Business Development Strategy

What is your business development strategy?

If you are an small business or a new business, don’t feel bad if you don’t have a strategy. You are not alone. In our experience we have seen 20 year old business with sales of over $100 million a year with no strategy. 

Why have they been so successful then? They had the right product at the right time in a very affluent economy and they had good work ethic. 

So what is wrong with this? These are all very strong parts of the business development model. Except they had no real process. While they were hard at work, no one was preparing for a change in the market or customer demand. Our current economy is one that requires the same hard work but it must be coupled with a strategy. There is next to no room for error today. Customers are fickle, and they have so many choices at their hands.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY DEFINED:

Regardless of what your business is, this process applies. Restaurants, service stations, convenience stores, contractors and more will profit from this process. The specifics of the process vary based upon your industry. The process of proper business development can be broken down to some specific activities:

  • Lead Generation – This is all about getting traffic. It is also what to do with the traffic when it comes. Not all customers buy right away. Sometimes they have to be encouraged or waited for. Are you prepared to keep their data with a customer relationship management system? Depending upon your orgaization these range from free to thousands of dollars. We can help you determine the right solution.
  • Decision Making Cycle – Our world has changed. Consumers are bombarded with data and they are using it. More than 50% of all consumers spend more than 75% of the total shopping experience researching a product or service. Are you putting the right info in the right places in the way in which your customers want to see it?
  • Closing the sale – When customers are at the verge do you know how to close? Do you know when to stop talking? Are you prepared for common objections? Are you scared of hearing no? If you even waivered on any of these questions, we can help.
  • Post Sales – Acquiring new customers is time consuming and expensive (5 – 10 times more than retaining a customer). Repeat customers spend 67% more than a new one. It is necessary to keep in touch with all of your customers. The goal of a long term value based business focuses on customer retaintion not transactional based sales. Work more effectively don’t guess. Let Pinpoint Marketing help you stay in touch with your customers in a way that appeals to your budget and your customers’.

Above all make sure that you are creating a record of everything in your business. If you don’t track it, you won’t manage it. If you can’t manage it, you can’t imporve it. Call us today to learn how we can quantify your business decisions.