How do you build a professional service practice? Where do you begin? How much time do you invest? What constitutes progress? In a previous post on the similarities between business development and planting a tree, we recounted the story of French Marshal Lyautey, who instructed his gardener to plant a tree that would take 100 years … Continue Reading
If you wrestle with business development — where to focus, how to start, what to do next, how to make it seem natural — if you struggle with the whole idea , chances are one of the causes for the struggle is an anemic or nonexistent professional network. If this describes you and you’re among … Continue Reading
Ask a dozen professionals to define marketing and you might receive a dozen different responses. From retailer to B-to-B enterprise, from service provider to widget producer, from Fortune-listed to start-up — we tend to define marketing based on what we’re selling, and who we need to motivate. But all of us, unique perspectives notwithstanding, count on … Continue Reading
Two things are often true of professional service providers wrestling with how to build a practice, and we discuss both frequently: an anemic network — which translates to a severe shortage of connections that can either hire you, or refer and introduce you to the folks in a position to do the hiring; and, the absence … Continue Reading
Business development is not complicated. Hard work? Indeed…because it is, at its core, about succeeding at relationships…and we all know that almost anything having to do with relationships is hard work. But the quest for formulas, fast-fixes and a magic planning template notwithstanding, biz dev success does not reside in a silver-bullet or one-size-fits-all solution. Strategically sound … Continue Reading
How do we measure progress? What constitutes ROI on what is plowed into business development efforts? The practical challenge is that between the initial work necessary for productive business development efforts and any tangible signs of growth, it can be difficult to see the progress that is being made. This is especially true if real progress … Continue Reading
If business development is causing you sleepless nights, chances are the source of much of that angst is an anemic professional network, or the absence of strategic targets. Or both. A healthy network connects you to opportunity flow. We discussed this, along with three ways to address challenges associated with “networking” in a post a … Continue Reading
We’ve said it before — business development will never be mistaken for rocket science. It isn’t even Algebra I…unless you employ the most basic of formulas — Success = X + Y. But this isn’t to suggest it is easy. Strategic business development requires a combination of factors: focus; tasks and activities that are difficult … Continue Reading
Rainmakers seem to have an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time. How do they pull this off? In fact, it is far from happenstance. The epitome of strategic business development and marketing is increasingly about executing a plan that connects with those most likely to influence or execute a … Continue Reading
Few will argue the inevitability of change. But there is plenty of debate about the degree to which it might land at our front door and impact our reality. We proclaim intellectual acceptance with lines like the only constant is change. Or the poignant if you don’t like change, you’ll like irrelevance even less. But … Continue Reading
To the degree that it is human nature, it is understandable. On the other hand, to the degree that it is a distracting resource drain, it significantly limits effective business development. “It” is the search for a Silver Bullet. From social media to the newest technology, from what’s hot in creative execution to the flavor-of-the-month … Continue Reading
There are four ways you’ll acquire work and build a professional services practice in 2017. You’re already connected to someone who knows you and is inclined to use the services you provide; You are plugged into a group (network) that connects you and will refer or outright recommend you to someone in need of your … Continue Reading
Business development in the professional services sector is not rocket science. Anyone possessing the will and the discipline to follow a simple formula can, over time, build a thriving practice. (Okay — “over time” is the hard part. Much of the time we expect immediate results.) What is this formula? {Target Identification} + {Understanding of … Continue Reading
The setting was a business development workshop, and a law firm leader was raising a question: what should we be doing to get the highest value from our marketing and business development investments? The context was a familiar drill. Plans are drafted…and they gather dust. There is talk (hours of it at times) about websites, … Continue Reading
In spite of mounds of evidence to the contrary, when it comes to marketing, business development and sales we can’t help ourselves. We cling to the hope of a viral happending that will change everything in an “unexpected” instant. Others have pulled it off. Why not us? The luck-of-the-draw . . . the right set of numbers. … Continue Reading
For a moment let’s say we really believe the notion that relationship is the key when it comes to business development for professional service providers. What do we do with that? How do you build the kind of relational equity that is at the heart of a stable practice? Warning. If you’re hoping for a silver … Continue Reading
There are plenty of questions about business development and rainmaking — what does it take to win…can only certain personality types pull it off…is there a secret language…or a handshake…and so on. If you wrestle with the notion, and regularly move from the promises of one silver bullet to the next with minimal success, chances … Continue Reading
What constitutes appropriate ROI on all that we plow into business development efforts? In a post on the similarities between business development and planting a tree, we recounted the story of French Marshal Lyautey. The story underscores the fact that growing something strong takes time. The practical challenge is that between the planting and tangible signs … Continue Reading
No one needs a 20-page document that lists scores of action items on which action will never be taken. No one needs another plan that does nothing more than gather dust in a drawer. But unless you are one-hundred percent happy with where your practice is today, and confident that it will endure for as long as … Continue Reading
Labeling 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. And even in the event a … Continue Reading
Recently I came across a McKinsey article titled Getting Beyond the BS of Leadership Literature. It’s worth the time (and was a bit indicting); but this is not a post on leading. This is about business development BS. Or, more accurately, what often goes unsaid when Biz Dev is the topic. If you’re concerned with … Continue Reading
Some seem to have an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time; but when it comes to business development, success is rarely happenstance. In fact, the epitome of strategic marketing and sales is taking the steps necessary to reach the right target, at the right time, with precisely the right … Continue Reading
When it comes to business development, few things bring the clarity that comes with a focus on targeting. But for who-knows-how-many-reasons, few things are more difficult for many professional service providers. It is a heck of a lot easier to discuss getting our name out there. Or, building a list of all the XYZ type companies in a given geography. … Continue Reading
Any discussion of business development should be required to begin with this disclaimer: There are no one-size-fits-all solutions or formulas. Silver bullets and cookie-cutters might work elsewhere; but not here. With that stipulation, there are a number of solid cornerstones that will ensure the resources invested in your plan for the coming year aren’t experimental in nature, leaving you to hope the … Continue Reading
