Episode 203
The 2025 Business Developer: AI, Influence & The Human Connection Advantage
In this episode of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy explores what it takes to succeed as a modern business developer in 2025 and beyond. He breaks down the key skills, characteristics, and tools that every business developer must master, emphasizing that while technology and AI are reshaping the industry, the core of business development remains human connection. Kelly highlights the importance of confidence, adaptability, and personal branding, explaining how social media—especially LinkedIn—has become a non-negotiable tool for success. He also discusses how AI can enhance efficiency but warns against over-reliance, stressing that real relationships are built through direct human interaction like calls, meetings, and face-to-face engagement.
The episode also dives into the seven essential tools every business developer needs, including CRM systems, email, video content, and AI-powered platforms. Kelly emphasizes the power of personal branding, encouraging business developers to create authentic and engaging content to establish credibility and attract opportunities. He also shares insights on how to measure success through booked meetings, rather than vanity metrics like emails or social media impressions. Wrapping up, he reassures listeners that despite the evolving landscape, the fundamentals of business development remain unchanged—build trust, create value, and leverage new tools to accelerate success.
Key Takeaways:
1. Business development in 2025 is still about human connection While AI and social media are powerful tools trust and relationships remain the foundation of success.
2. Confidence is key The best business developers are not fearless but they take action despite fear and project certainty in their messaging.
3. Adaptability separates top performers Meetings will get canceled clients will ghost and strategies will change success comes from adjusting quickly and staying persistent.
4. Personal branding is no longer optional Business developers must actively build their presence on LinkedIn and other platforms to establish credibility and attract opportunities.
5. The best business developers are great listeners Asking thoughtful questions and listening carefully leads to deeper relationships and better business opportunities.
6. Measure success in meetings not outreach The number of booked meetings is the most important metric not the number of calls or emails sent.
7. AI is a tool not a replacement AI can enhance efficiency in research content creation and CRM management but it cannot replace authentic human interactions.
8. Video is becoming a critical tool In an era of polished AI-generated content raw authentic video content helps build trust and differentiate business developers.
9. The right tools make all the difference Must-have tools for business developers include CRM systems LinkedIn Canva for content video editing software like Descript and a quality camera for video branding.
10. We are in the best time in history for business development Technology social media and AI have made finding connecting and engaging with prospects easier than ever those who embrace the tools will thrive.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Capital Business Development
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Transcript
Welcome to episode 203 of the Business Development Podcast.
Kelly Kennedy:And on today's show we're talking all about the modern business developer.
Kelly Kennedy:What are the techniques and skills they must master in order to have success in 20, 25 and beyond?
Kelly Kennedy:And what are seven tools that are absolutely required as we move forward in the world of business development?
Kelly Kennedy:Stick with us.
Kelly Kennedy:You are not going to want to miss this episode.
Mark Cuban:The great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over and years.
Mark Cuban:Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.
Mark Cuban:And we couldn't agree more.
Mark Cuban:This is the Business Development Podcast, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and broadcasting to the world.
Mark Cuban:You'll get expert business development advice, tips and experiences and you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs and business development reps.
Mark Cuban:You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business brought to you by Capital Business Development, CapitalBD CA.
Mark Cuban:Let's do it.
Mark Cuban:Welcome to the Business Development Podcast.
Mark Cuban:And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.
Kelly Kennedy:Hello.
Kelly Kennedy:Welcome to episode 203 of the Business Development Podcast.
Kelly Kennedy:And today I have an incredible show for you discussing the skills, characteristics and tools of the modern business development developer.
Kelly Kennedy:But before we do that, I want to genuinely thank you, our Rockstar listeners, for your support on this journey.
Kelly Kennedy:I've said it before and I'll say it again, podcasting can be an extremely lonely endeavor, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:Most of us are sitting in studios or basements talking to our walls.
Kelly Kennedy:And so to know that you guys are out there is an absolutely incredible feeling.
Kelly Kennedy:And from the very beginning of this show, one of the things that has kept me motivated and kept me coming back week over week is hearing your success stories.
Kelly Kennedy:So guys, if you have success stories and you have not yet written into me to let me know how this show has affected your life, if it helped you in any way, shape or form, my gosh, I can't tell you how much it means to me and any other podcast that you listen to when you write into them and let them know that you are listening and that what we do is actually making a difference in your lives.
Kelly Kennedy:I've been so blessed from the very beginning to have so many people reach out to me, let me know what's happening, let me know about your journeys and how this show has made an impact in your life.
Kelly Kennedy:And so I just wanted to say thank you so much.
Kelly Kennedy:Thank you so much for your Support up to 200 plus episodes.
Kelly Kennedy:Thank you for the messages, the incredibly kind messages that you guys have been sending from the very beginning and thank you for your contributions to our business community, to our rockstar community.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, whether that be our LinkedIn, whether that just be the people that you tell, your friends, your family, your co workers, thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me grow this show, for helping me reach a bigger audience, and for just being a part of our rockstar community that we are building day by day, month by month and year by year on this show.
Kelly Kennedy: g and that is no different in: Kelly Kennedy:But like I have said from the very beginning, while the tools may evolve, the job is still the same.
Kelly Kennedy:Build new relationships that lead to revenue, repeat business, and mutually beneficial relationships over time, guys, no matter what, no matter what's happening, AI, social media, you name it, yes, we have to learn how to play in these playgrounds.
