The question I get more than any other from new (and sometimes, not so new) acquaintances — professional and personal — is “what was it like giving a TED talk?”.

That’s easy to answer. 

Sure…standing on a TED stage was exciting. It has opened doors, instigated conversations and most significantly, provided a platform for a topic I deem important.

But the TEDx experience had a profound and lasting impact on the way I think about, prepare for and attempt to engage in any opportunity to convey an idea.  Continue Reading Three Lessons From My TEDx Experience

If you secretly fear your approach to business development is underperforming, you are not alone. In fact, you’re among a majority of law, accounting and consulting professionals and firms I know.

I know there is little comfort in numbers in this case; but this prompts a question: when will the lack of results from the way it’s always been done finally push rethinking the conversation?  Continue Reading Will Your Investments In Business Development Pay Off?

For a long time I bought the idea that some individuals simply don’t have what it takes to become business developers, much less have the DNA of a rainmaker.

I’m not sure why I held this notion other than I had heard it voiced by others and it was easy to buy — certain personality-types and skill-sets certainly seemed at odds with the stereotypical business developer. 

But I was wrong. 

Anyone can be an effective business developer…without sacrificing personal authenticity or becoming someone or something different. 

I have worked with thousands of professionals. Some had natural “gifts” that seemed to suggest developing new work was easy for them. (In honest moments most would admit that they worked very hard at making it look easy.) Some were extraordinary when it came to building productive relationships.

Others possesed almost none of those things we tend to think of as the traits of a rainmaker. But the absence of such was not an accurate predictor of the success many of them enjoyed.

I began to realize this when I was working with a lawyer who was the textbook introvert. Noticeably uncomfortable in anything that resembled a social or networking setting, she  had become convinced that this reality foreshadowed a career of depending on others to do most of the BizDev work.

But she was willing to work at it. Over time (about three years in this case), she went from $100,000 in business she had originated in a mid-sized market, to $1.1 million. Today she does twice that in annual originations.

In fact, this quiet introvert possessed the three things required of anyone who seeks to develop a solid professional service practice…and even rain business down for an entire team.

The Givens

It should go without saying, but we will say it for the record: the work product must stand the test of the marketplace. In addition, the DNA of any engagement must reside in what is in the client’s best interest. Settling for anything short of the highest bar in either of these areas comes at a high price. 

A Willingness To Pay The Price

We can sugar coat it. Or try to finesse the language; but the plain truth is that, assuming the givens noted above, the single greatest indicator of whether an individual (or a firm) will succeed in developing business is the degree to which intentional business development is a priority.

If claiming agency over one’s practice is a major and operative driver, a strategic plan of action can be created that aligns with individual personality, affinity and skill-set, and results in organic growth.

Period. No caveats.

Well…okay…there is one equivocation.

Realistic Expectations 

Solid business development — the kind that is foundational to building a career — doesn’t happen over night. Or even in a season of intense focus.

In the case of the lawyer mentioned above, it took eighteen months to realize a measurable increase. Eighteen months of carving out the time to focus on the BizDev work that had to be done.

Anyone  in search of a quick fix or a way to make up for work not done should move on. I don’t know of one that works.

This is not to suggest that business development should occupy the same priority for every lawyer or service provider in every firm. Specific responsibility and accountability should be matters of strategic management in a team setting. 

But without respect to the size of your team, as you plan for a new year if you don’t have a good idea where revenue in 2022 will come from…it is time to ask relevant questions. 

Accepting the idea that some are born for this part of the work and some are not, or subscribing to any other explanation for anemic BizDev efforts is simply to avoid discussing the real question. 

Is business development a priority?

If the answer is “Yes” the good news is that a plan for success can be built.

Anyone ready to make it a priority can become a business developer. Maybe even a rainmaker. 

Strategic planning involves identifying specific goals and defining the action steps necessary to realize those goals. The squishier the goals (a lofty business term, I know) the more difficult it is to map goal-oriented actions. This approach to planning a critical initiative had better come with a hefty dose of luck.

Continue Reading A Better Roadmap for Strategic Lateral Pursuits

Anyone building a professional service practice appreciates the value of relationships. A portfolio of dynamic connections is what fills a pipeline with new leads, referral sources and recurring engagements.

But staying in touch — creating and maintaining the kind of visibility that places you in the right place at the right time — can be a challenge.

Continue Reading 7 Tips For Professionals On Maintaining Visibility And Nurturing Relationships With Prospects

Leaders face a tall task in planning for 2021. With hopeful light at what appears to be  the end of the Covid-19 tunnel, it’s going to be tempting to try to make up for traction lost in 2020 in an effort to get back to “normal.”

This temptation is likely to result in multiple “strategic” projects and extra-long to-do-lists.

Continue Reading The Trick To Strategic Planning For 2021

PLEASE NOTE — Fair warning — this is an opinion post. The intent, as always, is to offer fodder for productive conversation; it is, however, less about business development, marketing and communication, and much more about what we value. As always, I am indebted to you for your time and interest. — EF

It is one thing to subscribe to a position because of a belief in alignment with deeply held values. Or to adopt a platform based on affinity for a cause. Or even to advocate based on an assumption that historical roots run deeper than individual predilections.

Continue Reading What Do We Value Most?

In a noisy, competitive and topsy-turvy marketplace, what is the key to capturing the imagination of your most coveted prospects?

We know it isn’t the case, but particularly in professional services, it is easy to market as though we believe it is our credentials…Or brand…Or budget…Or eloquence that will differentiate us from every other advisor hoping to land the gig.

Meanwhile, the market repeatedly suggests that we get over ourselves, revealing what drives the decision to engage one professional over another. Follow the advice in this video short from the BizDev Notebook, and grab the attention of the market you pursue.

(And if you’re searching for a way to gain traction in a market none of us saw coming, request info on the all new BizDev Notebook — eric@ericfletcherconsulting.com.)

In the summer of 1969, with less technology than what exists in the device you’ll use to share today’s social media tidbits, human beings flew to the moon.

We’re so desensitized to the fact of the matter, that the impossibility of the idea in the 1960’s, not to mention the price that would be paid, is lost on us.

This post is about today — not history — but imagine it for a minute.  They flew to the moon!

Continue Reading We Can Do Impossible Things

The life expectancy of “no-one-saw-this-coming” as an explanation for stalled business development is going to run out soon. Or at least, wear thin.

So for everyone who still has a practice to grow, here is a 4-step plan for the last 4 months of a year none of us saw coming. Buckle up…we’ll make it a speed round (because time is wasting).

Continue Reading A 4-Step BizDev Plan For The Last 4 Months of This Year