioned

• Get your FREE Ceo Income Plan
• Book a CEO Strategy Call
• Learn more about The Missing Piece Intensive
• Learn more about The Focused Visionary Accelerator
• Download the FREE Lead and Conversion Tracker
• Subscribe to the Sunday Morning Brew Newsletter

About the Host:

Michelle DeNio is a business strategist based in Sarasota, Florida, specializing in helping service-based entrepreneurs break through revenue plateaus using her Focused Visionary Framework. With over 300 podcast episodes and 9 years running her consulting business, she helps coaches, consultants, and service providers scale sustainably through strategic planning, pricing optimization, and sales process development.

Connect with Michelle

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4. LinkedIn
5. Facebook

I think most business owners are waiting way too long before you are classifying them as a lead.

And it is costing you probably a lot of opportunity, maybe even some clients, revenue, money, all the things simply because you are not considering the people who are basically telling you that they are a lead.

A lead, but they're doing it in such an inconspicuous way.

I would say that we're just not thinking about it.

And I have this conversation a lot with my clients inside of the Focus Visionary accelerator, because it comes up all the time about, I need more leads.

I need more leads, right?

And what I find is that so many people are just waiting until someone says, I'm interested in hiring you, or they book a discovery call or they ask you for a proposal, right?

Like, they're basically raising their hand and saying, hi, I think I want to pay you.

Right?

And then all of a sudden, it's like, oh, my gosh, there's such a hot lead.

Right?

But your leads are showing up way before that.

They're following you.

They're replying to your emails, they're clicking links, they're asking questions.

They're telling you like, oh, my gosh, this sounds exactly like what I need.

And I can be honest with you.

I have probably told, I don't know, at least five people that I was a lead in the past couple, three months just on coffee chats and in conversation.

And I can tell you how many of them have actually followed up with me.

And the answer is zero.

Right?

Because they probably don't view me as a lead just yet.

Okay.

And that's what I really want to talk about today.

Because I'm telling you, like, when you can switch your mindset around this and just switch your thinking and how you are listening to what people are actually saying, I bet your pipeline is full of way more leads than you realize.

All right, so that's what we're talking about today.

Let's dive in.

All right, so first and foremost, one of the things that I do inside of the accelerator is step four is usually around lead generation.

And one of the questions is, like, how do you define a contact versus a lead?

Right?

And so a contact could be someone in your world, right?

We all have a million business contacts.

We have people on social media.

We're in community with people.

The.

They're.

We have contacts, right?

They're just contacts.

But then a lead is someone who has demonstrated some level of interest, need engagement, or some type of buying signal.

Okay, here's the key part.

Some level of interest Right.

The second somebody shows some level of interest, and this does require you to be a really intentional listener, they need to move from your contact list to your lead list, and they need to be followed up with.

They need to be nurtured.

They need to have different conversations if you want them to convert.

Okay?

And a lead is not necessarily explicitly saying, I want to hire you.

All right?

But here are some examples of buying signals, right?

They are regularly engaging with your content.

They are asking you questions about your service.

What does it look like?

Tell me a little bit more.

You know, whatever.

They're attending your workshops.

If you're doing conversion events, they are maybe downloading your freebies or reading every single one of your emails.

But here's the one I think most people miss is in conversation when you're talking to somebody, right?

And you're explaining what you do, or they're explaining what they do, whatever.

And somebody goes, oh, my gosh, it sounds like this is.

That's exactly what I need.

Right?

Or I was just telling somebody in my email.

I'm going to give you an even better example.

I was just talking to somebody via email.

Saw a contact of mine, business contact, right.

And I was telling her about a pivot that I was making, that I was shifting more into profit strategy and blah, blah, blah.

We were talking and I sent her an email kind of explaining it all, and she responded back with, you know, I think this is so relevant and so needed.

Literally, I have no idea if I am making any profit or not.

If you said to me, michelle, you know, if you asked me if I was profitable, I would tell you I have no idea because.

Because I have no idea how to calculate this or even look at it.

Right?

So is she saying to.

And she's.

And then she said, keep me posted as you work through this.

Re.

Rebrand.

Keep me updated.

Okay?

So right there, she's literally telling me that she is my ideal client.

Is she ready to hire me yet?

No.

But is she a potential lead?

Because she literally has the problem that I am solving.

Yes.

Right.

And that's the thing, is there are different temperatures of leads, right?

