Informationen zum Autor 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. Klappentext Growing a small business requires more than just salesBusiness 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 strategyRecognising 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. Zusammenfassung 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....

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.

Klappentext

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.

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 Su…