The Real Reason You’re Not Getting Consistent Clients

If you’re an HR Consultant who’s doing all the right things — posting, networking, sending the odd newsletter — yet still wondering why the consistent clients aren’t showing up…

This episode is going to be a breath of fresh air.

In this episode, you’ll finally understand why all your effort hasn’t turned into predictable leads, clients, sales and profits — and what needs to be in place so it does.

Here’s what you’ll discover:

• Why the tasks you’re relying on (like LinkedIn and networking) can only take you so far — and what they can’t ever do for you.
• How small changes in structure make a bigger difference than posting every day or chasing random “visibility hacks.”
• What the most successful HR Consultants focus on instead of likes, comments, or networking events.
• Where your best clients really come from — and why your current approach may be pointing you in the wrong direction.
• When everything starts to click (and why it feels easier once you understand the hidden missing piece).

If you’re tired of guessing, tired of hustling, and tired of wondering why “doing more” isn’t giving you more clients…

This episode could change the way you see your consultancy overnight.

Tune in — you might just discover the shift you’ve been looking for.

And if you want to go deeper on this topic then make sure to join me on 2 December for my free event: One Funnel, Endless Leads, where I’ll show you the simple structure behind getting clients on repeat — without relying on luck, referrals, or posting every day.

Here's the link to register: https://theinfluentialconsultant.co.uk/free-event-for-hr-experts/ 

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Why HR Consultants Struggle With Consistent Clients
 00:37 — How LinkedIn Misleads HR Consultants About Client Attraction
 01:12 — Why Posting on LinkedIn Doesn’t Build a Predictable Pipeline
 02:09 — The Risk of Generic HR Content on LinkedIn
 03:03 — Why Engagement Drops on LinkedIn
 03:22 — What LinkedIn Can’t Do for HR Consultancy Lead Generation
 04:10 — The Truth About LinkedIn Challenges and Templates
 04:31 — Client Story: When Your Ideal Audience Isn’t on LinkedIn
 05:55 — Why Some HR Audiences Don’t Use LinkedIn at All
 06:13 — Why Networking Often Fails to Convert into Paid Work
 07:09 — Why Networking Conversations Don’t Become Clients
 07:29 — The CRM Issue: Why Follow-Up Systems Break Down
 08:19 — Why HR Newsletters Don’t Generate Leads
 09:03 — The Only Marketing Channel HR Consultants Fully Control
 10:37 — Why Tools Alone Can’t Build a Client Pathway
 11:49 — The Missing Structure Behind Predictable HR Consultancy Sales
 12:26 — How to Build a Better Way to Get Clients Consistently
 13:06 — Final Message: Why Structure Beats Random Activity

Want my help getting more leads and clients for your HR consultancy?

1️⃣ Start with the book — The Complete Guide to Building a £70K HR Consultancy

Discover the Client Control method so you attract better clients, win more valuable projects, and charge what you’re worth.

👉 https://theinfluentialconsultant.co.uk/the-book/

2️⃣ Work with me

Join the Fastlane Formula to plug the Client Control method and the 3 Phase Funnel into your business and build a predictable pipeline of premium clients — so you never face feast-or-famine again.