Someone doesn't have to be ready today to belong your pipeline.

But people are saying things, they're giving clues, they're doing things that are telling you, like, I'm a lead and I might still be cool, right?

I might still be very, very cool.

But that doesn't mean that you can't warm me up, Right.

Or that you can make sure that you are doing the things that will warm this person up.

Okay?

So I really don't think that the problem is that you don't have any leads.

The problem is, is that you're probably just not recognizing them, right?

Because we think people are just saying this in conversation.

We think people are just kind of casually mentioning it again.

But if somebody is telling you that they literally have the problem that you know that you can solve, eventually they are going to look for a solution to that problem.

They may not be looking for that solution right now, but they eventually it's going to become a problem that they are looking for a solution to and they are going to hire the person that is top of mind for them.

They are going to hire the person that is telling them, hey, I am the solution to the problem that you have.

Right, but you are probably, probably not doing that if you're not actually recognizing who the people are.

You're not following up, you're not nurturing them.

You can't, because they're not on your lead list.

Okay?

So again, following up doesn't necessarily mean like, hey, you want to buy?

Following up can be continuing the conversation.

Following up can be asking a better question.

Following up can be remembering what they told you.

I think it might be a great fit for you.

Right?

Like again, it's not sitting here saying like, hey, you want to buy Now I'm saying like you mentioned that you have this problem and I have this solution.

You may or may not be interested in it, but it's my job to at least let you know it exists.

Right?

That's the thing.

Like how are you letting people know that you are the solution to the problem that they are having if you are not qualifying any of these people as leads.

Right.

And giving them a next step?

Right?

So again, I want you, I'm going to keep this one short because I want you to literally go back through and think about, go back through your calendar and look at all the conversations that you've had.

Go back through your email list and look at who's been in your inbox.

Go back through your DMS and see who you've been chatting with.

I want you to really look at and see like how many of these people have actually said something that has told Me that they are a lead that I have just completely ignored.

And then I want you to go and add them to your lead tracker.

And again, if you don't have a lead tracker, click the link in the show notes.

There is a beautiful lead tracker.

You can track everything by how warm, hot, cold the lead is, what stage in your, in the pipeline they're in so you know exactly what the next step is for them.

I mean, it's very, very simple to use.

And it's not literally going to tell you exactly who you need to be following up with and when a contact turns into a lead.

Right.

So you can have them on your list as a contact, but then again, be mindful of what they're saying, what they're doing.

And as soon as they give you some buying signal.

Right.

Again, remember the definition of a lead.

The lead is someone who has demonstrated some level of interest or buying signal.

So the moment they give you that buying signal, it's on you to pick up on it.

Right?

Buyers give buying signals all the time, but we don't pick up on them because we are literally waiting.

Most of my clients, I can tell you this, and after 10 years of being in business, I can tell you, most people literally wait until somebody says, I think I need to hire you or can you send me a quote?

Right.

And again, maybe that works for some people.

I think, you know, for a lot of people it does work because they are doing so many things and they have so many inbound leads.

And that's all well and good, but for those of you that are feeling like you, you need to build your pipel line, I want to challenge you to say, like, do you need to build your pipeline or do you just need to fill it with the leads that are already there that you just are kind of looking past?

So again, you can, you probably have more leads.

And I can guarantee that if you follow up with somebody because you were actually intentionally listening, they are far more likely to convert.

Because what does everybody want in this world?

They want to be seen and heard.

Right.

And I'm telling you, like I said, I have probably five people that I have told I was a lead that are not.

They are literally not following up with me.

One of them, it's been almost a year.

I've heard nothing from her.

So you think when I'm ready to hire, I'm going to hire her?

Absolutely not.

Like, I'm just not going to do it.

Right.

Another one I just told recently now, it's not been that long, so we'll see if she follows up with me.

But did she pick up on the fact that I was lead?

I don't know.

Right.

And so, again, like, this is on you to be.

Be a really great listener and to think like, oh, my gosh, she literally just told me that she has the problem that I have.

And I can probably take this conversation a little deeper.

Right?

That's the goal.

Okay, so go back through your calendar, your dms, your emails, all the things, and go find where those leads are hiding.

They are not just contacts, they are leads.

And treat them like leads.

You treat them like leads, they will convert.

Right?

You treat them like contacts, they will not convert.

So go find the leads and then treat them like leads and then go convert them.

All right, I will talk to you in the next episode.