Carol Bartlett is a senior level executive with broad experience in the oil & gas and transportation industries who manages more than $200M in annual sales. Using a combination of proven techniques, Ms. Bartlett focuses on growth results. She bridges theoretical business principles and philosophies to strategic actions that give profitable results. By deploying integrated proven strategies, she adds value to companies that want to grow sales and increase profits.

Jol Hunter has spent a large portion of his career as a partner with the national firm of chartered accountants and business advisors. In the past few years, with three other gentlemen, he has owned a substantial Atlantic Canadian business and so he is experiencing the joys and challenges of the ownership and operation of a medium-sized business.

Chris Spurvey spearheaded the growth of Plato Consulting to the point that it was acquired by KPMG, one of the largest management consulting firms in the world. In his time there, he sold more than $300 million in consulting services. After the acquisition, Chris changed his focus to helping other "non-sales sellers" find a way to grow revenue in a consistent, stress-free manner. He published It's Time to Sell: Cultivating the Sales Mindset, founded Make Sales a Habit University, and became a growth advisor to business owners and their management teams throughout the world.

 

Our episode this week is the second part of a series in which we talk about business development tactics and assessing your business development processes.

We walk you through some tips that business owners and leaders should keep in mind and questions to ponder as you assess your business development processes. We also talk about building brand and reputation, how to protect your reputation, how to nurture client relationships, and how to organize your business development efforts.

Last week, we talked about the mind-set and principles to apply in assessing your business development efforts. This week's episode isn't the end of our discussion of business development diagnostics. Stay tuned for a question and answer forum in February!

 

Avoiding a Salesy Culture

What we're trying to get away from is a salesy culture. Who wants to be sold to? No one. But if you're offering a service, you shouldn't hold back your solutions from a client who has a problem you can solve. Of course, you should lend a hand and say, "This is something I can do."

 

Building Reputation and Creating a Brand

You're creating both a personal brand and a business brand—whether intentionally or not—so why not be intentional? Visualize what you want your brand and reputation to be and then create them deliberately by sharing in emails and conversations the right level of expertise at the right time. Be authentic and genuine. Intention and deliberateness are the two most important qualities to have in these interactions.

 

Committing to Proactive Business Development

Based on my own experience, I recommend that you put business development activities on your calendar and prioritize them. Be proactive. Schedule an hour or so each week—maybe at the start of the week—to plan your business development activities. Then follow through by meeting new people, attending meetings, and so on. Otherwise, business development can get postponed or even pushed aside when seemingly more important things come up.

How committed are you to scheduling time for business development on a regular basis?

 

To learn more about these topics, listen to the episode.