The prevailing wisdom in business is that risk should be worth the reward. Companies are less likely to explore new approaches if a business development strategy has been proven to work. The reasoning is clear—if something works, why change it?
The important issue to consider is that by risking time and money on new strategies, a company might perform even better than it does when using its tried-and-true methods. If a business intends to adopt a new approach, it should at least be tested and proven to work. To help, 14 members of Forbes Business Development Council investigate commonly overlooked business strategies that never got a chance to shine, despite having the potential to be as successful as proven methodologies.
1. Doing A Good Turn
Practice the Scout slogan "Do a good turn daily." Although successful entrepreneurs usually have an extensive and reliable network, it's still vital to expand that network and keep it relevant. The best way to do that is to reach out and offer value (personal or professional) without expecting anything in return. Who can you help today? That "good turn daily" will yield benefits down the road. - Michael Fritsch, Confoe
2. Unlocking Customer Value First
Prototype a scenario or new configuration where your biz dev partnership unlocks customer value. For example, if you are looking to embed your product within a market offering from another supplier and you really want it to happen, see if you can conceive and build a prototype before the meeting. This makes your proposition real, showcases buyer value and cuts through hours of meaningless PowerPoint slides. - Vijay Sundaram, Zoho Corporation
3. Learning Continuously
Entrepreneurs who have "made it" often rest on their laurels. They've developed some form of IP, cornered a market and they maybe speak on panels and everyone lauds them for what they've done in the past. But they forget that lack of innovation and learning will make their product stale and soon get passed by others. They must attack markets as if they've never had success, staying driven and motivated to create. - Peder von Harten, Nicholas Air
4. Using Business Plans
Having a five-, 10- and 15-year business plan is critical to driving your business forward. The goals should be revisited on a regular basis, but without direction you will go nowhere. When you don’t aim for something, you will miss it 100% of the time. - Sheila Halvorson, Harvest Revenue Group LLC
5. Leveraging Referrals
Often, sales strategies that have worked in the past run out of steam. That was my company’s experience. We were not effectively leveraging our network for referrals. Sounds pretty basic and very common. To the rescue was Joanne Black with her "No More Cold Calling" approach. We saw a big impact on the top line and over 500% more ROI. Give it a try. You owe it to your top line! - Stephen Timme, FinListics Solutions
6. Employing Content Marketing
While gaining in popularity, content marketing is still often overlooked as a core biz dev strategy. Entrepreneurs and salespeople used to the traditional tool kit for bringing in deals can miss out on the opportunity to win new business that can come with generating pertinent and valuable content. By sharing your wisdom, you can pique the attention and interest of new prospective customers. - Adam Mendler, The Veloz Group
7. Sending Mail
Instead of just emailing and calling folks, consider spending a few bucks on a small gift or product that would surprise your qualified lead. You can choose this method for just your top prospects vs. the entire list as that could get expensive. Know that people love receiving packages and they are bound to open them up, especially since it isn't just a letter or postcard-type advert. - Justin Boggs, Marketplace Valet
8. Doing A Win/Loss Analysis
Something I learned from my middle school principal is, "The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement." This principle, when applied in this context, leads us to a win/loss analysis. Even when one seems to have found the golden key to sales, honest win/loss analyses (why deals are won or lost) is very illuminating in showing new ways to keep the biz dev engine primed and running. - Atul Minocha, Chief Outsiders
9. Having A Free Trial Program
Allowing your prospects to trial your product after the demo has been delivered is one of the most compelling actions to advance a sales cycle. We've deployed a see-try-buy sales motion and we've seen our conversion rates exceed 50% within less than 12 months of the trial completion. Add in a customer success and support team to ensure the success of the trial and covert prospect to customer. - Daniel Stratton, Cisco Meraki
10. Being Mindful Of Bias
One thing every entrepreneur should do is track their growth using good tools and proven methodology. It's very easy to claim a method that worked once works consistently, but the proof is often in the data. Understanding the numbers opens up opportunities to diversify a biz dev strategy and also monitors the health of existing tactics. Continuously monitoring performance is key! - Alexander Divinsky, RMG Media
11. Building Scalable Partnerships
Imagine you could triple your workforce in a matter of a month? Building a scalable partnership program is vital to not only achieving reliable results, but also expansion and global coverage. The key to a successful partnership is identifying your GTM, qualifying the right partners—whether they are technology-focused, referral or service partners—and most importantly, providing enablement that can scale. - Olga Lykova, Copper
12. Inverting The Funnel
If you're selling from the bottom, try to sell from the top. If you're selling via channel, try direct. If you sell a la carte, sell a bundle. Or vice versa. Whatever you are doing today, be willing to experiment with the opposite method. What worked for you before might be holding you back. if you don't try, how will you ever know? - Kit Merker, Nobl9
13. Leveraging Your Website
A stagnant website that’s not maintained will result in missed opportunities and leads. Websites can serve as a 24/7 sales tool, so make it work for your business. Consider adding video to help customers build a personal connection with your company and add educational content to delight visitors. Then leverage website analytics of click and bounce rates to better inform existing sales strategies. - Suhaib Zaheer, Bluehost
14. Learning From Contradicting Industries
Uber has taught us that when you take two contradicting industries, i.e., taxi service and mobile app self-service, somehow learning can exist in the customer acquisition channel. Entrepreneurs would be wise to explore preexisting yet contradicting industries, see what they can glean and apply that knowledge to their own acquisition strategy. You’ll be surprised how the outside perspective changes your view. - Don Markland, 411Locals
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14 Overlooked Business Development Strategies - Forbes
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