Have you ever thought about business development in the firm, using a simple equation like this:
But if it’s this simple, then why – when you ask, plead, or demand the effort of others – does it rarely work?
The answer lies in two parts. First, it’s wrong to believe that “sales calls” will lead to prospects. It’s occasionally true – but most often not. Initial calls with existing or new clients track first to leads – our one-way ideas and desires. These leads must be further nurtured and developed before they become true prospects – opportunities where the interest and desire to move forward is mutual (two-way).
Second – and the point of this post: it’s wrong to think that all members of the team can (or should) pursue the same business development activities. Clearly, professionals within the firm have different experiences and expertise, focus and passions, skills and talents. Employees also have varying roles within the organization – project professionals, project managers, team leaders, business unit managers, functional group managers, principal and senior leaders.
Here’s my First Law of Business Development Success:
Business development is a role, not a title.
What I mean with this law is this: many in the firm practice some form of business development, but few have the role as their primary one. It’s a notion similar to that of project management in most design and construction firms – where there are varying sorts of project managers – including some who do it a little, and others who do it a lot (and best).
Importantly, when we consider business development as a more ubiquitous role, two points become more obvious: 1) there can and should be a business development role for everyone – each employee of the firm, and 2) an individual’s business development role should be aligned with his or her professional role.
Let’s use a modified version of Igor Ansoff’s classic Product – Market Growth Matrix to further define this point. This matrix plots clients (or markets) on one axis, and services (or products) on the other:
The matrix groups growth opportunities – e.g. new projects – into four distinct categorizes:
I. Existing services for existing clients
II. New services for existing clients
III. Existing services for new clients
IV. New services for new clients
The power of this picture is that it helps to align the business development effort – focusing us on both on the type of opportunity to be pursued, and the type of staff professional best to pursue it. Describing further:
1) Existing Services for Existing Clients
This category defines the core of the firm’s existing business. 80% of current staff is focused here – on delivering current projects, interacting with client contacts, building and strengthening existing relationships, and such. There is considerable opportunity here for additional business development initiative: further nurturing relationships, looking for follow-on opportunities, finding out what’s next, helping the client to see and create a still-better future. And the team members best positioned to lead this initiative are the project professionals and project managers doing the current work. It makes much less sense to extract these staff from this core focus, and instead asked them to pursue other (nonrelated) business development initiatives.
2) New Services for Existing Clients
Undoubtedly, most all of the company’s existing clients also purchase products and services from other providers – which could be supplied by the firm. There are many reasons why clients don’t buy all of the firm’s services – but lack of knowledge (with the buyer, seller, or both) is a big one. Commonly clients don’t fully appreciate the range of the firm’s services, and often project professionals and project managers don’t themselves know the full range of their company’s capabilities. Successful development of these opportunities – cross-selling (from one client/group/area to another) – requires a more unique and higher level perspective (of both organizations). In the company these individuals are usually functional or business unit managers or other principals who can see both the range and breath of company capabilities, and the range of client wants and needs. These folks are best positioned to lead this portion of the business development charge – as strategic client or account managers.
3) Existing Services for New Clients
This category includes those business involvement initiatives most commonly associated with “sales.” These are the new customers – clients the firm is not working with today – but who buy the firm’s services from other, similar providers. Success in developing opportunities here does require certain talents and skills commonly associated with successful salespeople – uncovering leads, opening doors, developing new relationships, and such. Again, what makes the most sense is to assign these efforts to those in the firm who possess the right mix of talents, skills and desire. By contrast, it makes much less sense to assign each member of the staff to (for instance) “make five new client sales calls per month.”
4) New Services for New Clients
This group represents the highest order diversification strategy – opportunities furthest away from the company’s current core business. There’s a wide range of these sorts of projects, some relatively close to the core business (for example hiring a professional in an adjacent service area), others relatively farther away (acquiring a firm in a completely unrelated business). In any case, while it’s good to have all of the eyes and ears of the organization paying attention, business development in this area is usually best served by those closest to the firm’s enterprise business strategy – e.g. senior principals, leaders, and business owners.
Everyone in the firm can and should be a part of the business development effort. All of the firm’s staff are part of what Disney calls “the show” (and not just the show on stage, but the whole show – the experience of working with the organization). But asking all of the company’s employees to pursue business development in the same way – focus, approach, methodology – makes little sense. Instead, success-oriented firms position staff to best leverage their individual business development power with growth efforts that are aligned with the employee’s current role. Through this alignment, these firms more effectively capture the total leverage of the organization – towards continued and sustainable growth and success.
If you have questions – or would like to know more about how to accomplish real business development success in your organization – give us a call.
Happy hunting!
John