👉 https://theinfluentialconsultant.co.uk/fastlaneformula100/

Transcript

00:00 Hello there and welcome back to another episode of Marketing Made Easy for HR Consultants. Today, I want to go into something that I see repeatedly in the industry.
00:10 Something that frustrates talented HR consultants. And quietly damages their confidence. It's this idea that if you just use LinkedIn more, or go to a more networking events, or start a newsletter, or be visible, somehow the clients will start rolling in.
00:29 And most HR consultants I speak to are working incredibly hard. They are not lazy. They are not hiding. They're, they're, they're showing up.
00:39 They're posting. They're commenting. They're shaking hands. They're joining groups. They are trying everything and yet the client flow still feels slow and unpredictable.
00:48 One month is busy enough to make you think, finally, this is it. The next steep drop off. It's not that they're doing nothing.
00:55 It's that they're relying on that activity. Activities that were never designed to create consistent lead and client flow. And that's what we're going to unpack today.
01:03 Not from a, you're doing it wrong. Perspective, but from a nobody has ever taught you how to these tools actually work perspective.
01:12 Now let's start with LinkedIn. Because if you're anything like the consultants I work with, this is your default home. It's where you go, it's where you look around and think, everyone else's home.
01:21 Everyone else is doing well. Why am I struggling? And LinkedIn is powerful. It's a place where people can find you.
01:27 It's a platform where you can grow your career. You can You can showcase your personality, your expertise, your perspective, and yes, it absolutely can help you get clients.
01:40 It's my home base. It's where I get a lot of my clients. So I am not anti-LinkedIn in the slightest.
01:45 It's the platform I'd recommend to most HR consultants over anything else. But, and this is the bit that most people miss out on to understand.
01:54 LinkedIn only works when you know what you're doing, and the platform is far too crowded for the old post and pray approach.
02:01 You know, those days of updating your LinkedIn profile, saying that you're going self-employed and then dealing with all the inquiries.
02:09 Well, those days are gone, you know. The other HR consultants were first to the party. Nowadays, you need something different, right?
02:18 And posting blindly on LinkedIn is not just unhelpful, it can actually damage your credibility. Because if you sound like every other HR consultant, if you're posting generic tips, generic reminders, generic updates, people skimp past you.
02:34 They don't remember you, they don't recognize you, and they don't distinguish you. You are a terrorist house amongst the row of the other terrorists.
02:42 And that's the painful truth about LinkedIn. It can build your brand, but it can also completely flatten your brand. And if you blend in, it can be an absolute waste of your time.
02:53 Most HR consultants don't know what content to create, who their content is. What the content is supposed to lead to, why they're posting in the first place.
03:03 So it becomes busy work in Dresda's mind. And this is why so many consultants tell me, Nick, I'm posting every week, nothing is happening.
03:11 The engagement is down. No one's engaging with my posts. It's not you. It's not your ability. It's simply that LinkedIn doesn't work as a lead gen tool unless you're extremely deliberate.
03:22 Now, let's talk about what LinkedIn cannot do, because this is the bit that nobody really explains. LinkedIn cannot be out of thin air.
03:30 It cannot take someone from, I've never heard of you, to, here's two grand in a week. It can't nurture, it can't warm people up properly, and it can't turn a cold stranger into a ready-to-play, ready-to-play to-buy client just because you're visible.
03:49 It cannot replace a proper claim pathway, and it certainly can't. It cannot generate consistent clients unless you know how to create the right content, connect with the right audience, have the right conversations, and so on.
04:02 DM people and guide people towards that next step, and you need to know what that next step is. So let's be real for a minute.
04:10 No formal 14 day video challenge is going to fix that. No post this template. PDF will fix that. No social media manager chaining out generic posts.
04:18 Posts will fix that. LinkedIn only works when there's a strategy, a structure, an intention, and a clear order. Otherwise, you are just shouting into a crowded room.
04:31 Now, let me tell you, let me bring this to life for you. Let tell you about a client I worked with recently.
04:37 She started the call with a very straightforward, honest request. She said to me, I need help here. That's fair enough, right?
04:44 Lots of HR consultants say the same thing. So, I asked her a simple question. Who are you? Who do you want to work with?
04:52 Who, you know, if I said to you, right, today's Monday, by next Monday I want you to have added a hundred.
04:58 of those perfect fit prospects for your world, would you be able to do it? Of course you can't, right? She gave me a vague answer, and that's why it's not her fault, right?
05:07 I do want to emphasize that she just didn't, she thought that she knew who she wanted to speak to, but in reality, she didn't.
05:16 That's why she joined the coaching call, that's why she was getting help. So I kept digging, and within 10 minutes, it became clear that she really wanted to work with.
05:25 They weren't even on LinkedIn. They weren't scrolling, they weren't posting, they weren't reading content, they weren't actively participating. They were not there.
05:32 And then she went quiet. And then she said, so what you're saying is I shouldn't even be on there? And I said, well, that might be the case.
05:42 If this is your audience, they aren't on LinkedIn. So. The reality for her was that she had been putting pressure on a tool that was never going to get a client, never going to get a lease.
05:55 And that's a mistake that so many HR consultants make. It's not that LinkedIn is bad, it's that LinkedIn can't work if your audience is bad.
06:03 If your breadth isn't there, if your messaging isn't clear, if your offers aren't differentiated, if you don't know what the platform is meant to do for you.
06:11 The platform wasn't the problem, the thinking was.
06:13 Now let's move on to networking, because networking is basically the in-person version of LinkedIn. And again, it's not bad. Networking can work.
06:21 You can get clients from it. But, let's tell the truth, right? Most HR consultants treat networking like they're collecting Pokémon cards.
06:31 They meet someone nice. They have a good chat. They both say, let's keep in touch. They add each other on LinkedIn.
