How to get your first B2B clients

Your first one or two clients came from people you already knew, and now that list has run out. Here is how to get your first B2B clients after that: ask everyone you know for an introduction, then send 100 short, personal messagessoon a day to named buyers, for 12 weeks. Many founders send 25 cold emails, hear nothing and stop, while 94% of business buyers pick a favourite supplier before they talk to anyone.

Do these three things

About 6 hours a day, every day, for 12 weeks. Judge replies after 2,800 messages and orders after 8,400.

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1. 1Today: call your first 2 clients and write one sentence on who buys from you. Then list everyone you know, plus 100 companies that fit the sentence, each with the name of the person who buys.
2. 2Every day: send 100 personal messagessoon. Ask people you know for one introduction first, then write short notes to named buyers that offer one small next step: a sample, a quick check or a 15-minute call. Follow upsoon 3 times.
3. 3Every Sunday: count conversations, quotes and orders by where each one came fromsoon. After 2,800 messages, give your hours to the source that brought the most conversations.

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1. Ask your first two clients why they bought, then write who buys from you#

Call your first two clients, ask them four questions, and use their words to write one sentence about who buys from you. Every other step uses this sentence, so do it first.

Your first clients know why they chose you better than you do. Ask each one these questions on a 20-minute call, the way you would run a customer interview. Write down their exact words.

What made you look for a new [supplier / partner / tool] when you did?
What else did you look at, and why did you pick us?
What almost stopped you from buying?
Who else do you know with the same problem?

Then fill in this line with their words. It is the start of your ideal customer profile and your value proposition.

[Your company] is for [kind of company] of [size] who [the moment they need you], and today they [what they do instead].

• Tool: your phone and a Google Doc.
• Time: two 20-minute calls, then 30 minutes to write.
• You will have: one sentence, and a page of your clients' own words. Keep the names they gave you for question 4. They go first in step 2.
• It worked if: both clients read the sentence and say "yes, that's us", and you can name 20 more companies that fit it in 10 minutes.
• Common mistake: writing "small businesses" or "any company that needs [what you sell]". That is too wide to find anyone by name.

If you cannot name 20 companies that fit, check that the problem is real before you contact strangers.

2. Ask everyone you know for one introduction in your first three days#

Write down everyone who knows you and your work, and send each one a personal note that asks for one introduction. Do it at 100 a day, so everyone is asked in your first three days. People you know answer far more often than strangers, and the people they introduce you to already trust you a little.

This is warm outreach: messages to people who already know you. Put them all in a Google Sheet: past colleagues and bosses, suppliers you worked with, people at old clients, friends who work in your buyers' industry, and the names your clients gave you in step 1. Your email contacts, your LinkedIn connections and your phone will often give you 200 to 300 names. Ask all of them, not just 10 close friends. Founders who have written up how they won their first B2B customers put this group first and cold outreach second (Lenny's Newsletter).

Send each note by hand, from your normal email, as a LinkedIn message to someone you are already connected to, or as a text. AI can draft each note from the sheet. You add the line about how you know each other. That takes about a minute a note.

If you left a job with a non-solicitation clause, read it before you contact that employer's clients. If you cannot approach them, lean on the other groups here and on ways to win clients without referrals.

Subject: a quick favourHi [first name],[One line about how you know each other.]I've started [your company]. We [what you do] for [who buys from you, from step 1].Do you know one [kind of company or job title] who might need this in the next few months? A name is enough, and I'll say you sent me.[Your name]

• Tool: Google Sheets, Gmail, LinkedIn messages and your phone.
• Time: 1 hour to write the list, then about 2 hours a day for 3 days.
• You will have: everyone you know asked, and a list of the names they gave you.
• It worked if: you get at least 1 introduction or conversation for every 25 people you ask. Write to each introduction within 1 day, and say who sent you.
• Common mistake: posting "We're open for business!" on LinkedIn instead of asking people one by one. The other mistake is "let me know if you hear of anyone". Ask for one name, of one kind of company.

When the same kind of business keeps sending you clients, turn it into a regular referral partnershipsoon.

3. Add 100 named buyers to your list every day#

Add 100 new rows to your list every day: a company that fits your sentence, one fact about why, and the name of the person there who buys what you sell. 100 messages a day needs about 3,000 names a month, so the list is a daily job, not a one-time one. You cannot message a company. You can only message a person.

