42 \\ 5 Proven Sales Strategy Shifts to Level Up Your Client Relationships Online

If you're in a serious relationship, or if you're married like me, think about what your relationship is built on. Of course, there's the love, but ultimately, what is involved in love? What is the foundation? The bare bones of love is trust, right? And as is with business, it's what transforms cold leads into loyal clients, just like trust is probably what transformed your girlfriend into your wife. When you show up consistently, and are transparent and demonstrate value, that's where leads begin to warm up.
Tired of showing up online, posting your heart out and still hearing crickets? Are you doing all the right things but wondering why your content isn't converting? Your DMs are dry and your audience isn't buying. You're not alone, and this podcast is exactly for you.
Welcome to Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses, where strategy meets soul and connection. Well, that's the secret sauce. Hi, I'm Cheyanne Cleyman, a wife, proud mama of three, former actress and fitness trainer turned serial entrepreneur and online relationship expert. Over the last decade, I've built my own brands, helped dozens of others grow theirs, and discovered one powerful truth: connection is the real currency.
If you're a service-based business or high-ticket brand that wants more leads, trust and sales from social media without the burnout or fake hype, you're in the right place. Each week, I'm bringing you short, powerful and packed episodes that feel like a coffee date with a best friend and biz coach all in one. Let's turn your followers into clients and content into connection. This is Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses, and it's about to change how you show up online. Let's dive in, boss.
A client the other day came to me and said, "Cheyenne, seriously, like, what do you do about cold leads? Because that's about all I got right now." So if you find yourself in that space too, where you feel like no matter what you do, you've either tapped out on all of your warm leads, or you just can't seem to get any new ones, you're in a safe space.
First and foremost, I want to say if this is your first time or your 42nd time, because this is my 42nd episode of Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses, welcome, welcome. And here's a big virtual hug.
Have you ever gotten a lead, or maybe a bunch of leads that stayed cold, even say, after a few follow ups? It can be frustrating, right? You're doing the things you're doing, everything that you've been taught or you think you're supposed to do, but the truth is, cold leads aren't a lost cause. They just really need some trust, just like any good relationship, a little bit of connection can go a very long way.
In today's episode, I'm going to show you how to turn those cold leads into something warm. I'm going to help you turn them into engaged prospects from day one, or even if you're at day 100, and it all starts with building trust. Let's go ahead and dive in. If you're a note taker, right now is the time to grab that pen, that highlighter, or open up that note section on your phone, because we are about to get going.
So, cold leads are honestly one of the toughest challenges, right? It's the people who might follow you on social but they are just not engaging back whatever you do. They're the ones who aren't asking questions. You might not even know if they're watching you, but one thing we know for sure is that they definitely are not buying. And it can feel like you're talking to a brick wall.
But here's the thing, and I really want you to focus on this: cold leads don't have to stay cold forever. The problem is, most businesses don't spend enough time building trust before they start asking for a sale. And that's definitely one area that will leave someone, quote-unquote, "frozen," literally frozen, as in, they're not going to move and they're not going to move in your funnel.
Now, something I want to emphasize right now is because you may be thinking, like, "Well, Cheyenne, why would I chase cold leads? This doesn't make sense. Aren't you supposed to chase the warm leads?" But I know what it's like to feel that there are just sometimes in your business where there just aren't any warm leads, or you feel totally tapped out.
And the thing is, what I'm emphasizing on here is the word lead. Now, these are not cold people or cold random neighbors that people have recommended you to help but are totally not aligned with your ideal client. I'm not talking about the people who have found someone else to work with. These are actually leads who still need you, and they are qualified leads, but for whatever reason, they are just cold.
So if you're brand new to this podcast, or if you've been listening for some time, you know that I'm really big about taking action, right? Because action is going to bring movement in your life and in your business. So we are going to start with an action step right away.
To start, I want you to review your last few interactions with leads. Get real honest with yourself. Did you offer value upfront, or did you go straight for the sale? Whatever your answer, I want to encourage you today to pick a lead, just one lead who hasn't responded yet at all, and send them something helpful, not a pitch, just something that can genuinely help them, whether it's a blog post, a tip or even, say, a personal recommendation.
Make the first step all about offering value. People will sniff out nowadays if they feel like you're trying to sell them something. So really make sure there's nothing monetarily attached to it. Something I love about having a podcast is maybe someone sent you this podcast. Maybe our team recommended this podcast to you right now. It's something tangible that I can give to you right away and put in your hands. And it's not just going to be something that's going to encourage you, but it's going to be something you can apply in your business to make that needle move forward, and that's what it's all about. So especially if you help other businesses, if you can help someone move their business forward, this is totally a win.
