BD Top Trumps – Card #1: Resilience
Over the years, we’ve worked with hundreds of professionals across law, accountancy, engineering and consulting. And while their job titles and sectors vary wildly, the best BD and sales people we’ve ever worked with share a certain magic. They’re not always the loudest in the room, or the ones who know every networking hack—but they consistently win trust, win work, and bring others with them.
We’ve boiled that magic down into five core attributes. Not traits you’re born with, but skills you can build and sharpen over time. And over the next five weeks, we’re sharing them, one card at a time, in the form of a BD Top Trumps deck.
Feel free to share the cards with your team. Swap stats. Compare notes. Or just pin your favourite to the kitchen fridge and quietly judge your colleagues against it.
Our first card? The one every BD pro needs when things don’t go their way: Resilience.
#1. Don’t take it personally
Let’s start with the facts: according to Sales Lion, 60% of customers say “no” four times before saying yes (source). That’s four rounds of silence, polite rejections, or “we’ve decided to go in a different direction” before there’s even a sniff of progress.
This is not failure. This is how buying decisions get made.
Too many professionals take rejection personally—as if they’ve failed the test. In truth, most rejections have little to do with you. Clients are busy. Internal politics, budget wobbles, and conflicting priorities get in the way.
What separates the pros is what they do next. Resilient BD & sales professionals treat rejection as research. Did we ask the right questions? Did we solve the problem they actually had? Was the timing off? They learn. They adapt. They don’t wallow.
#2. Follow up beyond your comfort zone
Let’s clear something up: following up isn’t rude, it’s professional. If you’ve submitted a pitch, sent a proposal, or provided a fee quote, you are entitled to a response. Not chasing is what feels unprofessional.
And yet, research shows that 80% of sales require five follow-ups—but 44% of professionals give up after just one (source). So nearly half of us are walking away before we’ve even properly started.
Here’s how to follow up like a pro:
- Be persistent, not pestering. Three to five follow-ups is perfectly reasonable.
- Use different channels. If email’s gone cold, try a phone call. It’s harder to ignore someone in real time, and you’ll often get a clearer (and faster) answer.
- Add value. Every touchpoint is a chance to show relevance—share a new insight, a case study, or even a “happy to answer any questions you have” that shows you haven’t disappeared.
Clients don’t mind follow-up. They mind irrelevance. Be useful, be confident, and don’t give up before the other person’s even replied.
#3. Survive the internal naysayers
Rejection isn’t just external. Sometimes the toughest “no” comes from your own firm.
That campaign you pitched? Vetoed in a partner meeting. That idea to simplify pricing? “Not how we do things.” That plan to cross-sell another team’s service? “They’ll never go for it.”
Resilience here means more than endurance. It’s about strategy:
- Confidence to back ideas and stand your ground (politely) in meetings full of naysayers.
- Patience to navigate internal blockers, one conversation at a time.
- Adaptability to tweak your approach and find another route—without binning the idea entirely.
BD success in professional services isn’t just external. It’s often about getting your own side on board first. And that takes guts.
Next week: Card #2 – Curiosity
P.S. Got a colleague who eats rejection for breakfast? Share this with them and let them know they’ve just earned their first card.
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