Episode 201
Who Needs Business Development: The Power of Active Marketing for Maximum ROI
Who Needs Business Development: The Power of Active Marketing for Maximum ROI
Episode 201 of The Business Development Podcast dives into a critical question for every business owner: Who actually needs business development, and how can active marketing drive greater ROI? Host Kelly Kennedy breaks down why business development is essential for businesses of all sizes, whether you're a solopreneur or a large organization. He emphasizes that passive marketing strategies like ads and social media can help with brand recognition, but they don’t drive consistent revenue in B2B or high-ticket industries. Instead, an 80/20 approach—focusing 80% on active marketing through direct outreach, relationship-building, and strategic engagement—yields the highest return. Kennedy lays out the six fundamental steps for launching a strong business development process, from identifying key industries and decision-makers to leveraging LinkedIn and securing high-value meetings.
Listeners will gain actionable insights on how to proactively generate new business, build lasting relationships, and ensure long-term growth by implementing an effective business development strategy. Kennedy also dispels the myth that only struggling businesses need business development—on the contrary, even the most successful companies must continuously pursue new opportunities to avoid stagnation. By prioritizing active marketing and direct engagement, businesses can take control of their sales pipeline, create sustainable revenue streams, and position themselves for success in 2025 and beyond.
Key Takeaways:
1. Every business with customers needs business development, whether through a dedicated team or as a solopreneur.
2. Growth is a long-term game; consistent, strategic effort leads to sustainable success.
3. Trust and relationships are the foundation of lasting business success, especially in B2B markets.
4. Passive marketing builds brand awareness, but active marketing drives revenue and real client engagement.
5. The 80/20 rule in business development: 80% active marketing, 20% passive marketing for optimal ROI.
6. Active marketing means direct outreach, personal engagement, and relationship-building ahead of customer needs.
7. Without consistent business development, companies risk stagnation, lost clients, and missed opportunities.
8. LinkedIn is a game-changer for finding and connecting with the right decision-makers.
9. Face-to-face meetings—virtual or in-person—are essential for building trust and securing long-term business.
10. Success in business development is measured by meetings and relationships first—revenue follows naturally.
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If you're serious about taking your business development skills to the next level, let’s talk. Book your free discovery session today and see how this program can help you achieve your goals.
Links referenced in this episode:
Transcript
Welcome to episode 201 of the Business Development Podcast.
Kelly Kennedy:Today we're tackling the age old question, do I even need business development?
Kelly Kennedy:And how the heck do I get it started?
Kelly Kennedy: rocess starting early here in: 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 years 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 201 of the Business Development Podcast.
Kelly Kennedy:My gosh, 201 episodes.
Kelly Kennedy:It is an honor and a privilege to be here everyone.
Kelly Kennedy:Cannot believe we are here.
Kelly Kennedy:Could not have got here without your support.
Kelly Kennedy:So thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking with us, for telling your friends and family and for keeping this show going for over 200 episodes.
Kelly Kennedy:Super cool and very excited to head into this next phase of the Business Development Podcast with you.
Kelly Kennedy:I definitely find that as we go from 100 episodes at a time, it really does feel like like ages or tears or phases of the show.
Kelly Kennedy:So it'll be really interesting to see what comes of this phase of the show and I'm very excited about that.
Kelly Kennedy:I know we have some absolutely incredible guests coming up guys.
Kelly Kennedy: e already recorded the entire: Kelly Kennedy:I think you won't be disappointed.
Kelly Kennedy: eral planned for you guys for: Kelly Kennedy:So if you've been with continue to stick with us.
Kelly Kennedy:If you just found us today, give us a follow.
Kelly Kennedy: ur businesses as we head into: Kelly Kennedy: And on that note, happy: Kelly Kennedy:I hope you all had an absolutely incredible New Year's and January is treating you well so far.
Kelly Kennedy: my first recorded episode of: Kelly Kennedy:So excited to be here.
Kelly Kennedy:I hope you all have some really incredible, ambitious goals for the year.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you have, I want to see them.
Kelly Kennedy: ll of our corporate goals for: Kelly Kennedy:I listed them out.
Kelly Kennedy:I put it out to the world.
Kelly Kennedy:I know it's scary, but you know what?
Kelly Kennedy:If you put them out there, they tend to happen.
Kelly Kennedy:So let the universe work in your favor.
