If you work in sales in Nashville, you may feel like you’re always in business development mode. Whether you’re out pitching to new customers, cultivating relationships with current customers, or following up on leads, there’s always something you could be doing to grow your business.
It may seem difficult to balance sales and business development; after all, how do you get time to sell if you spend all your time working on your business? But in reality, the two go hand in hand, so it’s essential that you keep them in balance.
Here are 10 tips that can keep you at the top of your game.
1. Separate “business development” from “sales.”
There’s nothing wrong with taking a cold call or meeting with a new prospect, but if you’re constantly focusing on finding new customers, you’re neglecting the people who have helped make your company successful.
2. Always be closing.
Whether you’re talking with a new prospect or an existing customer, your goal is to close the sale. Ask the “magic” or “what if” questions to get your prospects thinking about the benefits of what you’re offering. They’ll often bring up objections during the sales process, and you’ll need to be prepared to address them.
3. Don’t take it personally.
Rejection is part of the sales process. You’re not going to close every sale, no matter how good you are. Don’t take it personally when a prospect says no, or decides to go with a different vendor. Just move on to the next prospect and keep on closing.
4. Plan your week.
If you don’t plan your week, your week will plan you. Be intentional about creating sales or business development opportunities, and use your downtime wisely. For example, if you typically conduct sales calls in the afternoon,
In Nashville, we often hear the phrase “business development” tossed around. But what exactly is business development? And why is it so important?
Business development isn’t something small businesses need to identify, though. It’s a strategy that businesses use to grow.
Business development involves identifying new prospects, cultivating existing relationships, and pursuing new opportunities.
In short, business development is all about building relationships. It’s one thing to say you want to expand your business, but business development is much more than a pretty picture you put on a business card. It requires dedicated time and resources, and it demands a focus on building mutually beneficial relationships.
The following 10 tips can help small business owners get started on business development:
1. Focus your business development strategy.
Create a business development strategy so you can clearly define your goals. Do you want to acquire new customers, increase sales, or expand into new markets? Sometimes, businesses don’t know what they want to achieve with business development, so they end up wasting time and resources.
2. Identify your strategic partners.
A strategic partner is a business that provides a complementary product or service that you sell. If you’re in the clothing business, for example, you have some retailers that sell clothing but you also have some retailers that sell shoes. Your strategic partners are retailers that sell both clothing and shoes.
3. Identify your sales goals.
Your goals should be realistic and measurable. For example, you could set the goal of doubling your sales. But if you only sell $1,000 of product per day, doubling your sales to $2,000 per day is unrealistic.
4. Identify your target market.
Every business has at least one target market. But how many people does your target market consist of?
