What’s Your 2010 Business Development Strategy?

Did your 2009 business development strategy work like you hoped? Will you use the same strategies in 2010, or are you going to analyze, learn from your failures (and victories), and adapt?

Learning and adapting is usually a good idea, particularly if your results weren’t as you expected. But what are the best ways to learn from your mistakes, plan, and adapt to a new market condition?

This post explores how some of the smartest small companies in the Baltimore, Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia markets are planning their 2010 business development strategies.

The tried and true. There are certain business development strategies that just plain work and I’ll go over some of them below. More »

Sample Business Development Plan

A lot of times when I’m sitting with clients, they will ask for a sample business development plan – a template that they can follow for business development success. If that sounds like you, then this post will help you.

The Tough Questions

If you’ve ever asked a “business development guru” for advice on your business plan, it probably started with some really tough questions…

What’s the purpose of your business?

How much money do you want to earn?

When do you want to have this money by?

What products and services will you offer in exchange?

Who is your target market?

The list goes on…

While these are all very important questions, they don’t necessarily hit on the main point. More »

Does Your Business Need A Sales Growth Consultant

Have you ever thought about hiring a sales growth consultant?

• Is your business slowly dropping sales and losing profit?
• Are you looking for a long-term strategic plan that will help your business earn higher profits?
• Are you a young company looking for a stable foundation?
• Or maybe you’re an established business looking to take your business to the next level.

Profit growth and projections are clearly important to the growth of a company. If your business is not “lighting up the boards” – that is, making a bunch of sales, then hiring a sales growth consultant might be one of the best decisions you can make for your business.

Especially in a recession.

But can we afford it?

The bottom line is that any sales consultant worth their salt will not cost you money. They may be an expense in the short-run, but the beauty of sales growth consultants is that they quickly produce returns on the money you invest with them.

Not only will a good sales consultant reinvigorate you and your sales force, but they will give you actionable, proven ways to increase your sales NOW! Not to mention help with training new sales people.

There are many different strategies and techniques a growth consultant could use to help your business, which ones will work for your company?

Choosing the ideal sales consultant

When looking for a sales growth consultant you should consider the background of the specialist and their past credentials.

• Have they helped companies like yours before?
• Do they have references you can talk to?
• What was their career before they started consulting?
• Do they have a good reputation in the area?
• Have their techniques had demonstrated success in improving company revenues and profitability?

Where can I find a consultant like that?

Jacoby is a Business Growth Consulting firm specializing in sales growth that’s located physically near Baltimore, Maryland. But we have clients are from all over the country, from California to Texas to Boston.

In addition to decades of combined experience, the reason that our clients excel is because of our passion for helping clients, and seeing them succeed.

Aside from sales growth consulting, we have the expertise and know-how to solve complex business problems that can help your company prosper.

“Jacoby conceived an exceptional expansion strategy that has been a dramatic success for us. Christopher Simpson, CEO, Simpson Scarborough

If you think you or your company can benefit from sales growth, contact Jacoby today!

Call 410-744-3900 or fill in this contact form to get started.

Other users who viewed this article also liked:

The Jacoby Business Assessment Test – answer 7 questions and find your probability of generating real wealth

SWOT Analysis Examples – learn how to perform your own SWOT analysis

How Much To Pay For Consulting – how to determine if you’re paying too much for consulting

Go back to the Sales & Marketing category

Go from Sales Growth Consulant back to the homepage

A Far-Sighted Business Growth Strategy Will Help Your Future In A Recession

During periods of market slow down, the executive leadership of a business  is able to make choices about how they will react to the future, and the position where they would like to be once the economic down turn ease and the market begins to bounce back to what it was before.

By changing their perspective and strategy planning to have a long term perspective instead of realizing only the production of a short term positive uptick to the profit statement, it is possible to grow a business even during tough economic times. A foundation to success in this area, however is that the management in charge are true leaders and are prepared to look beyond the short term  prospects and work toward positive change for the future. It goes without saying that if the company is in a strong position before the downturn begins, combined with good leadership during the period of recession, that venture has a better chance of surviving the challenges with not only streamlined processes, but with a greater market customer base, due mainly to it stepping into the space left by companies who go out of business in the meantime.

