What tools and platforms are best for business development?

Customer Relationship Management is an essential tool for business development. It aids sales representatives in effectively managing their daily tasks. I must emphasize that the effectiveness of a CRM system depends entirely on how it is utilized. With CRM as your foundation, strategic decisions can be made regarding the data you target and the information required for meaningful connections. This system is particularly valuable for planning follow-ups over a period of 2 or 3 months. I personally recommend to use CRM platforms such as HubSpot or Pipedrive. The market offers so many CRM systems, and, as a business developer, incorporating one into your operations is crucial for scaling leads and progress. Patience is the key to success.

CRM is dead, now its the era of RevOps. In RevOps the CRM is just one component of BusDev and to take the full advantage a business developer have to consider people, process, data, and technology in addition to customer & market research. This is how i do it in 2023

ALL OF THEM. CRM, LinkedIn, emails, phone calls, Teams meetings, damn it a pigeon message if you think it will work on a particular client. Experiment with them all and learn what works for each client and for you. But never forget that seeing someone in person or picking up the phone will beat anything else. And don't be scared to try new things. If you don't move with the times, you'll be left behind.

The most critical step is immersing yourself in business development and gaining a profound understanding of your organization's mission and what it offers to potential clients. Once you've accomplished this, you can then delve into the use of tools and strategies. If this understanding is missing then no matter what tools you use, the output won't be up to mark.

The choice of tools often depends on the specific needs and goals of the business. Here's a list of 3 popular tools and platforms categorized based on different business development functions: Premium services of ZoomInfo sales Ops and Linkedin Sales Navigator and MS 365

I have experimented with various tools, and I have discovered that Instantly.ai and Apollo.io work best for me when combined. Instantly.ai is useful as it includes email warmup to prevent being marked as spam. It also has powerful email sequence automation and recently added prospecting tools. In addition, its pricing is competitive and can be scaled. Apollo.io, on the other hand, is particularly beneficial because of its super-powered prospecting and multichannel sequencing abilities. This means that you can set up tasks and automation for email, LinkedIn, and calling. TLDR: Use Instantly for lower-value high-volume email outreach and use Apollo for higher-value leads.

Email Marketing is a powerful tool when used correctly! Email marketing can be a highly effective tool for businesses when executed properly. Here are some key reasons why email marketing is considered effective: Direct Communication with Target Audience: Email marketing allows businesses to communicate directly with their target audience. When people subscribe to an email list, they have already expressed an interest in the brand or its products, making them more receptive to messages. Cost-Effective: Compared to traditional marketing channels, email marketing is relatively inexpensive. It doesn't require the costs associated with printing, postage, or advertising space. This makes it an attractive option for businesses of all sizes.

I have been using Outreach for a while, super useful and powerful tool. Outreach can provide everything a seller needs to connect with their prospect, be it email campaigns, calls, SMSs etc.

Email marketing is a valuable tool for generating leads while allowing companies to connect with their customers and prospects, sharing updates on new product launches, success stories, completed projects, and more. In my own experience, I prefer using SendGrid for email marketing due to its superior flexibility and feature set compared to other platforms.

As a student, I have tried many different tools. I agree with others that Apollo.io has worked best for me. Apollo.io has been beneficial in its multichannel capacity, automating emails seamlessly between Gmail and LinkedIn. I can develop a tailored message quickly and check with my Gmail. It has been my favorite add-on when searching LinkedIn and quickly getting work emails for my contacts, and I rarely can't find more information.

Believe me, all tools and platforms are open to be used by business development professionals. You can not say these tools or those platforms are not suitable. It would be better to say that this tool or that platform is better than the other for the goals or tasks that I want to achieve within the planned period. Of course, platform like LinkedIn is indispensable for business development professionals, however all other platforms can be indispensable when it comes to context, reachability, and achievement.

Ultimately it's all about connecting with the audience. Your ICP, and what is better than a place where you can connect with them by being social. If the secret sause is getting to know your audience. Then social media is your weapon of choice. So to all the business developers who aren't strategically using Social media. Wake up, you are missing out on your real potential!!

Next to social media, don’t forget to mention social media tools such as Hootsuite, Willow etc. The fully customizable newsroom convinced me to go with Willow as this creates a steady stream of relevant news about the topics most important to my interests.

In recent years, it's undeniable that social media platforms have eclipsed traditional methods like Email Marketing and cold calling. Social media offers a direct line to potential prospects, enabling seamless updates sharing and facilitating connections with thousands of prospects and customers. It's a powerful tool for increasing brand engagement and attracting new users. Specifically, when it comes to lead generation, LinkedIn stands out as the top platform.

