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New Business: Becoming a Preferred Vendor

Written by: Catherine McQuaid

Article Overview: Successful Big Game Hunting 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.

New Business: Becoming a Preferred Vendor

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

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