There are dozens of articles and blog posts out there aimed at improving business development. From new strategies to better workflows, each attempt to hit on that missing ingredient. Though each contains some helpful advice, at times they get lost in the details.
We’ve coached countless business development teams here at NuGrowth and often find the problem isn’t the need to zoom in, but the inability to zoom out on a sales strategy. When we first meet with a team, we start by looking at the big picture, honing in two important factors: pace and purpose.
Pace: Patience and Persistence Matter
Building new relationships is hard work. Earning conversations doesn’t come easy in a world where business professionals – especially at the higher levels of an organization -are bombarded with solicitation. By default, they write off many communications, assuming they’re unrelated to their clients, their work and their bottom line. To overcome this bias, business development executives need consistent, high-volume activity output to achieve predictable results.
When working with teams, we implement a 10-20-30 rule as a minimum benchmark for business development activity. What does that mean? On average, for every 100 calls, 10% result in a conversation.
Of the 10 conversations, 20% result in a next step meeting or conversation. Only two of those conversations are statistically likely to have next steps.
Of those meetings, 30% typically lead to an active sales opportunity.
What does that mean for activity? A rep needs to make 150 calls to land one real opportunity. Sprints of activity simply will not cut it to achieve that volume. Persistence, patience, and consistency are key. Misdirected activity is expensive and can’t be afforded. The more focused an environment you can create for your team, the better.
Purpose: Planning is Essential
The adage says, “planning is essential, but plans are useless.” In business development, focus on the first half and you’ll begin to understand how every activity matters in your outreach strategy.
Purposeful business development rests upon:
- Tracking messaging and results for every campaign
- Segmenting targets and tracking performance for every buyer profile
- Evaluating each campaign separately for the output generated by activity, from phone call to meeting to opportunity
- Investing in the most effective messaging to the operative targets
Maintaining Pace and Purpose with NuGrowth Solutions
The challenge of gathering this critical management information is the burden it can place on the pace of your business development team. Documented procedures and automation are vital for maintaining high activity on your team, while gathering the information you need.
The NuGrowth Solutions sales as a service team can help. With a combined 70 years of service in the industry, the NuGrowth leadership team provides the process and data you need to blow by traditional benchmarks – in many cases crushing the 10-20-30 rule by gaining more leads, converting at higher rates, and far exceeding averages.
Find out more about the NuGrowth and the team behind 170% increase in opportunities year over year: contact us at 614.304.3922.
Author: Chuck Rue
As Director of Platform and Content Services, Chuck is responsible for leading the CRM, Marketing Automation, Website, and Content teams to ensure successful sales efforts for NuGrowth engagements. He has developed extensive skills in CRM management, marketing automation, and website development that allow him to coordinate how these essential tools work together for clients and get actionable data to sales reps as quickly as possible.
As Director of Platform and Content Services, Chuck is responsible for leading the CRM, Marketing Automation, Website, and Content teams to ensure successful sales efforts for NuGrowth engagements. He has developed extensive skills in CRM management, marketing automation, and website development that allow him to coordinate how these essential tools work together for clients and get actionable data to sales reps as quickly as possible.