Kelly Kennedy:Absolutely.
Kelly Kennedy:But remember, the job of a business developer is inherently human.
Kelly Kennedy:We have to ultimately be great at building authentic human connection.
Kelly Kennedy:Asking for meetings that lead to relationship creating marketing materials and interest in a product and service that can ultimately lead us to a face to face meeting where we can build relationship.
Kelly Kennedy:Everything that we are doing in business development is about creating eventually human connection that can lead to trust, rapport, opportunity, repeat business over time, and mutually beneficial relationships for both us, our companies and our clients.
Kelly Kennedy:This is what it's all about, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:And no matter what, no matter what tools we have to learn, no matter the social media skills, the personal branding skills, the AI features, the fancy CRMs that are coming out these days, no matter what, that at the end of the day is kind of all fluff.
Kelly Kennedy:And at the end of the day the job is inherently human.
Kelly Kennedy:And so we're going to go over a lot of characteristics of business development.
Kelly Kennedy:Yes, there are skills, now we just have to know there are things happening that we have to adapt to.
Kelly Kennedy:But it is important to remember that no matter what comes up, no matter what the world is asking you to do, the job of a business developer is always going to be to create human to human connection.
Kelly Kennedy:If you can build human to human connection and you can do it in an authentic human way, you are inevitably going to be more successful long term.
Kelly Kennedy:The modern business developer is evolving, mixing the old with the new, and has never had more tools available to achieve their growth goals.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, we live in a time I can't.
Kelly Kennedy:It's almost hard to believe, honestly, like at this point, guys, I've been doing business development, sales and account management for 18 years.
Kelly Kennedy:18 years.
Kelly Kennedy:And it is absolutely astonishing.
Kelly Kennedy:Astonishing how different the world is how much business development has changed the way we used to do it, the way we used to find connection, discover prospects, things along those lines.
Kelly Kennedy:We used to have to go door to door guys.
Kelly Kennedy:We used to have to like drive to an office site, drop a business card, grab a business card, make a phone call.
Kelly Kennedy:If you're lucky, they'd give you an email and then you could send them, you know, your marketing materials or whatever else.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you were really lucky, maybe they'd even give you a meeting.
Kelly Kennedy:The ease of business development has gone through the roof, I would say, since COVID Covid has really kind of changed everything and we're going to get into that today because social media has really become a non negotiable in business development, which before it really was negotiable.
Kelly Kennedy:We're going to chat about that today.
Kelly Kennedy:But I guess what I'm trying to say here is it has never been easier to do effective business development than it is today.
Kelly Kennedy:It has never been easier to create incredible marketing materials.
Kelly Kennedy:It has never been easier to track down ideal customer profiles.
Kelly Kennedy:It has never been easier to connect with the right buying positions.
Kelly Kennedy:And frankly, it's never been easier to find the contact details to reach out and book that face to face meeting either.
Kelly Kennedy:So we live in an incredible time to grow a business.
Kelly Kennedy:Let me just start by saying that right now we may live in the best time ever in human history to grow a business.
Kelly Kennedy:So before we start today, take that, think about it, chew on it, but understand, if you are trying to grow a business, you have almost every advantage possible.
Kelly Kennedy:And we're going to talk about some of the things you're going to need to do that today.
Kelly Kennedy:We're going to talk about some of the tools that you absolutely need to learn how to use.
Kelly Kennedy: ent like never before here in: Kelly Kennedy:What are some of the qualities that a modern business developer has to have or has to work on?
Kelly Kennedy:I'm not even going to say necessarily has to have.
Kelly Kennedy:You can develop any skill.
Kelly Kennedy:You can develop any skill you like.
Kelly Kennedy:So I'm going to go over 10 qualities of a modern business developer.
Kelly Kennedy:You may not have all of them at the moment and that is completely okay.
Kelly Kennedy:Every single one of these qualities is something that you can ultimately work on.
Kelly Kennedy:You can identify where you might need to grow in it.
Kelly Kennedy:And I will explain to you why these things are important as we go along as well.
Kelly Kennedy:All right?
Kelly Kennedy:Quality number one.
Kelly Kennedy:A modern business developer has to be confident.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Confidence.
Kelly Kennedy:Oh my gosh.
Kelly Kennedy:I, we've all struggled with this.
Kelly Kennedy:I'm right there with you guys.
Kelly Kennedy:I still at times struggle with confidence.
Kelly Kennedy:But you know what, if you see me in person, I probably look like the most confident person in the room.
Kelly Kennedy:You know what, Confidence isn't an absence of fear.
Kelly Kennedy:Understand that confidence is not an absence of fear.
Kelly Kennedy:It is being scared, but doing it anyway and then realizing once you start doing that thing that the thing that you were afraid of probably wasn't going to happen anyway.
Kelly Kennedy:And so the funny thing about confidence is the more that you challenge yourself to be confident, the more confident you actually become.
Kelly Kennedy:Because you start to realize the things that scare you, the things that you maybe were feeling a little lack of confidence on, probably weren't that major to begin with.
Kelly Kennedy:And most of the time, once we're exposed to that scary situation and we see that nothing happens, it makes you that much stronger the next time that you're in that exact same situation.
Kelly Kennedy:So over time, I probably look pretty confident.
Kelly Kennedy:You know, I do a lot of interviews, I look confident on my interviews, I look confident, you know, my business meetings, I always look fairly confident.
