four business development steps that are worth your while.
by martin bissett
business development on a budget
i’ve taken many accounting firm partners through this process, and it’s quite common for them to balk a little at the pipeline idea when they see the amount of work involved.
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they see it as just another call on their time when they already have far too much to do, and they ask me why they can’t just write down a list of prospects and go to work on them.
is that what you’ve been thinking? well, here’s why that doesn’t work.
the case for building a true pipeline is not just to capture the names of people you are talking to, but to be quite scientific about where you are using your chargeable time in business development.
that allows you to prioritize. you actually have a mathematical equation that allows you to know when you should pursue a prospect and when you really shouldn’t. the beauty of this is that it cuts the amount of time you spend
- chasing lost causes,
- making phone calls that are never answered and
- writing emails and letters that are never acknowledged.
it may seem counterintuitive at first, but it’s the time you invest in building your pipeline that actually reduces the amount of time needed to manage it effectively and to see results from it.
so the case for a pipeline is that it actually saves times and money as you build your proactive business development efforts. when you buy into that case, your efforts will pay off.
business development tasks
1. list all prospective clients you are currently working on.
2. list the first year’s fees you estimate you could realize if you were to win that client.
3. total up that figure and consider what percentage of your fee growth goal could be achieved by winning these prospects alone, before any other areas of new business are even explored.
4. schedule specific, non-interruptible time in your diary to carry out the next action required on each of these prospects to move them one step further toward joining your firm.