Becoming a Preferred Vendor Successful New Business Development depends upon knowing everything about the entity we are tracking.
1. Telling the Story
Are you hunting water or tree-dwellers?
Where do they prefer to eat?
Do they travel in herds or are they loners?
Knowing the habitat and habits of the entity you are tracking means you have a greater chance of not scare them away before they spend a little time to check you out.
Before deciding which kind of entity would best suit an offering, look for clues in your successes (and failures) in the past.
Where have you had success?
In what industry or sector(s) can you demonstrate competence?
Is the business problem you solved unique to that industry?
Can you demonstrate relevance to other sectors or industries?
If not, should you pursue work in the sector you’ve had success with before trying to win business in other sectors?
How might you demonstrate relevant credibility to other sectors without becoming a generic offering?
If your work has concentrated on specific platforms, would that indicate where future clients may come from?
Macro trends in sectors or industries may indicate timing for your development efforts. If your only credibility story is in a cyclical industry and that industry is in the trough of its cycle, they may simply not have the means to purchase at this time.
CM Associates does good work, but we don’t perform miracles! Market forces are more powerful than the best business development strategy.
ASK US: “How many target companies should we be developing at once?”
cmassociates@sympatico.ca
To learn more about this author, visit Catherine McQuaid's Website.
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Catherine McQuaid
(Visit Catherine's Website)
CM Associates
do market reconnaissance for companies
wanting to acquire “wish list” new
clients: those in stable sectors, with
lots of ongoing needs.
How to avoid the feast-or-famine cycle of
project-driven assignments?
CM associates conducts new business
outreach:
gathering business intelligence on those
“wish list” new clients
establishing C-level relationships with
those involved in decisions
…all without the cost of face-to-face
meetings.
Simple, database tools, voice, email and
reconnaissance agents are all one needs to
secure stable, enterprise-wide, repeat
engagements.
Reach beyond local markets without leaving
home
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I received the following question earlier this week. It’s conveniently timed, as I recently participated in two angel investments – each with one of the structures defined below.
