Make Business Development Your Most Loved Activity

Some may consider business development as a dreaded activity, but it’s a necessary evil for any size of organization. Non-profits call it “development”; corporations may include biz dev within their sales departments. Wikipedia defines it as “the creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships.”

For this blog, I’ll make it simple: Business development is any activity one can do to bring home the bacon. It’s a different animal for products companies versus solutions providers. And we’re focusing on solutions providers who might find it tricky to discover new and exciting ways to generate business.

Behold! Our tried-and-true list of the top ten business development strategies for solutions providers follows:

1. Referrals. Don’t be afraid to ask employees, friends, vendors, past customers, and current clients for referrals. If you bring value to those you serve, others will be happy to recommend you to others or refer their contacts who need what you offer. And while you’re at it, make sure to showcase your best.

2. Sharing. Are you an expert in a certain field or industry? If you are, sharing information that is pertinent to your prospective or existing clients can be a worthy initiative. As you do, make sure you’re making it valuable to your audience.

3. Education. Instead of selling, why not inform or educate? Consider a whitepaper or blog that has the sole purpose of teaching and bringing the reader fresh ideas and information.

4. LinkedIn. Have you ever considered reaching out to your potential clients via LinkedIn? Or keeping up with past colleagues or industry experts on the professional social media site? A personalized note with your value proposition can be an interesting way to harvest new relationships.

5. Handwritten Notes. After almost 20 years in sales and marketing, I’m amazed at how much people appreciate handwritten notes. When I was in my first sales job, I sent a superintendent of a school district a note to thank him for meeting to review the contract I wanted him to sign. The next time I called him to get on his calendar for the school board meeting, he referenced the thank you card and told me how much he appreciated it. And then, he put me on the agenda (and the contract was signed).

6. Telling. When I started my consulting business, a friend and mentor shared a Harvard Business Review article that said, “When You Start Freelancing, Let People Know.” This is sound advice.

7. Gifting. Just today, one of my current clients thanked me in person for the holiday gift I sent. (If you’re curious, it was a bottle of wine from my favorite Sonoma winery, personally signed by the vintner.) Consider not only sending thoughtful gifts at the end of the year, but to celebrate Valentine’s Day (We love our clients!) or even Halloween (My job would be scary without amazing clients like you!).

8. Mini-Campaigns. Go digital. Or traditional. Get a good database and target people that you’d like to work with in the future. Catchy mailers or value-added digital correspondence can be a great way to get in front of the right people.

9. Beyond Budget. I am enrolled in a program at Cornell, and the most significant takeaway so far is the thought of not offering clients what you think they’ll pay for but figure out how to bring them the most value. Let them decide what is best for their budgets, not the other way around.

10. Community. Get into the community. Serve. Network. Learn. Find an organization in your town that grows leaders in your field and roll your sleeves up. Not only will you develop as a person and professional, but you will meet new friends and potential contacts. In Las Vegas, the definitive program is Leadership Las Vegas. I can’t say enough about how it impacted my life for the better.

I hope this list brings you ways to grow your business as you strive to communicate with clients and your target audience—and that business development is now your favorite activity.

Marketing: An Elevator Pitch

"What do you do?” It’s a question that is casually asked in Ubers, at cocktail parties, and in elevators around the globe. There’s even a term for it—“the elevator pitch”: a succinct reiteration of the solutions or a sales pitch. When I tell people that I own my own marketing firm and work with organizations to help them meet their communication goals, there is typically a blank stare. Then realization hits, eyes light up, and the response: “You do PR!”

Back to the drawing board to perfect my own one-liner about my business, I’ve done a lot of pondering about exactly what I offer my clients. Henceforth, I came up with the golden trifecta of marketing communications, planning and content development, and strategic storytelling. This has really clarified my offer to small- to medium-sized businesses and the non-profit organizations I support.

