The pursuit of new clients and customers is oftentimes difficult, if not downright arduous. Sales and business development professionals are well advised to keep two terms top of mind: efficiency and focus. Inefficiently managing referral sources makes the quest to generate new business even harder. Allocating your valuable energy, attention and focus on people who do not provide material value to your business generation efforts is a regrettable waste of personal and professional resources.
Three Ways Mindfulness Can Improve Your Business Development Strategy
A business development plan is critical to efficiently directing your time and financial resources. Although it's important, a plan is an inanimate strategy that's devoid of human awareness of any given situation. Rainmakers are aware at all times. They discover new — sometimes esoteric — opportunities by understanding what is going on around them. Unexpected new opportunities yield a foundation for building rapport and ultimately the golden standard of all relationships — the unique business relationship, which is a relationship that is difficult, if not impossible, to replace. Practice mindfulness and exponentially build your book of business. Here are three real-world examples of how to be vigilant about drawing strategic inferences as you observe a situation.
Five Questions To Ask Yourself Before Joining A Business Networking Group
A business networking group provides a community to share ideas, contacts and business referrals. It is essentially a unified sales team of members who are active in the marketplace and who source business development opportunities for other members. In my experience as a member of various networking groups over a span of nearly 30 years, the inherent value of such a group is tied to sound organizational controls and sustained membership quality. (Full disclosure: I wrote a book about starting a unique business development group and believe that a well-run group can help you grow your book of business exponentially, while a poorly run group will most likely yield few, if any, benefits.)
How To Solve Three Common Business Development Challenges
Business development challenges abound in today's incredibly competitive environment, especially for those professionals who may not consider themselves natural rainmakers. We need ways to manage each challenge and maximize the likelihood of success. Below are three common challenges we might face as we implement our business development plans and continue to build our books of business, as well as my thoughts and recommendations on how to solve them.
Joe Brocato Values Forbes Councils as a Stellar Brand Through Which He Can Share Thought Leadership
Joe Brocato, a senior partner at the Chicago law firm Gozdecki, Del Giudice, Americus, Farkas & Brocato, is crystal clear on his secret sauce as an attorney. “I love taking all my creative juices from being a musician and a writer of fiction and nonfiction and bringing that to bear as a lawyer to really come up with creative solutions to very difficult legal problems,” he says. Brocato plays multiple instruments and has written fiction books (mystery/thrillers with legal subplots) and nonfiction books on the topics of happiness, music management, and business development.
How To Tackle Resistance From Prospects
Even with the warmest of introductions, it's rare that a prospect presents no form of resistance. Often, you'll need to handle some form of resistance. Thus, a business developer must be prepared for resistance. To do this, you'll need to understand the most common types of resistance from prospects and how to handle such resistance logically and with confidence.
Why Happiness Is The Secret To Getting An Edge On Your Business Competitors
Organizations and sales professionals need an edge on their competition to flourish. Traditional sales training, which emphasizes prospecting, presentation, negotiation and closing skills, can benefit from important research on the topic of happiness.
How To Change Your Business Development Habits Forever
All too often, budding rainmakers do not adopt the right habits to make business development a lasting priority. Perhaps some are too busy with their day-to-day work tasks to devote the necessary time to developing their own book of business. Others may start off strong with the best of intentions, but their desire to stay the course dwindles over time. These professionals need a way to effect lasting change in their lives that will truly empower them to achieve massive business development success.
14 Overlooked Business Development Strategies Your Company Should Explore
Business development should be a top priority for any company that’s looking to grow. The strategies for successful business development are endless, and some may work better than others, depending on your business and its goals.
How To Be Different From -- Not Just Better Than -- Your Competitors
Rainmakers are confident. They should think they are better than their competitors. And there is nothing inherently wrong with sharing your confidence with prospects. But prospects often perceive "better" as subjective. Focus on objectivity. Emphasize how you are objectively different from your competitors. Think about it: Every one of your competitors will be telling prospects that they are better than you. If prospects are hearing this claim from everyone, then what criteria will they use to make their decision? One of the most critical aspects of this decision-making process is the concept of objective differentiation. Establish that — in your case — better means different.