Stu Pringle
Founder
Why logic feels like the answer
I spend a lot of my time working with founders who are also engineers. They're brilliant people. They solve hard technical problems for a living, and they’ve been trained to take analytical and logical approaches to carving up big problems. What does that look like? Well from where I sit, it usually goes something like this: define the problem, gather the data, build a model, optimise.
Now that is good stuff. This kind of thinking and methodical approach has provided the framework for a successful career. So when it comes to business development logic, it's no surprise to see a reach for the same toolkit.
But unfortunately, the world of BD is different. BD can be a messy emotional place. It's a beast, and logic alone won't kill it. I often describe BD as a bit like squeezing a bar of soap, you know it’s going somewhere but you can’t always be sure exactly where it’s going to land. Several times over the years I have seen the engineer-come-founder become frustrated when the funnel doesn’t churn out the prescribed result.
How do we respond? Can we apply any Business Development logic to the process? Do we just give up and leave it all to chaos? Well, clearly not.
I believe that by applying good process the definition of success is not killing the beast but it is at the very least, taming it. Let me explain…
Where logic overreaches
Let's start with the spreadsheet. It's usually the first thing an engineer reaches for. And this makes perfect sense, it’s only a click away and doesn’t require any new software. And so the usual workflow is to list the prospects, add some columns and then start colour-coding the status.
The trouble is, a spreadsheet is a snapshot. It tells you where things stood on the day you last updated it. BD doesn't live in snapshots. It lives in conversations that keep moving. Who did you speak to last month? What did they say? When should you get back in touch, and who matters most this week? A spreadsheet just isn't built for that.
We covered this, and lots more, in our Sales Pipeline 101 webinar, which you can watch for free by filling out the form below.
Then there's measurement. The analytical mind loves a KPI, and let me tell you this, when it comes to B2B sales and marketing there is a nearly endless list of things that could be measured. Google Analytics, CRM dashboards, open rates, conversion ratios. It all looks very scientific, and it all has the potential to create one massive sidetrack.
The hard truth is that in B2B our numbers are small compared to B2C. You might have a few dozen target accounts, long sales cycles and a handful of wins a year. Those deals are mighty impressive and I’m not taking anything away from them. But my point is that the sample size is small. Try to extrapolate from it and the danger is real.
There's a lurking risk too. Measuring feels like progress. Building the dashboard is comfortable. Picking up the phone to someone who might say no is not. What I have seen is that there is a risk in reaching a point where the tracking gets more attention than the selling.
Of course, I’m not saying it should be the Wild West. But what I do advocate is a small set of simple metrics and not endless reams of data.
When it comes to BD, just keep going! Learn from every interaction, and be better at the next one. Each conversation tells you something no dashboard can.
People aren't logical
The big thing right at the heart of BD is we are dealing with people. And let’s be honest, we all do things our own way. Here we are trying to tame the beast with logic and we’re getting responses that are charged with emotions, relationships and pressure. We like to buy from people we trust.
On top of that, like it or not, a lot of what happens sits outside our circle of influence. Conversations happen when we're not in the room. There are allegiances we can't see. Buyers can be strongly motivated by a set of reasons that matter to them but are not always obvious to us.
I've learned this time and time again over 20 years in B2B sales. The deal I was sure would come in quietly fades away. And the one way out on the edge, the one I'd almost written off, comes back with an email: "Yep, let's move forward. When can we start?"
That isn't something to fight. It's something to accept. You can't control it with logic. But you can tame it. Here's how.
Get the fundamentals right
Taming the beast starts with the basics. It's the classic marketeer's answer, and it's a drum I've been banging for years. Be customer-focused. Have a clear value proposition. Know how you stand out from your competitors. Understand the problems you solve. Then show people you can solve them, and prove it.
I boil it down to four questions every buyer is asking of you:
- Can you show me that you understand my world?
- Can you tell me how you can solve my problem?
- Can you show me how you have helped others?
- Can you describe the impact that it had?
These questions hook directly into the word I mentioned earlier - trust. You can't control a buyer's emotions or politics. But you can communicate your answers to these four questions, every time you get the chance.
And that chance often comes before you're even in the room. Estimates of how far buyers get before speaking to you vary wildly, and some argue the figure is overblown. (Have a read of Research cited by CustomerThink if you want to get into that debate!) But the point stands: your brand and content need to answer those four questions long before you do
Do the grunt work
Here's the unglamorous part. Once the fundamentals are in place, taming the beast is mostly grunt work.
One of our phrases here at MtB is ‘build a list, and hit the list.’ This is the idea of breaking down outreach into bite-sized chunks of the market. We advocate an approach of being laser-focused on who you can genuinely help. There has to be some volume put behind this, sending a few emails as a one off won’t cut it. Block out the time to do it. Call people back. And don't give up after the first try.
If there's a team of you, give each person their own named accounts. It creates real ownership and accountability. Nobody can chase a whole industry. An amorphous blob of a sector isn't a target. A clear list of companies, with your name next to them, is.
It takes time, and it takes more than one touch. Research from RAIN Group suggests it takes around eight touches across email, phone and LinkedIn to land a first meeting with a new prospect. Most people give up long before that.
This is where the engineer's mind comes into its own. A love of process is exactly what grunt work needs. It just needs pointing at consistency, not prediction.
Put a proper system behind it
If we are taking our BD seriously then we need to be using proper software to support our efforts. If a spreadsheet is a photograph, a good CRM is more like a film. It holds the thread of every conversation. It sets up your callbacks and sends you a notification, so nobody gets lost. It tracks every opportunity through a proper pipeline.
Keep that pipeline simple. A handful of clear stages that everyone understands will beat ten stages with probability weightings. The simple version is the one that actually gets used.
Then give it some attention. Review the pipeline every two weeks, if not every week, so nothing gets left on the table. And block out time every day to push things on.
Make your proposals count
It’s important to follow the flow here and make sure the whole BD process is strong. Once we have put our effort into our outreach and discovery we should be getting to the point of preparing proposals.
Here is one area of BD where your level of influence is that much greater. Your proposals need to be on point. Answer the question the client is actually asking. Show clearly that you can solve their problem. Use your best, most relevant references. Price competitively and make it look professional. Then deliver it in a way that makes you the obvious choice.
Also, keep it short! Don’t write a book every time. Engineers like to show their working. But a proposal that proves how thorough you are can bury the answer the client actually wanted.
By this stage you're not just persuading. You're taking away the reasons to say no.
Then follow up. And follow up. And follow up again. Silence after a proposal doesn't always mean no. Often the buyer is busy, or the decision is being made in a room you're not in.
Accept the mayhem, stack the odds
We have to accept a bit of mayhem. The slam dunk will slip through our fingers. The lost cause will come in. That's just BD.
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't put in a process. At every step, from the list to the proposal to the chase, we can create as much advantage for ourselves as possible. That's how we win. Logic won't kill the beast. But it will tame it.