This is called a blog meme. If you are tagged then you can write a post on this topic with a link back to the person who has tagged you. List your top Ways to Warm Up a Cold Contact, and then tag other bloggers you and invite them to write on the same subject.  This chain should create a very informative list of helpful suggestions in no time.

Thanks to everyone in advance for participating.

You do not have to wait to be tagged. Just add a link to your post in the comments section.

It’s no secret that all BD-ers (business developers) have contacts that just for some reason… run a little cold from time to time.  So here is a list of 10 things that can be done to “warm” up a cold contact.

1. Offer to do a Lunch and Learn (or other informative presentation). Lunch and Learns are great tools I use to get my firm in front of PCs.  Not only does it give us a chance to inform them about a specific area of our expertise but it also starts a new dialogue for a budding relationship.  Not to mention the prospect now sees us as an expert in our field (if the presentation is truly informative).

2. Ask for the prospect’s advice. People love to give their opinion.  This is doubly-true in the business development world.  The key is to really have a legitimate question.  I don’t suggest just making up something either.  Really think about the person and their expertise and how they might be able to help you with a relevant problem.  Also, once you use their advice, be sure to let them know how it worked out – and of course, thank them for it again.

3. Offer to break bread. If you think for a moment, about all of the expensive ways to seek new work, lunches are still one of the most economical ways to engage a potential client.  It doesn’t have to be expensive – in fact from experience – you should spend more time finding the right place - based on atmosphere than price tag.  Your goal is to make sure there is sufficient and comfortable seating to allow you and your soon-to-be client to relax and really get to know each other a little better.  For example, if the restaurant’s tables are really close he or she may not feel comfortable disclosing private business matters in such an open forum.

4. Send an interesting link pertaining to something other than work. Along the way, you will have gotten to know something by way of a personal interest about your PC.  Make sure you keep conversations going along these lines by looking up information that you know he/she would enjoy and then sending it to them.  If they like a local basketball team for instance, send them a link about coupons or deals on season passes.  This is just a little way to let them know you are interested in them as a person not simply as a PC.

5. Offer to drop by and help answer any questions. Depending on the services your firm offers, there are certain times that you will know when a new client will have his or her attention on the services you provide.  Make a call and offer to drop by and answer any questions they may have during these times – free of charge.

6. Refer the contact to someone else (then let them know whom they might be hearing from). Every PC, has someone that they consider to be a PC.  For instance, I had a case where I was marketing to a developer who also happened to be a commercial real estate broker.  I look through my database and found an architect who was building a multi-level office building and who I figured (due to the current economic situation) would have a hard time leasing space once it was built.  I passed on the brokers contact information to this architect. I then received a very nice email thanking me for making the introduction.

7. Join a mutually beneficial organization. Notice here that I did not say join any organization that your PC is a member of.  While this could work, you will find more success if it is truly an organization that you are interested in and here is the key – would actually participate in.

8. Drop by next time you are in the area. If communication has lapsed for a while – then simply drop by next time you are in the area.  While you might think – wait this could be misconstrued as rude, I have found that most people are very pleasant if it’s truly a sincere unsolicited vast to drop in and see how things are going.

9. Ask for work. Not to be overlooked is the age old adage – if you want something, you have to ask for it.

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photo by vieux bandit

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Kim Albritton has written a great “How-To…” article on LinkedIn.com.

The Story
The most recent incident went something like this.  A prospect whom we will call Tom of John Doe Designs, was on a cold call list in one of our other offices.  Tom expressed a little interest and (as is usual with this type of thing) the lead was then transferred to me.  (The prospect is closer to my location, therefore it’s current policy that I would make the follow up.)  In the process of being transferred to me, Tom even agreed to a scheduled meeting with me at his offices.

A couple of days later I drove out to John Doe Designs and met with Tom.  We talked, exchanged stories and even we laughed about the current lack of work in this economic downturn. Tom turned out to be just as genuine as he had appeared to be in the notes the initial marketeer had made.  We even scheduled to grab lunch (on us) at a local restaurant near my offices.  When I got back to my offices, I sent out an Outlook Meeting Request for noon of the day we mutually agreed upon and for a moment all was great in the BD world.

The Flake Out
Herein lies the problem.  IT’S THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WORLD!

The same day… he then moved the meeting time – a few times oddly enough.  I even tried to move the location to near his offices but the meeting was still not doable.  This went back-and-forth for a while and then all of sudden at the last minute- the day of the meeting – the flake happened!  After all of this… Tom canceled our ever swaying meeting.

Though I try to stay positive… I must admit I grew a little discouraged.  Thoughts of what must have happened to cause such a (seemingly) sudden change in Tom’s nature entered my mind.  Was it something I said?  Did he talk to some disgruntled client?

Silver Lining
Well I called Tom.
And to my surprise he was very apologetic.  He sounded sincerely empathetic – almost remorseful about the cancellation.  As he tried to explain – it became clear – that now not only could I re-schedule a meeting for just about any time slot that I wanted too – but that I could  also probably get him to pay for the meal as well.
(Of course I did neither of these.)

But I must say thank you Tom.  You helped me to learn a very important lesson.  And that is…

“a flaking prospect is not necessarily a bad prospect.”

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photo by: ChrisDag

What is BD?
If one Googles “What is Business Development”… one of the first websites that will come up is the ever popular (and unapologetic) modern reference work, Wikipedia. The highly sought-after site says that BD…

comprises a number of techniques designed to create new customers and penetrate existing [ones]. Such techniques include, assessment of marketing opportunities and target markets, intelligence gathering on customers and competitors, generating leads for possible sales, follow-up sales activity, formal proposal writing and business model design.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum and (a little more buried in Google’s search results) was fedmarket.com.  It stated that BD is simply

…a sales position. The important distinction is that the business developer is involved in long term activity, while the salesperson is involved in short term activity.”

My Simple Definition
It’s easy to see why Business Development and by extension Business Developers are often times misunderstood.  That’s why I like my own simple definition the best (the one I’d give if you saw me walking down the street and asked me – Quick, tell me! What is a BD?).  I’d tell you…

It’s a person who works to increase market share through relationship building.”

Another Good Definition
Perhaps one of the best ways I have seen it explained is in an article on cofebuz.com, there the author Tim Klabunde, says BD…

…focuses on the development of relationships through direct communication channels.”

What is BD to you?

photo by adian morgan

I just finished Ford Harding’s book “Creating Rainmakers: The Manager’s Guide to Training Professionals to Attract New Clients”, excellent read! I really enjoyed it.  In fact, using page 97 as a reference, I emailed this statement to the VP of our firm in order to encourage him to finish reading it.

…engineers can sometimes forget there is a business side of engineering that often times the clients is more concerned about than how great of a design we can conjure up. One quote from this book says “I am a business man who happens to be an architect.” While we still need our traditional technical engineers…our project managers however need to be aware of issues (financial and otherwise) that face our clients. And our rainmakers such as you and I have to be twice as aware of these issues!”

The point I was trying to make is this… “Do not aim to give client’s what YOU think they need …but rather what THEY think they NEED”.  Trust me… if they have hired you to solve a problem – THEY know more about that problem than YOU think.