Tag: david lennon business development coach

5 Essentials to Include in Your Business Development Plan

SITUATION: You feel you need to write a business development plan for 2018 but the thought of it bores you to death, or you can’t decide what to put in it, or you don’t have the time…or all of the above!

SOLUTION: Try my C-L-E-A-R business development plan format. It might be just the thing you need. It’s quick and simple but covers the absolute essentials that will make a difference.

C = customer.

What customers do you want in 2018? Most businesses have three main types, A, B and C.

‘A’ stands for awesome. They buy big, don’t mind paying and they love you.

‘B’ are bread and butter customers. They are the regulars, they just keep coming and provide the bulk of your revenue.

‘C’ are the complainers. Never happy, haggle on price and take the most time to serve.

You can’t buy more time in life. Don’t waste time chasing customers that aren’t going to take you to your goal. Do you need to change your mix of customers in 2018? Who will you focus on? Get real clear on this. Your marketing, your presentation, your strategies, your staff, your product, your pricing…everything, is dictated by who you want as a customer.

L = looking for?

What are your target customers looking for in 2018? Features, pricing, packages, service etc. Get clear on this. Brainstorm with your team, customers, partner, colleague, customers, suppliers, customers, coach, and customers. Hint: ask your customers what they want! 🙂 In order to win more of a particular customer you would like in 2018, what do you need to provide?

E = earnings.

How much do you want to earn in 2018? How much do you want to pay yourself? How many customers do you need to achieve this? Or how many sales of products XYZ?

There is immense power in writing this number down. It makes a very powerful statement to the universe and your subconscious. Our brains prioritise what they focus on and notice. They have to. Our brains are processing millions and millions of bits of info every second. If our brains didn’t filter this info they would bog down like a computer with too many programs running. By writing your goals down, you help your brain know what it should focus on. The result? You will ‘miraculously’ notice opportunities you didn’t before because your subconscious is showing them to you. It’s the red car effect. You buy a red car (or a particular model) and suddenly there seem to be hundreds on the road.

A = actions required?

What actions are required to achieve the above? You might want to break it down into monthly actions, quarterly actions. Or weekly. Just as you don’t plan a dream holiday and then do nothing about it, get clear on what actions need to be taken. And this can include what different actions you need to take. What type of person do you need to be?

Workshop the actions required with your team. Very important if you want them to be clear on your plans and vision for 2018.

R = roles and responsibilities?

Now you have your action list, put names and dates to each action. Who will do them? If your team is involved, it is best to workshop this with them so they are on board. Do you need an accountability buddy to keep you on track? Break actions down into bite size pieces so they get done rather than delayed.

If you have staff that are not doing the actions you want, I have a module on the 5 common reasons and what to do about it. Email me if you want to know.

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So there you go! Simple business planning with the essentials you need to kick goals.

Have fun with it. Here if you need help.

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CLEAR business planning infographic

‘About You’ page should be about THEM

Situation: your ‘About You’ page is about you and not about your potential customer.

Solution: write your About You page from the perspective of your customer.

They are tuned into WIIFM and want to know whats in it for them.

Ironically an ‘about you’ page is NOT about YOU, it’s about them.

Word it so that it is clear how your background, your experience, your quals, your awards, your life experiences, your roles, your age, your location, your industry, your personality, your nationality, your hobbies…can benefit the prospect reading it.

Think of a dark cave…we are biologically wired to avoid scary places like a dark cave. We don’t go running in do we? Sharing about you on your website is like turning on a few lights in that ‘dark cave’. It helps your potential customer feel comfortable taking a step inside. They get to see things they can relate to and even like.

ROOKIE SALES PEOPLE DON’T ASK QUESTIONS

OMG – sales people, pls, ask questions!!!!!

Just got off the phone with a salesperson with a service I actually want but she didn’t stop talking long enough for me to ask a single question. She just kept throwing more and more and more and more and more and more and……more info at me.

Rookie mistake.

…

Their focus is all about THEM and getting what THEY want.

  • Good sales people make the interaction about the PROSPECT.
  • Good sales people remain neutral and don’t mind if they get a no.
  • Good sales people have one goal…provide a product or service that best matches the customers needs.

This is how you get a good match and create raving fans that refer more customers to you. And I have yet to meet a business that didn’t tell me referrals are their number one lead generation tool.

