Business Development Skills

As a marketer, you know the famous stat: Buyers complete up to 57% of decision-making process before they ever even contact a vendor. With the increasing amount of information available online -- either from a brand, its competitors, or its previous customers -- buyers are more educated than ever before.

Many agencies still rely on cold calling and emailing, referrals, and networking to generate quality leads. While these can be a valuable source of business development, the best sales reps understand the role of marketing in attracting, qualifying, and nurturing the very best prospects They buy into the idea of inbound marketing and understand that CMOs and executives aren't waiting around for an agency to approach them. They are in charge.

"The most successful business development people are those that can ask great questions," said Dave Currie, president of The List. "Through their professional curiosity they ask great questions and listen with intent toward identifying and truly understanding the issues, the impact of those issues to the prospect's organization in measurable terms, and the importance of solving that issue for the prospect now versus later."

Good sales reps understanding that they need useful, meaningful goals and an established plan for reaching these goals.

Set their own expectations

how much, realistically, can one individual can do and how much support will they need from leadership?

Consider the business development team structure

Will they be the only person driving business development? Or will you create a team around this person?

Review the person's previous responsibilities

Were they self-sufficient? What were they in charge of? Can they find leads, set initial meetings, and run pitches?

While sales and business development roles are both tied to generating revenue, they require paradoxically different skills," said Jody Sutter of The Sutter Company. "

According to an article written by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic in Harvard Business Review, those who possess a high curiosity quotient are more adept at handling complexity and ambiguity -- they are more skilled in producing "simple solutions to complex problems."

Agencies understand the importance of building a brand, creating a differentiated and meaningful market position, and generating awareness and value around the brand for their clients -- yet they so rarely do this for themselves.

A business development development rep should be well-versed in setting and managing expectations with prospects so your firm can exceed those expectations.

While some will disagree with this, many believe that the person responsible for representing your agency in pitches or in "get to know you" meetings should have an understanding of the agency business and the services you are selling.