More Leads and Clients (Part 2: Leverage)

One of the biggest mistakes video production business owners make is assuming the value of a project ends when the invoice gets paid.

You win the job, produce the work, deliver the video and hopefully leave the client happy. That is obviously important because the client has trusted you with their budget, reputation and message. But over the years, I’ve realised that some of the most valuable parts of a project often sit around the project itself. The relationship, the trust, the story behind the work, the proof that the client was happy and the material you can use to make future sales easier all have value beyond the immediate job.

This is the second part of a three-part series about getting more leads and clients for your video production business. In the first part, I focused on acquisition, which is the process of generating new leads and creating more opportunities. My main point was that most production companies would benefit from choosing one primary lead source, studying it properly, practising it and developing enough competence that it can start producing regular opportunities.

Once that starts working, the next stage is leverage. You’ve generated the lead, qualified it, had the sales conversation, won the project and started working with the customer. They trust you enough to invest in this first job together. The opportunity now is not only to deliver a great result, but to use the experience in a way that helps you build more trust, strengthen your authority and make it easier to win the next client.

The Gap Between What You’ve Achieved and What People Can See

One of the things I often notice when I speak with filmmakers and production company owners is that there can be a surprisingly large gap between what they’ve actually achieved and the story they’re putting out into the world.

They may have worked with excellent clients, delivered strong projects, built long-term relationships and solved complicated production problems. But when you look at their website, social media, proposals or sales material, very little of that proof is visible. The videos are not being shared properly. The client relationships are not being explained. There are no case studies. There are very few reviews. There may be no behind-the-scenes material showing how they work or why a client should trust them.

This is a major missed opportunity because selling video production becomes much easier when you can show evidence rather than just describe what you do. It’s one thing to tell a prospect that you can help them. It’s much stronger to show them a similar project, explain the client’s challenge, walk them through how you approached the work and then provide some evidence that the client was happy with the result.

That is what leverage does. It takes the energy you have already invested into a project and allows that energy to keep working for you after the project itself has finished.

The Project and the Byproduct

Many years ago, a mentor explained something to me that changed the way I looked at work. He said that when you’re investing energy into a project, there is usually the project itself and then there is the byproduct. The project is the obvious thing you’re being paid to create. The byproduct is the secondary value created along the way, which can often be used again in the future.

An example of this is Vegemite. For people outside Australia, Vegemite can seem like a strange thing to spread on toast, but it came from a byproduct of beer manufacturing. The leftover yeast from the brewing process was turned into something valuable. Instead of allowing that byproduct to go to waste, someone recognised that there was additional value sitting inside a process that was already happening.

The same principle applies to video production. When you’re making a video, the finished product is the main thing the client is paying for. But there are also many other useful things being created along the way. There is the story of how the project came together. There is the way you planned the shoot. There is the client problem you helped solve. There is the production process, the filming day, the decisions you made, the challenges you worked through and the result that was created at the end.

In many cases, production companies are already doing interesting work, but they are not extracting enough value from it. They are making the beer but throwing away the Vegemite.

Telling the Story Behind the Work

One of the simplest ways to leverage a project is to document the production process itself.

This does not need to be complicated. It might be behind-the-scenes photos from the filming day. It might be short videos showing how the interview setup was built. It might be a quick explanation of the lighting approach, the location choice or the thinking behind the production plan. It might be a more substantial behind-the-scenes piece that includes interviews with the client, director, producer or cinematographer.

I’ve noticed that some videographers do this particularly well by creating simple pre-shoot setup videos. They walk around with their phone and show how they have set up for an interview, what lights they are using, where the camera is positioned and why they have made certain decisions. As a production company owner, I find those videos genuinely useful because they show me how that person thinks, how they work and what level of professionalism they bring to the job.

This sort of content can help put you on people’s radar. It does not need to be overly polished or self-promotional. In many cases, the value comes from simply giving people a clearer picture of your process. Prospects are not only interested in the final video. They are also trying to understand what it would be like to work with you.

