Not Getting Enough Leads?

When a business isn’t getting enough customers, the default diagnosis is almost always the same:

“We need more leads.”

Sometimes that’s true, but most of the time, it’s the uneducated choice.

I think there are only three levers you can pull to grow customers at this point. So if growth has stalled, one (or more) of these levers isn’t being pulled hard enough or is being ignored completely.

Lever 1: Get More Prospects (Volume)

This is the most obvious lever, and the one businesses reach for first.

If not enough people are entering the top of the funnel, you’ll struggle to generate customers at the bottom. 

Typical fixes look like:

• Spending more on paid media (Google, Meta, LinkedIn)
• Investing in SEO and content
• Pushing harder on social
• Launching partnerships or referral schemes

All valid.

The mistake is assuming volume is always the problem.

I regularly see businesses pouring more money into ads while converting less than 1% of traffic. That’s not a lead problem, that’s a leaky bucket.

Before you increase spend, be honest about whether the traffic you already have is being wasted.

Lever 2: Convert More of the Prospects You Already Have (Efficiency)

This is the least glamorous lever but usually the most powerful.

Improving conversion doesn’t require “growth hacks”. It requires clarity and fewer obstacles between intent and action.

Common conversion killers I see:

• Websites that look great but don’t help people decide
• Vague positioning (“solutions”, “platforms”, “innovative”)
• CTAs that ask for too much, too early
• Funnels that assume buyers understand your world already

Fixing this usually means:

• Being brutally clear about who you’re for (and who you’re not)
• Leading with value, not features
• Making the next step obvious and low-risk
• Removing friction, distractions, and unnecessary choices

This is where small changes can create outsized impact.

I’ve seen this first-hand with Hickory’s, where we made a few changes to how their booking forms worked and saw a 3.58% increase in conversion rate which amounted to an extra £5m in the first year alone.

You can read the full breakdown here:
https://stevenoakes.com/2025/07/16/how-to-get-stakeholders-on-board-when-they-dont-see-the-value/

Double your conversion rate and you’ve effectively doubled your marketing budget, without spending another pound.

That’s a lever worth pulling.

Lever 3: Get More Value From Existing Customers (Frequency & Spend)

This is the most boring lever but it’s also the most profitable.

Most businesses are obsessed with acquisition and then completely neglect the people who’ve already said yes.

This usually shows up as:

• No upsell or cross-sell strategy
• No follow-up after purchase
• No re-engagement of past customers
• No reason for customers to come back

Simple fixes often outperform complex campaigns:

• Clear “what’s next” products or services
• Sensible bundles and add-ons
• Loyalty or repeat-purchase incentives
• Thoughtful reactivation emails for dormant customers

If customers only buy once, growth will always feel expensive.

If customers come back, marketing suddenly feels easier.

This is why thinking across the entire customer journey matters ,not just the top of the funnel.

I’ve written before about using the See–Think–Do–Care framework to make sure marketing supports awareness, conversion and retention, not just lead capture:
https://stevenoakes.com/2024/07/18/navigating-the-customer-journey-with-the-see-think-do-care-framework/

The Bit Most People Miss

These levers don’t work in isolation.

Pulling just one rarely fixes the problem for long.

• More traffic without conversion = wasted spend
• Better conversion without volume = growth ceiling
• More retention without acquisition = stagnation

The job isn’t to pull all three equally.
It’s to work out which one is currently limiting growth, and fix that first.

Most businesses already know the answer. They just don’t like it.

Because it’s usually not:

“We need more leads.”

It’s:

• “We’re not clear enough”
• “We’re making this too hard”
• “We’re ignoring the customers we already have”

When everything looks like a lead problem, it usually isn’t.