How to Build a Network When You Know No One

Alissa Kolm: And it's so easy to get busy and then like abandoned your calling efforts or abandoned your network and kind of focus on the deals you have in closing. But I think the key is just figure out what that outline for success is and then follow that.

Neil Barrow: Howdy, welcome to I Hope This Email Finds You Well. A business development podcast for business development professionals. I'm here with Alissa Kolm. OK, so that's the first thing is why is Alissa here?

Well, you started your career in business development right out of school, right? OK. So tell me a little bit about your first role in business development.

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So my husband and I moved down to Fort Worth, TX from Nebraska. So we were new to the market and I found an opportunity for a business development role with Now CFO, an accounting firm Fractional CFO Services. And they really wanted somebody who lived in Fort Worth who could help to grow the market, build a network there.

So I started in a new market, in a new role in really a new career path with the firm.

Neil Barrow: So why did you key in on business development? Why was that something that you were looking to get into? Because it seemed like, right, that's what you chose.

Alissa Kolm: And in hindsight, I didn't even really know that much about business development or what it was, but I knew I was extroverted, I liked the people side of things. And I knew I wanted to go into some kind of a business sort of path, maybe finance. So I felt like I could work for an accounting firm even though I wasn't an accountant, but get the best of both worlds by focusing on the business development side.

Neil Barrow: Yeah. And so I think that keys in on a lot of interesting points where a lot of us kind of fell into BD, right? Or it shows us where you were like, well, based on my personality, I like the people, I like the relationship development. Well, I like finance.

Well, what is a role for me in this? And so you came out of school like really thinking about that, which I think is kudos to you for actually putting in that level of thought into it, because I, when I started my career in sales, I was just like, Hey, who's hiring and who, how can I make money? Like that was really.

Alissa Kolm: And that was definitely part of it too. The.

Neil Barrow: Extent of my thinking, but so you were at Now CFO, which is a great national firm, right for fractional CFO, controller, accounting services. So what did you learn in that role around how to what is business development? How do you do that?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So fortunately the firm had kind of put together a really well thought out process for business development and they had really identified kind of the key avenues for where opportunities would come from in terms of kind of sales opportunities, referral partners. There were certain buckets that we had identified as kind of getting in front of those referral partners who were meeting with clients that often needed our help. So CPA firms, bankers, those kind of key COIs that was one of the things they had really trained us on.

The other piece was just kind of trial and error. I went to a ton of events and a lot of them were a waste of time and I spread myself very thin. And so it was just kind of casting a super wide net in the beginning to meet people because I also didn't even know who was who I should be meeting in Fort Worth. So that was part of it too, is a little bit of casting a super wide net and then over time refining what that really should look like.

Neil Barrow: Well, and I think we've all lived that where you've got to just get out there and meet people and build your network and then you can refine over time. I think maybe a Fast forward piece for you is because you were going into a professional service firm that had really put some thought into where do we shine? Who's already referring us, who are our buyers? What does our ideal client look like?

So they had already done some of the hard work around trying to help you with focus, like we need to focus on these types of people and these types of markets, which I think a lot of us, we'll go into a new environment and have to figure that out for ourselves. And so I'm sure that helped you Fast forward some of your like just, I need to spend my time here. And so when you were just going out there and meeting people, you said a lot of it's a waste of time, which sure, as we develop in our career, that's a natural thing, is to say, OK, what is working and what's not, what is worth my time and what's not. So how did you go about that process of trying to distill down what was valuable to you?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So I think there were a couple of things looking at it from two different directions. 1 is when I got here, I didn't offer a lot to my network as I was building it. I didn't have a lot of clients that I could refer people into.

And so some of it was just figuring out where I could plug myself in to add value and finding out what events were good and then trying to plug in my network to that too if they already plugged in there. And then the other piece is just, I think, you know, you go to events a time or two and if you feel like maybe it's not like the people there are not targeting the same people you're targeting or some of it comes down to who you like. As you get going, you start to network with some people and you realize that you really connect. You like each other.