This is your lead listsoon. Look where your buyers already show themselves:

If you make or wholesale a product: the shops, cafés and websites that sell your buyers' goods, the exhibitor lists of their trade showssoon, the member lists of their trade associations, and the distributorssoon who already sell to them.

If you sell a service or sales-led software: LinkedIn search for the job title in your sentence, and Google for the kind of company plus your city or region. Job posts help too: a company hiring for the job you do may need you now.

For each company, find the decision maker: the founder in a small firm, or the operations, buying or IT lead in a bigger one. Their "About" or "Team" page often names them. Many small companies list an email or phone number on their site. For the rest, find the work emailsoon with Hunter.

Let AI speed up the search. Give ChatGPT or Claudesoon your sentence and a region, and ask for 30 companies that fit, with their websites. Some will be wrong, too big or closed. Open each website yourself before a row goes in.

Company | Website | Why it fits (one fact) | Buyer name | Role | Email | Phone | LinkedIn | Source | Date contacted | Reply | Next step | Follow-up due

• Tool: Google Sheets, LinkedIn search, Google, and Hunter. Hunter's free plan gives 50 credits a month, and a search only uses a credit when it finds an email. At 100 names a day you will need more: Starter is $49 a month, or $34 a month billed yearly, for 2,000 credits.
• Time: about 1 hour 30 minutes a day, with AI suggesting companies and you checking each one.
• You will have: 100 new named buyers a day, about 3,000 a month.
• It worked if: every row has a person's name and a way to reach them, and 9 in 10 fit your sentence exactly.
• Common mistake: buying a list of 5,000 contacts. You cannot write a true line about 5,000 people, and bulk mail to a bought list lands in spam.

4. Set up a second email domain and your LinkedIn profile before you send 100 a day#

Before you send 100 messages a day to strangers, set up a second email domain for cold email, and fix your LinkedIn profile and the top of your website. This keeps your main email safe, and it gives the buyers who check you a reason to reply.

Email. Gmail requires every sender to have SPF or DKIM, two settings that prove an email really comes from your domain, and wants spam reports below 0.3%. Since November 2025, Gmail has been rejecting more mail that breaks these rules, and new domains get less time to get it right. Gmail's stricter bulk sender rules start at 5,000 emails a day to Gmail accounts, far above you, but the basic rules apply to everyone. If strangers mark your cold email as spam, your main address suffers too. So:

1. 1

   Buy a second domain

   Buy a domain close to your main one, such as get[yourcompany].com, and point it at your real website. Use it only for cold email.

2. 2

   Add 3 mailboxes and turn on SPF, DKIM and DMARC

   Add 3 mailboxes on it, such as your first name at the new domain, with your email host (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365). Each is a paid seat. Turn on SPF, DKIM and DMARC, a setting that tells inboxes what to do with mail that fails the other two. Your host's help pages give the exact records. To check, send an email to your own Gmail, open it, click More next to Reply, then Show original. SPF, DKIM and DMARC should each say PASS.

3. 3

   Warm up each mailbox for 4 to 6 weeks

   Start each mailbox at 5 to 10 emails a day and rise over 4 to 6 weeks to 25 a day. That is warming up a domainsoon. Keep each mailbox at 25 new emails a day or fewer after that. Three mailboxes then carry 75 of your 100.

The law. In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act makes no exception for business email. Every message needs your postal address, a clear way to say no, and a subject line that matches the email, and you must honour a "no" within 10 business days. In the UK you may email companies without asking first, but sole traders and some partnerships need to have agreed, so do not cold email them. Rules in the EU differ by country, so check them before you email buyers there.

LinkedIn. Buyers look you up before they reply. In 6sense's 2025 survey of over 4,000 business buyers, 94% of buying groups had ranked their favourite suppliers before first contact. Change your LinkedIn headline to your step 1 sentence in short form: "[What you sell] for [who buys from you]". Then check that the top of your homepage says the same thing, with one button for the next step. The full fixes are in write a LinkedIn profile that brings in clientssoon and get more leads from a B2B websitesoon.

