Concept

It’s Not Sales, It’s Service

By Tom on June 2, 2023

Over the last few years I have been living and breathing business development and pulling the thread on how work winning fits within the rest of your business.

When practicing purposeful business development, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of winning an opportunity. If you’re not careful making the sale can begin to dominate everything. After all, without sales, a business cannot succeed. However, it is important to remember that sales are just part of a much larger process – customer service.

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Service means customer service

Customer service is the foundation of any successful business. It is the way in which a business interacts with its customers and provides them with the necessary information and support they need to make informed decisions. This includes everything from answering questions, to providing product demonstrations, to handling complaints.

Of course, the key to providing excellent customer service is to put the customer first. This means going the extra mile to make sure that the customer is satisfied with their experience, regardless of whether or not a sale is made. For example, personnel who take the time to listen to a customer’s concerns, provide helpful advice, and follow up with them after the interaction, is likely to earn the customer’s loyalty and trust.

During project delivery, customers who are communicated with at every stage feel valued, and secure in the knowledge of project progress. When things are going wrong is when customer service really shines. Taking time to keep the customer informed of problems and how you are dealing with them cements that level of trust.

Customer service grows sales

In addition to building customer loyalty and trust, providing excellent customer service leads to increased sales. Customers who feel informed, valued and respected are more likely to return for future work. Not to mention the fact that they will recommend your business to others. Calling back to my previous point, customers who have a positive experience with a business are more likely to forgive a mistake or negative experience, because they have developed the relationship and trust.

On the flip side, neglecting customer service has the opposite effect. Treating customers as a transaction and putting yourself first will result in a loss of trust. Resulting in a breakdown in relationship and a reluctance to buy more of your services.

Final thoughts

It’s important to note that excellent customer service is not just limited to face-to-face interactions. It’s also about providing a seamless, consistent experience across all customer touchpoints, including email, phone, and social media.

Remember, while sales are certainly important, they are just the end result of a much larger process. Providing excellent customer service is the foundation of a successful business and should always be a top priority. Putting the customer first and build strong trust based relationships will help increase your sales over time.

How are you prioritising customer service in your team?

customer service

Are looking to begin your Business Development journey but are not quite sure where to start? Download my quick start guide to business development. This gives a series of simple activities to quickly set you on the right path.

For a definition of business development you can check out my take in this post here.

If you are getting value out of my weekly free content I’d ask that you consider buying my new book. It’s a simple yet comprehensive framework to base your business development activity around and full of practical application to get you started now. It is available to order on Amazon now.

If you want a more proactive and personal approach to your business development I am available to help. Through face to face video calls I’ll set you on the right path and keep you accountable to future activity. I currently have space on my 1on1 personalized coaching program, or you can sign up to my flagship course. To learn more click the button below.

Business Development Coaching

Three Powerful Business Development Truths from Roald Dahl’s Matilda

By Tom on April 21, 2023

Watching the recently released Matilda the Musical with my kids on Netflix got me thinking. Through all the singing, dancing and shenanigan’s there are some great truths for those practicing business development.

For those who don’t know, Roald Dahl’s Matilda is a classic children’s novel that has captured the hearts of readers for decades. More recently local Western Australian Tim Minchin adapted this wonderful story into a musical extravaganza. My kids and I absolutely loved it!

The story follows a young girl named Matilda who has a love for reading and an extraordinary intelligence. Despite her talents, she is constantly belittled and underestimated by her family and schoolteachers. As we read or watch the story, we can learn valuable truths about the world of business development. Here are three things that Matilda teaches us in her story.

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Never underestimate your potential customers.

Just like Matilda’s family and schoolteachers, many business developers make the mistake of underestimating their potential customers. They assume that because someone may not have a lot of money or is not well-educated, they are not worth their time. Matilda’s story teaches us that every person, regardless of their background, has the potential to be a valuable customer. It’s important to approach every potential customer with respect and an open mind.

This plays out when business developers think that they know better than their customer. Proceeding to tell them what they need without asking questions and listening is egocentric and off putting. Each customer has their own individual issues. Your job is be curious and find out what those issues are. If you can help, great. If not, no problem.

