How to do business development

How traditional BD burns reps' expensive time

Some companies mistakenly think that the most expensive item in acquisition is buying the data. Reality is different. According to the widely cited Salesforce State of Sales studies, reps spend on average only 40% of their time actually selling. The other 60% of their capacity is absorbed by activities that don't generate direct profit — admin, manual prospecting and tedious contact validation.

The data is clear: the expensive part isn't the input (data) but the work around it. Without the right tools, the process is bulky and inefficient. Paying a senior rep to hunt emails in spreadsheets is a poor use of their potential. The point of BD is to flip this ratio: let technology handle the admin and let people sell.

End of "carpet bombing": Brand and GDPR protection

Sending thousands of emails to irrelevant companies with no real potential simply doesn't work anymore. On top of the negligible response, you expose yourself to two key risks:

• Damaging reputation with potential clients.
• Conflict with legislation (GDPR).

At Intedat we take a different path. Modern BD is built on precise targeting — you reach out only to companies that data shows have real potential for your product or service. By working exclusively with the best public sources (not non-public data), we keep your company GDPR-compliant. Brand safety is a priority throughout.

Pillars of successful acquisition: Why data quality matters

The foundation of every successful workflow is the quality of the "fuel". For acquisition to work, three basic conditions must be met:

• Companies with real potential: Blanket outreach doesn't work. Identifying segments with the highest match probability using AI-driven ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) analysis ensures your message lands on fertile ground.
• Up-to-date contacts and people: In B2B the org chart keeps moving (about 20–30% of contacts go stale every year). Intedat delivers data validated in real time, minimising undeliverable messages.
• Clean sources: Working with legally verified data from public registries and digital footprints eliminates the risk of your messages ending up in spam filters — or on a legal team's desk.

Workflow and automation: Keep the pace all year

One email is rarely enough today. Success in BD comes from automated sequences. Why are they key?

• Sustained intensity: The human factor is unreliable in acquisition — after ten rejections motivation naturally drops. The Intedat platform can sustain the required outreach intensity for 12 months (the validity of your credits) regardless of the team's current load.
• The follow-up effect: Experience shows the first contact email often slips through the cracks. An automated follow-up that resurfaces your offer at the right moment works wonders.
• Multi-channel approach: According to a Sopro report, multi-channel campaigns can achieve 31% lower cost-per-lead than single-channel ones. Intedat's workflow lets you coordinate email with LinkedIn or phone outreach.

Use cases: Which companies get the most out of Intedat?

Modern BD on the Intedat platform — backed by AI — is the ideal path for companies that:

• Know exactly which industry to target and want to systematically cement their position in it.
• Target multiple industries and countries at once and need to keep a unified workflow and order in the process.
• Diversify their activities and look for opportunities in new industries or territories where they have no historical ties.
• Want to make their commercial processes more efficient and cheaper, freeing their people for strategic conversations.
• Don't have the capacity for manual acquisition but don't want to miss new opportunities.

Switch from admin to strategic growth

Using technology to automate the routine in BD isn't just a trend — it's a must for any company that wants to stay competitive.

Intedat covers the whole cycle: from AI market analysis through data delivery to final outreach.

Delegate the admin to technology and let your people do what only they can — build trust and close deals. A working BD function doesn't have to cost a fortune.