Episode 339 of The Business Development Podcast breaks down The Ten Follow Up Rule, Kelly Kennedy’s personal standard for building real pipeline through consistent, disciplined business development. Kelly shares why most sales and BD professionals stop far too early, how fear of rejection and lack of structure kill opportunities, and why every qualified prospect deserves at least ten follow-ups before being disqualified.

Through real stories, including the time it took thirty follow-ups to book a major mining meeting, Kelly shows that success in business development is rarely about talent alone. It comes from weekly execution, CRM discipline, clear next steps, performance tracking, and the willingness to keep showing up long after most people quit.

Key Takeaways:

1. Most salespeople quit the follow-up process far too early to ever see real results.
2. Consistent weekly follow-up is one of the biggest separators between average and exceptional business development professionals.
3. Fear of rejection causes more lost opportunities than lack of skill.
4. Buyers are usually overwhelmed and distracted, not intentionally ignoring you.
5. A CRM is not just a contact database. It is your business development execution engine.
6. If there is no defined next step, there is no real opportunity.
7. Strong follow-up comes from clarity and structure, not confidence alone.
8. Emotional avoidance often disguises itself as “being busy” with lower-value work.
9. Tracking outreach, meetings, opportunities, and new contacts weekly creates accountability and long-term improvement.
10. The professionals who stay in the game through follow-up number ten consistently create more opportunities than the people who stop after one or two attempts.

Sponsor Mentions

A huge thank you to Colin Harms and Jamie Crozier for their steadfast support of The Business Development Podcast.

The Business Development Podcast is proudly supported by Hypervac Technologies, Hyperfab, Thunder Bay Hydraulics Inc., and Atlas Elite Lifts.

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Statistics referenced in this episode were sourced from the following article by MarketsandMarkets:

“Why Sales Reps Stop Following Up and How to Fix It”

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/AI-sales/why-sales-reps-stop-following-up-how-to-fix-it

Mentioned in this episode:

Hypervac - Revolution Vacuums

We have to talk about follow ups because the statistics, they are absolutely terrible.

The great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years.

Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

And we couldn't agree more.

This is the Business Development Podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and broadcast to the world.

You'll get expert business development advice, tips and experiences and you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs and business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to.

Grow business brought to you by Capital.

Business Development, CapitalBD CA.

Let's do it.

Welcome to the Business Development Podcast.

And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Hello.

Welcome to episode 339 of the Business Development Podcast.

I want to start today's show by thanking so many of you Rockstar listeners out there for your support.

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Give it a try.

All right, thank you so much for hearing me out on that.

Now let's just get into it.

Today I wanted to revisit something that I think is fairly well understood but tends to run into trouble with execution and consistency.

Today I want to chat all about follow ups so much of my success, guys, in business development has really come from me being stubborn as heck when I have a client that I need to book a meeting with.

I work consistently week over week to book that meeting.

My record to date, and you guys are gonna find this hilarious.

My record to date with follow ups is with a extremely large Canadian mining company that one of my larger clients really wanted.

And it took 30 follow ups guys.

Yes, you heard that correctly.

30 Follow ups to book that meeting.

And yes, that is absolutely excessive.

And no, I do not recommend that you do the same.

I had a few things going for me in this case.

My client was an extremely large, well recognized name.

I had the direct contact information with the exact right person within the target company.

And I knew it.

And my client could provide a very unique offering that they needed.

And I knew that.

Well, this is what kept me determined and steadfast.

And it paid off.

Funny story, with this, when they called me back, they let me know that they were sorry that they missed me before, which I thought was hilarious because they'd missed me like 30 times.

Shelby had actually overheard the conversation and she knew this client that I was talking about and the people that I was targeting and nearly lost her mind that they actually called me back after 30 follow ups.

It was a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Long story short, though, we booked the meeting and it was awesome for my client.

They absolutely got the opportunity and it did not come easy, but it was worth all the effort it took.

