Domain 3 - Client & Business Development (20%) Flashcards
What is Business Development?
A wide array of tasks & activities undertaken by employees to get work from a client
*during the BD phase, you focus on getting work from a specific client rather than a general market sector*
At what point does the BD phase start and end?
Starts after identifying a target client
Ends when that client wants to engage in your firm
What are some examples of BD activities?
- Researching your client
- Analyzing data to find patterns
- Identifying your firm’s differentiators
- Building & maintaining relationships with the client
What is the sales process/sales cycle?
Everything that happens during the development of a sale
Identifying a new lead →→→→→ closing the deal
What are the 13 stages in a typical sales process from the client’s point of view?
- Awareness
- Knowledge
- Understanding
- Identifying a problem or opportunity
- Realization of need
- Recognition that a potential solution exists
- Association w/ your firm
- Consideration of your firm
- Preference & inclination
- Commitment
- Transaction & exchange (client hires you)
- Growth of trust
- Repetition & loyalty
What are the 2 most common models of BD?
Seller-doer model
Marketing/BD model
What is the seller-doer model? Pros and cons?
The seller-doer does both the selling (BD) and the doing (providing the actual service)
Pros: clients like to talk directly w/ the person who is performing the work
Cons: technical staff doesn’t have as much time to perform billable work
What is the marketing/BD model? Pros and cons?
Marketing and BD people do the business development, not the technical staff
Pro: gives technical staff more time to focus on billable work
What is the SMART acronym as it relates to BD goals?
BD goals should have these characteristics:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
What are the two types of metrics used to measure sales performance?
Activity-oriented metrics
Results-oriented metrics
What are activity-oriented metrics? What are some examples? What is the biggest drawback?
A sales performance metric that focuses on the tasks involved in BD activities. The idea is that taking proper actions will produce the proper results.
Con: doesn’t take into account the results that the activities produce, “goes through the motions”
Examples:
- # of sales calls made
- # of contacts made
- # events attended
- # of surveys developed
What are results-oriented metrics? What are some examples? What is the biggest drawback?
A sales performance metric that focuses on the the results of BD activities. The employee is given the freedom to achieve the desired results using whatever methods they want. “Ends justify the means”
Con: can develop bad marketing habits, can scare people away important tasks like client development in favor of short-term projects with tangible and immediate results
Examples:
- new contracts won
- # of new clients
- volume of work
- # RFPs received
What is a capture plan?
A result-oriented action plan for getting work from a target client
What is a capture plan also known as?
Project-pursuit
Client-specific BD plan
How long does it take to win over a new client?
Up to 2 years
What are the 6 components of a capture plan?
- Statement of goal “What do you want to capture?”
- Identifying who will lead the effort
- Tasks needed to reach the goal
- Timeframe
- Resources needed
- Statement of priority
Describe the two-fold process of differentiation in BD
- How and why does your firm stand out in the marketplace?
- Take actions to position/adjust/correct the public perception of the firm
What are the two types of analyses you use to see how your firm appears in the eyes of a client?
Competitor analysis and competitive analysis
What is a competitor analysis?
An external-facing analysis where you monitor your competitors to learn everything you can about them (what they offer, how they position themselves, how they price, etc) - this gives you the info you need to figure out how your firm is different and better
What is a competitive analysis?
An inward-facing analysis in which you look at your own firm and examine your services to determine how competitive you are in the marketplace, especially w/ respects to your ability to capture a target client
What are 2 models you can use to review the internal & external elements that influence your firm’s presence in the marketplace?
SWOT
SOAR
Porter’s Five Forces
EPISTLE
Identity map
What are the 3 steps for setting the stage for effective research?
- Reach out the person who said they needed a research project - what is the purpose of the research?
- Define the parameters the research team must work within - resource allocation, schedule, who will do the research
- Establish horizontal and vertical boundaries
What is the difference between horizontal and vertical boundaries for research?
Horizontal boundaries = how wide you want the perspective to be
- Example - by industry type (narrowing healthcare industry down to outpatient, acute, self-care)
- Example - by geography (will it be a neighborhood, region, or state?)
Vertical boundaries = how deep and specific you want the research to be
- Example - you want it down to two decimal points
What is the DIK continuum?
The progression of awareness, analysis, and understanding through the research process.
Data - at first you are only aware of the data; the bare facts
Information - once you have info, you can study the data further and w/ more discernment
Knowledge - then you have the knowledge to make evidence-based action
What can you use the DIK continuum for?
- To inform your strategy for entering a new market
- Assess your firm’s marketing goals
- Various other BD efforts
What are 3 types of firms that you can enter into a strategic partnership with?
- Core service line colleagues - your competitors. They do similar work as you.
- Related/tangential firms - firms that don’t provide the same service (they’re not your competitors)
- Members of the supply chain or integration sequence - all of the entities that provide you or your clients with the goods or services necessary to complete your project
What are the 3 types of strategic partnerships?
- Associations
- Joint Ventures
- Alliances
- Design-Build Partnership
What is an Association? When is it ideal to form?
An informal agreement between 2 firms to provide services for a client or specific project
- less formal than a joint venture
- ideal method for infiltrating a new geographic area or specialized market sector
What is a Joint Venture?
A legal partnership to provide services for a specific project or client
- single source of contact and legal responsibility
- commonly used on large, complex projects
What is an Alliance?
