Blog
Stories from the world of BD
Why Brand Books matter
The brand book story “We do our best work when customers have a brand book” A brand book or brand guidelines or whatever you want to call it… it matters. There are a number of clear benefits from having a brand book. At a simple level, it provides…
Make a better discovery call, part 2
The first of this two blog series, looked at a putting some structure around the discovery call. This time, the attention is focused on the less tangible aspects of how to perform in that first call of substance with a new prospect…
Make a better discovery call, part 1
Putting structure into discovery “Failure to plan is planning to fail”Benjamin Franklin 1790 It may be one of the older quotes you see wanged around on blogs like these, however our mate Benjamin was absolutely spot on when it comes to the B2B…
There are no hacks in Business Development land. But starting a meet up just might be a pretty good idea
I am not a believer in BD hacks If the CEO is shouting ‘we needs leads now’ then the game is probably already up. Because here’s the thing. When it comes to good BD, there are no hacks. High pressure and high speed lead generation is not a fun game. BD is best done...
Unleash the Grandma!
I am an unashamed events geek Here's the thing. Events have been part of my professional life pretty much all the way back to when I was a young fresh faced pup not long out of uni. Way back in the <cough> early 2000's, I cut my teeth in corporate travel and...
How to …. move away from spreadsheets
Data in its simplest can be all of the information you hold on clients in a visual format that the whole team can use to their best advantage. Get your whole team working with a system that ensures everyone is on the same page and no lead is left behind.
When the proverbial hits the BD fan, don’t panic
Keeping a calm head in a crisis In a previous blog, I looked into the bad times. The post in case of a BD Emergency, break glass suggests a series of practical ways to come out fighting and generate sales pipeline. That one was all about tactics to get out of a tricky...
Warm calling for the win
BD in 2023, is it all AI and robots then? So here we are in the second half of the year. What kind of BD world are we living in these days? Well, 2023 is definitely an interesting vintage. The home vs office debate rages on, data scraping is rampant, we are all...
When the world zigs, zag
As a B2B marketer, there comes a point, often relative early in the career when suddenly a world of business books and gurus opens up. There's a whole collection of marketing libraries to devour with core tenants from the likes of Godin, Sinek, Carnegie, Heinz......
Running a sales pipeline meeting. Do it right and it’s a super powerful tool
The sales pipeline meeting The humble sales pipeline meeting can be the source of one of the most simple but effective BD upgrades. Put simply, done well the sales pipeline meeting keeps the machine going and ensures no opportunities are left wanting. Done badly, it...
ABC in Sales. Always be collaborating.
Finding the awkward bits in sales In recent weeks, I’ve been working with clients who have been getting into the weeds on their sales process. They are doing the right things. They are holding themselves accountable and recording where potential deals are stalling and...
Hitting the marketing bullseye
Marketing campaign planning Let’s assume the ground work has already been done. We already know the following: Who the customer is What the business goals are What good looks like in 12 months from now How we want to be positioned The kind of messaging that will have...
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