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If you’re in the business of selling a product or service, your marketing strategy should be rooted in one thing: building new relationships. As you build those relationships, it’s critical to have a process for converting them into sales. The key to your company’s success is doing this efficiently and effectively so that every new lead is converted into an opportunity for growth, profit, and repeat customers.

In this article, we’ll show you some tips and tricks to make sure your business development process is a well-oiled machine. Let’s go!

Consider how to get in front of as many people as possible.

You’re well on your way to creating a business development process that works for you, but there are still a few things to consider before you can call it complete. How do you plan to get in front of as many people as possible?

You should create a plan that uses both inbound and outbound marketing strategies. For example:

• Create social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that provide valuable content to attract potential customers (inbound).
• Create an email newsletter with tips and information relevant to your industry (inbound).
• Use digital advertising such as Google AdWords and Bing Ads (outbound).

Know who you are trying to reach.

Before you can even begin to tackle the development of your business development process, you need to do some homework. You need to know who you’re trying to reach and what their needs are.

You should be able to answer these questions:

• Who is my target audience?
• What market am I targeting?
• Who are my competitors in this market?
• What is important to my target audience? How do they think about their problems and needs (e.g., they may care more about convenience than price)? How do they buy things (e.g., online or in-person)? Where do they go to find solutions (e.g., Amazon vs Google Shopping)? How much time does it take them from first hearing about a problem until they have purchased a solution (if at all)?

Match your touchpoints with the buyer’s lifecycle.

To make your business development process a well-oiled machine, it’s crucial that you match your touchpoints with the buyer’s lifecycle. Think about how many people you engage with on a daily basis. You might have some who are just starting out, others who have taken their first steps into the market, and still others who have been around long enough to know all the ins and outs of what they want. At each stage of their journey, they will be looking for different things from you as an organization and from each other.

This is why it’s important to pay attention to what stage your leads are at in order to engage with them appropriately at each stage of their journey.

Make a clear path for lead conversion.

In order to move leads through the sales cycle, you need a clear path for conversion. Your marketing team can’t just send out emails and expect them to convert—they need a clear process that tells them when it’s time to reach out again, what kinds of tactics they should use in those touchpoints, and how many times a lead is allowed or expected to be contacted before moving on from that contact. This also means knowing what stage each individual prospect is in at any given moment: if they’re not ready for a demo yet but have expressed interest in learning more about your product or service, you’ll want to follow up with them much sooner than you would if they had already signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) with your company and scheduled their first product demonstration.

You can create this kind of well-oiled machine by creating a playbook—a set of guidelines that provide direction on how marketing teams should engage with leads at each stage of the sales cycle.

Consistency is key when it comes to new business development.

Consistency is key when it comes to new business development. It’s important that you have a well-defined process for all aspects of B2B marketing, so you can speak with confidence about your product or service. Consistency also ensures that each member of the team has a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the sales process. This not only makes sure every piece of content is created at the right time but also ensures resources are allocated correctly to support each stage of the customer journey.

Now let’s dig into some best practices for making sure your new business development process is consistent:

Having a well-oiled business development process can turn marketing flow into growth and profit for your company.

Business development is the process of generating new business opportunities. It’s critical to your company’s growth strategy, and it’s not a one-time event. Business development is a continuous process that includes many components of your marketing mix:

• Marketing: The type of content you create, who you target with it, and how often you distribute it.
• Sales: The cadence at which you communicate with prospects, the strategies used to engage with them over time (such as drip marketing), and what incentives are offered during each stage of the sales funnel.
• Service Delivery: How quickly customers can get support when they need it.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many aspects to a business development process, but it all comes down to one thing: consistency. When you have a well-oiled machine that is in sync with your company’s goals and objectives, you will be able to grow at an exponential rate. It will also help your team stay on the same page and do what they do best – sell!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at Reversed Out Creative. For more information on business development and strategy, check our our other blogs!

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