The field of Business Development is full of tips and tricks to help you increase your wins and avoid losses. However, Business Development professionals know that whats in your head is far more important than what’s in your toolbox.
At MBDi, we have observed and personally experienced the following tenets in action. They have consistently proven to be true in the best Business Development professionals we have engaged with over the past 41 years. We have collected them to share with you so that you can learn how to be the best, from the best.
1) Accept that they will not make a “sale” every time they make a call.
Professionals have learned that they don’t control whether or not the prospect buys – that’s within the prospect’s control. Instead, they know that they only control how they execute their process, as well as the right level of thinking and discipline it requires. The sale is simply the outcome of correctly-executed process and thinking.
2) Know that success does not lie in a one-off win. It lies in the consistent control of their emotions, preparation and mindset.
Business Development is as much a mental discipline as it is a mechanical process. By controlling your thinking and working your process, nothing is a random event. Proper preparation before a call, including Practicing, Drilling and Rehearsing, leads to predictable behavior with controllable outcomes.
3) Understand that they must give their best effort for the customer and believe they can help them, even with opportunities that they feel they might not win.
Professionals always put their Purpose ahead of their goal. They choose the interest of the client in balance with their own personal and professional goals. Professionals are psychologically comfortable in realizing that if the client doesn’t win, they don’t win. They know that Business Development is not a zero-sum game.
4) Do not spend their time comparing themselves or their current performance to their greatest ever performance.
Your best performance in Business Development is a one-time event. Often, it isn’t even something you created anyway! The ability to set goals and measure yourself against your goals on a consistent, ongoing basis is what drives improvement, not mulling over past mistakes or wins.
5) Do not make excuses.
Responsibility is defined as doing the right thing, the right way, the right time, all the time. There are no excuses. We may rationalize, but only because it’s necessary for mental health. In the end, if you rely on excuses, you only let yourself down.
6) Do not ruin their chance of performing well by letting a bad call or decision get in the way of their next call.
Professionals in Business Development understand the vulnerability of “afterburn.” This is where a preceding event continues to have effect on present behavior. They’ve learned how to do After Action Reports, analyze what went successfully (or not) on a call, make the necessary corrections and move forward. They’ve learned mental discipline.
7) Know how to ethically win “ugly.” The best Business Development professionals always do their best, even when they may be at their worst or even when pursuits are not going according to plan.
In the end, professionals learn that there are no perfect prospects and there are no perfect Business Development professionals and processes. Frequently, you’ll find yourself having to use the old Marine adage of “Improvise, adapt, and overcome.” It works for the Marines, and it’ll work in Business Development.
In conclusion, to be successful, people in Business Development must have a firm understanding of not only the mechanical processes involved in Business Development, but of their own psychological state. Socrates famously said, “Know thyself.” From our experience, this knowledge – or the lack thereof – can make or more likely break a Business Development professional.
MBDi is focused on training and consulting with a focus on improving the “behavioral psychological” areas of teams and individuals, find out more about upcoming training programs here.
This post was inspired by athletic trainer Allistar McCaw, who has worked with many sports stars to improve their performance.