There's some, you know, opportunities to cross pollinate and work together. I think that's part of it too, is you build the relationship and it's with people not only that you can do business with, but also that you actually want to do business with.

Neil Barrow: Yeah. Yes, I think that's an important point is finding those people that you like and that you share some commonalities with, but you've got to meet a lot of people to find those people. And so you mentioned something as you were talking about thinking about networking and building your network and where you spend your time. You said add value.

We hear that a lot like go out and add value. What did like when you have nothing to offer when you're first starting out, what did you find? Like do you have a something that you was your go to whenever you were trying to add value to people? What was your add value early on?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So there were really two things that I could leverage in those early days is as I was meeting COIs and referral partners to connect them with each other if they had not already met and just kind of figuring out what somebody was looking for and try to connect them with somebody who's.

Neil Barrow: So being a connector.

Alissa Kolm: Yes, that was one of the things. And then the other thing is we did participate in some different networking associations and different groups where I could bring guests to those events. So if I was a member of a certain organization, I could bring a guest for free. And it was just some of that kind of stuff of inviting people to events we were hosting.

And if I was going on a prospect meeting, that was another thing I would do is if I could bring a, you know, when I was with Now CFO, if I could bring a banker with me into a prospect meeting, that was a way to potentially open a door for them that was kind of, you know, low key.

Neil Barrow: And so tell me a little bit more about that, right, Because that's next level and a lot of people don't do that. I know that it took me a while to get there and to find the right people where, you know, I had a banking friend who is in business development at your current bank back in the day. And we would do joint calls together. She would call some of her prospects and clients to get a meeting.

I would do the same. We'd set up a day and we would go visit them together. So explain a little bit about how did you decide to do that because that's uncomfortable when you first do it. So what did that look like when you first started doing that?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So really it started out with Now CFO at the time had a group that would call on the market for us and set up meetings like cold meetings basically with prospects. So we did have, I had that kind of advantage. So that's how it really started is I would be going on these meetings and it was truly just a discovery meeting.

There may be absolutely no need right now for our services, but that's where it was kind of nice to bring in a COI with me because if they weren't super excited about any accounting services at the time, maybe banking is a relevant conversation at that time. So that's kind of how it started. But then the other piece of it is I would do some prospecting, just drop-ins to companies that were cold. And I would usually try to go with the COI just because it's less intimidating to walk in awkwardly when you're not alone.

So that was the other thing I would do is hey, banker friend or CPA or whoever, let's go together and go drop cookies off to this prospect. And then it's a lot less intimidating.

Neil Barrow: So you would, you would set up joint drop days, right and then you would leverage your inside sales team that was setting up more cold type appointments. And were you setting expectations with the prospect that you were bringing someone else or did you just show up like?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah, often times I would shoot them a note and say, hey, if you don't mind, I'm going to have a, you know, COI with me, a banker friend, whatever the case was if you. And usually they would always say, yeah, no worries. So I would give them a quick heads up. Generally smart.

Alissa Kolm: Yeah, just so they weren't caught off guard.

Neil Barrow: Sure. No, and I think that's a great tool for a lot of BD people to hear is if you're not doing joint drop offs, if you know you need to go do a little bit more colder things like how are you leveraging your network to make it easier for you to go do? But then also it's do you have some of those meetings where you could offer like we're not sure if this is maybe the second time we've met with this prospective client just as relationship building. Hey, I'd love to bring my banker friend.

Would you mind? I'd love to bring my CPA friend, my insurance friend, like, would you mind if we all got together? I think that's a really cool thing. So building off of that and seeing success.

So do you know what? We don't have to talk about numbers, but like, how did you perform within Now CFO where you had a quota, right? So were you hitting quota regularly or was it a struggle to keep up? Were the expectations misaligned?

Like talk to me a little bit about how you balance that.

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So we had some kind of weekly quotas related to activity and then it built into more of a monthly kind of revenue quota which built into an annual quota. So it was kind of a, you know, if you followed the steps along the way, you should hypothetically hit that annual goal. And that was kind of the big overarching governor.

