Business development in the professional services sector is not rocket science — complex plans, a distaste (or outright dislike) for “selling”, even personality type notwithstanding. Anyone possessing the will and the discipline to follow a simple formula can, over time, develop new business. What is this formula? {Target Identification} + {Understanding of Drivers} + {Solution… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Business Development
Subscribe to Business Development RSS FeedAuthentic Leadership Comes With Extraordinary Listening Skills
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, MarketingSo often we act as though leadership is wrapped up in a title, charisma, or eloquent messaging. Yet, many times the individuals I most want to hear from — those whose thoughts and opinions influence me the most — are doing less talking than almost everyone around them. The best leaders I know seem to… Continue Reading
Deliver The Experience Or Lose The Relationship
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Client Feedback, Communication, Customer Experience, MarketingA few might dispute the notion, but most will agree – relationship trumps everything. Whether in the business or personal arena, relationship provides the context in which almost everything is interpreted. It influences judgement and defines value. The Relationship That Wasn’t Nearly a decade ago a small technology start-up was out of money, and about to… Continue Reading
3 Keys To Thriving In A Changing Marketplace
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, MarketingLong ago, before digital invaded advertising, marketing and media, the basics of the print industry hadn’t seen significant change for decades. Then someone figured out ones and zeroes. And things began to shift rapidly. Seemingly overnight, what had once been the purview of shops able to invest in big machines and the real estate to… Continue Reading
When The Intent Is To Communicate, Market and Lead, Listen With The Eyes
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, MarketingYou don’t have to look long to find plenty of talk about the importance of listening. (We’ve done our share here on this blog, and here, in a guest post for my friend Cordell Parvin.) CMOs, consultants and marketing gurus regularly weigh in on listening’s critical role. These discussions invariably (and understandably) focus on the… Continue Reading
5 CMOs Identify The Characteristics of Successful Teams
Posted in Business Development, Communication, Leadership, Marketing, Strategic PlanningStrategy, no matter how insightful and comprehensive, does not insure execution. Action plans, no matter how detailed or innovative, are no guarantee goals will be realized. And every leader that has managed through crisis knows benchmarks are not the be-all-end-all measure of resources. The market is shaped by teams that move boundaries and redefine arithmetic…. Continue Reading
3 Keys To Business Development Success in 2013
Posted in Business Development, Marketing, Strategic PlanningSo you want to start the year with a winning business development strategy? Here’s where to begin. Name your target. This is an all-too-often overlooked (or skipped) key to success. If you are thinking that the place to begin is with a “just get my name out there” strategy, think again. The shortest distance between… Continue Reading
The Gift Of A Clean Slate
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, Strategic PlanningThe season may be past; but there is still time to bestow a gift that can bring positive change in the coming days, weeks and throughout 2013. The gift? A clean slate. A fresh start. A new beginning. Give it to everyone with whom you interact — family, colleagues, team members, clients and customers. And… Continue Reading
Build A Robust Network And Create A Pipeline of Business
Posted in Business Development, Marketing, Social Media, Strategic PlanningMore than a dozen years ago I stepped into my first business development meeting with a lawyer. When I asked this individual to describe his target market, the reply was something like “my ideal client is the next person that calls or walks into my office, needing help putting a business deal together.” Translation: this… Continue Reading
The (Genius) Preschooler’s Approach to Strategic Business Development
Posted in Business Development, Marketing, Strategic Planning(Note: this is a reprise of a post that originally appeared on Alicia Arenas‘ Senera Camp Blog.) A university grad student challenged me to come up with a practical approach to marketing, sales and business development — one not dependent on mega-budgets, Big Data, or unlimited human resources. One the garage entrepreneur or corner donut… Continue Reading
The Message That Connects
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Communication, Leadership, Marketing, Social MediaMarshall McLuhan — a godfather of 20th-century communication theory — characterized one of the challenges inherent in connecting when he coined the phrase “the medium is the message.” Seth Godin hit on it from a different angle in his timely post today, Get Over Yourself. Given the timing — the 1960’s, in North America —… Continue Reading
Measuring What Matters
Posted in Business Development, Communication, Leadership, Marketing, Social MediaWe measure everything. With a keen eye on established benchmarks, we consider every implication of a new born’s length and weight, age of the first step, and rate of growth (raise your hand if you remember marks on the wall noting dates and height). Speed. Efficiency. Projected earnings. Wins and losses. We measure it all —… Continue Reading
The ABC’s Of Business Development
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, MarketingBusiness development is not very complicated. Granted, it requires many to stray from a comfort zone, and the combination of science and art is often disconcerting; but the formula for success is not difficult to understand. If you know of a business development effort that isn’t producing, chances are someone is making it more complicated… Continue Reading
Where Communication, Marketing and Effective Business Development Begin
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Communication, Marketing, UncategorizedEvery student of communication theory is familiar with the concept of Shared Experiences. This is the coveted sweet-spot where barriers fall, gaps are bridged, and — thanks to commonalities — communication takes place. Theoretically. It is a beautifully simple theory. But in practice, it is far from simple. A recent Seth Godin post, The People… Continue Reading
Want Marketing That Connects and Resonates? Pick A Target Before You Begin.
