How much business development do I need to do?

I get asked this a lot.

What's enough business development? Here's how I typically respond...

Getting known is not enough. Having followers is not enough. Getting clicks is not enough. Presenting to a room is not enough. Attending a networking event is not enough. 

You need enough work to fill your boots. It doesn't really matter how many clients it comes from. It doesn't matter at all if you win via a tender or were just given it by a trusted client. 

What does matter is the length of your sales cycle. Did it take an hour or two to win? A day of your time? Or a month or more? 

What does matter is the size of the win. How many wins do you need each quarter? When you think of the effort you needed to win the size of the work you win, does the effort justify the return?

What does matter is that the size of the work you're chasing, combined with the effort involved in winning it gets you where you need to be in terms of revenue.

In professional services, you make progress by submitting proposals, not by submitting tweets. You win work by meeting people one on one, not in groups. You win work by meeting personally, not by phoning or emailing people.

So let me ask you three questions:

  1. Where did you spend your BD time last month?

  2. On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy are you with the results that effort brought you? And...

  3. What will you do to improve your BD outcomes next month?

And provide three possible solutions:

  1. Imagine a camera being placed on your shoulder and recording your last month’s meetings. Ask yourself what you did well, and what you’d change if you had the chance.

  2. Review your BD plan or your LinkedIn contacts and set up a meeting a week with a prospective client for next month.

  3. Plan for an outcome from each meeting that moves you towards being able to table a solution for a good-sized problem.

Paul McAllister helps lawyers, accountants and engineers reach their revenue goals through practical business development coaching. Please make contact if you'd like the QED Activity Calculator that helps you solve the problem of 'How much is ENOUGH?'