Growing a small business requires more than just sales Business Development For Dummies helps maximise the growth of small- or medium-sized businesses, with a step-by-step model for business development designed specifically for B2B or B2C service firms. By mapping business development to customer life cycle, this book helps owners and managers ensure a focus on growth through effective customer nurturing and management. It's not just sales! In-depth coverage also includes strategy, marketing, client management, and partnerships/alliances, helping you develop robust business practices that can be used every day. You'll learn how to structure, organise, and execute an effective development plan, with step-by-step expert guidance.

Realising that you can't just "hire a sales guy" and expect immediate results is one of the toughest lessons small business CEOs have to learn. Developing a business is about more than just gaining customers - it's about integrating every facet of your business in an overarching strategy that continually works toward growth. Business Development For Dummies provides a model, and teaches you what you need to know to make it work for your business.

• Learn the core concepts of business development, and how it differs from sales
• Build a practical, step-by-step business development strategy
• Incorporate marketing, sales, and customer management in general planning

• Develop and implement a growth-enhancing partnership strategy
  Recognising that business development is much more than just sales is the first important step to sustained growth. Development should be daily - not just when business starts to tail off, or you fall into a cycle of growth and regression. Plan for growth, and make it stick - Business Development For Dummies shows you how.

  Autorentext

  Anna Kennedy has almost twenty years' experience in business development and leadership with small/medium professional services companies. She also has on-the-ground experience in growing organizations, most recently in her own company, Rain Makers.

  Inhalt

  Introduction 1

  About This Book 1

  Foolish Assumptions 2

  Icons Used in This Book 3

  Beyond the Book 4

  Where to Go from Here 4

  Part I: Getting Started with Business Development 5

  Chapter 1: Introducing Business Development for Services Firms 7

  Answering the Question: So What Is Business Development Anyway? 7

  Recognizing that business is a serious business 8

  Understanding how business development differs from selling 9

  Breaking business development into bite-sized chunks 11

  Placing the Customer Experience Center Stage 12

  Deconstructing the customer lifecycle 13

  Mapping business development to the customer lifecycle 14

  Making Business Development Manageable in a Small Business 14

  Dealing with overwhelm 14

  Anticipating growth and its impact on your business 15

  Taking stock of where you are 16

  Chapter 2: Finding Damaging Gaps in Your Business Development 19

  Spotting Patchy Business Development 20

  Recognizing the tell-tale signs of weak business development 20

  Looking for the obvious and the not-so-obvious problems 21

  Thinking like your customers 23

  Understanding Business Development Challenges for Services Firms 25

  Identifying value in a services firm 25

  'You're the top!' The owner-led sale 26

  Being proactive rather than reactive 27

  Taking Stock of Where You Are 30

  What you're not doing - and being okay with it 30

  It's a numbers game: How's your firm really doing? 32

  Chapter 3: Diving Inside Your Customer's Head 33

  Uncovering Your Customers' Real Needs 34

  Understanding what customers need today and whether they know it 36

  Staying current with your customers' needs 37

  Powering Growth Using Your Customer's Viewpoint 39

  Focusing on your customer: Why you should care 39

  Mapping your customer's journey 42

  Tailoring your solution to your customer's need (not vice versa) 46

  Using influence to get the outcome you want 48

  Chapter 4: Using the Lifecycle to Your Advantage 51

  Clarifying Precisely What You're Selling - and How 52

  Being in control 52

  Keeping your offer fresh 55

  Investing to stay up-to-date 58

  Creating the customer experience 59

  Considering the Pre-Sales Stage 62

  Selling without looking like you're selling 62

  Dating the customer: EDUCATE stage 62

  Courting and proposing: PRESENT and PROPOSE stages 65

  Confronting reality: CONTRACT stage 66

  Handling the After-the-Sale Process 67

  Moving from 'Yes' to 'Done': DELIVER stage 67

  Wrapping up delivery: COMPLETE and EVALUATE stages 68

  Part II: Planning for Business Development 71

  Chapter 5: Getting Ready for Business Development 73

  Developing an Offer that Sells 73

  Ensuring that you're giving the market what it needs 75

  Making your specialty really valuable 78

  Assessing your competition 80

  Accepting that the grass isn't always greener 81

  Developing focus - or it's all over 83

  'Really? You do that?' Articulating your offer 83

  Presenting Your Offer 84

  Finding your customer 84

  'Tell me what you want, what you really, really want' 85

  Who drives the customer? Engaging effectively 87

  Getting to the sale 88

  Building your contract process 89

  Continuing Your Great Work beyond the Sale 89

  Understanding the importance of relationships 89

  Completing the work 91

  Learning from Your Customers 92

  Gathering intelligence: The importance of data 93

  Evaluating your offer 94

  Chapter 6: Building Your Business Development Plan 97

  Planning for Business Development Success 98

  Winging business development doesn't work 98

  Knowing where you're going 99

  Creating Your Winning Plan 100

  Choosing where to start planning 101

  Working on metrics 108

  Components of your plan: Creating the blueprint 110

  Monitoring progress 113

  Chapter 7: Putting Your Plan into Action 115

  Checking Your Plan before Lift-off 116

  Setting milestones, tactics and metrics 116

  Identifying initial tasks 121

  Calling on helpers 122

  Determining your investment 125

  Lift-Off! Launching Your Plan 125

  Communicating your plan internally 126

  Enrolling 'friends' 127

  Making use of friendly feedback 128

  Getting the team going 130

  Considering a few final thoughts as the plan takes off 131

  Managing Risk while Implementing Your Plan 132

  Thinking the unthinkable: What can possibly go wrong? 132

  Dealing with large challenges 133

  Part III: Making the Most of Marketing 135

  Chapter 8: Appreciating the Benefits of Marketing for Your Business 137

  Working Together in Harmony: Marketing and Sales 138

  Enjoying the perfect relationship (not!): Marketing and sales 139

  Making your marketing sales-oriented 140

  Setting Out Your Stall: Marketing for Services Firms 144

  Selecting the best marketing techniques for you 145

  Energizing your team 146

  Using your network 148

  Forming partnerships and alliances 149

  Understanding technology and the online dimension 150

  Finding some quick wins in marketing 152

  Deciding whether Your Firm Needs Branding 154

  Understanding the importance of brands 154

  Identifying yourself with a brand 155

  Marketing your brand 155

  Chapter 9: Driving Sales Success with Effective Marketing 157

  Revving up the Marketing Engine 158

  Appreciating the differences between sales and marketing 159

  Ensuring that marketing drives results 160

  Tuning up the marketing engine 162

  Carrying out the hard work of marketing 165

  Setting Accountabilities between Sales and Marketing 166

  What am I striving for? Establishing the goal 167

  'How will I know that marketing is achieving its goals?' Measuring marketing 168

  Ensuring that Marketing Generates Interest 170

  'Hey, we're over here!' Getting attention 170

  'Over to you!' Timing lead handover correctly 172

  Chapter 10: Creating Your Marketing Plan 175

  Preparing To Market Your Business 175

  Defining your plan 176

  Researching ma…