Not managing the business development activity
Sales management is common practice amongst successful corporates and yet sadly lacking in most professional service firms. Sales management is about monitoring performance and managing and motivating individuals to achieve the vision and goals that we mentioned in Barrier One.
Early on in my days of business development training for professionals, I reviewed some training with the Partner in charge of a team and was very disappointed to hear that he had not noticed any improvement as a result of the training. On further questioning, I discovered that he had not noticed any improvement because he had not been managing the activity. There may well have been some improvement but the Partner had not observed it because he had not been paying attention to it.
I am also aware that the team may not have made any changes as a result of the training because their Partner had not asked them to and did not seem to be interested in what they were doing. Next time, with appropriate behaviours and measures in place, we found that our client noticed a significant uplift in activity and results.
At school, would you have done your homework if your teacher never asked you for it and if it did not have an impact on your report or academic achievements?
Solution
Adopt sales management practices. A great first step is to introduce team ‘sales’ meetings at which individuals report on progress including successes and challenges and commit to future actions.
Look and see what your successful corporate clients are doing, or ask us for help.
For further information or for help in implementing some of these solutions please contact Jacqueline Harris of Auric Results Limited on 0118 969 0783 or at j.harris@auricresults.co.uk.
Author – Jacqueline Harris has extensive experience of helping professionals and professional service firms to grow and increase their fee income. Her work focuses on business development, sales, client relationship management, business communication skills and executive coaching.