Kelly Kennedy: know what your goals are for: Kelly Kennedy:And if you were on that page and you see somebody else's goals that you think you might be able to help them with, let them know DM the person, let them know how you can help them.
Kelly Kennedy: ieve all of our goals here in: Kelly Kennedy:We have a great community.
Kelly Kennedy:I think something like that could happen for each and every one of us.
Kelly Kennedy:All right, we've been doing a bit of a Go Back to the Beginning series.
Kelly Kennedy: at is business development in: Kelly Kennedy: needs business development in: Kelly Kennedy:I know we have a lot of new listeners and not all of you are necessarily going back to the very beginning and listening forward.
Kelly Kennedy:So this year I wanted to spend some time talking about business development fundamentals, talking about who needs business development, what is business development, how can we u it better?
Kelly Kennedy:What works and what doesn't?
Kelly Kennedy:And today's episode I really wanted to go back to who needs business development, who does it benefit?
Kelly Kennedy:And how the heck can you get started?
Kelly Kennedy:So we're going to kind of try to delve into some of these things today.
Kelly Kennedy:For some of my newer listeners and for some of my business owners who maybe have just launched their businesses or are in growth phases for their already existing businesses and just want to know if they're on track and what they should double down on and how they should maybe allocate some of those business development funds, whether it's going to active or passive marketing strategies.
Kelly Kennedy:For any of you that have been with me for a while, you know that the beginning of this asking do you need business development?
Kelly Kennedy:Was a total trick question.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, if you have a business with customers, you absolutely need business development and Whether that's a business development company, whether that's an internal business development team, or whether that's simply you as a solopreneur business developing your own company, you absolutely need it.
Kelly Kennedy:And it can feel like a daunting task, especially if you are a newer or smaller business looking to gain a foothold.
Kelly Kennedy:It is important to remember the business development and hopefully your business are both in it for the long game.
Kelly Kennedy:They are long game things, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:Do not rush the process.
Kelly Kennedy:Work to grow on a weekly basis, commit to taking steps and you will achieve growth over time.
Kelly Kennedy:It is no question that the digital age and social media are impacting businesses and brands like never before.
Kelly Kennedy:But it is also critical to remember that trust is built by people and relationships are king in long term business.
Kelly Kennedy:No matter what you do, real relationships matter, everyone.
Kelly Kennedy:And business development is about creating genuine connection, real relationships, real trust and real repeat business opportunities over time.
Kelly Kennedy:What are some of the biggest challenges that you and your business are facing?
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, no matter who you are, no matter how big of a company you are today, you still face these challenges.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:There are places that you are unknown.
Kelly Kennedy:You have limited budgets.
Kelly Kennedy:No matter how big your companies are, there are budgets for marketing and sales.
Kelly Kennedy:There are budgets for business development.
Kelly Kennedy:At the end of the day, we are all working with limited budgets.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:You need more customers.
Kelly Kennedy:No matter how good you are today, no matter how great you are, customers can leave at any time, for any reason.
Kelly Kennedy:And we tend to forget that.
Kelly Kennedy:We tend to get into this space where it's like it's all good.
Kelly Kennedy:We're trucking along, our customers are here, we have contracts.
Kelly Kennedy:But remember, customers can leave at any time for any reason and they do.
Kelly Kennedy:We always have to be doing business development to find new customers, new opportunities.
Kelly Kennedy:And you need to build a reputable brand.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:You need to build a reputable brand and brand recognition that comes along with that.
Kelly Kennedy:So no matter who you are, are, no matter what your company is, no matter Whether it's day one or day 10,001, you are still facing these challenges and we have to take them on every single day.
Kelly Kennedy:Companies tend to think that their challenges are different and I see this all the time.
Kelly Kennedy:Obviously I've done coaching with a lot of different people, I've spoken with a lot of different businesses, I've worked with a lot of different businesses.
Kelly Kennedy:And everybody thinks that they are unique, that they are facing these very unique challenges to them.
Kelly Kennedy:But you know what?
Kelly Kennedy:Almost every single business is facing the exact same challenges and I see them over and over again.
Kelly Kennedy:But the great news, guys, is that almost all of these challenges with regards to business growth, they can be overcome.
Kelly Kennedy:Now, in the beginning of this episode, guys, I answered the question that obviously we need business development.