Kelly Kennedy:There's plenty of times where I'm maybe feeling a little bit anxious inside or I'm feeling a little bit not self assure, but I try not to ever let it go through.
Kelly Kennedy:And confidence is kind of one of those things where ultimately you really can fake it till you make it.
Kelly Kennedy:So understand, one of the qualities we have to have is we have to be confident because we have to speak with authority.
Kelly Kennedy:We have to speak with surety.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, you can say something wrong, right?
Kelly Kennedy:And I don't mean wrong.
Kelly Kennedy:I don't mean like you can like say the wrong thing.
Kelly Kennedy:I mean your tone and the way you say something is everything.
Kelly Kennedy:The way you say something matters, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:The way that you express something matters.
Kelly Kennedy:You can say two sentences the exact same way and have two completely different effects.
Kelly Kennedy:Yeah, this product will work for you, or yeah, this product will definitely work for you, right?
Kelly Kennedy:You can say those two things and one sounds a little unsure and the other one sounds very confident.
Kelly Kennedy:The way you say something really does matter.
Kelly Kennedy:So confidence in the way that you speak about your products and services, confidence in the way that you hold yourself, the way that you walk into a room.
Kelly Kennedy:Are you slouched?
Kelly Kennedy:Are you looking down?
Kelly Kennedy:Are you chin up, back straight.
Kelly Kennedy:Confidence is something that ultimately is earned over time.
Kelly Kennedy:So you have to, you have to believe in yourself and you have to put yourself in situations where you have the ability to grow confident.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:If there's things that you're afraid of, or if there's things that you feel are holding back your confidence, try to address them.
Kelly Kennedy:If maybe dressing nicer would help you feel better, then try that.
Kelly Kennedy:See how it works.
Kelly Kennedy:If practicing in the mirror would help you feel better, then do that.
Kelly Kennedy:If saying a prayer before you go into a meeting, like many of us, then do that.
Kelly Kennedy:Find the things that will help boost you up, help boost your confidence, and you will 100% be more successful.
Kelly Kennedy:But ultimately, in business development, we have to come across as confident.
Kelly Kennedy:We have to come across like we know what we're doing, like we know what we're talking about.
Kelly Kennedy:Because we are ultimately providing solutions for people.
Kelly Kennedy:We're ultimately trying to show people that we can help them, that we have a product and service that can help them.
Kelly Kennedy:And so we have to be not just confident in ourselves, and we don't just have to come across as confident, but we also have to be critically, guys, critically confident in our products and services.
Kelly Kennedy:And I've talked about this in earlier episodes, but if you are not confident in the product and service, if you don't think the product and service that you are standing behind right now is good for the world, you don't believe in it, you can't get behind it, you're not confident in it.
Kelly Kennedy:You are selling the wrong product and service, and you need to get out of that and find something that you can be confident with.
Kelly Kennedy:But guys, confidence comes from within.
Kelly Kennedy:It comes from putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and succeeding.
Kelly Kennedy:So hold your own in a room and believe in your self and you can absolutely build your confidence.
Kelly Kennedy:Skill.
Kelly Kennedy:The next skill is you have to be adaptable.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:You have to be adaptable.
Kelly Kennedy:Business development is changing all the time.
Kelly Kennedy:The things you need to learn are changing all the time.
Kelly Kennedy:The tools and techniques are changing all the time.
Kelly Kennedy:And guys, unfortunately, we work with humans, right?
Kelly Kennedy:In business development, we're primarily working with humans.
Kelly Kennedy:Well, unfortunately, humans go back and forth.
Kelly Kennedy:They're not always on point.
Kelly Kennedy:Things don't always go to plan.
Kelly Kennedy:Meetings are going to get canceled, people are going to be late, people are not going to show up.
Kelly Kennedy:Be adaptable.
Kelly Kennedy:Roll with the punches and make adjustments on the fly.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, trust me, it's okay.
Kelly Kennedy:Right?
Kelly Kennedy:If a client doesn't show up for a meeting, it's okay.
Kelly Kennedy:Just send them an email.
Kelly Kennedy:Just say, hey, sorry I missed you.
Kelly Kennedy:I hope you're okay.
Kelly Kennedy:Right?
Kelly Kennedy:Always give them the benefit of the doubt.
Kelly Kennedy:If things aren't going to plan, take a breather, right?
Kelly Kennedy:It's life.
Kelly Kennedy:Things don't always Go to plan, find the next best action to take and start taking it.
Kelly Kennedy:Being successful at business development has a lot to do with our own self control of our own emotions.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:And being adaptable is a big part of that, right?
Kelly Kennedy:We work in a job where a lot of people are going to tell us no, right?
Kelly Kennedy:A lot of people are going to say, nope, I don't need that.
Kelly Kennedy:No, I don't want to have a meeting with you.
Kelly Kennedy:No, I'm not interested.
Kelly Kennedy:Right?
Kelly Kennedy:That is the job.
Kelly Kennedy:Like most of the time, nose is what we get, right?
Kelly Kennedy:But ultimately over time, we have to build strength inside and adaptability is a big part of that.
Kelly Kennedy:Being able to roll with the punches and keep on going is a big part of our success in business development.
Kelly Kennedy:Number three, we have to be likable.
Kelly Kennedy:I talked about this very early on in the business development podcast.
