In this episode, Helen tackles the bit most business owners avoid: follow-up. Drawing on ideas from No One Gives a Bleep About Your Business (Chris Dillon) and her own setups, she shows how automation makes follow-up timely, professional, and painless. You’ll hear how Exceptional Thinking uses Go High Level with WhatsApp to handle no-shows and nurture leads: a short video apology, three clear options (rebook, not now, not interested), and automatic next steps—rebooking links, long-term reminders, or respectful removal—without a human lifting a finger.

Helen explains why giving prospects an easy opt-out actually improves trust (and saves you chasing ghosts), how to route “call me later” replies into six-month reminders, and ways to confirm appointments and drip useful info via WhatsApp—where open rates are sky-high. The result: less awkward chasing, fewer tasks slipping through the cracks, and a cleaner pipeline that moves at the prospect’s pace while still protecting your diary.

👉 Want to fill your diary with qualified appointments—and have your follow-up run itself? Visit www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/contact to chat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 9:30 Advantage session, Helen shows senior leaders how to create reliable lead flow without adding headcount. She unpacks the real reasons pipelines look “full” but don’t convert—overreliance on cold leads, blurred roles (asking closers to self-prospect), weak follow-up, and fuzzy definitions of a “good” appointment. Drawing on hard-won lessons from reshaping her own sales function, Helen shares a five-point plan to stabilise results:

1. Define a qualified appointment using BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timescale) and make that definition shared across the business.
2. Front-load qualification with a simple, visible five-step sales process everyone can explain—from kick-off to weekly reporting.
3. Separate roles: let appointment-setting feed the diary so your salespeople can do what they do best—close.
4. Follow up like clockwork (use Helen’s “rule of three” and reset on contact) so “dead leads” stop dying prematurely.
5. Instrument with KPIs so forecasting reflects reality: meetings → proposals → wins, not wishful thinking.

If you’re tired of erratic months, demoralised reps, and fictional forecasts, this playbook helps you swap volume-chasing for quality conversations that convert—and build a pipeline you can actually plan around.

👉 Ready to fill your diary with qualified appointments and create predictable lead flow? Visit www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/contact to chat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 20-minute 9:30 Advantage session, Helen breaks down why sales teams underperform when they’re fed cold, unqualified leads — and what to do instead. She explains the hidden costs (wasted hours, demoralisation, bad forecasting) and the common trap of pushing salespeople to both set appointments and close deals — two very different skill sets. You’ll learn a four-part fix:

1. Introduce BANT with a shared definition of a qualified appointment and independent scoring (Budget, Authority, Need, Timescale; pass threshold 4.5/6).
2. Front-load qualification by publishing and following a simple, five-step process everyone can explain — from kick-off to weekly reporting.
3. Stop making closers book their own calls — use a dedicated appointment-setting motion (or a partner) so sales spends time closing, not chasing.
4. Run a consistent weekly cadence with follow-ups and a scorecard that tracks meetings → proposals → wins, so the pipeline becomes real, not wishful.

If you’re done with “more meetings at any cost” and want quality conversations that convert, this episode shows how to rebuild your system so great salespeople can actually sell.

👉 Ready to fill your diary with qualified appointments and lift your conversion rates? Visit www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/contact to chat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Exceptional Thinking Podcast, Helen lifts the lid on the CRM platform that’s become the backbone of her business — Go High Level. After years of juggling multiple tools for CRM, email marketing, scheduling, and social media, she explains how moving to an all-in-one system has saved time, reduced costs, and improved client management.

You’ll hear:

• Why Go High Level replaced tools like AWeber, Hootsuite, and Acuity in one centralised platform
• How to import and organise your contacts without overwhelming your system
• The powerful automation features for email, SMS, WhatsApp, contracts, and follow-up sequences
• How to use tags, opportunities, and task assignments to keep leads moving forward
• Extra capabilities like membership sites, funnels, client portals, quizzes, surveys, and AI-assisted messaging
• The hidden costs you need to factor in — and why Helen still thinks it’s worth every penny
• 
  

Whether you’re looking to automate more of your client journey, consolidate your tech stack, or simply gain better visibility over your pipeline and team activity, this episode will help you decide if Go High Level could work for you.

