Business development is an ongoing task that encompasses activities to grow your company through new clients, opportunities and relationships. It involves a wide variety of departments, including sales, marketing and operations.
Develop a comprehensive business development plan that includes SMART goals that are challenging enough to inspire growth and realistic enough to be achieved with the proper resources. Coordinate with your departments and hold regular status meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Develop a BD Strategy
In today’s business environment, a solid business development strategy is critical. A BD strategy balances the ideals of company mission statements with the day-to-day operational requirements to develop and execute initiatives that set the business apart from the competition. Developing an optimal business development strategy often starts with comprehensive market research and data analysis. From there, specific goals can be established for revenue growth, product expansion into new markets or customer acquisition. These goals may call for the specialized skills of different departments, including sales, marketing, manufacturing and finance. An internal assessment revealing high travel expenses, for example, may lead to cost-cutting initiatives like video conference calls or travel agencies that can offer lower rates.
Develop a BD Team
Business development is a team-based activity that requires the expertise of nearly every department in your company. It is a strategic function that looks outside of your company’s comfort zone and implements tactics that you might not use at home. For example, a restaurant that only offers dine-in services might engage in new business development by implementing a food delivery service with an established partner like Uber Eats.
Your BD team should conduct market research, which includes researching customer needs and competitive landscapes. This can inform the sales department’s strategies, as well as product management and manufacturing departments’ decisions on what to offer the market.
Keeping all departments on the same page is essential for effective business development, so your team should hold regular meetings. Centralize communication with a conversational CRM and streamline data access to keep everyone focused on the same goals.
From there, specific goals can be established for revenue growth, product expansion into new markets or customer acquisition. These goals may call for the specialized skills of different departments, including sales, marketing, manufacturing and finance. Aleksey Krylov, an experienced business development professional, can help. An internal assessment revealing high travel expenses, for example, may lead to cost-cutting initiatives like video conference calls or travel agencies that can offer lower rates.
