The problem it solves

You know the routine. Someone’s interested, so you have a meeting, and then another meeting, and then you go off and write a custom proposal filled with deliverables, timelines, and even bits of strategy. Then come the long follow-ups. And if the client doesn’t close, every hour you spent pitching them disappears into the void.

It costs you more than time, too. When we pitch for free we’re giving away knowledge and ideas to someone with no obligation to pay for them. And when they push back on your price, or disappear, it takes a piece of your integrity with it. You gave them something valuable that you spent years learning, and it wasn’t respected or paid for.

Free proposals position you as an order-taker, not an expert. Someone tells you what they think they need (a new website, an internal comms plan, a cheaper tech stack) and asks for a price, and you quote it, right along with everybody else.

How it works: the five steps

Step 1: A 15-minute Fit Call. The whole point of the Fit Call is to see if we are a fit for each other. Your job is to ask direct, specific questions so you understand why they reached out, what they believe they need, and the problems they want to solve. Only if you can help do you suggest a way to work together.

Step 2: Offer your Lead Product. If they’re a good fit, you offer them a small, paid engagement at a set price. It needs to feel like one critical step closer to their goal, not a detour with a price tag attached. Two things make it an easy yes: the price of the Lead Product gets applied to the final project if they hire you, and the Lead Product is valuable on its own, so they’re one step closer to their goal even if they don’t.

Step 3: The Lead Product Interview. This is a deep dive, and it happens live. (People always ask if they can send an intake form instead. Resist!) You ask smart questions, you listen, and you uncover problems they didn’t even know they had. Try to say as little as possible.

Step 4: The Lead Product Brief. A short written brief that outlines exactly what they need (including the needs they didn’t know they had), why they need it, and how to move forward, whether they hire you or not.

Step 5: The follow-up call. The client can ask questions, react to what they read, and decide whether to move forward with you on the larger engagement. If you’ve done Steps 1 through 4 well, this won’t feel like selling. It will feel like a natural continuation of the work you’ve already done together.

It’s a simple process, and its success is all in the execution.

Why it works

People value what they pay for. You can deliver the exact same strategic advice in a free proposal, but the client will place far more value on a paid version.

It moves trust to the very beginning. Usually a client’s trust in you builds in the middle of a project. That’s when they tell you that you should be charging more, or start handing you more work. The Lead Product lets you build that trust first, through a small paid engagement where you diagnose what they really need. By the time you recommend the larger engagement, your recommendation is grounded in a real understanding of their situation, and they already know what it’s like to work with you.

The budget changes. Any budget a client cites upfront is what I call the Fear Budget. It comes from a scarcity mindset that’s focused on spending as little as possible, which makes sense, because until they’re clear on the outcome it’s just money spent. When Aga Siuda, owner of Graphroots Design, delivered her first Lead Product to a nonprofit, they loved the brief, but the board required an RFP. Once the submissions were in, they came back and hired Aga for $32,000, even though she came in as the top bid.

It scares away tire-kickers. I offered someone the Lead Product once and he said he was interested, but “let’s meet for coffee and discuss.” There really wasn’t anything else to discuss! I later heard from a colleague that he’d asked them for multiple meetings and a proposal too, and ended up ghosting them. Holding that boundary saved me three hours and a pointless coffee meeting.

You get your time back. The only unpaid time you spend with a prospect is a short fifteen-minute Fit Call. The Lead Product Interview, the Brief, and the follow-up call are all paid work. The hours you used to spend on second meetings and free proposals can go into nurturing relationships and building your referral network.

Is this the same as paid discovery?

You may have heard a paid first step called paid discovery. The Lead Product Method shares the idea that you should get paid for your strategic ideas. What makes it its own method is the process: a Fit Call that’s about fit and not about pitching, an interview that happens live, a written Brief in a particular framework, and a follow-up call.

It also has to be a valuable product on its own. I always tell prospective clients that I’ve had many clients purchase only my Lead Product, without the intention of doing the full project. We want them to know this is a valuable product, not simply a paid proposal.

Where it fits

The Lead Product Method is the sales part of the No BS Business Model, created by me, Pia Silva, and taught in my book Scale Solo. The model is how experienced experts build highly profitable solo businesses without employees, staying small on purpose. The Lead Product Method is how you sell, and Intensives are how you deliver.

Part Three of Scale Solo walks through every step in detail, including how to write a Lead Product Brief that upsells.

Hear more about it

• E. 142: Lead Product: The Basics. How the method works, and why free proposals end up sucking your time.

• E. 143: Lead Product: The Origin Story. How it came about and how it evolved over a few years into what it is now.

• E. 144: The Biggest Mistakes People Make When Executing This Strategy. The top five mistakes I see in Lead Product briefs.

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