👉 Want to see how Exceptional Thinking uses Go High Level to help book qualified appointments for clients? Visit www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/contact.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Exceptional Thinking Podcast, Helen shares how a clearly defined process transformed Exceptional Thinking — streamlining operations, simplifying training, and enabling her to step out of the daily running of the business.

Drawing on her own five-step appointment-setting process, Helen explains how documenting each stage — from kickoff meeting to weekly reporting — has created clarity for the team, improved client understanding, and ensured consistent quality. She also reveals how breaking down each area of the business into smaller mapped-out processes makes onboarding new team members faster, easier, and more effective.

You’ll learn why “every client is different” is often a myth, how to spot common patterns in your work, and how to turn them into repeatable systems that can be followed by all. Helen also shares lessons learned from implementing processes, including the tweaks and changes needed to get them right — and why, without them, owners often stay trapped in the operational grind.

If you want to free yourself from constant firefighting, scale your business without chaos, and focus on growth, this episode will give you the practical first steps to make it happen.

👉 Want to see Exceptional Thinking’s five-step process and find out how we can help you book qualified appointments consistently? Visit www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/contact.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 930 Advantage session, Helen tackles one of the most common myths in business growth — that referrals alone can sustain your pipeline. While they’re valuable, referrals are unpredictable and can’t be relied on as your sole strategy. Instead, Helen reveals how to build a system that generates them consistently.

You’ll learn her four-part referral strategy:

1. Ask for them – Overcome the awkwardness, time your request right, and combine it with asking for testimonials and case studies.
2. Run referral events – Create online or in-person events that give value to clients and their networks while introducing potential new customers to your services.
3. Reward your clients – Use incentives like discounts or gifts to encourage referrals, and make sure clients know about them.
4. Leverage social proof – Share testimonials, case studies, and useful content that clients can easily pass on to their networks.

Helen also shows how these four strategies can be combined into a repeatable process that keeps referrals flowing, and why having a consistent system beats relying on “word of mouth” alone.

👉 Want to find out more about booking qualified appointments and building a predictable new business pipeline? Visit www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/contact.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Exceptional Thinking Podcast, Helen shares how AI — and ChatGPT in particular — has become an everyday part of running Exceptional Thinking. From creating social media content and blog posts, to solving HR challenges, writing scripts, generating ideas, analysing appointments, and even building complex Excel formulas, AI is helping the team work faster, smarter, and with fewer admin resources.

Helen explains why AI should never completely replace human oversight, how to write effective prompts (including one essential line to ensure UK-friendly results), and why experimenting is key to unlocking AI’s full potential. You’ll also hear real-world examples — including how ChatGPT surprised a local pub with menu ideas and marketing content in seconds — to inspire your own business experiments.

If you’ve been curious about AI but haven’t yet taken the plunge, or if you’re looking for fresh ways to make it work for you, this episode will give you practical starting points and a clear understanding of its possibilities.

👉 Want to find out more about booking qualified appointments that help you grow your business? Visit www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/contact.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After hitting big goals in 2025, Helen found herself facing an unexpected challenge — a lack of motivation for the long, drawn-out projects that would take the business to its next level. In this candid episode of The Exceptional Thinking Podcast, she shares how she navigated post-goal energy dips, balanced “boring but necessary” work with more engaging tasks, and learned to only tackle big projects when the energy and headspace were right.

Helen also opens up about how she successfully stepped out of the day-to-day running of her business by putting the right leadership structure in place, implementing the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), and resisting the urge to jump back into operational firefighting.

If you’ve ever achieved a milestone only to find yourself struggling with the next phase — or if you’re wondering how to free yourself from the daily grind without losing control — this episode will give you practical tips, real examples, and a refreshing perspective on working with your energy, not against it.

👉 Want to find out more about booking qualified appointments that move your business forward? Visit www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/contact.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.