Kelly Kennedy:I think it was one of my shows where I was saying, what are some of the traits that you should look for when you're hiring for business development?
Kelly Kennedy:I think I said trait number one is you like them in the first five minutes of sitting down and talking with them.
Kelly Kennedy:And that is still just as important today.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, being able to connect, build rapport, be a likable person is a really massive advantage in business development.
Kelly Kennedy:I'm not going to say that you necessarily have to be the most likable person on planet earth to be successful at business development.
Kelly Kennedy:But you know what, it really does help if you are a likable person if you can build rapport and connection really easily.
Kelly Kennedy:Because ultimately the job of business development is to lead things to a meeting, right?
Kelly Kennedy:Which eventually leads to an rfp, repeat business over time and hopefully a long term future customer.
Kelly Kennedy:Well, a big part of that initially of getting those initial meetings is building enough rapport and trust that they actually want to meet with you.
Kelly Kennedy:And so being likable, working on our likability is an absolutely critical part of being a great business developer.
Kelly Kennedy:And guys, you know, there's a lot of great books on this particular subject, but Dale Carnegie's how to Win Friends and Influence People is basically all about being a likable human being.
Kelly Kennedy:The entire book is basically, here's how to be a more likable person.
Kelly Kennedy:So first off, if you're feeling unlikable, that is an incredible book to read.
Kelly Kennedy:But second off, try to be kind, try to be authentic.
Kelly Kennedy:Don't pretend to be somebody that you're not.
Kelly Kennedy:Be authentic, be yourself.
Kelly Kennedy:And I think for the most part people are going to like, yeah, number four, we have to be a great listener, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Oh, man.
Kelly Kennedy:I.
Kelly Kennedy:I only got good at business development, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:When I shut up, when I just shut my mouth.
Kelly Kennedy:I know there's a lot of you laughing at that right now, because now I just yap on this most of the time.
Kelly Kennedy:But I really didn't get good at business development until I essentially stopped talking.
Kelly Kennedy:And what do I mean by that?
Kelly Kennedy:I used to get into a business meeting with somebody and I would just be like, oh, here's all of our products and services, and here's this and this and this and this and this and this and this and what do you think?
Kelly Kennedy:And they'd be like.
Kelly Kennedy:They'd be like an analysis paralysis, right?
Kelly Kennedy:Like, we don't do well with that.
Kelly Kennedy:That's not building rapport.
Kelly Kennedy:That's not building connection.
Kelly Kennedy:I didn't ask them anything about themselves.
Kelly Kennedy:I didn't ask them anything about their needs.
Kelly Kennedy:I didn't ask them about their kids, about their vacation, about anything that they do for fun.
Kelly Kennedy:Like, I wasn't building connection in the beginning when I started doing business development for.
Kelly Kennedy:And like, as stupid as that sounds, I just wasn't thinking about it.
Kelly Kennedy:Like, to me, I thought, well, my job is just to sell this product and service, right?
Kelly Kennedy:The part that I missed with that was you can't sell a product and service until you've won the trust of that person first.
Kelly Kennedy:And guess what, guys?
Kelly Kennedy:You don't build trust in product pitches.
Kelly Kennedy:You build trust in the conversations before and after them.
Kelly Kennedy:So I always say this.
Kelly Kennedy:If you're in a meeting with somebody, just go in and try to make a friend, right?
Kelly Kennedy:If there's an opportunity there, trust me, it'll present itself.
Kelly Kennedy:I've never once been to a business meeting where at some point business didn't come up, even if we didn't start there.
Kelly Kennedy:But understand business is not the place to start.
Kelly Kennedy:When you guys are having initial meetings, right?
Kelly Kennedy:Learn a little bit about them.
Kelly Kennedy:Talk, laugh, ask great questions.
Kelly Kennedy:Listen.
Kelly Kennedy:Ask more questions.
Kelly Kennedy:Listen.
Kelly Kennedy:Ask more questions.
Kelly Kennedy:Listen.
Kelly Kennedy:If they then lead it into tell me about your products and services, great.
Kelly Kennedy:Take it into that.
Kelly Kennedy:Talk about the products and services, and then listen.
Kelly Kennedy:Almost everything about human interaction comes down to how good did you listen?
Kelly Kennedy:Because guess what?
Kelly Kennedy:Nine times out of 10, your customers tell you exactly what their challenges are.
Kelly Kennedy:Nine times out of 10, they tell you exactly what their needs are.
Kelly Kennedy:But if we're too busy yapping, we're not listening and we will miss the entire thing.
Kelly Kennedy:So huge, Huge.
Kelly Kennedy:Huge, huge, huge, huge.
Kelly Kennedy:One of the biggest characteristics of a great business Development person of a modern business developer.
Kelly Kennedy:We have to ask great questions and be great listeners.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Number five, we put authentic human connection first.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Social media is not where you're building relationship.
Kelly Kennedy:Digital advertisements are not where you are building relationship.
Kelly Kennedy:A business developer's job is to get ahead of the need.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:We have all of these tools at our disposal.
Kelly Kennedy:Digital advertising platforms, social media strategies, you know, CRMs that give us all the contact data, but none of that matters if we don't pick up the phone or send those direct emails.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:We have to be focusing on building an authentic human, human connection.
Kelly Kennedy:And there is no more authentic way for you to do that than for you to pick up your phone or simply drop by the office and try to have an actual interaction with somebody where your voice can be heard, where your body language can be heard, right?