Posted in Business Development, Marketing, Strategic PlanningEvery marketer is familiar with the challenge of crafting a strategy that rises above the noise of a crowded marketplace. It goes something like…“If our name was just out there more…what can you do to help us stand out?” It is as if delivering the right artwork will transform a mere mark into a logo… Continue Reading
Dead Air Killed The Radio Show. (Don’t Let Your Business Development Efforts Become The Next Victim)
Posted in Business Development, Client Feedback, Communication, Customer Experience, MarketingA lifetime ago, in what seems like a galaxy far away, I spent some time in the broadcast industry. More specifically, in a radio studio. In that era, the fast paced “Top 40” genre topped most markets, and was designed to sound slightly anti-establishment with a shoot-from-the-hip tone. In reality, it was a highly structured,… Continue Reading
Business Development, The Client Experience, And Loyalty In The New Normal
Posted in Business Development, Client Feedback, Customer ExperienceIt was early October a decade ago — long before talk of a “new normal.” And a BigLaw firm was very comfortable in its relationship with a satisfied client. By almost any standard, the comfort seemed well founded. In the four years prior, the firm had won a bet-the-company battle in court, and subsequently created… Continue Reading
Some Plain Talk About Business Development
Posted in Business Development, MarketingIt’s time we admitted something. Business development is not complicated. Hard work? Indeed…because it is, at its core, about succeeding at relationships…and we all know — whether we will admit it or not — almost anything having to do with relationships is hard work. But our quest for formulas, fast-fixes and the ultimate planning template… Continue Reading
Redefine Listening and Reshape Business Development
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Client Feedback, CommunicationI am an old dog. Learning new tricks, techniques or skill sets does not come easy. My 20-year old daughter, my wife and, I suspect, the team I am privileged to work with will all agree. But as I listened to Neil Harbisson’s TED presentation from earlier this year titled “I Listen to Colors” (a 10-minute video that will… Continue Reading
When A Winning Attitude Undermines Victory
Posted in Branding, Business Development, LeadershipNo one likes to lose. Whether a single game, or a season’s campaign…a friendly wager, or betting the farm…a skirmish, or a war…even a conversation or a debate — winning has become a definitive measure of success. We want to win. A winning attitude is an asset to be prized in colleagues, and cultivated in… Continue Reading
The Ultimate Business Development Question
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Client Feedback, Customer ExperienceSeveral years ago Fred Reichheld, among others, began working on a conversation and a system that would prompt organizations to rethink relationship with clients / customers. In his book, The Ultimate Question (now available in an updated 2.0 version), the discussion zeroes in on what the author defines as the ultimate measure of loyalty – whether… Continue Reading
The DNA Of Strategic Business Development
Posted in Art of Listening, Business Development, Leadership, Marketing, Strategic PlanningLabeling something as Strategic does not make it so. The presence of a plan, no matter the number of pages or accompanying detail, should not be mistaken for the existence of a strategy. Desk drawers are littered with detailed business development and marketing plans that are decidedly not strategic. (I know this from personal experience.) And even… Continue Reading
5 Ideas To Jumpstart Your Business Development Networking
Posted in Art of Listening, Business DevelopmentA few individuals seem completely comfortable in their skin. When it comes to business development, this translates to being at ease in any room — virtual or literal — able to network, initiate conversations and connect the dots. Last night, in the bustle of Little Italy in New York City, my family and I stepped… Continue Reading
Mind Set, Skill Set And The Pursuit of Progress
Posted in Business Development, Communication, Leadership, Strategic PlanningIt is much easier to be a critic than a creator; easier to respond and react than to innovate and initiate; easier to correct and follow than to map and lead. Opinions flow freely from the comfort of the cheap seats, where no investment in the possibilities of the future is required. Charting new territory… Continue Reading