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Revenue growth does not always require a bigger ad budget, a brand-new offer, or a steady stream of cold leads. Sometimes, the fastest path to growth is already sitting inside your CRM.
In this Mastermind Speaker Series session, Len Asken, a certified EOS Implementer and Outgrow Advisor, explains how a practical proactive sales strategy can help businesses create more predictable revenue by consistently communicating with current clients, past clients, and warm prospects.
Prefer to watch? The full session is available in the video below. For the key lessons and practical takeaways, keep reading.
Why Revenue Growth Often Feels Unpredictable
Many businesses operate reactively.
They answer the phone when a client has a problem. They respond when a prospect requests a quote. They wait for referrals to arrive. They hope existing clients remember every service the company offers.
That approach can keep a business moving, but it does not create much certainty.
Len shared that this was one of the biggest challenges he faced while building his own agency. Despite years of experience, his business depended heavily on him, and revenue often felt difficult to predict. A serious health event forced him to confront a hard truth: if the business could not function without him, he had built a demanding job rather than a durable company.
After implementing EOS, his agency grew substantially, expanded its team, and was eventually acquired. But even after that transformation, he still wanted a more reliable way to create sales opportunities.
That search led him to the Outgrow methodology.
The Core Idea Behind the Outgrow Method
The Outgrow system is built around a simple principle:
Sales should not be something that merely happens to your business. Sales should be something your team intentionally creates.
According to Len, the method is roughly two-thirds mindset and one-third technique. The tactics matter, but they only work when people are willing to use them.
Most sales teams already know that they should:
- Follow up on open proposals
- Call clients instead of relying only on email
- Ask for referrals
- Introduce additional services
- Reconnect with past prospects
- Check in with happy clients
The problem is rarely a lack of knowledge.
The problem is the gap between knowing and doing.
Why a Proactive Sales Strategy Starts With Mindset
Salespeople often avoid proactive outreach because they are afraid of rejection.
That fear can sound rational in the moment:
- “I do not want to bother them.”
- “They will call me when they are ready.”
- “I do not want to seem pushy.”
- “They probably already made a decision.”
But silence has a cost.
Len shared the story of receiving three contractor estimates for a home project. The most expensive contractor won the job for one simple reason: he followed up.
The contractor did not pressure Len. He reminded him.
That distinction matters.
A thoughtful follow-up is not an interruption when it helps a client make progress on something they already care about. In many cases, failing to follow up can make the client assume the business is uninterested.
The best sales professionals are not necessarily the people who hear “yes” most often. They are often the people willing to hear “no” more often because they consistently create more opportunities.
Stop Spending All Your Time With Unhappy Clients
Customer service teams naturally hear from clients when something is wrong.
A campaign is underperforming. A shipment is late. A website feature is not working. A report needs clarification.
Those conversations matter, but they can distort a team’s view of the client base.
The loudest clients are not always the majority.
Len explained that many companies spend most of their communication time with a relatively small percentage of unhappy or stressed customers, while their happiest and most profitable clients remain quiet.
That creates two problems.
First, team members begin to associate client communication with conflict.
Second, happy clients may never learn about the other ways the business can help them.
A proactive sales strategy changes that pattern by creating regular conversations with clients who already trust the company.
Talk to Happy Clients More Often
Happy clients can reinforce the confidence your team needs to sell well.
When team members consistently hear that clients value their responsiveness, expertise, professionalism, and results, they are more likely to approach future conversations with optimism instead of fear.
These conversations also create practical growth opportunities.
A satisfied client may need another service but simply does not know it is available. That is especially relevant for agencies.
A client may think of your company only as:
- Their SEO provider
- Their paid media partner
- Their website team
- Their social media resource
- Their reporting contact
They may not understand the full range of services your agency can provide.
That does not mean your team has failed. It means clients are busy, and they usually remember the service most closely tied to their original engagement.
A simple conversation can change that.
Use “Did You Know?” Questions to Expand Existing Accounts
One of the most practical tools in the session was the “Did You Know?” question.
For an agency, that might sound like:
- “Did you know we can also manage your paid search campaigns?”
- “Did you know we can support your social media content and reporting?”
- “Did you know we can help improve local search visibility?”
- “Did you know we can provide strategy support before your next campaign launch?”
These questions are direct without being aggressive.
They help clients understand what is available and give them an easy way to express interest.
Len also recommends using a reverse version of the question:
- “What are you currently buying from another provider that we may be able to help with?”
- “What other marketing projects are coming up this quarter?”
- “Where is your team stretched thin right now?”
- “What else are you trying to improve?”
These questions shift the conversation from pitching to problem-solving.
That is where good sales conversations belong.
A Simple Three-Part Client Call
A proactive client call does not need a complicated script.
Len outlined a straightforward structure.
1. Reconnect Like a Human
Start with the relationship.
Ask how the client is doing. Reference a recent project, business update, trip, milestone, or conversation.
This should feel natural, not manufactured.