So we also have to think about how trust is the foundation of any relationship. Honestly, if you're in a serious relationship, or if you're married like me, think about what your relationship is built on. Of course, there's the love, but ultimately, what is involved in love? What is the foundation? The bare bones of love is trust, right? And as is with business, it's what transforms cold leads into loyal clients, just like trust is probably what transformed your girlfriend into your wife.
When you show up consistently and are transparent and demonstrate value, that's where leads begin to warm up, right? That's when they begin to thaw a little bit. I mean, just think of anyone you've ever tried to pursue, or even when you have the ring on the finger. If you're married, it's like when you are maybe in a tough season with your husband or wife, or if you've had an argument, what is the way to help them warm up? Especially if you're a woman, you want transparency, right? You want your man to demonstrate value to you. You want that consistency. You don't want it just to be a one-time thing. You don't want to drop all these hints and see absolutely nothing. So that's a free tip right there, by the way, whether it's for relationships in your personal life or business, is that people leave clues. People leave hints, so make sure you are paying attention to them.
Now, your action step for building trust is going to be by starting to make a commitment to provide value consistently. You can do it as simple as just setting aside 10 minutes every day for the next week to send a message that adds value to your leads. Now, it could be answering a question, could be providing a resource or even sharing a testimonial from someone else. Make it a goal to build trust first, and I promise you, you will get a time to pitch that sale. The sale will come later.
Now, building trust doesn't have to be complicated, but it can be, right? It's, I think, with anything that we try to do, sometimes we can put too much focus on it, where, if we would just take a step back and break it down and make it simple, that's where we will see that it is totally doable, and it's something you can apply right away in your business. In fact, it's the small, like consistent actions in your business that are going to build that rapport over time.
Some of the easiest ways that I've seen how people can build trust, especially online, would be being consistent with your messaging. Make sure that no matter what your message is about, you're consistent with it. You stay on topic, you stay focused, but you also literally show up consistently, that you show people that, "Hey, I can trust this person with not just my time, my energy, but ultimately, eventually, my money." You want to make sure that you also reply to direct messages quickly and with care. Now, this doesn't mean being a slave to your phone 24/7, but someone's direct message or even a comment on your social media shouldn't take more than 24 hours to get back to. And you want to make sure that this is one of the worst things that you could do: is just leaving someone an emoji. It's like entering in a conversation with someone and just smiling back at them. Nobody wants that. Non-verbal communication, that non-verbal is nice, but you gotta back it up with some talking, right, with some lip service, and, of course, doing so with care and ultimately, sharing personal stories and experiences that relate to your product or service. This is a huge trust builder, because this is how people know that they can trust you with what you're saying. This is how they know you have some skin in the game. You know, where have you come from? You know, how can you step forward with this authority? Tell them, show them through your story. And you'll be so thankful that you did.
Now, before you guys go, we're going to wrap up this episode. I like to keep them short and sweet, so we're already going to get you guys out of here before 10 minutes. But before you go, I want you to remember that if you're feeling stuck when it comes to converting leads, go ahead to my show notes and grab my free guide, The Five Quiet Reasons Your Content Isn't Converting and What to Do Instead. And I call it "quiet" because it's often the reasons that are so obvious you don't even see them. And when you do this, you'll start turning your content into real conversions.
And if you're honestly just tired of trying to keep your leads straight without an organized system, go ahead and also download our free lead tracker. It's the same one we use for all of our clients, and it's designed intentionally to help you track all the important details of your leads and remind you when it's time to follow up, which is crucial. And lastly, if you need help with building trust and converting cold leads into clients, and you're just like, "Man, I don't know how to do it," or "I don't have time for it," let's hop on a call. I'd love to help you craft a strategy that's tailored specifically to your business and your industry. You can find all these links, especially the book your call link in the show notes below.
I'm so thankful that you guys joined me here on this episode. If this just was a powerhouse episode for you, please let me know. If you'd go over to Apple podcast or Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast, leave me a quick review. It really helps boost the podcast so more people, more business owners, can learn along with you. And also it lets me know which episodes mean most to you and which ones I can keep creating content in. All right, guys, here's a good, big fist bump from one boss to another. Best of luck. Keep plugging away, and I'll see you on the next episode of Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses.
All right, my friend, that's it for today. Well, let me leave you with this. If your content is not converting, it's not your fault. Chances are you've been taught to prioritize the algorithm instead of the actual humans reading your words, and that that ends right here.
Go ahead and grab my free guide, Five Quiet Reasons Your Content Isn't Converting and What to Do Instead. It's packed with real talk, practical shifts, and quick, immediate wins. Link is in the show notes below, and if you're ready to stop guessing and start connecting with ideal clients who actually buy from you, book a free connection call with our team at Kuleana Connect. We don't do content. We do connection that converts, because at the end of the day, it's not about going viral, it's about being valuable.
Thanks for hanging out with me again. I'm Cheyanne Cleyman and I'll see you on next week's episode. See you later, boss.