Mr Wormwood an example of the stereotypical salesman, treating his customers badly!

Never stop learning and growing.

Matilda’s love for reading and her constant desire to learn is what sets her apart from her classmates. As business developers, it’s important to never stop learning and growing. The world of business is constantly changing. It’s essential to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques, both inside your industry and out. By continuously learning and growing, you’ll be able to offer your customers the best possible service and cement your reputation as the go to person in your field.

Never give up on your goals.

Matilda’s determination to succeed, despite the constant obstacles she faces (looking at you Miss Trunchbull!), is an inspiration. As business developers, it’s important to set goals for yourself and never give up on them, no matter how difficult they may seem. It may take time, but with hard work and perseverance, you’ll be able to achieve your revenue goals and be successful in your career.

To know how you are tracking against your goals you must measure your progress. I write about his at length in my post on the subject here.

Matilda doesn’t give up in the face of adversity and neither should you.

Final Thoughts

Whether you love it or hate it, Roald Dahl’s Matilda teaches us valuable lessons about the world of business development. By remembering to never underestimate your potential customers, never stop learning and growing, and never give up on your goals, you’ll be on your way to making an impact for your customers and your team.

Business Development Truths

If you want a more proactive approach to upskill your work winning check out my flagship course Business Development Academy. This leads you through the business development process step by step. Giving you the skills, system and processes to be more purposeful in the market place. To learn more click the button below.

Business Development Academy

Coaching

As we know, you are not born with business development skills. They must be learned. What better place to start than by downloading my fast business development guide below. This gives a list of actions and activities to set you on the right path right now.

If you’re asking what is business development? My definition can be found here.

If you are enjoying my free conent and want to get more in depth I would ask you to consider buying a copy of my new book Business Development Begins Here. It is available to order on Amazon. Visit the link to reserve your copy now.

What is Business Development? Sales or Not Sales?

By Tom on June 24, 2022

Unfortunately business development (BD) means different things to different people. While often seen as another word for sales, this is doing the craft a massive disservice.

In this post I’ll explore what BD is and what it is not. I’ll also provide a simple definition before detailing why I think the craft is so important.

What Business Development is Not

Business development is not sales.

Sales by definition is the action of selling. On the other hand, BD involves more than seeking and closing the deal. It requires strategic thinking and decision-making behind who to approach, and how to approach. Additionally, it focuses only on new opportunities that align with the long-term success of the company.

Business development is not transaction based.

Traditionally, sales are considered short-term and transaction based. Get the sale, ring the bell and move on. The strategic position of the sale in the wider context of the company’s goals is missing.

What Business Development Is

True enough, BD is, at its core, about the sale of products or services. However, rather than focusing on the transaction it wraps around the long-term goal of sustainably growing the business.

I consider the core components of BD to be:

Sales and Pursuit—an aggressive pursuit of sales opportunities that align with the company’s vision and intent.
Customer Relationships—the development of robust, trust-based relationships with customers.
Commercial Integrity—a strong commercial acumen. The ability to sell products and services at a profit margin that aligns with the company goals.
Productive Paranoia—an avid following of your company’s leading and lagging indicators.
Market Intelligence—a deep understanding of the market, the key players, and consequences of any changes therein.
Offering Intelligence—a deep understanding of the problem that your company solves.
Adaptive Feedback Loop—a conduit for information between the market and the company. Ensuring customer and market feedback is heard and acted upon.
Customer Service—a polite and professional approach in all dealings. You are the face of your organization.

So, what does this boil down to?

The act of sustainably growing your business.
Business development: A simple definition

Why Business Development is Important

Business development should be at the core of every business. The BD leader must have a seat at the leadership table. No one is better suited at aligning company decision-making to the point of view of the customer. These leaders operate in the heart of the marketplace, allowing them to identify shifts in customer behavior and initiate meaningful change to adapt.