If you sell software: in G2's March 2026 survey of 1,076 software buyers, 51% said they now start their research in an AI chatbot more often than in Google. Ask ChatGPT who it recommends for your category once a month, and work on being namedsoon.

Spread the 100. On a free LinkedIn account you can add a note to only 3 connection requests a month, and LinkedIn does not publish its weekly limit on requests. If you send too many, or many are ignored, it blocks new requests, usually for a week. So do not lower the target. Spread it:

• Tool: a domain registrar, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, and your site editor.
• Time: about 3 hours, once.
• You will have: 3 mailboxes on a second domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC on, and a profile and homepage that say what you sell.
• It worked if: Show original says PASS three times on each mailbox, and fewer than 2 in 100 of your emails bounce.
• Common mistake: sending 100 cold emails on day 1 from your main address or from a brand-new domain. Both land in spam, and the main one takes your client email with it.

5. Send 100 personal messages a day that offer one small next step#

Every day, send 100 short, personal messagessoon to named buyers. Each one has one true line about them and offers one small next step. Follow up with everyone 3 times.

100 a day sounds like a lot. It is the point. At about 2 conversations per 100 people, 20 a day brings one conversation every two or three days, and you learn almost nothing in a month. 100 a day brings about 2 a day. In Instantly's benchmark of cold email sent in 2025, the average reply rate was 3.43%, and that counts every reply, including "no".

Offer one small next step. "Book a demo" asks a stranger for 30 minutes. "Can I post you a free sample?" asks for almost nothing.

If you make or wholesale a product: offer a free sample or a sample pack, posted this week.

If you sell a service or sales-led software: offer a quick check of one thing they have now, sent back in writing, or a 15-minute call with a short demosoon.

Let AI do the drafting. Paste 10 rows at a time from your list into ChatGPT or Claude, each with its one fact, plus the template below. Ask for one message per person, under 80 words. Read each draft, make the first line true and about them, then send it. That is about a minute a message. In Instantly's benchmark, the best first emails were under 80 words.

Send them one at a time. Do not paste the same text into a bulk tool. On days when your buyers are not at work, write the day's messages anyway and use Gmail's Schedule send: click the Down arrow next to Send, then "Schedule send", and pick the next morning your buyer is at work. Gmail holds up to 100 scheduled emails at once, so each mailbox can hold a weekend's worth.

Follow upsoon 3 times in the same thread, on day 3, day 7 and day 14, each with one new line. In the same benchmark, 42% of all replies came from follow-ups, not the first email. Stop the moment someone says no, and mark them in the sheet so nobody writes again. If replies stay low, rewrite the first linesoon before you change anything else. On LinkedIn, message people once they acceptsoon, with the same short note.

Subject: [their company] + [what you make or fix]Hi [first name],[One true line about them: something they launched, sell or said.]I [what you do] for [who buys from you]. [One line of proof: a client like them and the result.]Would [a free sample / a quick check of X / a 15-minute call] help? I can do it [this week / next week].[Your name], [company], [phone]
[Postal address]
Not for you? Reply "no" and I won't write again.

Day 3: Hi [first name], bringing this back up. Happy to [the small next step] this week if it helps.Day 7: [One short, useful tip about their situation.] The offer of [the small next step] still stands.Day 14: I'll stop here. If [the problem] comes up later, my number is [phone].

• Tool: Gmail from your 3 new mailboxes, LinkedIn, your phone, and ChatGPT or Claude to draft. Log every message in your step 3 sheet. A CRMsoon can wait until the sheet gets slow.
• Time: about 2 hours a day for 100 first messages, and about 1 hour 30 minutes for the follow-ups that are due, at about 20 seconds each.
• You will have: 700 first messages a week, and 2,800 after 4 weeks, each logged with its follow-up dates.
• It worked if: you get at least 2 conversations (a call, a meeting or a sample request) for every 100 people, after all follow-ups. If you get fewer than 1 per 100 after 1,000 people, change the offer or the list, then send the next 1,000.
• Common mistake: a long first email about your company that asks for a meeting, with no follow-ups. The other mistake is stopping after 50 messages because nobody has replied yet.

6. Turn every yes into a call and a written quote the same day#

When someone says yes, book the call within one day, and send a written quote or a small first order the same day as the call. Buyers who wait a week for your quote often go quiet.