But that really was helpful, I think to have kind of some activity based goals just so that in theory if you're doing the right activities, it will lead to revenue down the road. I would say that first year or two it was more of a kind of roller coaster. You might have a great month and then the next month, you know, you just don't have that consistency yet, in part because you're still building your network. And I think to that consistency point, until you've consistently been in the market and shown up for things and people have seen you around and start to trust you.

And you know, that relationship takes time to build. So it after time and after you do that building, then it really starts to turn into something more. So I would say the first year or so in that role, it was choppier, but over time it definitely got more consistent and it was good.

Neil Barrow: Yeah. And So what I hear you say is the activity based metrics like if I have this many meetings with these types of COIs, if I set this many meetings with business owners or CFOs or accounting team members, then I should be able to hit my numbers. But a lot of firms will build that. I'm speaking to you leadership is we'll set these quote, hey, you should be able to bring in $500K, a million, whatever that number is every year.

But we don't have the activity plan to know how much activity I need to do to hit that number. Because if I do the right amount of activity with the right people, the quota will take care of itself for the most part. But it's really about the activity early on. So building your right network.

So I love that and.

Alissa Kolm: I think those activities are those seeds you plant along the way too, because sometimes you might have that meeting with a prospect and it could be years, literally years down the road before it turns into anything. So I think those activities do count because those are the seeds that you're planting and that's what you can control. You have more control over how many meetings you're having and who you're getting in front of. It's harder to control someone pulling the trigger today versus, well, we're going to wait three months or we have a board meeting coming up.

And there's always those things you can't control. So I think that's where like starting with that focus on what you can control is helpful.

Neil Barrow: That's what you can control. How I've talked to some of my firm leaders and business developers is having that scorecard. So what is the most valuable things that I need to be doing to generate the right activity to hit my number? So you had some success with Now CFO, you built this network, now you're moving into banking business development. How do you keep organized?

Like what is your week month look like?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So it varies a lot by week and by month, but I would say a lot of it is reaching out to those people, especially in a new role. Now is a good time to reach out to the people that I've known a long time that I'm probably overdue to connect with.

Neil Barrow: Your calendar is full, I'm sure.

Alissa Kolm: It is, yeah. So that's that's kind of one of the things. But the other thing is also just I am still doing some cold outreach. So I don't like fill my week with that, but I try to at least every week dedicate some time to what are some new names, whether even if it's just COIs a CPA firm, I hear about that.

I don't know anybody at that firm is let me try to find somebody there to reach out to try to connect.

Neil Barrow: So, OK, so this carries over from your Now CFO days, right? So like me, I started my career at ADP carrying a bag. So I did a lot of cold calls, I did a lot of drop-ins and I still that's part of my BD rhythm, even though it's less a big of slice of the pie as it used to be. So you're cold calling, you're cold dropping.

And what does that look like today in 2025 for you?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So I am generally kind of doing the old school like literally just go buy some cookies, go drop into a company, a prospect that I want to get in front of, ask to speak with the CFO. If they're not there, I'm leaving the cookies, trying to get a card and then follow up and ask for a meeting. And sometimes it's a little awkward and sometimes it goes nowhere, but there are those opportunities where maybe the CFO comes out and talks to you or, you know, they follow up with or they respond to your email and you actually get a meeting with them.

So I think I view it as like step one to what is then becomes a warm prospect is once you get that CFO to come talk to you or you get a follow up meeting with them. Now it's somebody that you can include on events you're hosting or you can do things with them to hopefully kind of warm that relationship up.

Neil Barrow: We get so bogged down with these short term revenue targets or goals that create this artificial shot clock for us and we feel so much anxiety and then we get desperate and then that's when we start spreading ourselves thin. That's when we start trying. That's that we start sounding desperate, we start to try to close people like that's when things can go off the rails for us. But if we understand that this is a long term approach, business development is about developing relationships, we're going to have some short term wins.

But to your point, what are we doing today to plant the seeds for them to become a client? A year, 2 years, three years. And these are not, you know, $10,000 clients. These are 6 figure clients that we're pursuing because that's where we're going to try that.