The attitude toward a long-term business growth strategy needs to be a part of managerial mindset  in times of plenty as well as times of hardship and needs to result in the implementation of changes which will be advantageous over a period of economic cycles and not only from the short-term stance. The ability to handle recession in this way is the mark of true leadership abilities and the trademark of success.

The use of redundancy is an obvious example of knee-jerk reaction to company failures in a declining market. While it’s immediate effect is to release cash flow into the company which may be sorely needed, the long term result is that once the recession passes, the company then needs to re-establish the knowledge and experience base that it has just discarded. Across-the-board axing of staff positions may seem like the obvious thing to do, however it will be undesirable in the long term vision.

Realise that the wider social implications of major redundancies such as those that we are seeing in the international economy currently, actually makes a recession last longer, as it affects the entire status of a country’s economic infrastructure.

It is far more beneficial to reduce your cash flow by optimising processes than getting rid of people, particularly if you want to grow during or immediately after a recession. This way you retain the human resource necessary to quickly and effectively respond to opportunities in the market.

The techniques  brought in by consultants can usually help you identify quick wins in this area, and the money thus made available can be used to fund growth related activities such as buying your competitors stock or developing new market offerings.

The old proverb of buying when the market is depressed is most applicable in this situation, and businesses should be preparing for this situation when the going is good.

The Next Growth Strategy for IBM

In a March 9, 2009 article entitled “IBM chief upbeat on growth potential”, Kevin White writes about IBM’s optimism that it can parlay its 8 million square feet of data center resources into a virtualized, cloud based computing infrastructure that dynamically manages business services. “In an upbeat letter to shareholders, chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano outlined how the company would develop smart, digitally aware, networked and intelligent systems with pervasive instrumentation and interconnection, as well as build out cloud computing services. ”

IBM’s Willy Chiu, VP for IBM’s Cloud Labs described how the company is working to be able to string them all together through virtualisation and cloud-based provisioning so as to be able to dynamically manage business services. “Ultimately, it’s all about changing the economics of enterprise computing. It’s all about boosting efficiency. And it’s about doing more with less.”

Before Twitter, before Google, before Microsoft there was IBM. The gold standard of corporate excellence was a proud organization and the “men of IBM” wore blue suits with white ties. IBM stood for reliability and innovation. It was the “go to” equipment choice – don’t bother considering the alternatives.

But dominance led to complacency and IBM lost its way. This loss of prestige and power was personified by its inability to understand young Bill Gates who clearly outmaneuvered IBM in Microsoft’s early days. Since then, the proudest of U.S. corporations has been quiet for a long time. Its biggest news was its 2004 $1.75B sale of its PC business to the Lenovo Group. IBM once dominated this business but failed to keep pace with Dell and Hewlett Packard.

Can IBM rise once more and be king? Stay tuned.

–Art Jacoby

Sustained Business Growth is About the TEAM

Your business has potential — there’s room for business growth. The idea that you had worked – and worked well. The business has really started to kick off and you are getting successful. It is a great feeling.

Beneath that great feeling is a level of unease. You know that what is keeping your business going is all about you – and the stresses and strains of that are starting to show.

It’s a feeling of exhilaration tinged with fear and disillusion. You know that you cannot keep up this pace forever. What happened to the success and what it was supposed to give you?

What’s more, you want a vacation.

Want Sustainable Business Growth? Then Think Again…

It is time to think again. It is a problem that is solvable – and that solution may not be as far away as you might think.

What you have right now is unsustainable, so you need to switch that into something that enables sustainable business growth. This is making sure your business prospers and grows, without the backbreaking work on your part. Giving you the time to enjoy some of the fruits of your labors too.

To give sustainable business growth, there is one ingredient in the recipe that needs to be taken out of the equation, at least as far as the grunt work – the everyday operation of your business – is concerned. YOU.