Kelly Kennedy:I think most people on some level recognize that something has to be done to grow their business, and it's not going to happen on its own, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:But the level of business development that you need, it really does depend on your company goals.
Kelly Kennedy:So remember, what is business development supposed to do?
Kelly Kennedy:It is supposed to help you achieve your goals.
Kelly Kennedy:And this is where I see so many businesses doing it wrong, where you'll hire a business development team because you say, you know what, I want to grow.
Kelly Kennedy:So I'm going to hire business development, I'm going to hire an expert, I'm going to start paying for advertising, but they don't know where they are going.
Kelly Kennedy:And so in order to understand how much business development we need or what steps to take, we have to know how much new business growth we actually want to achieve.
Kelly Kennedy: to grow your business here in: Kelly Kennedy:Make it something that your company can actually accomplish logistically.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:It's one thing to say I want to grow by X, Y, Z, but it's a whole nother thing to logistically be able to achieve that growth.
Kelly Kennedy: r new growth goal you set for: Kelly Kennedy:Your machines can keep up, your people can keep up, and you can deliver on that additional work as you secure it, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:So make sure that our growth goals are realistic, not just pie in the sky growth goals, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:So you have to ask yourself obviously the following questions.
Kelly Kennedy:Is my company achieving the growth that I set out to make?
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:So if the answer to this is is no, we're not currently achieving the growth, additional business development can likely help with that.
Kelly Kennedy:Are we over capacity?
Kelly Kennedy:And what is our capacity?
Kelly Kennedy:Obviously, this is going back to what I just said.
Kelly Kennedy:Make sure that we are setting growth goals that are not going to put us over capacity, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:That are not going to be unachievable even if we get the business development to try to secure that business.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:We want business development to be a positive thing for our organizations, right?
Kelly Kennedy:But if we're out there business developing and we're really successful and we bring a whole bunch of opportunity, it's very bad if suddenly you have to start turning that opportunity away.
Kelly Kennedy:So make sure that if we are going to be doing business development, that we are at a capacity stage where we can actually accommodate that growth.
Kelly Kennedy:Ask yourself this, if I lost a major client tomorrow, would we be in trouble?
Kelly Kennedy:Would we survive?
Kelly Kennedy:If the answer is no, you absolutely need to be doing business development to find new opportunity for your business so that when that inevitably happens at some point in time, you are not in major trouble.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:We have to be doing business development consistently to make sure that we always have new opportunities coming in and that we're building new relationships that can replace those long term relationships as they come to an end of need.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Ask yourself, am I consistently finding new customers?
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, if the answer is no, we don't have a lot of new customers coming in, we don't have a lot of new leads coming in.
Kelly Kennedy:We need business development to rectify this challenge because we have to have new opportunities coming in over time to make sure that we always have consistent revenue coming into our business from not just current sources, but from new sources as well.
Kelly Kennedy:And ask yourself, lastly, am I building brand recognition in my market, in my area, in my market, no matter how big, far and wide that is, do customers know who I am?
Kelly Kennedy:Do they know what I do?
Kelly Kennedy:Do they know my brand name?
Kelly Kennedy:Do they know what my company can provide to them?
Kelly Kennedy:This is a business development job.
Kelly Kennedy:We are like champions of companies.
Kelly Kennedy:We shout the names from the rooftops and we spread the message far and wide across industries to make sure that your brand is getting known.
Kelly Kennedy:When business development is done efficiently and effectively, it will help you to address many of those challenges.
Kelly Kennedy:Unfortunately, much of the advice that you are seeing is focused on passive marketing strategies like social media, ads, tv, radio guys, we're getting bombarded with people telling us that if we spend XYZ on Instagram, if we spend XYZ on LinkedIn, if we buy the latest and greatest billboard, if we get a TV and radio ad, our business is going to grow.
Kelly Kennedy:And you know what, if you're in B2C business to customer or end user, that can actually be really, really effective.
Kelly Kennedy:Especially if you have low dollar items like clothing or things along those lines.
Kelly Kennedy:B2C advertising through social media influencers, things like that, it works really, really well.
Kelly Kennedy:Where it tends to fall flat on its face is with B2B and high ticket items, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:These things do not sell well across social media.
Kelly Kennedy:What social media and passive strategies are absolutely incredible for is building brand recognition.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:And you know what?
