Business Development ‘Gladiators’ – Triggering the real YOU!
Part – VIII
Professional Attributes to become awe-inspiring Business Development
Gladiators!
Welcome back to my world!
As we journey on we will now
explore the Professional Attributes that combine with your Personal Attributes,
we chugged through last time, to become ‘Awe-Inspiring’ and result oriented
Business Development Gladiators! We will proceed to practically understand what
Business Development is all about and how we effectively go about the business
of taking the Organization’s products to its deserving customers. We will try
and cover every aspect of the chain of events that need to be carefully
understood from Preparation to Closure and beyond!
The Professional Attributes of a
BDE are several and actually form a chain from beginning to end. Hence, it is
very important to individually understand, in depth, each of the attributes as
they are interlinked with each other in a manner that is absolutely seamless
and continuous. But what are the
attributes?
Let’s observe the picture below
carefully:
If you observe the above picture judiciously
you will be able to understand where I’m coming from. Right from Planning and
Preparation to Closure, the Professional Attributes of a world class BDE must
exist within one self, right from the beginning of your career till its very
end! And it must not merely exist there; but be continuously honed, like the
edge of an axe, every moment of your existence as a Business Development
Gladiator!
Plan / Prepare:
Business Development is a highly
planned activity. Nothing is adhoc here! Most of us tend not to either plan or
prepare ourselves to achieve what is expected of us by our organization and
therefore, most often, we miserably fail. And when we do, we tend to blame
everything ceaselessly: from the product to the market forces. What we fail to
do is actually guilt ourselves for a lack of adequate planning and preparation.
1. Become
‘one’ with your Product: BDEs are not just mere sales people selling products, but
solution providers. Effective BDEs plug gaps that exist where their clients are
concerned. To do this, you must be absolutely aware of every feature of your
product both practically and technically. Your understanding of your product
should be so unique that when, questioned of its features and what they
efficiently do, you should be able to answer without batting an eyelid! Study
each of the products features and rate how much it could possibly influence the
client’s requirement. Adopting this simple evaluation technique will give you
an understanding of which features of the product needs to be talked about at
length and which can be avoided for the time being.
2. Become
‘one’ with your Client: Remember you are a ‘solutions
provider’ and hence you need to carefully research two important spheres:
Ø Who could
be your prospective client? Don’t sell coal to Newcastle. There is an abundance
of coal there! Be realistic in this sphere of research and clearly identify your target clients. Once you have done that, research the gaps that possibly could exist in your client’s operations and how your product could ultimately plug
them. You may not reach a 100% accurate conclusion, but at least you would be
mentally prepared with some solution providing ideas which you could talk about
confidently.
Ø Knowing as
much about the prospective client identified by you is very important. Carefully educate yourself on who you will be
soon meeting. The client’s habits and interests; Qualifications; Past experiences;
whatever possible information you can obtain on your client. It will greatly
contribute to the content of your conversation while enhancing the quality of
your discussions when you finally meet with your client.
3. Become ‘one’
with Yourself: Becoming ‘one’ with yourself is all about tapping the immense
reserves of ‘Self-Confidence’ that exists in you. If you have become ‘one’ with
your Product and Client, I don’t see a reason why you can’t, quite
effortlessly, become ‘one’ with Yourself! Becoming ‘one’ with yourself is very
important because, as I said earlier, you are not just selling a product, but
providing a solution. You should confidently probe for challenges and gaps that
your client is presently experiencing when in conversation with him. The first
meeting with a client is always a very critical one because it could either
lead to a long lasting relationship or a quick exit out of his office!
Always meticulously plan and
prepare for your first meeting with your client. Practice a product
presentation and keep revising all the research work you have done on both the
product and the client. This will give you immense confidence to go beyond just
the initial meeting and actually take a long and successful journey with your
client.
Ciao for now! See you all next
Monday when we journey on to understand how to effectively introduce yourselves
as Business Development Gladiators when you first meet with your client…
Anand K Nair
Leadership & Motivational Speaker. Mentor. Counselor.
Author. Educationist. Business Consultant.
Founder,
Anand Nair Leadership Foundation
