6 Do’s and Don’ts of Business Development

 

The Six Do’s and Don’ts of Business Development

The difference between good advice and bad advice is often defined by how you deal with it.  While good advice can be ruined by bad adoption, bad advice may work if you use it in the right way.   The trick is to learn to treat each piece of advice independently and do your due diligence before implementing.

Just like perfecting anything else, perfecting business development is an ongoing challenge. While you may never know it all, and new tips and tricks will undoubtedly shed more light onto the “best practices,” with the right combination of intuition and savvy, you can implement a successful business development plan!

Do Listen To Advice

Always listen to new business development tips. You can’t afford to ignore any advice, even if it winds up being terrible.

But…Don’t Assume It’s Always Right

Listening to advice doesn’t mean you have to follow. You should take every business development tip with a pinch of salt.  The trick is to consider the advice and then determine whether it is feasible for you and your business objectives.

Digital marketing and social media provide great avenues for business development, but there are many purveyors of strategy who can only tell you what they did.  For example, social media strategies are highly personalized so it’s imperative you infuse your business values and personality into your social media marketing strategy.

Do Try New Things

Implementing new strategies and trying new things is invaluable.  You never know, one minor change or tweak may make all the difference!   For example, in business development, you can see big improvements in online lead generation channels with simple tweaks to content or visuals.  You can also increase engagement simply by communicating with your target audience in a new and innovative way.

 Don’t Change Too Much At Once

The danger in trying new thing is doing too much too soon. Don’t get caught in the trap of trying to change too much at once as you might end up losing sight of the things you did well in the first place! Instead, start with subtle changes and evaluate their effects.  By A/B testing minor changes, you have a better chance of learning what works and what doesn’t.

 Do Monitor Progress

Make one change and monitor it. For example, if your website traffic increases because of a new social media activity or your lead nurturing strategy starts to yield more qualified prospects, then start looking for the next improvement. If it’s not working, drop it and try something new.

 Don’t Rush To Judgment

It often takes a while for the true benefits of a change to become apparent.  If you apply the latest business development tip and you don’t immediately see growth, don’t be disheartened. As long as you don’t see negative results, give it time before ruling out a potential improvement.

If you would like to learn more about business development strategies, or need help with developing a comprehensive strategy for your business, please contact CMarie Consulting.