The 12-Month Rule: How to Build a Business Development Engine That Lasts

The 12-Month Rule: How to Build a Business Development Engine That Lasts

Want consistent results from your business development efforts?

Here’s what most recruiters miss:

You have to judge everything on a 12-month window.

Not 12 days. Not even 12 weeks.

This is the difference between treating BD like a campaign...

...and building a real, sustainable system.

Over those 12 months, here’s what needs to happen:

• ✅ You install the right system

• ✅ You run the right messaging and targeting

• ✅ You create consistency in outreach and visibility

• ✅ You work the pipeline daily, not just reactively

• ✅ You let the full sales cycle play out

• ✅ You show up when timing hits and clients are ready

It might take:

• 1 week to get a response

• 1 month to land a meeting

• 6 months to close a deal

But the timeline doesn’t matter as much as the direction.

Play for the long game, and you build a predictable BD and marketing engine that supports you for years.

No “next big tool” will replace that.

No hack can shortcut it.

You getting sharper at BD and staying with it is the system.

And once that clicks, your revenue won’t depend on guesswork again.