Put a booking link in your reply so they can pick a time. Then run a 20-minute discovery callsoon: ask what happens today, what it costs them, who else decides, and when they need it. If several people must agree, sell to them as a groupsoon. Say your price range on the call, so the written number is no surprise.

Offer a small first order: a short run, a first project with a fixed price, or a one-month pilot. A buyer who has never heard of you finds a small yes much easier than a big one. Send the quotesoon the same day, in one page, in their words.

Subject: [their company]: your [what you discussed]Hi [first name],Thanks for the call. You said [their problem, in their words].Here is what I suggest as a first step: [the small first order], ready by [date], for [price]. Full details are in the one-page quote attached. The price holds for 30 days.If it looks right, reply "yes" and I'll [the very next thing you do].[Your name], [phone]

Follow up on every open quote on day 3, day 7 and day 14. When they say yes, ask for a short testimonialsoon you can use later, as the first step toward a case studysoon.

• Tool: Cal.com's free plan for bookings (unlimited event types and meetings for one person), and Google Docs for the quote.
• Time: about 1 hour a day: calls, plus 15 minutes per quote.
• You will have: every conversation ending with a written next step and a date.
• It worked if: at least 1 in 3 conversations leads to a quote or a sample, and every quote goes out the same day as its call.
• Common mistake: a long proposal sent a week later, or a first offer so big the buyer needs a meeting with their boss to say yes.

7. Count conversations, quotes and orders every Sunday#

Every Sunday, fill in one row in a sheet: messages sent, conversations, quotes and orders, and where each conversation came from. After 2,800 messages, stop what brought nothing and give its hours to what worked. After 8,400 messages, count orders by source.

Ask "How did you hear about us?" at the start of every first call, and add it to your quote form. This is self-reported attribution. Without it, you are guessing.

Week | Messages sent | Conversations: people you know | Conversations: email | Conversations: LinkedIn | Conversations: phone | Samples or quotes sent | Orders | Order value

After 2,800 messages, look at each source. If one brought 0 conversations, stop it and move its messages to the one that brought the most. If everything together brought fewer than 1 conversation per 100 people, change the offer or the list, not the channel. If you have sent 2,800 messages and still have no conversations, find out why no one is buying before you send more.

After 8,400 messages, about 12 weeks, count orders by source. Your sales pipeline is the open quotes and samples in your sheet. Then choose the next channel to add and set a budget from what one client is worth, using what each client cost yousoon to win.

Leave LinkedIn adssoon until at least 5 orders have come from your messages and you know which one gets replies.

• Tool: Google Sheets.
• Time: 20 minutes each Sunday.
• You will have: one row a week, and a clear answer on where your conversations and orders come from.
• It worked if: you can name where every conversation and every order came from.
• Common mistake: judging after 50 messages or one week, or counting likes and profile views instead of conversations and orders.

Once a month, step back for a marketing reviewsoon.

Your first B2B clients checklist for the next 12 weeks

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Step 1 · Ask your first two clients why they bought

• Call your first 2 clients and ask them the four questions.
• Write one sentence on who buys from you, using their words.

Step 2 · Ask everyone you know for one introduction

• List everyone who knows you and your work.
• Send 100 introduction asks a day until everyone is asked, and write to each introduction within 1 day.

Step 3 · Add 100 named buyers to your list every day

• Every dayAdd 100 companies that fit your sentence, each with a named buyer.

Step 4 · Set up a second email domain and your LinkedIn profile

• Buy a second domain, add 3 mailboxes, turn on SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and start warming them up.
• Change your LinkedIn headline and homepage top to your one sentence.

Step 5 · Send 100 personal messages a day

• Every daySend 100 personal messages that offer one small next step.
• Every daySend the follow-ups due on day 3, day 7 and day 14.

Step 6 · Turn every yes into a call and a written quote

• Every dayBook a call for every yes, and send a written quote the same day as the call.

Step 7 · Count conversations, quotes and orders every Sunday

• Every SundayFill in one row: messages, conversations by source, quotes and orders.
• After 2,800 messagesStop any source with 0 conversations and move its messages to the best one.
• After 8,400 messagesCount orders by source and pick where to put more hours.

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