Kelly Kennedy:No matter what you do in any type of business development, whether you're doing active Marketing or passive marketing?
Kelly Kennedy:You absolutely need a little bit of both.
Kelly Kennedy:Right?
Kelly Kennedy:Active marketing is where we get ahead of the need.
Kelly Kennedy:This is like bare bones business development.
Kelly Kennedy:This is old school.
Kelly Kennedy:But the most effective way to do business development, right?
Kelly Kennedy:Because business development is about building genuine connection, human to human interaction.
Kelly Kennedy:Which means the tools that we use to do this are human.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, we're picking up the phone and we're making real connections.
Kelly Kennedy:We're asking for face to face meetings, we're sending direct emails when we know we have the email to the person we want to speak to.
Kelly Kennedy:We're finding the most direct way to connect with this person as possible.
Kelly Kennedy:And then we're working to build a genuine relationship ahead of the need.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay.
Kelly Kennedy:The secret with active marketing is we're building genuine trust and human to human interaction ahead of the need.
Kelly Kennedy:Why is this important?
Kelly Kennedy:Because you want people to know who you are and what you do ahead of them needing your product and service.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Because you don't want to be being found at the same time that they're having their challenges.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Because not only are they finding you, they're finding all of your competitors at the same time.
Kelly Kennedy:And they're having to make a choice as to who they use because they don't have a pre existing relationship.
Kelly Kennedy:When active marketing is done effectively, you are creating a pre existing relationship, trust and rapport ahead of the need.
Kelly Kennedy:And so when XYZ customer has a challenge, who are they going to call?
Kelly Kennedy:It's not Ghostbusters, it's you.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:They're going to call you because you've already built and established that relationship.
Kelly Kennedy:How does that contrast with passive marketing?
Kelly Kennedy:Passive marketing works with like our social media ads, things like that.
Kelly Kennedy:And what we are assuming is they are searching for us at the time of need.
Kelly Kennedy:This is not a good thing for B2B brands because they're finding you and all your competitors at the same time.
Kelly Kennedy:And it just doesn't work well.
Kelly Kennedy:It doesn't work well for the bid process, it doesn't work well for the customer getting what they need in an efficient and timely manner.
Kelly Kennedy:The relationship isn't there if something doesn't go to plan.
Kelly Kennedy:It just ultimately long term, we want to get ahead of the need.
Kelly Kennedy:An effective business development is active marketing.
Kelly Kennedy:We're using direct human to human interaction.
Kelly Kennedy:We're building rapport ahead, we're booking meetings, we're building rapport, we're negotiating and doing things on behalf of the client to make sure that it's a win win scenario for both players.
Kelly Kennedy:Business development really needs to be focused 80% on active marketing and only about 20% on your passive marketing strategies.
Kelly Kennedy:I know many of you are spending way too much money on your passive marketing strategies and you're not getting the ROIs you're hoping for.
Kelly Kennedy:And I can tell you right now, it's really because passive marketing is all about brand recognition.
Kelly Kennedy:But brand recognition does not necessarily translate into dollars and cents.
Kelly Kennedy:You need it to work cohesively with an active marketing process.
Kelly Kennedy:If you have brand recognition going on and somebody reaching out to these people, it makes it like ten times more effective.
Kelly Kennedy:You're that much more likely to that meeting and eventually that business that's going to lead to roi.
Kelly Kennedy:But you really need to do it both at the same time.
Kelly Kennedy:You need to be doing active marketing about 80% along with a passive marketing strategy.
Kelly Kennedy:And when you combine those things, you create success.
Kelly Kennedy:Now, I've been talking about active and passive marketing, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:I have many shows on active and passive marketing.
Kelly Kennedy:You're welcome to go back if you want to dive deep, but I'm going to go quickly into what they are.
Kelly Kennedy:Active marketing is direct contact by phone or email, human to human interaction.
Kelly Kennedy:It's a highly targeted process instead of a broad spectrum process, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:We're making sure that we have the right people at the right organizations and we're getting in direct contact with them with the goal of getting a meeting.
Kelly Kennedy:Active marketing is meeting focused, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:And it's aimed at building trust, rapport, and human relationship that leads to repeat business over time.
Kelly Kennedy:And we're getting ahead of the need.
Kelly Kennedy:So we are introducing our company to people who might need the service ahead of them, needing that service, leading to more opportunities coming your way over time.
