Everybody is in Business Development

A friend of mine was preparing to retire from senior government service and wanted to transition into a private industry role. I asked him to think about what function he thought he could successfully lead and he said, “I’m not really sure what I would do but I know that I don’t want to be in business development.” 

I was quick to reply, “Well, everybody here is in business development” which he didn’t quite understand. He was accustomed to industry business development professionals meeting with him to pitch ideas and capabilities – “the suits” as he sometimes called them. But in reality, nearly everyone working in a company that has direct engagement with clients should be part of the business development process. There are many ways for this to happen:

• Quality is Job 1 (to borrow from Ford Motor Company). If you are directly supporting any client – whether it is professional services or software development – you must at least meet, preferably exceed, customer expectations. Good work will lead to more work.
• Develop and nurture relationships. Employees who interact frequently with clients need to work hard to gain their trust. Your client has a mission or a business objective that you must understand and help them achieve. They need to know that you are working in their best interests. Trust only comes after developing a strong professional relationship that may lead to a strong personal relationship.
• Collect and share market intelligence. What are my client’s priorities? What are their biggest challenges? Who are the decision makers? The only caveat here is that in certain circumstances, you may have signed a non-disclosure agreement that restricts you from sharing information with others in your company. Always follow the rules.
• Know your company’s capabilities – all of them. If you are a financial analyst, it helps that you also know your company supports cyber operations centers or enterprise software installation and maintenance. When you are engaging with your clients and they start sharing their challenges, you can’t very well help them if you are unaware of your company’s total capabilities. You don’t have to be an expert, but you do need to know who to call.
• Be on the lookout for new employees. You are probably in a better position to spot the top talent in your marketspace than anyone else. Don’t wait for recruiters to find resumes online – identify the people you believe would help your company’s business goals the most and send those names to your recruiting teams.
• Help with proposals. Roll up your sleeves for new acquisitions or re-competes of your current contracts. Don’t assume there is a large army of staff hiding in your corporate infrastructure ready to swoop in to write and produce proposals. If such experts even exist, they always need your direct expertise to create a winning submission. Review and update your internal resume; offer client insights that strengthen your proposal’s understanding; write sections of the proposal; volunteer to review drafts. It takes a village to push a competitive proposal out the door.

If you have a desire to move up the leadership chain in your company, one of the best ways to do that is to actively and aggressively support the company's stability and growth.