A simple tool you can use for BD strategy development.
Hello S-Curvers,
Last month I ran a ‘Current State versus Desired State’ business development planning session for a firm in Sydney at their workaway titled: ‘Where’s your BD at? No, I mean really?’
It’s one of the systems tools I like to draw on for developing business development strategy. It works for individuals and on the whole of firm level. It’s an easy way to build rapport within a group and to have a non-threatening benchmarking conversation that’s future-focussed.
I use an S-Curve diagram and ask people to ‘benchmark’ the firm between the two states: current vs desired and speak to their mark with reasons why. We then break that down into 3 BD stages, ranging from ‘Awareness - Return on Investment’.
I find this a really simple way to involve fee earners and firm owners in an honest discussion about business development benchmarking and goal setting. Because each stage has a business development module to support it, fee earners are not left on their own to nod and agree to things, but deep down feel unsure about what to do when they leave the workaway. All of the modules are under 60 minutes and work together or individually. They can be delivered in small or large groups, and include group and 1:1 coaching as follow-up to keep goals on track.
I’m not saying this is the only way to approach business development benchmarking and strategy development at workaway, but it is simple, versatile and effective. You can also run the session shorter or longer, depending on how much time you give to discussion. It’s also good if there’s different strategies on the table, because people need to speak to their strategy in under 2 minutes and make the argument for it, rather than just run on ‘wants’ or ‘feelings.’ Because it’s an open and facilitated discussion it cuts through the noise.
Thank you