And this is why we need to talk about follow ups, guys.

We have to talk about follow ups because the statistics, they are absolutely terrible.

According to a recent study by Markets and Markets.com 48% of BD salespeople never make a single follow up call.

44% Of BD and sales specialists give up after one follow up.

Only 10% of BD and sales specialists make more than three contact attempts.

Now here's the problem.

According to the same report, 80% of sales require five follow up calls after initial contact.

So a total of six calls, guys, six reach outs.

So what does this mean for you?

It means three big things.

If you want to be average, call once.

If you want to be great, call two or three times.

If you want to be exceptional, call six plus times.

That's awesome, right?

Think about that.

That's actually awesome.

This is actually really great news for most of us because I know that if you listen to this show, you settle for nothing less than exceptional.

Average people.

Do not listen to this show.

Five more follow ups guys.

Five more follow ups is all that separates average from exceptional.

But it's pretty clear that if roughly 90% of BD and salespeople are not doing it, something is getting in the way.

So what the heck is going on?

Well, it turns out that there are five major issues that are holding you back.

Number one, the fear of rejection.

This one is very real.

Not I'm busy.

Not I forgot to call them.

People avoid follow ups because they don't want to hear no.

They just don't want to hear no.

As long as the prospect has not responded, they feel there is still a chance.

The moment they call, the uncertainty disappears.

So they protect their ego instead of pursuing the outcome.

Number two, they don't want to feel like a nuisance.

Most people believe follow up equals pressure.

They assume they are interrupting, bothering or chasing someone who is not interested.

What they don't realize is that buyers are overwhelmed and distracted and juggling priorities.

A follow up done properly is not annoying.

It's actually quite helpful.

But if you believe you are being a nuisance, you will act like one.

Or worse, you avoid the call entirely.

Number three Lack of structure.

No system equals no action.

This is where good intentions die.

No clear next step.

No follow up date.

No CRM ownership.

No deal.

Everything lives in memory or scattered notes.

Follow up becomes something you should do instead of something that is scheduled and expected.

If it's not systematized, it's optional.

And optional never gets done consistently.

Number four they don't know what to say.

Follow up feels awkward when there's no purpose behind it.

Without a clear reason to call.

Confidence drops.

And when confidence drops, avoidance goes up strong.

Follow up comes from clarity, not courage.

Emotional avoidance disguised as productivity.

This one hides in plain sight.

BD specialists stay busy.

Admin research and internal work and it feels productive, but it's safe work.

Follow up calls and emails sit at the top of the list but they are untouched.

Not because they don't matter, but because they carry emotional weight.

Most people don't have a follow up problem.

They have a discomfort problem combined with a lack of structure which is a recipe for discomfort disaster.

As I have said on this show many times, I am very likely not the best business development person in the world, but I have found much success because I am willing to put in the work, make the 10 or 11 calls and follow ups and follow up weekly consistently as a standard.

Consistency over time is the true recipe for success.

Period.

So how can we go from average to exceptional?

Here are eight simple steps number 1.

Commit to a non negotiable follow up standard.

Decide up front that every qualified opportunity gets at least 10 follow ups before you walk away.

No emotion, no guessing, just a standard.

This removes decision fatigue and forces consistency.

Number two.

Schedule the next step every single time.

Never leave a call, a meeting or an email without defining the next action.

If there is no next step, there is no deal.

Put it in the CRM immediately and always ask yourself the five magic words.

What are the next steps?

Number three.

Build a weekly follow up block.

Set a dedicated time every week where follow ups are the only focus.

No admin, no distractions, just calls and emails.

This is where pipeline momentum gets created.

Number four.

Use your CRM like it's your job.

Because it is.

Track every touch point, log every conversation.

Set reminders to follow up each and every time.

Your CRM when used correctly is not just a database, it is your weekly execution engine.

If it is not in there, it will not get done.

Number five Lead the conversation.

