Today I wanted to share with you three common business strategies adopted by small business owners which I come across on my journey to providing better business development to all;
1.The yo-yo business development method; Most of the time the business focuses on delivering to its clients and periodically the owner panics because it goes quiet so the owner turns to networking, resurrecting old leads, writing Blogs you name it. They then find some more projects or a new client and go back to delivery and calm is restored. For now.
The problems with this strategy: this is heart attack material- unpredictable cash flow, difficult to commit to suppliers or indeed employees who can help develop and grow the business, a very good way to find yourself hating your business quickly.
2. Let’s give it a try and see; This business owner is the dream of all sales reps as they are open to anything as long as you can spin a convincing story which they have not heard before. They are always up for trying new things, throwing mud on the wall in the hope it sticks this time, without actually knowing their target markets, USPs or goals to help them make a considered choice.
The problems with this strategy: A constant waste of money and resources, slow growth, lack of direction. If you use this strategy often you might feel that marketing and sales don’t work for your business and stop all regular activities which could mean you end up with poor or no growth in your business.
3. Can’t you just magic some new leads for me? : This business owner has real aspirations to grow their business and have put in place very ambitious growth goals. However, they fail to see the connection between this and their business development budget. They expect the new leads to appear out of thin air without having considered their sales process, website, case studies, advertising, SEO and everything else that helps reaching out to potential new clients which take time and require increased budgets.
The problems with this strategy: Slow than expected growth, missed targets, frustration and disappointment. Once more these business owners might feel that business development is not working for their business and stop all activities or resort to Yo Yo business development.
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Unfortunately in business development, like most things, there is rarely one magic answer and you need to apply a variety of methods to make sure you are out there and relevant to people’s requirements. In my experience, if you can carry out regular activities aimed at the right target market over a period of time you will achieve an increase in sales.
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