To do this requires asking questions, and tailoring the info to specifically answer those questions.

When pitching your product or service, regularly check-in with them to confirm you are providing the info they want.

State a feature or benefit in one sentence, and ask “Is this something that is important to you?”

Don’t waste their time or yours talking about a feature for 5 mins only to find out they don’t care about that.

CLEAR Business Development Steps – Part 2

Part 2 in the CLEAR business development planning system is ‘L’ – what are your target Customers (identified in Part 1) looking for?

Not what you want to sell them, what do THEY want to buy? And why? Successful business development requires us to regularly walk in our customer’s shoes and appreciate what they are looking for. Part 2 helps us check-in, reflect and counter our bias wanting to sell what we have and what we believe they need.

LOOKING FOR?

What are your target Customers, that you have decided you want, looking for throughout their journey in searching, assessing, buying, and using your product/service?

You want to create raving fans because word of mouth is by far the cheapest and most common lead generator in any kind of business.

What are your Customers looking for specifically?

Not just shallow stuff, I mean the deep and meaningful stuff. The emotions of using or buying your product/service, the core drivers such as pain points they are wanting to eliminate. And any new innovations or trends they might be aware of. The clearer you are on this the more your message and marketing actions will hit the right buttons. Leads and conversions will increase.

How to Identify What the Customer is Looking for?

To succeed in business development you MUST be in-tune with your Customers needs. And it’s an ongoing process. You never stop seeking to understand your customers.

The fisherman that doesn’t pay attention to the lack of bites, change in preference of bait and where the fish are moving to doesn’t eat!

Here’s a reminder of some of the ways you can confirm what your customers are looking for and I can help you identify suitable strategies and the format:

  • Brainstorm ideas on a whiteboard with the team, especially those talking to your Customers a lot. Segment your Customer’s experience down into it’s stages and list the things they are looking for in each stage – and review if you are providing them.
  • Ask them when next speaking with them. Can be a casual question or more detailed discussion over coffee, lunch or brainstorming session with their team.
  • Suggestion box on your counter – make sure staff encourage Customers to fill out the form and keep the form really simple.
  • Online survey or post purchase survey. Keep them short! No more than 5 questions. It is important to design your surveys well otherwise they won’t tell you anything useful. I can help you if you need.
  • Testimonials – notice what your customers say they liked! This is gold and gives you great insight to what they valued. Make sure you weave this into your marketing copy.
  • Read. make sure you stay up to date with your industry and where it’s going. Subscribe to online forums, newsletters etc. Take note of what the trends are overseas because this can give you a competitive advantage if you are one of the first to introduce a new feature/service/product here in Australia.
  • Attend conferences, tradeshows etc.

Make a list.

Then make sure you are covering these features/feelings/benefits in your marketing material, website, emails, conversations, POP displays, newsletters etc.

WOW FACTOR – where’s the WOW?

To create raving fans that work for you as your marketers and sales team, you need a wow factor. It’s not hard! Or expensive. Often just the simple little touches add the wow factor. I was standing in line for Christmas and a shop assistant was handing out bottles of water – not expensive but was a welcome jesture and made me feel significant as the customers. Remember one of the six core needs we all have is to feel ‘significant’. I love the fact with Uber I don’t have to pay cash or take a card out of my wallet and go through that process of tapping, waiting for the machine to connect and approve payment, waiting for the taxi driver to print his receipt and then print mine.

What can you do to add some wow? Something worth talking about?

Knowing what your Customers are looking for will help you identify a wow factor. Is it an easier way to purchase, a thank you note/gift, a follow up call, an easier delivery system, a simplified booking system, better labeling, better presentation, better Customer service…?

January is a great time to touch base with Customers and ask them what they’d like to see you provide in 2017, or what they’d like improved. The trick here is to encourage them to suggest anything, regardless of what they think your limitations are. Customers have a preconceived idea of what you can provide…right or wrong.

If you need help coming up with a wow factor, let me know.

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So there you go. Steps C and L in the CLEAR business development planning strategy.

Identify your Customer and identify what they are looking for and make sure you are not just meeting but exceeding their expectations. And make sure you are covering what they are looking for in your marketing.

Next step is Earnings. What you want to Earn and how. I’ll cover that in Part 3.