6 Best Business Development Pillars

Busi­ness Man­i­festo
Yesterday’s con­ven­tions don’t mesh with our today.

CLIENT NOURISHMENT is too impor­tant to be served by a commodity

One size fits none. Don’t force your mar­ket to adapt to you. Develop a solu­tion, mes­sage, and sys­tem that fits their need, sit­u­a­tion, and decision-making process.
Advan­tages:
– attract more inter­est
– improved cash flow
– focus on what’s really important

ARM YOURSELF with the thought processes required to be a break­through thinker and doer

Look beyond the client-provider inter­face. Relent­lessly pur­sue your quest for insight and knowl­edge on your client’s over­all value con­fig­u­ra­tion.
Quit the com­mon. Be will­ing to go against the grain at times; but first arm your­self with the tools required to mea­sure the risks.
Advan­tages:
– exer­cise more con­trol over your ven­ture
– exploit the right oppor­tu­ni­ties
– exceed expec­ta­tions (theirs & yours)

deliver CLARITY through a dynamic, con­tin­u­ous 2-way learn­ing net­work – con­nected action

Sit out of the ‘Hit-or-Miss’ game. Fol­low a reli­able and repeat­able customer-centered offer­ing devel­op­ment process to stay aligned with the ever-shifting mar­ket demand.
Noth­ing is ‘All-or-Nothing’. Develop strategic-driven tac­ti­cal tests (quick hits), then allo­cate resources to the most pro­duc­tive uses.
Advan­tages:
– abil­ity to make quick deci­sions
– con­fi­dently realign and refo­cus after unex­pected changes
– quan­tifi­able results reduce your reliance on out­side consultants

tackle DIFFERENCE-MAKING PROJECTS and use cre­ativ­ity to dis­cover inno­v­a­tive solutions

Be inno­v­a­tive; pro­vide a ser­vice that makes a dif­fer­ence to your cus­tomers.
Advan­tages:
– stand apart from the crowd
– engen­der trust

pro­mote AREA EXCELLENCE & ACCOUNTABILITY ver­sus func­tional excellence

Get into lock­step. Oppor­tu­ni­ties in today’s mar­ket require swift action. Punch through the arti­fi­cial sep­a­ra­tion of func­tions. Fully inte­grate your busi­ness model, busi­ness devel­op­ment activ­i­ties, and asset usage.
Advan­tages:
– drive inno­va­tion
– improved cash flow

con­trol YOUR DEEPEST PERCEPTION of your­self to achieve your dreams

What’s the pay­out you ask. By embrac­ing these behav­iors you will be rewarded with:
– earned trust
– exceeded expec­ta­tions
– quan­ti­fied results

I orig­i­nally devel­oped this man­i­festo in 2005 while lead­ing my bou­tique con­sul­tancy that focused on help media and tech­nol­ogy con­cerns make a dif­fer­ence to their com­mu­nity. This would of been a ‘dig­gin in the crate’ post but five years later and it rings truer than ever.