Kelly Kennedy:I always say at the end of the day, business development is most effectively done by utilizing active marketing principles.
Kelly Kennedy:And active marketing principles rely on a direct human to human interaction.
Kelly Kennedy:That can be a direct phone call, that can be a face to face meeting, that can be a direct email, assuming you know for a fact that that's going to the right person's inbox.
Kelly Kennedy:But using the most direct means necessary ultimately does put authentic human connection first.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Because you can leave a real voicemail that shows emotion, that shows a smile, that shows care.
Kelly Kennedy:And guys, trust me, you absolutely, absolutely, absolutely can hear a smile through a phone.
Kelly Kennedy:You absolutely can.
Kelly Kennedy:You know, the most success that I have is always when I get people on the phone a hundred percent.
Kelly Kennedy:You get me on the phone with somebody, nine times out of 10, I'll book that meeting, right?
Kelly Kennedy:And it might take you 10 or 11 direct calls to get there.
Kelly Kennedy:You might have to leave five voicemails or 10 voicemails before they even call you back, if they do call you back.
Kelly Kennedy:But understand every time you do that, you are building rapport through your voice.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:It is powerful.
Kelly Kennedy:It is incredibly powerful.
Kelly Kennedy:It is more powerful than social media.
Kelly Kennedy:It is more powerful than digital billboards.
Kelly Kennedy:It is powerful.
Kelly Kennedy:Trust me on this.
Kelly Kennedy:Make direct connection and watch your business grow.
Kelly Kennedy:Number six, we're just going to lead right into it.
Kelly Kennedy:Measure success in meetings, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Modern business developers understand it doesn't matter if we can't get to the meeting, everything else is fluff.
Kelly Kennedy:Understand that right now all your ad spend, everything is a waste if you cannot get it to a meeting, if you cannot get it to a place where a trusting relationship is being built.
Kelly Kennedy:Once again, for my newer listeners, understand I'm very much talking B2B relationships here I am not specifically talking B2C.
Kelly Kennedy:B2C is not as personal, relationship is not as required.
Kelly Kennedy:But in B2B you are hoping for long term, repeat business over time relationship is required.
Kelly Kennedy:And so we have to measure our success in our ability to generate relationships.
Kelly Kennedy:We generate trust and relationships and opportunity in meetings.
Kelly Kennedy:So a modern business developer measures their success not by how many calls they're making, not by how many emails they sent out, not by how much ad spend they spent on digital ads.
Kelly Kennedy:They are measuring their success by how many real human to human interactions did I have this week?
Kelly Kennedy:If you start measuring your success in meetings, you are going to be infinitely more successful than ever before because you will start to figure out how to get to meetings in as short of a time span as possible.
Kelly Kennedy:Number seven, a modern business developer knows what success looks like, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:I can't tell you how many people, how many companies I've worked with, how many people I've coached where they have no idea what it actually takes to get to their arbitrary growth goal.
Kelly Kennedy:And I say arbitrary because you can put any number on a whiteboard and say, here's our growth target for the year, but what does it matter?
Kelly Kennedy:What does that growth target matter if you have no idea what it actually takes to get there?
Kelly Kennedy:And so I always say the first thing that any business developer needs to do in a year is identify how many meetings is it going to take to close enough business statistically to achieve our targeted growth goal for the year.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:And this isn't very challenging.
Kelly Kennedy:At the end of the day.
Kelly Kennedy:It's a little bit of basic math and you can figure out based on what your growth goal is for the year, what an average customer value is and what your estimated closure rate is on new meeting opportunities.
Kelly Kennedy:But if you can figure out what these things are, you can actually identify the exact number of meetings that you will need to achieve to achieve your growth goal for the year.
Kelly Kennedy:And guys, if any of you are hearing this right now and you're like, I would like to figure this out, shoot me an email, send me your growth target for the year, your average customer value for the previous year, and your estimated closure rate on new meetings.
Kelly Kennedy:If you give me that, I will.
Kelly Kennedy:For any one of you who email me, I will send you back a response email giving you an estimate on how many meetings you will need to accomplish your growth goal.
Kelly Kennedy:But guys, this will change everything because if you're measuring your success in meetings, you know how many meetings statistically it's gonna take for you to achieve your growth goal, you know, if you're on track or not, you know what you need to do.
Kelly Kennedy:This is like step one to being successful in business development.
Kelly Kennedy:You have to know where you were going, you have to know what it takes.
Kelly Kennedy:Number eight, a modern business developer never stops learning, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:They prioritize self improvement.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, I'm learning all the time.
Kelly Kennedy:Like I'm an expert in business development.
Kelly Kennedy:Absolutely.
Kelly Kennedy:But I'm only an expert until today.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, tomorrow is a brand new day.
Kelly Kennedy:New technology, new skills, new ways to connect with people, new ways to generate those meetings, right?
Kelly Kennedy:We have to always be growing.
Kelly Kennedy:We always have to have our ear to the ground on what's new, what's coming, how can we develop, how can we do better?
Kelly Kennedy: For me this year,: Kelly Kennedy:I'm working to grow my social media presence, I'm growing my personal brand.
Kelly Kennedy:I'm hopping into video, I'm learning video skills.
Kelly Kennedy:I've already kind of mastered audio editing skills and podcasting.
