7 Business Development Tasks You Can Do Now In The New Normal

One of my favorite moments in the wonderful movie Forrest Gump is when, after running back and forth across the country for three years, Forrest decides…out of the blue…to just stop running.  

During his journey, Forrest gained a fairly large following of other runners who, for whatever reason, ran behind him. Suddenly, out in the middle of nowhere, Forrest stops, takes a breath and declares that he is tired and is going to go home. The crowd is silent until someone in the group asks, “Now what are we supposed to do?”

Does our present situation feel like this in the ‘new normal’? Forrest’s run could represent the economy, chugging along and everyone else running in stride, doing what they did in the previous ‘normal’. Now, the economy is no longer running ahead of us and many are asking, “Now what are we supposed to do?”

Here are seven things you can do, starting now. (Translation: Today!)

Business Development And Marketing Audit – I begin with this one because I have a freebie for you. Reach out to me and I will send you our Business Development And Marketing Audit, a document listing 76 items to measure your company’s proactive approach to building new business. 

You don’t have to register, there is nothing to subscribe/unsubscribe later, and there won’t be any ‘would you like fries with that’ emails to follow. Simply go to our website and request a copy. (See the link below)

The audit is the product of working with nearly 300 companies, since 2001, in some form of business development, CRM, marketing, sales, prospecting, branding, social media and beyond. After you grade yourself, you can see how well, or poorly, you score and hopefully find a few ways to make some positive changes.

Remote Networking – The current situation is a great time to continue meeting with your private networking group or start one. Being quarantined does not mean we have to stop meeting. Zoom, Zoho, Skype, Slack, etc. make it easy to have ‘face to face’ meetings from afar. Warning, if you don’t have a webcam, expect to pay a premium!

Write An Article – The fact that you are reading this should tell you, articles, blog posts, newsletters, etc. can prove to be an effective way to make a point and/or share a message to a wide variety of inquiring minds. I am proof you don’t need to be Pat Conroy to write an article.

Challenge Your Dog And Pony – Somewhere on the timeline between entering a contact’s information to signing a contract is often doing the proverbial ‘dog and pony show’. (Sales or qualification presentation.) Until you can actually present yours live with a trusted ally, share your ‘presentation deck’ and ask for their feedback. The same can be done with your collateral material, elevator pitch, tagline, etc. 

Revisit Inactive Clients – Go through your client list and if you haven’t already, determine what makes a company an ‘active’ or ‘inactive’ client. Once you have set that benchmark, create a brief template and circle back with those you may not have contacted lately. Share a recent success story, ask if there is anything you can do, and if nothing else, forward this article. Bottom line, you could be a valuable resource by letting them know you are happy to help.

Pump Up Your Social Media – The audit lists several ways to do this but the main purpose is it challenges you to check your efforts against your competition. Are you a trend-setter, hanging somewhere in the middle or far, far behind? If you have been ignoring social media, get busy!

CRM Tune Up – This should be your top priority if you are ‘enjoying’ any downtime. Give your CRM a thorough review to make sure you are leveraging this valuable tool to your benefit. 

Review your report menu, ask your project managers, marketers, operations, etc. if there is a report or list they need but are not currently receiving. 

Can you effectively tell where you stand with each prospect as far as being able to submit a proposal? 

Can you see on one screen a quantifiable result of the past 30-day efforts of your proactive approach to marketing your business? Emails, calls, appointments, marketing packages sent, etc.

Is your CRM more stick than carrot when it should be more carrot than stick?

There are so many opportunities here that can come from a little fine-tuning and they are listed in the audit.

Hint: Excel and Outlook is not a CRM.

In closing, I do believe we will get back to the ‘old normal’ soon. I also believe now is the best time to review what you have been doing, keep what is working and correct what is not.  Remember, I budget four hours per week to talk shop and bounce around ideas with those sincerely wanting to shave a few strokes off their game.  

Audit Link: Click Here