The more you put in the more you get out – please don’t forget about your new business developer
If you make an extra bit of effort all the time the difference is clear. Smile more, help people more, work a bit harder, be a better friend, get up a little earlier, go to bed a little earlier, run a bit faster, cook something new, bake a cake….try it, it really does make a difference.
It is the same with new business development. I want to focus on the relationship between businesses and their new business professional, whether they are inhouse or an external partner.
Everybody needs to remember that new business professionals cannot simply go away and ‘work their magic’. You can’t put them in a box and hope that new clients will land on your desk.
I help my clients with i) how to communicate what they do, ii) define who it is that will find this product or service meaningful and relevant, and ultimately want to buy it and iii) the actual process of communication. This is what new business development is about: communication, the vehicle, the bridge between the product or service offered by the business and its future customers. Sometimes, I also advise my clients on where they should focus their business, specialism’s etc. if it isn’t engaging enough.
New business professionals need their clients (or the rest of their business) to continually back up the proposition, support what is being communicated and add credence to the messages being shared with your audiences – be your business’ brand in all you do. Today your future customers can find out so much about you and your competitors in so many ways, and the content found at all of these touchpoints needs to reflect the proposition. New business professionals can write and manage this content, but to keep it fresh we need input, feedback and most importantly communication from the rest of the business. It is amazing what can trigger or spark a new lead – the key being ‘trigger’ and ’spark’. There needs to be an ongoing process of feeding through new content, new information, fresh ideas, news, trends. This can be something as simple as a regular conversation, inclusion into management meetings or simply making time for your new business professional.
When my clients have open lines of communication with me and actively input into the new business process the results are much improved.
So please remember to involve your new business professional as much as possible, support their activity…. the more you put in, the more you will get out.