On larger projects, it can even be worth bringing in extra help to capture behind-the-scenes material properly. I’ve done this on bigger Dream Engine projects where we have brought in an additional camera operator to film the process, interview people involved and create a stronger story around the work. That content can then become part of a case study, a series of social media posts, proposal material, website imagery or follow-up emails to prospects.

Why Behind-the-Scenes Content Often Gets Missed

The reason most people don’t do this is not because the idea is difficult to understand. It’s because they are busy.

When you are on a shoot, your main focus is doing the best possible job for the client. That is how it should be. You are managing the schedule, looking after the interviewees, solving production problems and making sure the client feels confident. In that environment, capturing behind-the-scenes content can feel like an extra task that gets pushed aside.

That is why it needs to become part of the process rather than something you remember at the last moment. If the project is interesting enough, you may decide in advance that somebody else should capture behind-the-scenes content so it does not distract from the production itself. That could be a photographer for half a day, an extra camera operator, or even a team member with a phone who has been given a clear brief.

The value of this material can be significant. It gives you original images for your website instead of stock or AI-generated images. It gives you content to share on LinkedIn, email newsletters or blog posts. It gives prospects a clearer sense of how you work. It gives you proof of activity, professionalism and experience that is far more convincing than simply saying you know what you’re doing.

The challenge is moving from recognising that this is a good idea to actually building the habit of doing it consistently.

Turning Finished Projects Into Case Studies

Once the project is complete, there is another opportunity to leverage the work through case studies.

Many production companies share the finished video on social media, which can be useful, but it is often not enough on its own. People’s attention spans are limited and many will not sit through the entire video, especially if it was created for a specific client or internal audience. The finished video still matters, but the story around the video often does more of the selling.

A strong case study gives context. It explains who the client was, what challenge they were facing, what they needed the video to achieve and how you approached the project. It shows the thinking behind the production rather than simply presenting the final result. This makes it much easier for a prospect in a similar industry, or with a similar challenge, to imagine working with you.

Case studies also become useful sales tools. If you are speaking with a prospect who needs a similar type of video, you can send them the case study as part of the follow-up process. Instead of relying entirely on the sales conversation, you are giving them something tangible that shows how you work. It reassures them that you have handled similar situations before and can guide them through the process.

This is where leverage becomes especially powerful. A single project can become much more than a single project. It can become a case study, a social media post, a newsletter item, a proposal example, a website page and a sales asset that supports future conversations.

Reviews, Testimonials and Client Proof

Another important part of leverage is collecting proof from clients after the project has been completed.

This might be a Google review, a written testimonial, a LinkedIn recommendation or a filmed interview with the client. The format matters less than the fact that somebody other than you is speaking positively about the experience of working with you. That is often far more persuasive than anything you could say about yourself.

Many production company owners are uncomfortable asking for reviews or testimonials because it feels like self-promotion. I understand that, because a lot of filmmakers would prefer to let the work speak for itself. But the reality is that prospects often need more reassurance than the final video alone can provide.

If someone has never worked with you before, they are taking a leap of faith. They may have had bad experiences with other providers. They may have worked with someone whose portfolio looked impressive but whose process was poor. They may be worried about how much time the project will require, whether you will understand their organisation or whether the final video will reflect well on them internally.

Client proof helps reduce that uncertainty. It gives the prospect confidence that other people have trusted you and had a positive experience. It shows that you are not only capable of producing good work, but capable of managing the relationship and the process well.

Asking for Referrals Without Making It Awkward

Referrals are another form of leverage, although many people find this part uncomfortable.

In the right situation, if you have done a great job for a client and served them well, it is reasonable to ask whether they know anyone else who may benefit from the same kind of work. This does not need to be forced or scripted in a way that feels unnatural. It can simply be part of the relationship once trust has been established.

Often, happy clients want to recommend good providers. They have experienced the value of working with you and they want people in their network to be looked after in the same way. Referring you also reflects well on them if the person they introduce ends up having a positive experience.