But then, the dreaded “You do graphic design?” or “Does that mean social media?” pops up again and again. So, to set the record straight, what is marketing? The better question to me is, “What does marketing include?”

Brand
A good strategic marketing communications plan includes sections on brand. “Oh, a brand is my logo, right?” A company’s brand certainly includes a logo, but in addition to visual cues of design and colors, it’s the essence of what the organization does, its competencies, and its values. Brand includes the personality of the group—what is the voice/tone, language, key messages, and how the organization meets the needs of key audiences.

Strategy
Once the foundation of brand is set, then an overall marketing strategy can be determined. This includes deciding on the best tactics—like leveraging advertising campaigns and public relations—to market the brand. While a paid social media push is a fantastic idea for product company with incredible imagery, it may not be the best option for a professional services organization. This is where strategy comes into play. And crafting the right story—via this strategic storytelling I keep mentioning—is crucial.

Tactics
We think content strategy should be at the center of any strategic marketing plan, feeding channels such as website, public relations, social media, blog posts, etc. The goal is to showcase our clients’ expertise in their fields, and strategic storytelling and sharing client’s unique value proposition is at the cornerstone of our communication efforts.

Public relations: absolutely essential—with the correct messaging. Graphic design, snazzy infographics, and catching imagery…yasss! Carefully planned events and orchestrated launches can be excellent parts of a larger marketing strategy. Newsletters…even handwritten thank you notes can be a more traditional tactical arm used well with other components.

I think you get the point—all of the above are encompassed in the bigger grouping of “marketing”. And we do a lot of it…it’s in our DNA and part of our everyday work. Cue the elevator music…and please contact us if we can help you on any of your strategic marketing and communications objectives. 

Menu of Services: May I Take Your Order?

Several of our clients have asked for a full menu of services. As a marketer, I’ve done everything from full campaign creation and execution to more specific project deliverables. For many clients, the added benefit of having a strategic marketing communications partner comes from the breadth of services we offer. We can either enhance your current team with high-level strategy and expertise…or fill in some gaps with our robust offerings detailed below.

Strategic marketing planning: What are your marketing objectives? This high-level planning helps outline deliverables, target audiences, specific channels, and desired outcomes.

Campaign creation and execution: Have an upcoming launch or effort that could use some extra love? We support full campaigns from creation to execution and can be your partner in throughout this process.

Brand identification and management: Does your perceived brand match the value proposition to your audience? We do brand work to streamline your “5 Ws”—Who, What, When, Where, and Why—into a compelling brand with an ongoing strategy into how to communicate it.

Strategic storytelling and copywriting: Need a writer who understands your story, as well as how to best present it? We’ve been told this is one of the best values we offer clients to best position their messaging in a compelling and articulate way.

Traditional marketing activities: Remember Marketing 101? We do and still like a good old-school (and appropriately-positioned) marketing piece when the mood hits. This includes content for press releases, direct mail pieces, brochures, articles, white papers, magazines, newsletters, postcards, testimonials, etc.

Digital marketing strategies: Do you tell a cohesive story about your brand across all digital channels? We can assist with messaging for web, social media channels, video scripting, mobile, e-blasts, etc. and offer full editorial calendar planning and digital posting services.

Event planning and management: Got a hot date on your calendar? We’ve planned happenings like sales meetings and customer appreciation nights, as well as done event marketing for fundraisers that brought in over $500,000.  

Analytics and reporting: Is there proof in the pudding? We believe it and can provide monthly analytics and reporting for stats like website traffic and social media channels.

All things to all people: Did we catch your attention? While we’d love to be able to do it all, we offer light website development/management and simple social media graphic design. We also have strategic partnerships with promotional product companies and talented webmasters and graphic designers.

Have a need not mentioned above? We can help you navigate the marketing landscape or even make a recommendation of a partner that can meet your needs. We like to think that we live our brand: bubbly, energetic, and full of ideas to help you meet your marketing and communications objectives.