What you are actually getting

You have probably bought a list at some point. A thousand names in a spreadsheet, and a feeling afterwards that the money could have gone somewhere better. This is a different thing, and the difference is worth two minutes before your first report arrives.

How it works, start to finish

1. You approve one email. One clear message in your own voice, about what you do and who you help, with a link to your website. You see it and approve it before anything goes anywhere. Nothing is ever sent in your name without your say so.

2. You choose the audience. UK companies, chosen by sector. A payroll company might pick care homes. A shopfitter might pick retail. If it is not landing the way you hoped, tell us the sector you would rather reach and the next send goes there instead. You are never stuck with your first choice.

3. We send it for you. Your email goes out to the companies in your audience steadily, batch by batch. There is nothing for you to do at this stage. Your name on the front and our work behind it.

4. We watch what comes back. Some people ignore it. Some open it. Some come back and read it again. And some click through to your website for a proper look. We keep track of all of it so that you do not have to.

5. Your report arrives every weekday morning. Ten named people at named UK companies who have shown a real interest in you. For each one you get their first name, last name, job title, company, telephone number, email address, website and LinkedIn profile.

What happens next is yours to do, and the rest of this playbook covers it.

A lead and a hot prospect are not quite the same thing

This is worth a moment, because it is the thing most likely to leave somebody feeling short changed.

A lead, properly speaking, is an enquiry. Somebody rings you or fills in your form and tells you they are interested. They have made the first move. Enquiries are lovely and they are rare, which is why they cost what they cost.

A hot prospect is the step just before that. It is somebody who has shown an interest in you without contacting you. They read your email, or came through and had a look at your website, this morning or yesterday. They have not asked you to ring. They have quietly had a look.

That is a good position to be in, and a much more affordable one. What a hot prospect needs from you is the first move. We have watched a great many businesses work these reports over the years, and the ones who do well are simply the ones who make that first move every morning. It takes about twenty minutes, and the next page shows you exactly how those twenty minutes go.

What we do, and what only you can do

Our side is looked after. We put your message in front of the right companies, watch the response, and deliver the warm names to your inbox every weekday morning with everything you need to get in touch.

What we cannot do is have the conversation for you. The people on this morning's report were looking at you a few hours ago, and that fades. The rest of the playbook shows you what to do about it, and the best place to start is The first twenty minutes.

Before your first report lands

Three small jobs, about ten minutes, and you will be ready to move the morning it arrives.

• Write your one liner. One sentence saying what you do and who for. Something like "We handle payroll for care homes, so the office manager gets her weekends back." You will use it in every email and on every call.
• Tidy up your LinkedIn profile. You will be sending connection requests every morning, and people decide whether to accept by glancing at your profile. Your headline should say what you do, who you do it for, and what they get out of it. That does far more for you than a job title.
• Put twenty minutes in your diary every weekday. First thing, before the day fills up. Treat it as you would a customer appointment, because that is what it turns into.

That is the whole of it. Your message, our sending and watching, and ten warm introductions every weekday morning.