Blog
New Business Development and the American Rescue Plan: Leveraging Funding to Bring Growth to Your Community
The American Rescue Plan went into effect in March 2021, providing another round of funding for individuals, businesses, and municipalities to curb the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provided nearly $350 billion in aid to states and cities, including funding for economic development organizations.
Designated to “respond to the COVID-19 emergency and address its economic effects,” the funding released to organizations should be used to bring new business development and ease the economic impact on municipalities like yours. And it should be put to use now.
Top 6 Business Development Adjustments to Get Back on Track
As of June 1st, COVID-19 restrictions in every state have been dramatically updated. More and more businesses are transitioning back to in-person work, and the state of the economy is beginning to change.
Amidst these changes, your business development team needs to take a step back before stepping back up. More than half of workers surveyed by Zoominfo said they’ll be back in the office by June, and a lot has changed since everyone was in the office. You need to make adjustments to the “new normal.”
With so much changing – and at a rate faster than initially anticipated – it’s time to get some outside help to focus on your critical development needs.
Top 3 Ways to Leverage Your Sales Database Better
If this past year has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t sleep on innovation. The rapid changes in supply chains, business operations, and other shifting dynamics in 2020 highlighted the need to keep up with new tech and strategies to see how you can improve operations.
The same is true for how you’re using your sales database. You can do so much more in your database beyond using it to make a call, send an email, log your actions, and move on.
Among the many sales database innovations out there, we’ve highlighted three to inform outreach, engage prospects, and improve team performance overall.
The Digital Marketing & Sales Data You Need Right Now
The year 2020 exposed some of the most fragile parts of businesses. Many found a lack of sales and digital marketing investment was one of those weaknesses.
Those who diversified their sales and marketing with digital tactics could rapidly assess shifting metrics. This allowed them to be nimble, taking action and adjusting to swiftly changing trends.
But those who relied on outdated tools or labor-intensive data gathering practices were left behind. If you felt unprepared for the unexpected in 2020, you need to update your practices to gain, interpret, and act on critical data now. Some of the most valuable data you need includes:
Buy vs. Build: Which New Business Development Strategy Should You Choose?
Whether you’ve been in business for a year or a decade, you know industry is fluid. Markets change, tech advances, and customer preferences morph. What worked for years may one day fall short – and you may find you need a new business development strategy.
To stay nimble, think ahead on how you can equip your business to adapt to these changes. When evaluating your need for transformation, you can go in one of two directions: build internally or look outward and partner with a firm that can bring in fresh ideas to energize your business.
Whether you decide to build internally or buy an outsourced solution, there are a few areas to consider before making your choice.
Building Business Development, the Right Way: Part II
In part one of this two-part post on building business development, Director of Business Development Jeff Tillar looked at how to secure a solid development foundation. Quality data and effective tools, along with market intelligence, are the base of a thriving business. But you need to use that data and those tools in the right way to achieve your development goals.
Step 3: Optimize Messaging and KPIs
After you gather the market intelligence you need to understand your target industry, take what you learned and develop multiple outreach campaigns. Each of these campaigns should target a different opportunity segment. Execute these campaigns to validate what you learned from your market research, getting real results to your hypothesis on prospect pain points and preferences.
The Three Steps to Leveraging Market Research for Sales
Whether or not you use market research for sales makes a difference. Hinge Marketing found that companies who frequently used market research saw 15 times more growth and almost double the profitability of those that don’t use any research. Market research brings you...
Your Essential Sales Enablement Processes
There are dozens of sales process models out there, ranging from five to eight to twelve steps or more, but no matter the model, there are core elements of sales enablement that remain. Those core elements include identifying and qualifying prospects, nurturing them,...
Building Business Development, the Right Way: Part I
You have the idea, you’ve got the staff, and you’ve realized the vision for starting, pivoting, or growing your business. You’re ready to jump in – but you don’t know where to start. Is there one right way to build your business development for this new venture? While...
Top 5 Reasons Your Marketing Automation Campaigns Are Failing
On average, a little over half of companies are using marketing automation, many with great success. But, not all. About 33% still consider their marketing automation campaigns to be unsuccessful. Are you one of these 33% waiting to see results from your marketing...