Kelly Kennedy:How can I get better at videos?
Kelly Kennedy:How can I get better at educating through that form of content?
Kelly Kennedy:Figure out what is next for you, what is the next logical step and start embracing it.
Kelly Kennedy:And never stop.
Kelly Kennedy:No matter how great you get at business development, no matter how high on the entrepreneurial ladder you get, trust me, there's always a new skill to learn and there's always something new that you're going to have to learn.
Kelly Kennedy:So get on it, figure out what those things are and don't get stagnant.
Kelly Kennedy:A modern business developer never lets themselves get stagnant.
Kelly Kennedy:You never get too comfortable.
Kelly Kennedy:You're always looking for how can I do this job better, how can I become more efficient and how can I book more meetings?
Kelly Kennedy:And just an add on to that, guys, we have to also be open to new ideas and concepts.
Kelly Kennedy:And this is something that business development has struggled with for a long time, right?
Kelly Kennedy:Being open to like new ways of doing things.
Kelly Kennedy:Being open that processes might work better than just winging it like many of us do.
Kelly Kennedy:Being open to understanding that even if we have lots of connections with people, there's still a lot that we can learn on how we build new connections.
Kelly Kennedy:Many business developers rely on pre existing relationships, right?
Kelly Kennedy:And you can only leverage pre existing relationships so long until you have to find new people.
Kelly Kennedy:And so understand, understand what you are strong at, understand what your weak points are and double down, double down this year on committing, on working on those weak points.
Kelly Kennedy:Because the weak points guaranteed are the things that are holding you back the most in your business growth.
Kelly Kennedy:Number nine, a modern business developer recognizes a personal brand is no longer an option.
Kelly Kennedy: , guys,: Kelly Kennedy:And I would say, I would make an argument at this point that in order to be truly excellent at business development, we have to also be building our personal brands alongside our corporate brands.
Kelly Kennedy:What does this mean?
Kelly Kennedy:This means you are going to have to be more active on social media and specifically LinkedIn.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you haven't taken that time to start to build up your LinkedIn profiles.
Kelly Kennedy: Guys,: Kelly Kennedy:It's time to start being more active on your social medias.
Kelly Kennedy:It's time to participate in these communications, it's time to start building your follower account.
Kelly Kennedy:Because guess what, at the end of the day, it is credibility.
Kelly Kennedy:And the currency of this new world is credibility.
Kelly Kennedy:We are going from a time where it's who you know, and I think we are shifting into a time that it's who you know knows you.
Kelly Kennedy:And I think that's going to be reinforced more and more and more as we head into these subsequent years.
Kelly Kennedy: ,: Kelly Kennedy: king on your personal brands,: Kelly Kennedy:There are a thousand books on it, there are a thousand influencers that you could learn from.
Kelly Kennedy:There are incredible brand builders on LinkedIn like Amelia Sordell, Marcus Chan, Nat Berman.
Kelly Kennedy:Follow them, see what they're doing, learn from the best and start to emulate it.
Kelly Kennedy:But trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me.
Kelly Kennedy:Building your personal brand is no longer negotiable.
Kelly Kennedy:Social media is no longer a strategy.
Kelly Kennedy:It is genuinely part of the business development job.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:It is no longer something you did.
Kelly Kennedy: success in business growth in: Kelly Kennedy:Your personal brand and your corporate brand are being built in unison.
Kelly Kennedy:So it's not one or the other, it's both.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:And building your personal brand, if you're an entrepreneur, building your personal brand equally builds your corporate brand right alongside you.
Kelly Kennedy:It's a win win scenario.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy: ilding your personal brand in: Kelly Kennedy:Number 10, a modern business developer knows how to leverage AI and when not to use it.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:This is a, this is a double edged sword.
Kelly Kennedy:AI is incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:We can use it to Improve pitches, proposals to evaluate things, to give us data.
Kelly Kennedy:AI is incredible for the right use cases, but it can be very negative in other use cases.
Kelly Kennedy:Let me talk to you about social media.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy: I have a prediction that in: Kelly Kennedy:They're gonna be slammed harder than they've ever been slammed before with AI created content.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:And the challenge with this is it's twofold.
Kelly Kennedy:One side, companies look at AI generated content and think, oh, well, we can do that really easily and we can up our social media game.
Kelly Kennedy:And so they just put it out there.
Kelly Kennedy:They don't edit it, they don't think about it.
Kelly Kennedy:They just pump the world full of social media content trying to get eyes on their brand.
Kelly Kennedy:But AI generated content has this challenge.
Kelly Kennedy:We don't resonate very well with it.
Kelly Kennedy:Humans don't resonate well with AI generated content.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Well, it's polished, it's pretty, it's perfect, right?
Kelly Kennedy:Humans, we're not polished, we're not pretty, we're not perfect.
Kelly Kennedy:We have flaws, we have spelling mistakes.
Kelly Kennedy:We are just.
Kelly Kennedy:We're a mess, right?
Kelly Kennedy:Like, we're humankind.
Kelly Kennedy:We're a mess.
Kelly Kennedy: thing about that is, is that: Kelly Kennedy:And I mean that in like the best possible way.
Kelly Kennedy:But, like, ultimately, don't be afraid to just like type something up quickly and put a picture of yourself and shoot it out there.