Gwynne Shotwell, an accomplished aeronautical engineer, is a great example of a strong business development leader. She quickly transitioned into sales and BD while maintaining her engineering skillset. Shotwell saw a gap in Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture and joined as employee number seven, as the vice president of business development. Using both her technical and BD abilities to successfully position the space explorer as the industry leader made her an invaluable part of the company. So much so that she was promoted to president and chief operating officer (Vance, 2016).

The argument for having business development integrated into company leadership could not be stronger.

Summary

Hopefully this post has given you an insight into what business development is and what it is not. I’ve provided a simple definition that sets it far beyond the remit of sales alone.

Don’t make the mistake of hiring a salesman to be the face of your company. Look for BD leaders who can align the purpose and goals of your business with strategic customer pursuit and the growth of the business as a whole.

My new book Business Development Begins Here explores the foundations of this craft and will provide the tools to set you up for successful growth.

If you would like to get some free resources to help kickstart your business development journey follow the download link below. This gives you access to our Assess Workbook to help you work out where your company sits in the Sales Ecosystem. At the same link is our LinkedIn Roadmap to get your profile working for you.

How the Lewis Model can help me Understand Culture

By Tom on June 3, 2022

In my previous post about the External Environment I talked a bit about things to consider when developing business in different geographies. In addition, culture forms a massive part of business in different countries that often gets forgotten about. It is an all too common mistake to expect others to think and act the same way you do. Taking time to understand any differences in culture and behavior and considering approaches to bridge them is very worthwhile. For example, a business development campaign in Australia would take a very different form to one conducted in Indonesia.

The Lewis Model

Social and hierarchical behaviour varies significantly from place to place. Therefore, if company operations span multiple geographies and cultures, read around the Lewis model. It will really help you gain an understanding of how to navigate any potential communication pitfalls. In short, Lewis broadly divides the world’s cultures into three communication styles: Linear-active, Multi-active and Reactive and describes how each style behaves. A summary of each style is provided in the table below.

Linear-Active	Multi-Active	Reactive
Talks half the time Does one thing at a time Plans ahead step by step Polite but direct Partly conceals feelings Confronts with logic Dislikes losing face Rarely interrupts Job-oriented Sticks to facts Truth before diplomacy Sometimes impatient Limited body language Respects officialdom Separates the social and professional	Talks most of the time Does several things at once Plans grand outline only Emotional Displays feelings Confronts emotionally Has good excuses Often interrupts People-oriented Feelings before facts Flexible truth Impatient Unlimited body language Seeks out key person Mixes the social and professional	Listens most of the time Reacts to partner’s reaction Looks at general principles Polite, indirect Conceals feelings Never confronts Must not lose face Doesn’t interrupt Very people-oriented Statements are promises Diplomacy over truth Patient Subtle body language Uses connections Connects the social and the professional

Summary of Lewis Model Communication Styles (from crossculture.com)

Working across geographies – always consider the cultural differences

What Does This Mean

Each of the three groups can be applied to different parts of the world. The Linear-active group comprises the English-speaking world—North America, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and Northern Europe.

The Reactive group is located in all major countries in Asia, except the Indian subcontinent, which is a hybrid.

The Multi-active group are more scattered and comprises Southern Europe, Mediterranean countries, South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Arab and other cultures in the Middle East, India and Pakistan and most of the Slavs.

Please remember that these are generalizations. However, understanding them can really help bridge communication across cultures.

Understanding culture can help you work well within a multicultural team

Why This Is Useful

The importance of understanding cultural differences became apparent to me in the first two weeks of starting a new role. I was reporting through to Singapore and we had a huge variety of nationalities working in the same team. Experiencing some urgent technical issues with one of our customers I tried to push things through quickly outside of our regular operating process. To me this seemed the obvious thing to do. Not so to the rest of the team. I met resistance. Moreover, they would tell me that they would help, but didn’t. It was infuriating.

Luckily for me a great mentor of mine, Shirley-Anne introduced me to the Lewis model. I was operating as a Linear-Active whilst most of my colleagues were Reactive. They weren’t happy that I was circumventing the work process and as Reactives wouldn’t confront me about it. As a Linear-Active I was becoming impatient and the logic of bending the work process seemed obvious to me.

