We won two deals without pitching anyone

ISSUE 02 · 12 AUG 2026 · FIRST PUBLISHED ON LINKEDIN

That sounds like a LinkedIn headline designed to go viral. It's not. It's just what happened.

When we started JumpLead, I knew posting on LinkedIn would be part of the mix. And it is. Posting is a vital part of the ecosystem. It builds trust, keeps you visible, and gives people a reason to pay attention. But the deals I'm talking about didn't come from posts. They came from LinkedIn outreach. Connecting with people, starting conversations, and not asking for anything.

No pitch in the connection request. No pitch in the first message. No pitch at all, really, unless someone asked.

Chris May and I started connecting with people we genuinely wanted to know. Founders, revenue leaders, people building interesting things. We'd ask questions that were useful to them, not to us. "How are you finding hiring for that role?" Not "Would you like help with your pipeline?" We'd comment on their posts because we actually found them interesting. Share things we thought might help. No playbook. No set sequence. Just showing up like a normal person.

The bit nobody talks about is how long that takes. Weeks of conversations that go nowhere obvious. Months of being useful without any return. That's where most people drop off. They do it for a fortnight, nothing happens, and they go back to blasting pitch decks into DMs. I get it. When you've got salaries to cover and no safety net, patience feels like a luxury.

But we kept going. And slowly the conversations got better. People started replying differently. Asking what we were working on. Mentioning problems that sounded familiar. When the need came up for two of those people, we didn't have to pitch. We were already in the conversation. JumpLead was the obvious next step.

Two deals is two deals. I'm not pretending we've cracked some code. But the pipeline behind those two is growing, and the quality of conversation is better than anything a cold pitch has ever given me.

Speaking of cold pitches, I'll be honest. I haven't done enough cold calling lately. Which is ironic because I genuinely believe it's the most effective way to get meetings. It just takes practice, and you have to detach from the outcome. Rejection isn't personal, even when it feels like it. I'm increasing the volume now. More on that in a future edition.

Two deals won't change our year on their own. But the way we won them might. Because it's repeatable, it compounds, and it doesn't require me to be someone I'm not.

And the momentum is building. We've created a lot of opportunities over the last few months and there are some really exciting things lined up. But I've been in sales long enough to know that you don't stop. You don't sit back and admire the pipeline. You keep looking at your messaging, your approach, what's landing and what isn't. You keep refining.

The mindset I keep coming back to is this. Regardless of whether someone becomes a customer or not, give them something useful. Don't expect the win as a result.

What I've found is that when you think that way, the wins that do come hit differently. The gratitude is sky high. And the whole thing feels more special because you weren't chasing it.

P.S. I wrote a post earlier this week about selling the want, not the need. The short version is this. People want more meetings and more customers. That's what they're looking for. And that's what we help with at JumpLead. If your pipeline has gone quiet and you want an honest look at what's going on, book a free 30-minute call, Let's find your next client, at jumplead.io/review or drop me a DM.

See you in two weeks.