Kelly Kennedy:That content is going to resonate like a thousand percent better than like the best AI generated content.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Because AI is just too polished and perfect and we spot it and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Kelly Kennedy:And if we in this modern day now counter that by putting authentic human posts out there, by sharing videos, by sharing pictures of us with our family, or doing things we love to do, by having an authentic comment, by having an authentic message in.
Kelly Kennedy:In our captions, guys, it goes like.
Kelly Kennedy:It's unreal.
Kelly Kennedy:It's unreal.
Kelly Kennedy: a personal human messaging in: Kelly Kennedy:So don't just hear me on this.
Kelly Kennedy:Try it.
Kelly Kennedy:Try it.
Kelly Kennedy:Put out a corporate post, put out a personal post and see which one does better.
Kelly Kennedy:But trust me, I can pretty well guarantee you that personal post is going to blow the AI post right out of the water.
Kelly Kennedy:All right, so We've talked about 10 characteristics, right?
Kelly Kennedy:You know, they're not too challenging.
Kelly Kennedy:Most of it is be a human, but also be willing to learn, also be willing to make genuine human connection but don't be afraid of utilizing technology.
Kelly Kennedy:We have to know the technology guys, business development isn't going to change.
Kelly Kennedy:At the end of the day, it's always going to be about human to human connection.
Kelly Kennedy:The tools that will come available to us to hopefully facilitate making that easier.
Kelly Kennedy:Well, I welcome that.
Kelly Kennedy:If there's tools that come available to us that hopefully continue to make that process easier, I AM Absolutely, absolutely 100% on board for that.
Kelly Kennedy:Right.
Kelly Kennedy:But remember, at the end of the day, the most powerful tool you have is literally your phone.
Kelly Kennedy:It's your phone.
Kelly Kennedy:It's your phone and your voice and your ability to pick it up and generate genuine human connection.
Kelly Kennedy:That is your superpower as a modern business developer, no matter what other technology you embrace.
Kelly Kennedy:What are some of the tools that we're using, guys?
Kelly Kennedy:I'm just going to list out like seven tools that at this point I would say are absolutely mandatory to get good at.
Kelly Kennedy:And so if you're not utilizing one of these right now, don't feel bad about it.
Kelly Kennedy:It's no big deal.
Kelly Kennedy:It is something though, that you absolutely should get some lessons on.
Kelly Kennedy:It is something that you should absolutely start to incorporate though, into your weekly and if you need some help with it, maybe start looking for some lessons on it.
Kelly Kennedy:But ultimately, here are the tools of the modern business developer.
Kelly Kennedy:You need one, obviously, a phone, right?
Kelly Kennedy:Your cell phone is going nowhere at the end of the day.
Kelly Kennedy:Your phone is your most powerful tool as a modern business developer.
Kelly Kennedy:Your email, your second most powerful tool.
Kelly Kennedy:At the end of the day.
Kelly Kennedy:We can send our marketing materials, we can book and schedule meetings on our calendars.
Kelly Kennedy:Your email is absolutely powerful and I think we all know that.
Kelly Kennedy:Number three, mandatory now.
Kelly Kennedy:Mandatory LinkedIn.
Kelly Kennedy:You have to have LinkedIn as a business developer in a modern world, whether you're a business owner, whether you're a business development specialist, or somewhere in between, you absolutely, absolutely not just have to have LinkedIn.
Kelly Kennedy:You have to be actively utilizing it on a daily basis, building your followers, building your connections and posting content both professional and personal.
Kelly Kennedy:We have to be building both our business brand and our personal brands in unison.
Kelly Kennedy:But trust me, there has been no better tool ever invented than LinkedIn for business development.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you are not utilizing it, you absolutely will be falling behind.
Kelly Kennedy:Number four, you may find this interesting, but Canva, you absolutely, as a business developer, now have to learn how to utilize a tool like Canva.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Because we need to be able to create content on the fly real quick sometimes.
Kelly Kennedy:But it can be creating personal photos, it can Be creating really cool corporate content that we can share on our, on our personal pages and our corporate pages.
Kelly Kennedy:But learning how to utilize a design program like Canva at this point is non negotiable.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, you need to figure out how to utilize them.
Kelly Kennedy:Canva is amazing.
Kelly Kennedy:It's probably one of the coolest, coolest tools.
Kelly Kennedy:It's inexpensive.
Kelly Kennedy:It absolutely serves an incredibly wide gamut of needs for a business developer, for anybody who creates content.
Kelly Kennedy:So learning how to use Canva, guys, trust me, if you haven't been utilizing it, I know there's a lot of you out there that are still on the fence about it.
Kelly Kennedy:Grab yourself a canvas subscription, Start learning how to utilize it.
Kelly Kennedy:Start putting out weekly posts that you guys build in Canva.
Kelly Kennedy:You will be impressed by the incredible, incredible stuff that you can make in Canva.
Kelly Kennedy:Number five, you need a camera.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, this one's brand new.
Kelly Kennedy:I never in a million years thought that I would say that as a business developer, you absolutely need a camera.
Kelly Kennedy: But guys, in: Kelly Kennedy:It really is.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:We talked about it before.
Kelly Kennedy:In a time of AI and robots, in a time where everything is so polished, so perfect, there is no more authentic way to connect with your clientele and your customers and build rapport and trust than by seeing your beautiful faces in your social media posts.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, I want you guys to start learning video.