Don't check in.

Every follow up needs a purpose.

Bring value, insight or a clear next step every time you reach out.

Number six.

Detach emotion from the outcome.

You are not calling to get a yes, you are calling to move the opportunity forward or close the loop.

Either way you win.

Number 7 Disqualify with discipline, not frustration.

After 10 follow ups, make a decision, move it forward, find a new contact or move on to a better opportunity.

Build and maintain a weekly performance report.

Track your outreach, new contacts, added opportunities created and meetings booked every single week.

This is how you stop guessing and start understanding your performance over time.

What gets measured gets improved.

What gets ignored stays inconsistent.

Stop relying on motivation alone.

Professionals rely on standards, systems and tracking.

This is how you truly win in business development.

I want to tell you guys a story of a lunch that I had with a director of procurement for a leading Canadian oil and gas company and I think it'll shed a lot of light into some of your guys fears with regards to making calls.

Okay, this one time I was in Calgary having a lunch with a extremely senior the the most senior director of procurement for an incredibly large Canadian oil and gas company.

And me and this director became pretty close friends over time.

Had quite a few interactions through various companies that I worked with and this one time we were sitting down and having lunch and I simply asked him what is it like being on the other side of these conversations.

Obviously I know the business development side.

What I don't really understand is what is it like to be in procurement and be approached by so many business development people all the time, you must get a ton of emails is what I said to him.

And my eyes almost popped out of my head because how in the world can you manage a thousand emails even with an assistant?

Good luck.

And he said, we are leveraging AI to filter and sort our emails so that we can search for what we need when we need it.

So what did this mean?

What was he telling me?

He was telling me he basically never looks at his email unless he is looking for something.

And I get this might not be for every single organization, but understand as AI improves, as organizations grow, this is going to become much, much more standard.

So when you are dealing with the tippy top of organizations, the top oil and gas, the top retail, the top manufacturing, they are all using these systems.

And what he was saying to me was this.

I don't see all the emails that come through.

To me that is actually great news for you and your follow up strategy because, because I think so many of you are afraid you're being annoying.

So many of you are afraid you're being a nuisance and you're trying to avoid pissing people off, frankly.

Understand if you email or call somebody once a week, you are not going to piss them off.

You are going to fly under the human baseline radar.

Okay?

If you do this consistently, you will get meetings, a lot more of them.

And think about it this way, if you are targeting the tippy top, the largest oil and gas, the largest mining, the largest retail, the largest distribution, whatever it is, they are all using these systems, which means the more emails you have out there, the more likely they are to find you in the AI filtering system.

Okay?

So instead of stopping send the weekly emails, give them the full 10 weeks of follow up.

Don't even be afraid to send the same email twice because here's the deal, you don't know when they are seeing it for the very first time.

Okay?

So I want you all to stop being afraid of follow up.

Stop being afraid to send the emails.

They need you to do this.

You need at least five plus touch points to move things forward.

Okay?

Let's fix this statistic.

Let's stop making one call, two calls, three calls and giving up.

Okay?

From now on, I want every one of you who are listening to this show to make a commitment to yourself right now that you will follow up from this point Forward at least six times.

If you want my recommendation 10 times every single client before you disqualify and you will book more meetings.

I promise you that.

And with that guys, that takes us to the end of today's show.

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Shout outs this week Colin Harms, Jamie Crozier, Carmen LaBelle, Carly Grove, Charlotte Lloyd, Tyler Bentley, Gary Noseworthy, Jen Ruggiero, John Pelly, Brianna Solberg, John Bailey, Warren Dalle, Carissa Peterson, Ali Stone, Stephen Langer, Andrew Z.

Brown and Susan Pasaka.

Until next time, you've been listening to the Business Development Podcast and we will catch you on the flip side.

This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy.

His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development.

The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists.

For more we invite you to the website at www.capitalbd.ca.

See you next time on the Business Development Podcast.