The key is that the referral request needs to come from a place of service rather than entitlement. You are not asking someone to promote you because you want more work. You are asking because you believe there may be other people in their network who have a similar problem and would benefit from the same support.

When approached in that way, referrals can become a natural extension of doing good work.

Why This Isn’t About Big-Noting Yourself

One of the reasons production company owners fail to leverage their work is that they feel uncomfortable drawing attention to themselves.

They may worry that posting behind-the-scenes content feels like showing off. They may feel awkward sharing client praise. They may hesitate to create case studies because they do not want to seem self-important. This is particularly common in creative industries where many people prefer to stay behind the camera and let the work speak for itself.

I understand that instinct, but I think it is useful to reframe what this content is actually doing.

You are not sharing the story of your work to build up your ego. You are doing it to help the buyer make a better decision. You are putting yourself in the position of the prospect and asking what sort of reassurance they would need before investing money, time and energy into a video project.

From that point of view, the content becomes much less about self-promotion and much more about reducing uncertainty. Behind-the-scenes content helps them understand the process. Case studies help them see how you think. Reviews help them trust that other clients have had a good experience. Examples of similar work help them picture what might be possible for their own organisation.

That is the start of good marketing. It is not about shouting louder. It is about making the buyer’s decision easier.

You May Already Be Sitting on Proof You Haven’t Used

The chances are that if you have been in business for a while, you are already sitting on valuable proof that has not been properly used.

There may be interesting projects where you never captured the behind-the-scenes story. There may be long-term client relationships that are not mentioned anywhere on your website. There may be clients who would happily share their experience if you asked them. There may be projects that could become strong case studies with a little extra work.

This is often low-hanging fruit because the value already exists. You do not need to invent a story or create something artificial. You simply need to recognise what is already there and make it more visible.

In my own business, it has sometimes been one strong case study, one LinkedIn post or one email update that has prompted a conversation with a client. That conversation then leads to a job, which leads to another job, which leads to a longer relationship. None of this is a magic formula. It is simply the result of consistently capturing proof and using it in the right places.

Over time, this makes the sales process much easier. It is no longer entirely up to you to persuade someone in a sales conversation. You have examples, stories, reviews, case studies and client proof doing some of that work for you.

Making Leverage a Habit

The real challenge is not understanding the idea. The real challenge is turning it into a habit.

It is easy to listen to an idea like this and think it makes sense. It is much harder to build it into the way you operate. That means thinking about leverage before the project starts, not six weeks after delivery when everyone has moved on. It means planning what you will capture, who will capture it and how it might be used later.

For a new business, this can be especially powerful. I’m working with a coaching client at the moment who has just launched his company. He already has experience as a filmmaker, but we are putting a lot of energy into helping him win the first job under the banner of the new business. The idea is to choose an industry, choose a clear style of video, make a strong offer and then use as much leverage as possible from that first project to make winning the next one easier.

That is the pattern. You win one job and then use the proof from that job to make the next one easier. You then repeat that process. Over time, the business builds a body of evidence that makes it much easier for future clients to understand who you are, what you do and why they should trust you.

This is also one of the things I help coaching clients with because it is easier to build this habit when you are in an environment where it is expected. When you are surrounded by other filmmakers who are documenting their work, creating case studies, collecting reviews and sharing proof, it starts to become normal. It becomes part of how the business operates rather than something you occasionally remember to do.

Where to Go From Here

If you’re looking at your business and realising there is valuable proof sitting unused, you’re probably not alone. Most production companies have more leverage available than they realise. The challenge is building systems and habits that help you capture it consistently rather than leaving it behind once a project is finished.

If that’s something you’d like help with, and you’d like support building a more deliberate approach to winning and retaining clients, you can learn more about my coaching program for video production business owners here:

https://www.ryanspanger.com/coaching/

In the next article, I’ll look at the third stage of the framework: retention. Once someone has become a customer, how do you turn that first project into a long-term client relationship and create more repeat business over time?