Kelly Kennedy:Passive marketing, on the other hand, is indirect contact.
Kelly Kennedy:It's social media strategy.
Kelly Kennedy:It's billboards, it's radio, it's TV ads.
Kelly Kennedy:It is not human to human interaction.
Kelly Kennedy:There is an intermediary, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:It builds brand recognition incredibly effectively.
Kelly Kennedy:It tends to be expensive and not necessarily deliver roi.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:And you must get the customer at the time of need.
Kelly Kennedy:It's not proactive.
Kelly Kennedy: I always say the: Kelly Kennedy:Guys, we want to do 80% active marketing.
Kelly Kennedy:Direct, human to human interaction that leads to meetings, relationships, and repeat business over time.
Kelly Kennedy:We want to be 80% active marketing and about 20% passive marketing for our marketing spend.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys.
Kelly Kennedy:And now I know a lot of you, your wheels are turning and you're like, okay, Kelly, this actually makes a lot of sense.
Kelly Kennedy:If I want to do active business Development.
Kelly Kennedy:How the heck do we get started?
Kelly Kennedy:Now I'm going to give you guys six steps on how we can enact the business development process and what might be important.
Kelly Kennedy:Understand this is a pretty brief overview, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:If you want to go more in depth.
Kelly Kennedy:We have plenty of shows that go into the active marketing process and I would encourage each and every one of you to check them out if you want to learn something that's a little more in depth than what we're going to go over today.
Kelly Kennedy:But number one, we have to start with marketing materials that build interest.
Kelly Kennedy:Part one of the business development process has to be do we have marketing materials that will build interest with our ideal clients?
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, now there's a lot to this particular one, but you're going to need three materials.
Kelly Kennedy:Specifically, you are going to need a 20 story skyscraper website.
Kelly Kennedy:What do I mean that?
Kelly Kennedy: In: Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:So make sure that you guys are going through and you're making a really beautiful website.
Kelly Kennedy:It's visually appealing, it's current, it goes over all your products and services.
Kelly Kennedy:It has video.
Kelly Kennedy:Video is huge.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys.
Kelly Kennedy:We absolutely have to have video in our websites.
Kelly Kennedy: It's in: Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy: ho you are and what you do in: Kelly Kennedy:Make sure that we are reviewing our websites annually and updating them as such.
Kelly Kennedy:Number two, we need brochures.
Kelly Kennedy: bold, beautiful brochures in: Kelly Kennedy:We need to make sure that you have a very captivating cover image.
Kelly Kennedy:Not too wordy, but once again is accurate to you, speaks to your customer, lets them know what you're gonna do for them, lets you know how you serve their industry.
Kelly Kennedy:And once again, you may need to have multiple because you might have multiple industries that you target.
Kelly Kennedy:And so if you work in oil and gas, you need to have a brochure that speaks to oil and gas.
Kelly Kennedy:If you work in forestry, you need to have one that speaks to forestry.
Kelly Kennedy:If you work in manufacturing, well, you guessed it, one that speaks to manufacturing.
Kelly Kennedy:And a great way to do this is to create a folder style brochure that's very general, but then have one page inserts that go along with that brochure for each industry so that you can speak to them independently about what their needs are and how your company can fill those needs.
Kelly Kennedy:And last but not least, you guys need beautiful Business cards.
Kelly Kennedy:Because guess what, you're still having face to face meetings and business cards are still relevant, by the way.
Kelly Kennedy:Real brochures are also still relevant and should be brought to every single face to face meeting.
Kelly Kennedy:I can't tell you guys how many times I'll be sitting at a face to face meeting, I'll give them a brochure and they will look at me and say, oh, I didn't know you guys did that.
Kelly Kennedy:No matter how great you are, there's always something that gets missed.
Kelly Kennedy:And a brochure allows talking points to come up during meetings.
Kelly Kennedy:Always make sure when we're having the face to face meetings that we are bringing real brochures and real business cards with us.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, we need to identify industries, locations and buying positions.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Ideal customer profiling.
Kelly Kennedy:We need to identify who buys our products and services, right?
Kelly Kennedy:We can't just be marketing to everyone and their dog.
Kelly Kennedy:We can't.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:We don't have marketing budgets that afford us to speak to absolutely everyone.
