The Business of Business Development

Ask anyone in business if they need or want more business and you'll get a definitive "yes" most of the time. From the sole proprietor just starting out to the most sophisticated of sales organizations, the single most important business development activity is that of building a relationship and doing business with customers and clients. In other words, making sales calls and closing business.

Before any sales organization or effort begins, the business leader must fully develop her Mission, Vision, and Values/Commitments for the business as a whole. Integral components of the Strategic Plan should include specific sales and marketing action steps with time lines and people committed to getting the work done.

Once the proper business planning is in place, and it has been effectively communicated throughout the organization with adequate buy in, it is essential to set goals and track business development activities daily, weekly, and monthly. Setting goals and expectations for daily sales activities is one of the most overlooked disciplines we see as business coaches. This in itself costs our clients millions of dollars. Lack of proper planning, supervision, motivation, coaching, and accountability leads to mediocre performance at best.

As a small business owner myself, here's the secret to being successful with all sales and business development efforts. And I share this with each and every client beyond practicing this myself. First and foremost, I never forget that every day, week and month I must make sales calls. And this includes keeping track each and every day. (I use a simple spreadsheet where I track dials, contacts, appts, leads, meetings, new business/sales.)

I believe that these activities are the lifeblood of every business. Look at any great sales organization and you'll see all the elements in place. Proper recruiting, hiring, and training. Proper management, supervision, and accountability. Proper motivation and compensation. These are the components that matter the most. 

So it boils down to setting goals for a certain sales activities every day and keeping a tally. It boils down to holding yourself accountable. But this alone is not enough for most people. Most people need a coach or an accountability partner to stay on track. Sometimes the sales management provides this. Sole proprietors must create it.

Hey, we all know we don't gym as often as we should. We know we should be doing more of the important things in life. LIke making more sales calls. Hugging the people we love. Or watching what we eat. Or getting our butts out of bed at the crack of dawn and getting to the gym for a real workout.

I'll close by saying that most of us could do better in each of the following areas to grow our businesses:

  1. We could make more and better sales calls.
  2. We could have more and better new business meetings.
  3. We perform better in all aspects of our business and life when we set goals and work with a coach or accountabiliy partner. (Are you Tiger Woods level committed or just messing around? Some people get comfortable with the income and lifestyle they have and won't change. Others need a kick in the butt to take it to the next level.) 
  4. We could make more money if we constantly practice the first three.

I don't know about you, but I"ve been self-employed since 1991. And there have been some downright scary times. But the big successes only came because I could grind it out during the tough times. I forced myself to make more of the sales calls so few people want to make. I invested my own money in coaching and education that served me and my business clients. I learned to invest my money more effectively in marketing and hiring talent. I made more calls. I held more meetings. And I closed far more business and made more money when I had a coach. Pretty simple.

As always, with warm regards.

Cliff Jones, president- WealthNet Business Coaching, LLC

cliff@businesscoach.com

Comments

Bryan Durkin | Email | December 3, 2007 | 5:15PM
Cliff - great comments and commentary but I recently had an experience with a client who said "I'm just dumb and this is too complicated" FYI he owns a $100M business so we know he's not dumb but is REALLY into what they have been able to achieve.

For me it works out to a simpler factor:

If you are truly passionate about what you do - you become what you need to be to make everything else happen.

I just had this conversation the other day (seriously I have 2 witnesses!)

"Once you truly believe in your heart what you can do, there is nothing that will be in your way and your actions, thoughts, and tactics will all take you to where you want to go" - it was the second time I was able to evoke tears.

Passionate Stuff.

Bryan
Cliff | Email | December 4, 2007 | 8:30AM
Great point Bryan. Sounds like someone who lived in denial, fear, self doubt? Or all of the above. And as a business coach you helped him understand that a great coach works to "take a stand", preferably a highly passionate one. A stand so strong that the bond with the client, no matter how stubborn at first, leads him to "being" what he always had the potential to be in the first place. I love this business! And I'm going to share another story on the blog in a few minutes.

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