Kelly Kennedy:And I know it's a weird ask, and I know right now it probably feels like, oh, my gosh, I don't want to do that.
Kelly Kennedy:I get it, I get it.
Kelly Kennedy:I felt the exact same way.
Kelly Kennedy: ld you at the very beginning,: Kelly Kennedy:I'm tripling down on video.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Because I can create trust and rapport with people 24 hours a day by releasing video content to the world.
Kelly Kennedy:And you, as a business developer, as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, you can too.
Kelly Kennedy:And so there's going to be a gap, a gap that's going to start to widen.
Kelly Kennedy:And that gap is going to be the people who embrace video and the people who don't.
Kelly Kennedy: mbrace video are going to win: Kelly Kennedy:Trust me on this.
Kelly Kennedy:If you right now do not have a great camera, I would highly, highly recommend you go and pick yourself up something like a dji, OSMO pocket, something along those lines of vlogger camera.
Kelly Kennedy:Just something that you can record things quick, edit quick, and get out to the world.
Kelly Kennedy: e a differentiator for you in: Kelly Kennedy:And it is time to start working on your video skills.
Kelly Kennedy:And number six, to coincide with that, descript, okay, you guys can use any editor you want.
Kelly Kennedy:Riverside does something similar.
Kelly Kennedy:But Descript is like probably the best AI video editor out there with regards to editing quickly, with regards to creating high quality video content, with regards to cleaning up your sound quality as well.
Kelly Kennedy:If you're going to be doing video, highly recommend that you also get yourself a subscription to descript.
Kelly Kennedy:And it is essentially a transcriber and a video editor.
Kelly Kennedy:And you can literally edit it, guys, by just deleting the words.
Kelly Kennedy:So if there's a part that you say that you don't like, great.
Kelly Kennedy:Delete those words and that part of the video is gone.
Kelly Kennedy:It's like magic.
Kelly Kennedy:And you will be creating incredible video content faster than you could have ever thought possible.
Kelly Kennedy:Get yourself to script, start learning it.
Kelly Kennedy:It is no longer optional.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys.
Kelly Kennedy:Learn how to do video.
Kelly Kennedy:Learn how to edit your video and find tools to help you do it faster.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:And last but never least, and you guys know this with me, never least, you need your CRM systems, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:CRMs are epic.
Kelly Kennedy:They are required.
Kelly Kennedy:They keep you on track, they keep you organized, they keep everything in one place, they keep your data.
Kelly Kennedy: modern business developer in: Kelly Kennedy:The modern business developer is in some ways stuck between worlds.
Kelly Kennedy:But it is important to remember that the job is about creating opportunity through authentic human, human connection.
Kelly Kennedy:While we have much technology at our disposal these days, building authentic human connection is going to require just that authentic human touch.
Kelly Kennedy:In a world of AI and robots.
Kelly Kennedy:Remember people, be human.
Kelly Kennedy:That takes us to the end of our show today.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys.
Kelly Kennedy:I absolutely love this one.
Kelly Kennedy:I hope that you guys loved it too.
Kelly Kennedy:If you, if you're hearing this show and you want support in business development, you're a business owner, you're a business development specialist and you want a level up, you want a plan, you want a process on how to tackle business development more effectively.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, I have my own three month business development mastery program and you absolutely, absolutely, absolutely need to do it with me.
Kelly Kennedy:It is incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:We are going to work on identifying your ideal customer profiles, we're going to work on your marketing materials, we're going to work on building our personal brands.
Kelly Kennedy:And we are absolutely going to create a process that is effective and successful for you and your business and any business you work at from this point forward.
Kelly Kennedy:You can book a free discovery call at www.capitalbd.ca or directly from my LinkedIn page and I hope to see you there.
Kelly Kennedy:If you love this show and you operate a business and you potentially want to sponsor with us, we are opening up our show to additional sponsors.
Kelly Kennedy:Feel free to reach out to me directly over LinkedIn and I would be happy to send you any details on our current sponsorship packages.
Kelly Kennedy:And last but not least, rate and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify wherever you listen.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, I can't tell you how appreciative I am when you guys leave me a written review on Apple Podcasts.
Kelly Kennedy:It really makes all the difference in growing this show.
Kelly Kennedy:So if you have not done so and you have some time today, I would greatly, greatly, greatly appreciate written reviews wherever you listen.
Kelly Kennedy:Shout Outs this Week Jillian Shecker, Colin Harms, Nate Simpson, Adam Kimmel, Justin Tome, Vajran Swaminathan, Sile Kerr, Daniel Sonnenberg, Jamar Jones, Lauren Graff, Tash Jeffries, Sean Neals, Brian Hayes, Brad Warren, Susan Pasaka, John Pelly, Rich Cohen, Cruz Gamba, Jack Dyer, Matthew West, Jermaine A.
Kelly Kennedy:Ricardo J.
Kelly Kennedy:Flores, Jason Chakalakal, Gary Noseworthy, Daniel Jarris, Michelle, Sammy Wieb and Nathan Plum.
Kelly Kennedy:Until next time, you've been listening to the Business Development Podcast and we will catch you on the flip side.
Mark Cuban: business development firm in: Mark Cuban:His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development.
Mark Cuban:The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists.
Mark Cuban:For more we invite you to the website at www.capitalbd.ca.
Mark Cuban:see you next time on the Business Development Podcast.
