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Why Embracing Business Development Will Increase Sales

There are two types of companies out there:  There are sales driven companies and then there are companies on their way out of business.  It is that simple.  The question you need to ask yourself is this:

“How are you planning to increase sales?”

Hire more sales people?  Hire a sales director? Pump up your marketing budget?  Sure, these things might move the needle a fraction…

Sales has been around since trading goods/products became a way to sustain life.  There are books, upon books, (upon webinars?) about how you can “Increase your sales in 3 easy steps!” but at the end of the day it is all recycled nonsense.

Sales boils down to this basic 3-step premise:

  1. You create a product/service with a value proposition
  2. You identify prospective customers that have an issue that your value proposition solves, and
  3. You try to get them to pay you to satisfy that issue

The Art of Business Development teaches you a model that allows you to take this basic premise, and scale it by leveraging technology.  To be blunt, if you are not getting on the bandwagon when it comes to Business Development, enjoy watching your competitor fly past you.  This is the 21st century way to increase sales.

Still skeptical?  Take a look at this article written on forbes.com.  Here is my favorite snippet from the article:

“The Bridge Group (a sales consulting firm) shows that only 40% of tech companies currently have sales development functions.  That’ll likely grow.”

I’m sure you’re thinking “But I’m not in technology, certainly business/sales development doesn’t apply to me?”  And here comes the kicker…

“Sales development [is] moving into other areas. Financial services in particular, but also commercial real-estate. Those are areas where deals were made on the golf course. Sales development is starting to make its way into what used to be purely relationship-oriented sectors.”

Are you ready to learn yet?

Welcome to Learn Business Development

by Jared Phillips on May 28, 2015

Welcome to my new site!  My name is Jared Phillips and I am extremely passionate about sales.  Not just sales in a general sense, but specifically Business Development.

I am creating this website as a way to share information and interact with people around the world who specialize in Business Development.  I have been working in Business Development for years now and the field is growing exponentially.  There are so many tools to facilitate Business Development it has become impossible to stay informed on recent developments.  This site will serve as a way for like-minded individuals to share best practices, talk about challenges, successes, failures and ultimately improve our Business Development strategy.

If this term is new to you then you may be wondering, what exactly is Business Development?  That’s exactly what we are here to talk about.  Let’s get started.

Business Development is the wave of the future when it comes to facilitating and accelerating the sales process.  Rather than the sales being cultivated through a singular sales person, Business Development is the collaboration among sales functions for a more efficient and effective customer interaction.  Simply put, a team approach to closing new business.

Consider this:  Historically, a sales person has been on an island to perform in their role (regardless of industry or product).  The sales professional was given a quota, a few days of training on whatever product they were selling, and then they hit the road.  Performance management?  Sure!  We have that, it comes at the end of each quarter when sales goals are calculated!  Those who exceeded their quota get a bonus and those who don’t get fired!

Sales professionals were lone rangers.  The mentality went something like this: “I find the opportunities, I create value, I close the deal, I manage the relationship.”  A whole lot of “I” in that methodology, don’t you think?

Now let’s talk about a comprehensive Business Development strategy.  What are all the components?  You still need Sales Professionals, but there are numerous types of Sales Professional.  Some specialize in origination, others specialize in closing deals, and others still thrive in relationship management.  How do you put all of this together?  Through specialization and team work.

What are a few obvious thoughts that go through your mind when you think about specialization and sales?  What do you think about when you have multiple people involved in closing a deal in your current role?  Chaos and Confusion.  Revenue splitting.  Communication issues.

This is the best way to generate sales in the “information” age.  I promise you.  But not only do I promise you, I promise to show you why this is true with compelling data, interviews from experts in the field, and case studies.

Most importantly, I want this to be a free-flowing discussion.  Think I’m wrong?  Let’s talk about it.  Let’s build a community and progress the field of business development together.  What are your thoughts?

And today will be better than yesterday.

-Jared

P.s.  I apologize that the website is under construction.  I plan on putting a lot of work in over the next few weeks to get it fully functional.  Thanks for your understanding.

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