Kelly Kennedy:So if we're going to be effective in this position, we have to make sure that we are identifying who can buy our products and services, what industries we can serve and what locations we can serve.
Kelly Kennedy:And guys, no matter where you are, you are most effective where you are at.
Kelly Kennedy:I get asked all the time, can I service the whole country?
Kelly Kennedy:Can I service the nation?
Kelly Kennedy:Whether it's the United States, Canada or the world, the answer is probably.
Kelly Kennedy:But you are going to be most competitive where you are at.
Kelly Kennedy:So start there and work your way out, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:I can't tell you how many people try to bite off more than they can chew and they haven't even found all the opportunity in the locations where they are at.
Kelly Kennedy:You are most competitive there.
Kelly Kennedy:As you spread out further and further and further, there are going to be local companies that are more competitive than you are.
Kelly Kennedy:And so you need to figure out what your advantage is as you get further and further and further from home base.
Kelly Kennedy:So start where you are and move out from there.
Kelly Kennedy:Identify who can actually buy your products and services, what positions at the companies buy your products and services.
Kelly Kennedy:Is it supply chain?
Kelly Kennedy:Is it director of operations?
Kelly Kennedy:Is it the plant manager?
Kelly Kennedy:Is the manufacturing manager?
Kelly Kennedy:Is it an HSE director?
Kelly Kennedy:Based on whatever your products and services are, you have to identify what are the buying positions at the companies and target those specifically.
Kelly Kennedy:And yes, there are probably multiple.
Kelly Kennedy:At most of the companies and organizations I've worked with, there are multiple buying positions for that product and service.
Kelly Kennedy:And so don't be afraid to try all of Them or as many of them until you can narrow it down to who are the best ones and target those specifically at every single company you want to work with.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you guys are getting really like granular like this and you are identifying the right positions, it makes it 10 times easier to book those face to face meetings that lead to real business for your organization.
Kelly Kennedy:Number three, we have to utilize LinkedIn to connect with those ideal positions at target companies and focus that time on all of those buying positions.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, we have like the greatest tool known to business developer kind, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:It's called LinkedIn.
Kelly Kennedy:Literally at this point, guys, almost every single one of your customers is on LinkedIn.
Kelly Kennedy:They have their buying positions up there, the company's listed.
Kelly Kennedy:It has never, ever in the history of business been easier to connect with the right person at the organizations you want to work with.
Kelly Kennedy:Start utilizing LinkedIn heavily, use it to track down those people, use it to do digital introductions and eventually make direct contact with those people.
Kelly Kennedy:But trust me, start using LinkedIn.
Kelly Kennedy:It is no longer optional and if you aren't using it, you are at an extreme disadvantage.
Kelly Kennedy:It is time to be utilizing LinkedIn on a daily basis to grow your businesses and your personal brands over time.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, number four, make direct contact and book face to face meetings.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, this is what it's all about.
Kelly Kennedy:It's about generating real relationships, real trust, real rapport ahead of the buying need.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, make sure that we are taking the time, not just quitting at the digital introduction stage, not just quitting at the emails, but taking this to a face to face meeting.
Kelly Kennedy:And keep in mind, by face to face, I'm talking 20, 25.
Kelly Kennedy:This can be virtual.
Kelly Kennedy:This can be a virtual face to face meeting.
Kelly Kennedy:Trust and relationship can be built via a screen, but you have to have a virtual meeting face to face and hopefully eventually lead that to a face to face lunch meeting or something in person where real relationship can be gained.
Kelly Kennedy:That is where the advantage is long term.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, you have to be able to build real genuine relationships with your potential customers so that you can alleviate their fears and build trust and rapport that leads to repeat business and relationship over time.
Kelly Kennedy:Number five, always make sure that when we have the face to face meetings that we are identifying the five magic words.
Kelly Kennedy:The five magic words, guys, are what are the next steps?
Kelly Kennedy:A meeting doesn't matter if it goes nowhere.
Kelly Kennedy:Understand that no matter how great that meeting is, no matter what happens from it, if it goes nowhere and that's the end, you're dead in the water.
Kelly Kennedy:Always ask at the End of any meeting, Internal company meetings, External company meetings, Face to face client meetings.
Kelly Kennedy:This was a great meeting.
Kelly Kennedy:What are the next steps?
Kelly Kennedy:Make sure that you clarify with the client.
