The Secret Salesman’s Guide to Developing Professional Services Business

Clive Heath Marsh, MA, FCMI

Developing management consultancy and other professional services business can be very tough. There is no easy well defined route but there is a maze of avenues and options to choose from. On occasions our choice of direction will produce a good result whilst on other occasions the same choice will lead us to a dead end and no new business. But, if we have a good understanding of the options available and explore these with skill, determination and persistence we will, eventually, win. The purpose of this manual is to expose the secrets of the more successful developers and to help reduce the number of dead end trips by providing a business development map that will help professionals win new business. It is expected that this work will be of use to the experienced professional business developer and also to executives who have an interest and responsibility for business development in their organisations.

Business development includes an element of selling and many consultants and professionals feel uneasy with this asserting, quite rightly, that most business is developed from relationships. Indeed most small firms have started in this way where an ex employee gets a consulting contract with his previous employer and then ‘stalks’ and builds up a network of relationships often following contacts as they move from company to company. Developing a network and managing relationships in this way is one method for business acquisition. However, in this work we will also explore more direct methods of winning new business. Some consultants have, in effect, become ‘secret salesmen’ in the sense that their clients do not consider them as salesmen at all but as trusted advisers. This work will provide a structured guide for secret sales people.

Many professional firms have little in the way of annuity income. They have to constantly win new business and increase/maintain market share to survive. Good business development practice is essential but many firms struggle to understand the processes and how to control and measure development performance. The people who have the most credibility with clients are normally their trusted consultants but too often these consultants miss opportunities to develop and extend business. However, there is now an increasing expectation that consultants will develop valuable new business and this work should help bridge the business development gap.

Good consultants and professionals look for evidence to back up their hunches and theories. They also like to understand business processes and to map them out. They will not be disappointed with this work since it does define the normal business development processes. However, experienced business developers will often find that even the most carefully mapped and adhered to processes and strategies do not result in a win. This work helps explain why and defines some of the key ‘out of the box’ attributes that will help you win.

How this work might help you develop business

The purpose of this work is to help you win new business. How it will help you will depend on where you are currently positioned in the new business development experience journey. You might be an experienced management consultant or professional services provider who has no real new business development experience having always been passed assignments and briefs to undertake or, you might be a professional who has experience of networking and developing client relationships that yield business. Perhaps you have direct experience of establishing new business where no previous relationship existed. How you use this work will depend upon your own personal experience but, since it is only a short book I would recommend that you start at the beginning and work through to the end. If you find bits of it obvious and simple then proceed at a faster pace. Although short, this work needs to be comprehensive to ensure that all levels of entry are covered and also to contextualise each component part of the process.

At the end of this manual it is hoped that you will have:

• An understanding of the business development model and processes
• An understanding of business development skills
• A recognition of your business development competencies that need development

If the manual achieves these three aims then you will be better placed to win new business for your firm.

Topics covered in the manual:

How this work might help you develop business

A game to play with two colleagues

Business Development Model

• Can consultants be business developers?
• Two approaches
• Skills, Services and Sectors
• Buyer/Seller Assumptions
• The Firm’s Sales Process
• Summary

Business development Skills

• Examples of style
• What style is needed and your natural style
• 10 steps
• Managing & organising
• Finding & prospecting
• Rapport building
• Identifying & exploring needs
• Presenting & demonstrating the proposal
• Objection handling
• Testing reactions
• Closing
• Delivering
• Relationship management
• Sales competencies for development

Your personal plan for better business development

Client personality types

The psychology of buying

Moving on to new ground

Warnings