2. Ask What Is Happening in the Business
Move into a practical business question:
- “What are you working on right now?”
- “What challenges are coming up?”
- “Is there anything we can help you solve?”
- “What is changing in the business this quarter?”
Listen before recommending anything.
3. Agree on the Next Step
Do not end with a vague promise to reconnect.
Set a specific next action:
- Schedule the next call
- Confirm when a proposal will be reviewed
- Set a deadline for feedback
- Book a strategy session
- Confirm permission to follow up
Clarity creates momentum.
Why Phone Calls Still Matter
Email is easy to ignore.
Phone calls are harder to forget.
During the session, Len asked an attendee to remember a recent sales call. The attendee could recall the context, the offer, and even where they were sitting. When asked to remember three emails from the same day, they could not.
That does not mean email is useless. It means email should not carry the entire sales process.
Len recommended a simple sequence:
- Make the call.
- Leave a brief voicemail.
- Send a short text with a specific scheduling option.
He shared that, within the Outgrow data discussed in the presentation, a voicemail followed by a text produced a much higher response rate than a voicemail alone.
The larger lesson is not the exact percentage. It is that small, consistent improvements in communication can materially increase response.
Measure Activity Before You Measure Revenue
Revenue is a lagging indicator.
Proactive outreach is a leading indicator.
That is why Len recommends tracking the “swings of the bat” rather than judging the team only by closed sales.
A weekly scorecard might include:
- Five proactive client calls
- Five follow-ups on open proposals
- Five “Did You Know?” questions
- Five requests for referrals
- One handwritten thank-you note
These actions are measurable, coachable, and repeatable.
Over time, the business can compare activity with outcomes:
- Opportunities created
- Additional services quoted
- Referrals received
- Revenue closed
- Response rates
- Conversion rates by activity
Once leaders understand those numbers, sales becomes less mysterious.
The team no longer has to guess whether outreach is working. They can see which actions consistently create results.
Build Your Call List From Warm Relationships First
A proactive sales strategy does not have to begin with cold calling.
Len recommends starting with the people who already know the business:
- Current clients who could buy more
- Happy clients who may provide referrals
- Past clients
- Former prospects
- People who received a proposal but did not move forward
- Clients who have not heard from the team recently
- Contacts who previously expressed interest
- Smaller accounts with room to grow
This is often the highest-leverage place to begin because trust already exists.
For agencies, it also creates a better client experience. The outreach is not just about selling more. It is about identifying needs earlier, offering stronger guidance, and helping clients avoid gaps in their marketing strategy.
Ask for Referrals at the Right Moment
People generally like making referrals when they trust the provider and believe the introduction will help someone.
The best time to ask is often immediately after positive feedback.
When a client says:
- “This is exactly what we needed.”
- “Your team has been incredibly responsive.”
- “The results look great.”
- “You made this process much easier.”
That is a natural moment to ask:
“Who else do you know who might benefit from this?”
Then pause.
Do not rush to fill the silence. Give the client time to think.
The referral does not need to feel scripted. It should feel like an extension of a successful relationship.
What This Means for Agency Owners
For agency leaders, this framework offers more than a sales tactic.
It can reduce dependence on unpredictable lead flow, strengthen retention, and create more value from existing relationships.
It also reinforces an important operational lesson: anyone who talks to a client can help create growth.
That includes:
- Account managers
- Strategists
- Project managers
- Client success teams
- Department leaders
- Agency owners
These team members do not need to become aggressive salespeople. They need to become better listeners who can identify opportunities, communicate value, and confidently recommend the next best step.
How White Label Support Makes Proactive Growth Easier
Many agency owners understand the value of proactive client communication but struggle to make time for it.
They are pulled into fulfillment, reporting, troubleshooting, hiring, strategy, and day-to-day client management. The result is that growth activity gets postponed until the pipeline becomes urgent.
A reliable white label partner can help break that cycle.
At That! Company, we support agencies behind the scenes while representing their brand directly with clients. We can also assist during the sales process, helping agencies close opportunities and expand their service capabilities without adding unnecessary internal complexity.
That gives agency leaders more room to work on the business instead of spending every day buried inside it.
For agencies looking to expand their capabilities while protecting client relationships, explore our White Label Digital Marketing solutions.
Key Takeaways
Predictable growth is rarely the result of one dramatic sales campaign.
It comes from consistent behavior.
The biggest lessons from Len’s session are clear:
- Proactive communication creates opportunities.
- Follow-up is often helpful, not intrusive.
- Happy clients deserve more attention.
- Confidence improves when teams hear positive client feedback.
- Existing clients may not know every service you offer.
- Referrals should be requested, not merely hoped for.
- Sales activity should be tracked before revenue appears.
- The path to more “yes” responses runs through a healthy number of “no” responses.
The system is simple by design.
Create the list. Make the call. Ask the question. Set the next step. Track the activity. Repeat.
That may not sound flashy, but sustainable growth rarely needs more flash. It needs follow-through.
