Your pipeline keeps moving while you do the work.
I set up an AI business-development agent and approval desk inside the AI account you already use, whether that's Claude, ChatGPT or another platform. It finds buyers with a real reason to talk, drafts short emails in your voice and follows up on time. Nothing leaves without your approval.
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When the principal is the business-development team
In most small firms the person who sells the work also delivers it. Business development happens in the gaps, and the gaps close the moment a big job lands.
Delivery wins every week
Client work always feels more urgent than prospecting, so the pipeline runs dry just as a big project ends.
Follow-ups slip
Replies often come after the second or third note, and those are exactly the emails a busy principal never gets to.
Generic AI writes generic email
A chatbot without your facts invents claims and sounds like everyone else. Buyers notice, and your name is on it.
A complete desk, configured for your firm
Each part is written for your offers, your buyers and your voice. It runs in your own AI account, so it keeps working whether or not you keep me on.
| Component | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| B1Instructions and prompts | A tailored brief that tells the agent what you sell, who buys it, how you write and what it must never do. |
| B2Facts and proof file | The only claims, credentials and testimonials the agent may use. If it isn't in the file, it doesn't go in an email. |
| B3Prospect and approval desk | One page where you see every target and draft, edit anything, and approve one message or the whole batch. |
| B4Weekday agent | Finds buyers with a dated reason to talk, looks up their published contact, drafts the email, sends what you approved and follows up. |
| B5Opportunity scan | A weekly sweep of tenders, grants and open calls that match your offers, each with its closing date. |
| B6Ledger and playbook | Results by offer line (emails, replies, meetings, revenue) and a written playbook, so you can see what converts and drop what doesn't. |
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and other platforms that can hold instructions and files. Scheduling and email connections vary by platform, and the setup adapts to what yours offers.
The agent does the legwork. You make the calls.
Your part is reviewing drafts and taking the meetings. Everything between those two moments runs on a schedule.
Research and draft
The agent finds buyers with a fresh reason to talk and drafts a short email for each one.
You review
Read, edit or approve each draft, or approve the whole batch with one click.
Your partIt sends
Approved emails go out within a daily cap, and the two follow-ups go on schedule unless someone replies.
Opportunity scan
Tenders, grants and calls that match your offers land on the desk with their closing dates.
Meetings
The agent drafts your reply with times to meet. You take the conversation from there.
Your partBuilt to protect your name
Outreach only works if buyers trust the sender. These rules are written into the system.
You approve every message
Approving an intro approves its two follow-ups, and you can switch automatic sending off at any time.
It only says what is true
Claims and testimonials come from your facts file, word for word. The agent never invents a client, number or result.
It doesn't pester
No one hears the same pitch twice in 90 days, organisations already in conversation are left alone, and every opt-out is honoured across all your campaigns.
It follows the rules
Built around Australia's Spam Act and the US CAN-SPAM Act. It uses only published business addresses, never guesses an email and never buys lists.
You own everything
Your AI account, your mailbox, your contacts and your data. If you stop working with me, it all stays with you.
Every send is on the ledger
You can see what went to whom and when, which lines get replies, and where your time pays.
Four steps, one fixed fee
You give me the knowledge only you have. I turn it into a working system and stay with you through the first week of real drafts.
Fit call
We check that your offers, buyers and capacity suit the system. If they don't, I'll say so.
45 minutes · freeDiscovery
I capture your offers, ideal clients, proof and voice, along with the lines you never want crossed.
One working sessionBuild and launch
I configure your account, desk and agents, connect your mailbox with your permission and review the first week of drafts with you.
Fixed feeHandover
You and your team learn to run it. Keep me on for a monthly tune-up, or run it yourselves.
Training and playbookSee it work on your business before you connect anything
Tell me what you sell and who buys it. The agent researches five organisations with a fresh reason to talk to you and drafts the first email to each, in your voice. It arrives in your inbox, usually within a few hours.