Importantly, Shirley-Anne helped me see that what was infuriating for me was also exasperating for the Singapore team. I gained insight into how the team members operated and adjusted my style and expectations to suit. Ultimately, a good outcome was reached for our customer.

What Next

If you find yourself working across geographic boundaries take some time to investigate the working cultures in each. This is important for both your customers and team. Gaining this understanding early will give you a better chance of avoiding any future communication pitfalls.

The Secrets of Product Prioritization

By Tom on March 18, 2022

This post explores two ways to help with your product prioritization. A couple of weeks ago I posted about the usefulness of a generic strategy. This works well when thinking about the broader positioning of your organisation. However, a business developer can be responsible for a number of products, service lines or industries, and it can be difficult to determine which to prioritize.

Product Prioritization With The GE/McKinsey Matrix

A quick assessment is made using the GE/McKinsey Matrix . This method plots the company offerings or industries on two simple axes:

Industry or market attractiveness – commercial potential of the market or industry, i.e. potential to make money.
Business unit strength – ability and skill level of current staff to develop that industry or market with the offering being assessed.

Product Prioritization Strategies

The original form of this analysis is conducted with a high level of detail. However, for ease of use I simply divide each axis into high, medium, or low. Each offering will plot within a general strategy. These strategies are described as:

Grow – strong business development effort and investment. Aggressively Hunt for opportunities.
Hold – medium business development effort and investment. Farming opportunities from existing customers
Harvest – limited business development effort. Act on opportunities as they arise. Do not pursue.

Combining the GE/McKinsey Matrix with the Porters Generic Strategy provides a fast assessment of where the product offering sits and its broad commercial strategy. Therefore, doing this for each of your products or service lines gives a clear direction for your business development effort.

Using the Product Life Cycle

Another tool that aids with prioritizing products within a portfolio is the Product Life Cycle. Plot the product and service offerings on the graph below. Annual sale volume and time product has been in circulation form the two axes. Each stage of the Cycle has its own broad strategy.

Introduction – New product. Hunt for new customers and establish brand trust.

Growth – Established product. Pursue new customers and ensure quality service to retain existing customers.

Maturity – Well established product. Farm existing customers. Accordingly, customer retention is a priority.

Decline – Product replaced with different offering. Business development effort is low. In addition, customer retention effort is low.

Understanding where the offering fits on this curve will assist in defining priorities for the business development effort across a portfolio of products or services.

Call to Action

If you look after a portfolio of products or industries print out a copy of the two tools. Plot your portfolio. Does it help you determine where to focus your effort? I’m keen to hear how you go. Put your findings in the comments below or get in touch through the usual channels.

Introducing Triple A

By Tom on January 28, 2022

To the uninitiated business development can feel a little overwhelming. How do the Sales Ecosystem and Sales Funnel fit together? Who should I be speaking to and when? There are lots of questions that need answering. This is made harder when business development forms only part of your role description, and other work commitments compete for your time. To help make things simpler, I have formed the Triple A Framework. This has a cyclical structure that guides you through the process of business development (see the figure below). The framework is there to steer you towards strategic planning and systematic action to ultimately increase the revenues entering your business. It comprises:

Assess

Assess the strategic intent of your company, product offering, customers, and internal and external environments.

Aim (Plan)

You must aim your business development action towards achieving the intent of your company. Understand the available marketing options and develop an aggressive strategic, operational, and tactical plan with a systematic cadence to maintain daily, weekly, and annual business development activity.

Action (Execute)

Execute systematic pursuit and opportunity development within the Sales Ecosystem to grow long-term revenue. Implement Act as a conduit of information and feedback between the customer, market, and your organization.

Introducing Triple A Business Development Framework

Over the coming months we will be discussing Assess, Aim & Action in more detail. Each component will be explored and practical advice provided. This will allow you to create a robust and practical business development plan that you can action immediately.

In addition to the Triple A Framework we will discuss some simple marketing methods as a way of acquiring a variety of brand-customer touch points from your customer base. These simple and cost-effective marketing tactics allow your target customers to become familiar with your brand, products and services, feeding leads into the top of your Sales Funnel.