Kelly Kennedy:What do they need from you?
Kelly Kennedy:Is there a pre qualification coming?
Kelly Kennedy:Is there a potential RFP coming?
Kelly Kennedy:Is there an order coming?
Kelly Kennedy:What are the next steps?
Kelly Kennedy:And make sure that you're following up on it and you're acting on them to always keep that relationship moving forward to an opportunity for both you and your customer.
Kelly Kennedy:And last but not least, guys, repeat weekly.
Kelly Kennedy:Business development is an ongoing process.
Kelly Kennedy:It never ends.
Kelly Kennedy:It never ends.
Kelly Kennedy:It does not sleep.
Kelly Kennedy:It does not take breaks.
Kelly Kennedy:You have to be consistent with it.
Kelly Kennedy:If you guys make a commitment to sending, let's call it 50 digital introductions a week and let's call it 20 follow up calls a week.
Kelly Kennedy:Do this every single week.
Kelly Kennedy:Set your time, set your calendars and make sure that you're consistently dedicating X amount of hours to business development and over time you will see success.
Kelly Kennedy:It does not happen overnight.
Kelly Kennedy:It is not an overnight fix.
Kelly Kennedy:It is a long game.
Kelly Kennedy:It is an investment.
Kelly Kennedy:It genuinely is an investment in your company's future and your future.
Kelly Kennedy:Make sure, just like going to the gym or whatever else you guys are doing on a consistent basis, that you are dedicating a certain amount of time every single week, scheduling that time and working on growing your businesses.
Kelly Kennedy:You can't just work in your businesses, guys, you have to work on them.
Kelly Kennedy:It is a process.
Kelly Kennedy:But if you stop doing business development, eventually your clients will dry up and you will find yourself in trouble.
Kelly Kennedy:So make sure every single week, whether it's you or someone else at your organization, that you are dedicating time to do digital introductions, to make your calls, and to book face to face meetings.
Kelly Kennedy:This will exponentially grow your business over time.
Kelly Kennedy:Whether you are a solopreneur, a founder, a president, a business developer, a marketer, or somewhere in between, implementing effective business development processes that focus on active marketing will lead to consistent opportunities for both you and your business.
Kelly Kennedy:Measure success in meetings and relationships and revenue will inevitably follow.
Kelly Kennedy:That takes us to the end of our show today.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys.
Kelly Kennedy:It was an absolute pleasure.
Kelly Kennedy:I hope that you all have a fairly good idea of what the active marketing process is and why business development is important.
Kelly Kennedy:Important for your business.
Kelly Kennedy:If you enjoyed this show today or you know someone else who might benefit from it, please do send this link.
Kelly Kennedy:Share it with someone you care about.
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Kelly Kennedy:Please give us a follow, give us an auto download.
Kelly Kennedy:We appreciate it greatly.
Kelly Kennedy:You know podcasts grow on numbers so if we can up those numbers in any way possible, it helps us.
Kelly Kennedy:It's a free way to help us and we appreciate it immensely.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you just found this show and you might be looking for some more help, I do have a one on one three month business Development Mastery coaching program that I can work with you guys on.
Kelly Kennedy:Shoot me a DM or hop on over to CapitalBusinessDevelopment CA and you guys can hop on over to my coaching side and book a free discovery call and I would be happy and privileged to work with each and every one of you.
Kelly Kennedy:Shoutouts this Week Tash Jeffries, Lauren Graff, Jason Chakalakal, Steve Austin, Gary Noseworthy, Rajesh Kumar, Nate Simpson, Stuart Morowski, John Pelly, Carmen LaBelle, James Stewart, Ricken Bavzar, Jason Michad, Daniel Sonnenberg, Rudy A.
Kelly Kennedy:Zacharias Vaijayan Swaminathan, Corey Seller, Irina Horiacheva, Yan Hinata, Jamar Jones, Zayl Moransky, Tatiana Zamedalina, Mindy K.
Kelly Kennedy:McRae Broadbent, Ken G.
Kelly Kennedy:Sanesh, Ashok, Ann Marie May, Tyson Hunt, Colin Harms, Nathan Plum, Lou Kamenye, Lewis Matthews and Susan Paseka.
Kelly Kennedy:Until next time, this has been episode 201 of the Business Development Podcast and we will catch you on the flip side.
Mark Cuban:This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy.
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.