- Five prospects, each with the dated signal and where it was published
- The role to approach and where they publish their contact details
- Five draft emails you could send today
Free. No access to your accounts, no card, no call required.
Do it yourself, with a hand, or done for you
Every option leaves you with a system you own, on the AI platform you already use. No retainer required.
DIY kit
Set it up yourself in about 90 minutes. Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and other AI platforms.
- Step-by-step start-here guide
- Intake worksheet, agent instructions and facts file templates
- Daily run and weekly review prompts
- Email library and compliance checklist
- Tracker and an optional desk builder
Guided install
Two 90-minute screen-shares. You click every permission; I never hold your passwords.
- Everything in the kit
- Your instructions and facts file written with you
- Email, tracker and schedule connected live
- First run reviewed together
Done for you
Quoted as a fixed fee after the fit call, depending on your offers and markets.
- Full build of the desk and agents
- Weekly opportunity scan for tenders and grants
- First week of drafts reviewed together
- Training for you and your team
Optional monthly tune-up from A$300: results reviewed, prompts and targeting refined, new offers added. Prices are in Australian dollars, with no GST added. US clients are quoted in US dollars. You pay your AI subscription directly to the provider. Founding clients get the lower rate in return for candid feedback and, if they're happy, a testimonial.
Built for my own practice first
I'm Douglas Belton, an applied anthropologist and former PwC digital service design researcher. I run ABÔDE R+D, a research and design practice in Western Sydney and Minneapolis–St Paul.
I built this system to run ABÔDE's own business development, and it runs every weekday. On a fit call I show you that live desk, not a slide deck.
It has already found prospects I would never have identified on my own, drawn replies from them and booked meetings. You'd be among the first businesses to have it set up for them, so I'll show you what it does for mine rather than promise what it will do for yours.
“Always delivers sage advice and masterful collaborations.”
Reynolds-Anthony Harris · Lyceum Partners + Design Inc
Is it right for you?
A good fit if you
- ✓sell considered services to organisations, such as consulting, professional services, design or programs;
- ✓can name the roles that buy from you, and those people publish their contact details;
- ✓can spare a few minutes on most weekdays to review drafts;
- ✓want every message to sound like you and say only what is true.
Not a fit if you
- ✕want to send thousands of emails a week;
- ✕plan to buy contact lists or scrape private data;
- ✕want messages to go out with no one checking them;
- ✕sell mainly to consumers rather than organisations.
Questions
Which AI platforms does it work with?
Any platform that can hold custom instructions and reference files, including Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. It runs best where the AI can also search the web, connect to your mailbox and run on a schedule. Where it can't, the kit includes a manual daily routine that takes about twenty minutes. You pay your AI subscription directly to the provider.
What do I get when I buy the kit?
An instant download: a start-here guide, ready-to-fill templates for the agent's instructions and facts file, daily and weekly prompts, an email library, a compliance checklist and a tracker. It's licensed for use in your own business.
Will it send emails without me?
Only emails you have approved. When you approve an intro you also approve its two follow-ups, and the sequence stops as soon as someone replies, bounces or opts out. You can switch automatic sending off and send everything by hand.
Which mailbox does it send from?
Your own, connected with your permission. Gmail and Google Workspace work today. Replies come straight to you.
Who owns the data?
You do. Your account, contacts, drafts and results stay in your systems. I work in your account only while you've given me access, and you can remove that access at any time.
What happens if I stop the tune-up?
Everything keeps running. You keep the instructions, desk, agents and playbook, and you can bring me back whenever you want a review.
Is cold email legal?
Business email to a published business address can be lawful in Australia and the US if you identify yourself, keep the message relevant to the recipient's role and honour opt-outs. The system is built around those rules, but you remain the sender. I'm not a lawyer, so check anything unusual with yours.
How long until the first emails go out?
That depends on how quickly we can schedule discovery and connect your accounts. Your first drafts arrive during the build and launch step, and we review that first week together.