Call to Action

Do you use a framework to shape your business development activity? If so let me know what you are using in the comments below. Are there other aspects to this framework that you think I’ve missed.

I have written a book that takes a deeper dive into the Triple A Framework. It’s due to be released in September 2022. For more info check out the page here.

Is your Sales Funnel Full?

By Tom on December 4, 2021

An organism can only survive if it is fed regularly, and a business is no different. It requires a steady input of cash to maintain its viability. It is the role of the business developer to navigate the Sales Ecosystem (see our previous post here) and use it to keep a steady stream of opportunities, leads, quotes and sales flowing into the company. The traditional way to visualise this is the concept of a Sales Funnel.

A lot has been written about the sales funnel and it has been presented in many different ways. Fundamentally, the funnel comprises the stages of effort required to get a sale. Imagine this as a water funnel, your marketing leads (digital advertising, face-to-face meetings and social media activity) are poured into the top. Some of these leads are genuinely interested in your company offering and become opportunities for a sale. A few of these opportunities will develop into sales bringing much needed revenue through the door. A simple Sales Funnel model is presented in the figure below.

It is easy to see that if the leads at the top of the funnel reduce a little, the knock-on effect to the sales and revenue generation can be catastrophic. Keeping the funnel filled should be of prime importance to the business developer and to the business.

Basic Sales Funnel

A basic Sales Funnel process comprises the following stages:

Leads. Leads take a couple of forms. Firstly, these are people and or businesses who have shown enough of an interest in your offering to reach out to you. Secondly, they are projects or tenders that strongly align with your company offering. A full funnel of leads is generally gained from customer relationships, marketing efforts and an understanding of what is happening within your market.

Lead assessment/qualification. To thoroughly pursue each lead can be a large waste of time and resources. Each lead must be quickly assessed and qualified as worthy (key) for further pursuit. Don’t waste time on leads that will not go anywhere.

Opportunity pursuit. The qualified lead is now considered an opportunity and time is taken to understand the customer involved, their drivers and what problem they are looking to solve. Any gaps in understanding need to be identified. A simple pursuit comprises:

Phone call. Best practice is to call the key customer or stakeholder to learn more about the opportunity, establish or reinforce a trust-based relationship and fill any gaps in the opportunity. The power of a phone call to the right person is significant and can really make the difference between winning and losing the opportunity.

Proposal. Present your company offering to the customer. Your proposal should spell out the value of your offering and needs to comprise more than just a price.

Follow up. Once the proposal has been received, give the customer some time to absorb the contents and follow up. Ask them if they need any clarifications, or have any feedback? This can provide a chance to adjust the proposal to bring it in line with the customer’s expectations. It also gives you an opportunity to gain insight into how the offering is perceived, allowing changes to be made to future proposals.

Sale. Close the deal and secure the revenue. Now your team must deliver.

I can’t stress strongly enough the importance of keeping the funnel full. A good rule of thumb is that opportunities should value 3 times your monthly sales target. However, this may change depending on industry and organisation.

We will expand on the Sales Funnel in later posts, particularly around specific systematic processes for each stage, but it is important to understand that this is the general process that must be followed to keep your business nourished.

Call to Action

My call to action for you is to think about your own sales funnel. How do you monitor the different stages, is it healthy and are you constantly filling the top with opportunities?

Let me know your thoughts around how you use a sales funnel in the comments below.

Next week we’ll look at attributes of a strong business developer.

Concept

Service means customer service

Customer service grows sales

Final thoughts

Never underestimate your potential customers.

Never stop learning and growing.

Never give up on your goals.

Final Thoughts

Coaching

What Business Development is Not

What Business Development Is

Why Business Development is Important

Summary

The Lewis Model

What Does This Mean

Why This Is Useful

What Next

Product Prioritization With The GE/McKinsey Matrix

Product Prioritization Strategies

Using the Product Life Cycle

Call to Action

Call to Action

Basic Sales Funnel

Call to Action

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