Yes, it is now time to ensure that you are as little a part of the sustainable business growth package as possible, by creating a bunch of people around you that are able to do your work; to take the weight off your shoulders, by being as good, if not better at running your business as you are – or think you are.

In fact, by turning over running your business, not only will you achieve sustainable business growth that doesn’t kill you, but you will also build a business that thrives on others doing the work you help so close to your chest for so long – understandably, because it was your baby.

And when others are a part of your ‘master’ team, it will become beyond sustainable business growth, it will elevate into a far better business proposition than you might have dreamt.

Sustainable Business Growth Is About Letting Go (Yes, You!)

By developing a group of people in your team who are capable; enthusiastic; motivated and focused, you will be able to loosen your reins of control. You will be able to take a back seat in the running of the business. To quote a well-known phrase, you will be able to work ‘on’ the business, rather than ‘in’ the business. And that’s a big step.

Five rules of ‘letting go’:-

1) Rigorously consider everything you do and decide just how little you could do if you had the right person in place.

2) Decide on a timescale of letting that go to someone else, even if you don’t know who that might be right no (hint – be challenging with timescale – 6 months should do it).

3) Consider who you have in your team now who could step up what they do to the next level.

4) Create a quick and dirty 6 month program of developing (supporting, challenging, delegating and above all trusting) each of the people you have already, to step up. If you haven’t got the people you think can do it, plan to recruit inside 3 months (note – you probably have the potential inside the people you already have, so check that out first).

5) Start tomorrow

One thing you need to know. It will take a big shift in attitudes from excuses and reasons for it not being possible, to ‘can do’. And the biggest hurdle that you will find in creating this sustainable business growth model of shifting total accountability to others, will be you. Your people will love it; love you and take it in their stride.

The capability will most often be there. It’s up to your to let go, support and take a vacation, safe in the knowledge that your business is thriving.

Psst – most often it will do even better when you are not there!

–Martin Haworth

Entrepreneurship and Growth in Business: An Interesting Relationship

Entrepreneurship and growth in business is often considered as some kind of mystery by many people. While there are plenty of books which make lofty claims improving the reader’s business management skills, no one seems prepared to offer lessons in entrepreneurship – maybe it is considered to be a skill that cannot be taught. But it can be.

The entrepreneur is charged with the task of turning a business idea into reality, either by starting a new business or injecting new life into an old one. At every point along the line – from having the idea to planning and implementing it – the entrepreneur learns the lessons from others who have charted the same territory previously. He can follow their example and the wisdom of their clear practices and precepts. In fact, many entrepreneurs have done exactly this and built their wealth upon the past experiences of others.

But every firm is faced with a key question sooner or later: do you try and grow the business, or are you quite content with what you’ve got? If the latter is true for you – a view which perhaps represents the traditional image of the smaller firm – then you are in the minority and behind the times.

Most firms these days are committed to growth. However, you can’t expect to grow without entrepreneurship and innovation when the climate is one of intense competition. And intense competition is not only the current climate, but a permanent feature of the new economy.

Many are averse to the inherent risk of innovation, however – including those who are actively seeking to grow their business. This is especially the case with proprietors. A survey showed that 30% are ‘unwilling to pursue any risky growth strategies’. That figure goes down to 18% among non-proprietor managers, though – obviously a more dynamic bunch altogether.

But only a fifth of the managerial types concur that ‘Growth is everything: we can’t survive in this business unless there is growth. Success comes only from taking big chances, and I would risk a great deal for a strategy which promised to deliver strong long-term growth.’ Those quite intimidating words could help to explain why as many as three-fifths of the businesses came out in favour of relative safety, preferring a ‘medium-risk strategy – as long as growth prospects are reasonably good.’

But anyway, growth doesn’t appear to be the number one objective. Most firms rated profit as ‘very important’, with growth just underneath it on a list of priorities, then market share, steady employment and value for sale.

But success comes with profitability and growth in business (together) – you need both, along with innovation and entrepreneurship.