A social media platform is an indispensable tool for business development. It's your gateway to connect, engage, and collaborate with partners, clients, and influencers. Through it, you can amplify your brand presence, establish credibility, and position yourself as an industry authority. It's not just a megaphone; it's a powerful research tool, helping you uncover trends, opportunities, and competitive insights. Moreover, it's a fertile ground for lead generation, referrals, and valuable feedback. Embrace social media, and you'll expand your network, enhance your reputation, and amplify your impact as a business developer. ???? #BusinessDevelopment #SocialMediaStrategy #Networking

I don't have much experience in this area, but we've tested three tools: Zoom, GoToWebinar, and Webex. In my opinion, no single tool is superior in every aspect, but this may vary for others. In my experience, the most challenging part of webinars is reaching a critical mass. It's tough to get enough people to register and attend the event. The tool used for the webinar is just a small part of the process. My tip to increase the success rate of webinars is to offer incentives to attendees. For example, you could provide a 10% discount on a subscription for 12 months if they participate. Remember that webinars can be used to attract new customers and present new features to existing customers, helping to grow their business.

Pouca gente sabe, mas é possível fazer transmiss?es de vídeo usando o próprio LinkedIn. Através dos recursos LinkedIn Events e LinkedIn Live, é possível usar ferramentas de terceiros para transmitir conteúdo de vídeo ao vivo aos participantes do evento.

I have attended some of the webinar on LinkedIn which have been adding great amount of value live. With people being so busy (becoming robots, post for another day), our attention span has been decreasing with time, webinar can help to bring users onboard as well as interact with them to have an exchange of value. Value is like energy, we always 2 or more parties to make that happen. With webinar, one is able to share their perspective & contribute more by asking questions in real time, be part of the process of the knowledge you are sharing with the audience increases engagement. Hence increasing the life time value and more opportunities in the future

I have attended several webinars on LinkedIn that have provided significant value. In today's fast-paced world, people's attention spans are decreasing, making it challenging to engage them. Webinars can help capture users' attention and facilitate valuable interactions. They allow participants to share their perspectives, ask real-time questions, and actively contribute to the exchange of knowledge. This engagement can lead to increased lifetime value and future opportunities.

When measuring data, your analytics tool will depend on what you're trying to track. Google Analytics is an excellent website traffic, interaction, and retention option. However, to improve your usability, tools like HotJar utilize heat maps to understand user behavior better. Sticking with your email marketing tools, such as HubSpot or MailChimp, will provide insights into open and read rates. TLDR: Start by defining what you want to measure and choose the right tool for the job. Not the other way around.

I'm a big fan of Salesforce Reporting and ability to give useful insights. It might find a bit too complex on the first glance, but if you know your way around, it can pretty much provide anything that you need. At times I find myself creating my own version of reporting using the tools like Looker and even spreadsheets. If you need great analytics, first and foremost you need to start capturing right set of data, your ability to segregate and define each elements would determine the accuracy of your analytics outcomes.

Analytics Tools: Google Analytics: Provides insights into website traffic and user behavior. Hotjar: Offers website analytics and feedback through heatmaps and user recordings. Sales Tools: LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Useful for B2B sales, helping identify and connect with potential leads. Outreach: A sales engagement platform for automating and optimizing sales processes.

Quase todas as plataformas de CRM possuem ferramentas de análise. Há também a possibilidade de exportar os dados do CRM e analisá-los com solu??es de business intelligence (BI), tais como: Zoho Analytics, Google Data Studio, QlikView entre outras.

You can't improve what you don't measure. I didn't say but learnt this (Thanks Peter) We need to know where we are going to be able to redirect ourselves in the right direction. I believe we are always in the wrong direction as we need to get the MVP out to test the market, we might be right or wrong, its a gamble but tools like Google Analytics, Hubspot, Salesforce. These tools can help us to bring us back in the right direction, if we are in the right direction amazing if not you get back on track. Its about tracking, measuring our performance against benchmark & optimizing to reach our goal faster. If you feel this is too much, I too. Lets jump on a call to brainstorm more to see if we are going in the right direction.

While tangible tools are favored for their visibility and easy measurement, intangible tools like skills, relationships, strategy, and reputation hold equal if not greater importance in business development. They are less visible but wield immense influence on the success and growth of a business. Skills and expertise, for instance, drive effective communication and negotiation, while relationships open doors to collaborations and opportunities. Strategy guides decision-making and brand reputation builds trust. In reality, it's a combination of tangible and intangible tools that yields the most impactful results in business development. Balancing both is crucial for holistic success.

If you have a road map, make it open and social. Nothing better than building in public. Hand in hand with your end users. Try something like frill. You will be surprised.

Simply put... people! You can have the best tools, the best platforms but if you don't have the right people, there will be no business.

When it comes to business development, there is no universal solution that works for everyone. It's important to first define the goals you want to achieve, then identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you measure progress towards those goals. Next, determine which channels and platforms are best suited for your business. Finally, test out different tools such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, outbound and inbound marketing strategies, and analytics to see what works best for your particular business needs.

?? There are no "best" business development tools and platforms. There are the right ones - for each industry, for each market and, most importantly, for each company's stage of development. These parameters determine the specifics of the business tasks. Platforms and tools are adapted to the tasks. Each tool has its own limitations and the relationship between the efficiency of its application and the operational/material cost of its application in the business. ?? Start with the easiest and quickest to implement options that fit your current reality and projections for the next 12 months. Even if it's Excel for CRM, LinkedIn for lead generation and Zoom for collaboration.