All three got clients. Completely different strategies. Completely different OCRs.

Why Is There Such a Big Difference?

Ashley's approach:

• Spent hours researching each company

• Wrote custom articles specifically relevant to their business

• Targeted people who could immediately see the value

• High effort per outreach, very low volume needed

Andy's approach:

• Focused on personalised outreach (people who were an ideal fit)

• 10+ face-to-face meetings with quality conversations

• Used VIP 100 method: fewer, better conversations

• Medium-high effort, low-medium volume

John's approach:

• Automated LinkedIn connection requests

• Less personalized (same message to many people)

• Sent to law firms he had credibility with, but they didn't know him yet

• Low effort per outreach, high volume needed

The key point: You can choose which strategy fits your life right now. All of them work.

The OCR Scale: What's Good vs. Poor?

Here's a simple scale to understand where you stand:

[INSERT GRAPHIC: OCR Scale from Green to Red with Strategy Zones]

Under 100:1 = Excellent (Warm network or highly personalized)
100-500:1 = Good (Personalized outreach or decent automation)
500-1,000:1 = Okay (Automated outreach)
Over 1,000:1 = Poor (Something's wrong with targeting or messaging)

Important: These ranges depend on your strategy. If you're doing Ashley's level of personalization, you should be under 20:1. If you're doing automation, 100-500:1 is normal.

The Trade-Off: Effort vs. Volume

Here's the fundamental trade-off:

High Effort per Outreach = Low Volume Needed
(Like Ashley: spent hours per outreach, needed only 20 total)

Low Effort per Outreach = High Volume Needed
(Like John: spent minutes per outreach, needed 5,000 total)

[INSERT GRAPHIC: Graph showing inverse relationship between Effort per Outreach (Y-axis) and Total Volume Needed (X-axis)]

Neither is better. It depends on:

• How much time you have

• Whether you're still in a corporate job

• Your personality (do you prefer deep research or systems/automation?)

• Your existing network and credibility

Two Extremes: Why OCR Varies So Much

Let's make this crystal clear. Imagine two scenarios:

Scenario 1: Your Old Colleague

They know you. They trust you. They've seen you succeed in business. You reach out and say, "Hey, I'm coaching business owners now. Want to chat about your business?"

How likely are they to say yes? Very likely.

Your OCR: Probably 5:1 to 25:1

Scenario 2: A Complete Stranger

They've never heard of you. You send them a generic LinkedIn message. They don't see how you can help.

You reach out and say, "Hey, I'm a business coach. Want to chat?"

How likely are they to say yes? Not very likely.

Your OCR: Probably 500:1 or worse

The difference is MASSIVE. And it's why your strategy matters.

What Makes Your OCR Better or Worse?

Your OCR improves when:

• They already know you (warm network)

• Someone referred you (trust transfer)

• You have deep expertise in their industry (credibility)

• Your message is highly relevant to them (personalization)

• They're actively looking for help (timing)

Your OCR gets worse when:

• They've never heard of you (cold outreach)

• Your message is generic (mass outreach)

• They don't see how you can help (poor positioning)

• They're not looking for a solution right now (timing)

The good news: You can improve your OCR by improving your positioning, messaging, and targeting. We'll show you exactly how in the next pages.

The Secret: Mix Strategies to Get Clients Faster

You don't have to pick just one approach.

Here's a smarter way to think about it:

Your goal is 5 clients. Instead of doing one strategy exclusively, what if you:

Client 1: Old colleague who started a business (warm network, OCR ~25:1)
Client 2: Someone from your network (warm network, OCR ~25:1)
Client 3: Highly personalized outreach to 10 ideal prospects (OCR ~10:1)
Client 4: VIP 100 strategy (OCR ~100:1)
Client 5: Automated outreach if needed (OCR ~500:1)

Total outreaches: ~685 instead of 2,500

You just saved yourself 1,815 outreaches and months of time.

This is being resourceful. Use your network. Use your experience. Use your relationships.

The goal isn't to figure out your exact OCR. The goal is to reduce your overall number of outreaches by starting with the easiest opportunities first.

But What If Your Strategy Works Better (or Worse) Than Expected?

Here's where it gets interesting: Your OCR can vary dramatically based on how well you execute.

Harriet used the same automation strategy as John. But she used our Value Sessions approach and had excellent messaging.

She sent 200 automated LinkedIn messages and got 2 clients.

Her OCR: 100:1 (5x better than John's initial 500:1)

What made the difference?

• Better messaging (focused on value, not selling)

• Better targeting (right industry, right pain points)

• Better sales process (Value Sessions approach)

The lesson: Your OCR improves as you improve your skills. John started at 500:1. With practice, you could get down to 100:1 or better using the same automation strategy.

Andy's Story: VIP 100 in Action

[INSERT SCREENSHOT: Andy Garner's testimonial with highlighted sections]

Andy focused on warm relationships and quality conversations:

"Quick win to share: I've signed my first coaching client. 6-month opener with rolling monthly after."

"All with no outbound marketing—kept it under the radar and focused on people who know me, trust me, and believe I can help."

"Pam's 'VIP 100' has been massive—fewer, better conversations where I can make a real difference."

"I have put the effort into quality conversions and conducted: 10+ face-to-face meetings. Proper chats."

His approach:

• Warm network only (people who already knew him)

• VIP 100 method (fewer, better conversations)

• Face-to-face meetings (higher trust, faster decisions)

• Used the COACH Method end-to-end

His result: First client signed, 3 more bubbling.

His OCR: ~100:1

The key insight: "Work on the stuff that wins clients!" Focus on quality over quantity, especially when starting.

The Simple Strategy

To get 5 clients at £2,000/month:

1.     Start with your network (OCR 5-25:1 = easiest and fastest)

2.     Add personalized outreach (OCR 10-100:1 = quality conversations)

3.     Layer in automation if needed (OCR 100-500:1 = scalable but slower)

The goal: Reduce your overall number of outreaches by starting with the easiest opportunities first.

A Final Note

This might still feel like a lot of numbers and strategy.

But here's the truth: You don't need to master all of this on day one.

You just need to:

1. Reach out to someone

2. Have a conversation

3. Learn what works

4. Do it again

The coaches earning £10,000-£40,000/month didn't start with perfect systems. They started with one conversation. Then another. Then another.

And you're going to do the same.

Ready to get specific? Continue to "Your Ideal Client" and discover who you should be targeting.