I mean, I only need ten of those to hit my $1,000,000. I, if I'm trying to pursue $10,000 clients, I'm going to need a hundred of those. And so it's worth my time to go deep, plant the seeds and do those things. So I appreciate you sharing that story.

So Speaking of stories, tell me a little bit or maybe do you have a story around a big win for you that encompasses a little bit about your how you pursue business development, whether that's dropping off, doing some drop offs, whether that's a referral that came in and you had a great call, something interesting. Do you have a good win story for us?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah. So I have a story where it again, it was kind of one that what started out at Now CFO, it was a company that I had dropped into met the CFO at the time, it didn't really warm up that much and it was just kind of, hey, we'll, we'll stay in touch. A few months later, we got an opportunity at Now CFO to do some work for them. So we had a consultant out there.

They became a client of ours at Now CFO. And then when I moved into banking, I followed up with that client and they ended up ultimately moving their banking over to us. And so and we, you know, have a great relationship. And so that's one of those that again, I saw kind of the how it played out where if you help them and you do the right thing and you know, you follow up and do all of that, it can that relationship is built at that point and it could lead to things down the road as well.

Neil Barrow: And I think again, you brought up a great point where this follow up, all right, we've got to stay in touch with people. And I think this is really about proactively trying to serve people that could have a challenge or a problem that we can help with when we make it about us. Like I've got to hit my quota versus I need to, I need to stay in front of this person because I know they're dealing with these challenges and I know I can be helpful when the time is right. And continuing to add value like we've talked about whether that's understanding, do they like events?

Do they like industry information? Do they like connections? Do they want to get involved? Like understanding what their personal and professional goals are as well as their company goals goes a long way to what you're doing.

And so leave us with some business development tips. So you've talked about what you've learned over the years. You've shared with us some great insights on some things that we can try right and integrate and some of our BD. But when it comes to your business development philosophy or how you're pursuing business development, how do you stay organized?

Can you leave us with maybe a tip around a tactic that you love? You've already shared some great ones, but leave us with a thought.

Alissa Kolm: Yeah, so I would. Say having some kind of process and that's figuring out who you want to get in front of and how you're going to do that and then tracking that. Like I mentioned earlier, I haven't always had CRM tools everywhere I've been. And if you don't have that, it's Excel or whatever you do have access to and trying to utilize that and just have a process kind of define what that is so you have an outline and then follow that process.

And it's so easy to get busy and then like abandoned your calling efforts or abandon your network and kind of focus on the deals you have in closing. But I think the key is just figure out what that outline for success is and then follow that and follow that.

Neil Barrow: Activity. It's all based on what do you need to be doing to generate conversations because you're going to be busy with all your other stuff. And So what is helped maybe what is one thing that's helped you stay organized or stay focused? Is it calendaring?

Is it having a good Excel spreadsheet organized list? Like what is it that helps you the most?

Alissa Kolm: Yeah, so I definitely. Rely on my calendar a lot. If something is not on my calendar I will forget about it or not show up or whatever. So calendar is huge.

I so now I do have Salesforce and I use that a lot to take notes and put stuff in there because as much as I think I'm going to remember stuff, I have two young kids who don't sleep. I'm sleep deprived, I will forget. So I try to put as many notes and I mean, sometimes it's like a novel I'm writing in there just to capture anything that was meaningful in a conversation I had with a prospect that way later down the road. I'm not like starting from scratch if we go catch up over drinks or lunch and kind of pick up where we left off and I can follow.

Neil Barrow: Up on the key things and also show that I know and kind of care about what's going on in their business. So I use that tool a lot. I still though, I'm kind of old school and I still like my Excel spreadsheets to kind of make notes of like, here's the companies I'm going to target this week or this month, and I can kind of go through that list and it's just like right there. There's something about that visual that I like.

So I love that. Well, thank. You for sharing that. Thanks for all your wisdom and appreciate you coming on.

Alissa Kolm: Thank you so much for having. Me, I appreciate it.