06:37 You know, you go home feeling productive. But then, nothing. Not because the person wasn't nice. It wasn't a good fit.
06:42 Not because they didn't like you. But because networking has a fundamental flaw. It creates connection. But it does not create, A nice chat doesn't turn into a client.
06:54 A good vibe doesn't turn into a project. A business card doesn't turn into a retainer. And part of the reason is this.
06:59 Humans cannot manage that many relationships at once. You know, you go networking, you meet 20 people, add them all to your LinkedIn, hope for the best.
07:09 You do this. You do again, and again, and again, and again. Well, you can't manage that. Your brain isn't designed to remember all these people and deal with them all.
07:18 Which is why people then tell you to use a CRM, right? But a CRM is, without structure, it's like giving you an electric drill when you've never built anything in your life.
07:29 You know what the drill should do? You've seen people use it confidently, but if you try to use it without knowing how, you will just end up with holes in all the wrong places.
07:37 And a very wonky shelf. LinkedIn is a sim. It's a tool, not a strategy. And without knowing how to follow up, build momentum, guide the real world.
07:45 Build relationships. Qualify the person. Move them along your journey. Networking becomes endless conversations that go nowhere. Which is why so many consultants tell me I've met loads of people but none of them became clients.
07:58 It's not the networking, it's the lack of structure. It's the of structure it. The final tool that I want to talk about, the, that HR consultants use to build clients.
08:09 Get clients, build leads, is a newsletter. Because this is the tool that, in my opinion, HR consultants underuse the most.
08:19 And they misuse it if they do use it. And most HR consultants think having an email list means you writing a monthly blog and sending it out with a title like HR update, November edition.
08:31 And they wonder why nobody reads it, nobody uses it, nobody replies, nobody remembers them, nobody buys anything. Email works beautifully when you use it properly.
08:39 There's an often reported error. You get $40 for every dollar invested in it. So, the return on investment is incredible.
08:48 I love my app. Honestly, if you took away all of my infrastructure, my podcast, my LinkedIn, my website. my email list, and you said I could only have one thing back, I would want it to be my email list.
09:03 It's, I value it so much. It is. It's basically a list of people who want to hear from me, and those, that's amazing because LinkedIn is, yeah, I've connected with these people, but they've not necessarily, they're not going to necessarily see all my messages, whereas my email open rate is about 40%,
09:21 right? So, if I've got 40% of the people reading my emails, that's 40% of the people connecting with me, they reply to my emails, and say hello, they blah, blah, buy a copy of my book, they buy, buy, uhm, invest in one-to-ones with me.
09:34 It generates cash out of thin air, basically. So email works beautifully when you use it properly, but most HR consultants are not doing that, and I want to be honest with you.
09:45 Yeah, you know, I've just talked about all the benefits there, but it is the one place that you control. It's the one channel where nobody's fighting with you for attention.
09:53 It's the one place you can build real intimacy and trust. Like, people don't just give their email addresses away willy-nilly anymore.
10:01 You know, we've all got too many emails, too much spam. So we're a bit more protective of it these days.
10:08 So if you, all you're sending is a blog. You're not building a relationship. You're just maintaining a distant acquaintance. And it's nothing wrong with sending a blog once a month, right?
10:18 I do send out promotion for this podcast. But I also send out emails twice a week which build an actual relationship.
10:25 people, right? So email is the most consistent claim generating channel you could possibly have. If you use it consistently and with purpose.
10:37 Again, the issue isn't the tool, it's not the fact that email marketing doesn't work. It's about how the tool is used.
10:43 So let me tie all this together. LinkedIn is not a system. Networking is not a system. Your newsletter is not a system.
10:50 Posting is not a system. Visibility is not a system. These things are all useful, but none of them have the job of warming people up.
10:58 Waking someone up. Building desire. Creating demand. Guiding the buyer. Maintaining momentum. Blah, blah, blah. Converting strangers into people. Turning them into clients.
11:07 The number one job of marketing. They're pieces, they are tools, they support a system, but they cannot build it. And that's where HR consultants get stuck.
11:17 Not because they're bad at HR, not because they're incompetent, not because they're not trained. But because they're relying on tools that, by design, are sporadic, crowded, and incapable of turning awareness into reality.
11:30 Once you understand this, everything becomes calmer, clearer, and easier. So if you're listening along to this and you find yourself thinking, yeah, this is, this is, this makes a lot of sense.
11:41 This is exactly what I'm doing. I'm using all of these tools, but none of them lead me anywhere. Then you need to hear this.
11:49 There is a better way of doing things, a calmer, clearer, more structured way. To get clients without relying on look referrals or constant posting.
11:59 I'm going to walk you through it on my free event on December. 2nd. So if you want a better way of doing things, come along to the event.
12:06 You'll discover the solutions and a whole lot more. See Limited. And if you want to upgrade to make sure that you get the replays, because this, this event is going to be insane.
12:18 Insanely good. And make sure to get the VIP or the super VIP if you want a one-to-one with me. Either way, seats are limited.
12:26 So I can't fast if you want to secure your spot. The link is in the show notes. So hopefully this episode has been useful for you to help you realize that.
12:34 Do you have a lack of systems? It's not the tools that you're using. It's the fact that there is no client pathway.
12:40 There is no way of turning. Random strangers into clients consistently, repeatedly, and frequently. And if you want the solution, come along to the free event.
12:50 On December 2nd. Anyway, hopefully this episode was useful for you. Please do feel free to share it with anyone you may think will benefit.
12:58 I would find it useful. And as ever, get marketing. Because without marketing, there's no sales. And without sales, there's no business.
13:06 So get marketing. Get marketing.