–Robert Heller

Devise Business Growth Strategies With A Business Growth Consultant

Devising correct marketing and business growth strategies are important for expansion of all businesses. Only those products that are marketed well sell in the market. They sell because their promoter has done his groundwork well. He has found out answers to the basic questions that determine the success of any business. He has found out who he is, what is he doing, which is his market, who are the potential customers, and when does he want do product launch and how does he trap customers.

The marketing plan document developed by the promoter will have answers to all these queries and lay the foundation of the business’ success or failure, depending on how cautiously it has been planned. A marketing strategy must be written and communicated in a very simple way so that it conveys in a nutshell what it intended to.

Professional business consultancy services come to a promoter’s rescue in this area. Such professionals help the promoters in developing a vision for the company by identifying the business’ strengths and areas of improvement. They also gaze loopholes in several business related strategies and modify them to achieve the set goals.

View Your Consultants as Marketing Partners:

Consultants can offer you relevant advice on necessary business tactics after studying the market trends. Their suggestions are based on their market analysis that views various market related facts under the microscope. Some factors that consultant consider while compiling a market report include preferences of the consumers, consumer habits and their buying power, and the competition that the new business is likely to face in the targeted area.

Thus, the consultants help you in determining the feasibility of your business, and therefore act as your marketing partners. They weigh pros and cons of business strategies and advice you accordingly. Besides, they offer a variety of services including business start-up advice, operation analysis, formulating marketing strategies, making business plans, management consulting, and much more.

How Do Consultants Help With Business Growth Strategies?

Expert consultancy services are available in the market. They can increase the productivity of your business manifold, allowing you to concentrate on management or other services related to the core business. Such services are personalized and customized for user satisfaction. Besides developing marketing strategies, consultants also undertake the work of marketing them. They do it in many ways – propagating through advertisements in public places, creating catchy television ads, or by simply offering incentives to the buyers when the buy a particular company’s products.

E-commerce marketing strategies are also gaining a lot of popularity, since they are low-cost ways to advertise. There are specialized business consultants who develop websites for companies and implement effective strategies to create traffic that generate revenues for the company.

So, go ahead hire a personal marketing partner to show you the right direction.

– Alexander Gordon

Welcome to Business Growth Consultant

Business Growth Strategy: How To Use Pareto Analysis To Focus Efforts On Growth?

This week I am working with a client who is drowning in success because of a well-implemented business growth strategy. He has been working on his business for two years (following four years work in his business). His sales are taking off and his team is rushed off their feet, stressed and heading for burnout.

So my task is to coach the team to perform better, to survive and ultimately to thrive on their success.

What is the 80/20 rule?

I explained to the team that commonly 80% of results are produced by 20% of causes. Applied to sales revenue, this idea gives you plenty of levers with which to control and manage your situation:

Observation 1: 80% sales come from 20% customers.

Printing out the cumulative sales ledger by value enabled us to identify the important customers. We will focus our sales effort on these few, important businesses.
Interestingly they tend to buy single product types at present, so cross-selling several products to them will immediately boost sales revenues while reducing the team’s invoicing task.

Observation 2: 80% profits come from 20% products.

Tracking the actual profitability of products enables us to raise the prices on strong products and only offer discounts on the weak products.

We will bundle two or three ‘low profit’ products that complement a high profit product.

We are prioritising the production schedule, inventory investments and delivery dates to favour high-profit products and we might discontinue some low-profit products.

Observation 3: 80% costs come from 20% activities.

We plan to manage only the high-cost activities. For instance, some high cost materials will only be processed ‘just in time’ for their assembly and finishing activities.

Cross-training the staff will build flexibility into these sensitive activities.

How do you focus your best efforts?

Understanding the 80/20 rule helps to unravel the averages and aggregations in your business to expose the insights that will help you grow. How can you reduce 80% of your wastage and invest into extra sales growth?

Following this idea, my client plans to review his business annually, then his team will avoid burn-out as they grow the business.

Best of luck with your business growth strategy and strategies!

Adrian Pepper coaches people through business and personal difficulties.