A formal arrangement between 2 firms to provide services to a pre-determined market sector or client base, offering advantage of a large multi-disciplinary firm w/ added value of specialized service
- less frequently used but extremely effective
- biggest differentiator is that it is long-term and commitment to pursue projects in pre-determined markets
Which is the most formal type of strategic partnership? Which is the least formal?
Most formal: Alliance
Least formal: Association
Which strategic partnership is the most long-term?
Alliance
What is a Design-Build partnership? What is it also known as?
Performing architectural/engineering and construction under 1 single contract.
- this entity assumes all risk
- not a typical partnership
- aka turn-key approach
What is a thought leader?
A person or firm who has established themselves and is recognized by clients as an authority on a topic.
What is a client perception study and how is it important to the process of researching prospective client industries?
A survey or interview that focuses on discovering how a firm’s image and reputation is perceive from the outside.
- uses both open and closed-ended questions
What are the “four touches” in a Perception Survey?
- The initial contact/request from a senior leader of your firm
- The interview (conducted by a 3rd party)
- Handwritten thank you note
- Follow up meeting/call
What makes a good client?
- they have multiple projects that you can perform
- they have projects that you want to be associated with
- easy/enjoyable to work with
- can articulate their goals/needs
- pays invoices on time
- recommend you to other clients
What makes a bad client?
- doesn’t share leads
- client is already close with a competitor
- only calls when they need your help
What are the 5 components of prequalifying a client?
- Developing client evaluation criteria
- Research client’s financial stability
- Is there potential to become a repeat client?
- Does the client fit with your firm’s culture/values?
- Does the client provide opportunities for growth?
- Is there profitability potential?
What are 3 ways to research a client’s financial situation?
- Dun & Bradstreet report (gives an idea of where company stands financially)
- Better Business Bureau (BBB) - are there any complaints?
- Bank references
What is a zipper relationship?
Having multiple connections at the same firm at various levels.
What is a sole-source opportunity?
A project where you won’t have to compete with other for the contract.
“No bid contract”
What are the 5 components in pre-qualifying a project?
- Does your project adhere to your business/marketing plan?
- Can you differentiate yourselves to wire or win (better position yourself to win)
- What is your profitability potential?
- Do you have relevant experience?
- Consider the intangibles
Relevant projects should be no older than how many years?
3-5 years
What is a go/no-go decision?
A structured decision-making process which guides firms to determine whether or not to pursue a specific project or client.
- used in the initial stages of a project pursuit
- should be filled out jointly by salesperson, principal, or operations officer
- leave emotions out of it
What is the Mackay 66 customer profile?
A questionnaire that Harvey Mackay required his sales people to complete for each new potential client. It contains info gathered on the client, including education, family, business background, and hobbies
What is the difference between warm calling and cold calling?
Cold calls are made without any prior relationship
Warm calls have some degree of familiarity
How long should a phone call be?
Less than 5 minutes
What should you do if a prospect declines an offer to meet with them?
Ask if you can call back in 3 months
What are 3 valuable things you can share with a potential client during a phone call?
- Service information
- Project information
- Study results
What is a less direct way to try to position your firm to client?
Tell the client an anecdote about how you were able to solve the same problem for another client
What are the 3 different levels of client relationships?
- Personal relationship - a client helps you open doors and make connections
- Expertise relationship - your coworkers run the operational side of work for your client
- Structural relationship - your firms is branded as one with a level of integrity for doing the right thing
What is a unique value proposition? How long should it be?
A short statement that lets prospective clients know your area of expertise and what they’ll get when they hire you
1 or 2 sentences long
What is the difference between your unique value proposition vs differentiation?
Your unique value proposition is based on your company’s external perception
Differentiation is an internal issue and you have more influence over this
What are the 5 steps i building an online content market strategy?
- Identify your target audience
- Determine your objective
- Determine communication channels (Instagram? ENR? blog post?)
- Brainstorm topics and create an editorial calendar
- Implement strategy and measure results
What is the Pareto Principle?
80% of your work will come from 20% of your customers
(therefore it’s essential that your BD efforts are targeted to the right 20%!)
When is the greatest BD opportunity? Why?
During project execution, because it’s the time when you have the most frequent contact and greatest influence over your client.
What is the absolute best thing you can do in response to a call from an unhappy client? Why?
Say “thank you!” because it’s a gift that your client wants you to fix a problem. And it shows that you want to help fix it.
What is cross-selling?
BD practice where technical staff offer and sell services provided by a discipline other than their own.
Example: a PM that specializes in daycares sells Kaplan’s service of building houses of worship
What is stealth marketing? What are 4 types?
Subtle marketing techniques that supplement overt/direct marketing
- Perform research by asking client “how are we doing?”
- 10 minute marketing - schedule 10 min at the end of every project meeting to have an informal convo about issues unrelated to the project
- Purposeful observation - visiting client’s office and walking around, observing and looking for clues
- Introduce other disciplines - raise client’s knowledge about the depth of your firm
What is a client/account manager?
The personal assigned to a client that is responsible for nurturing and maintaining the relationship
Could be a PM, principal, or a BD person
What are the client manager’s 5 roles during a project?
- Interpreter - understanding the client
- Advocate/meditator - voice any concerns that the client has to your team
- Coach - provide support, suggestions, critique to your team
- Contributor - assisting client in various ways
- Nudge - stick your nose in many aspects of hte project
What are the 4 stages of account tracking systems (like a CRM?)
- Initial stage - a firm utilizes any means possible to communicate accounts (post-its, emails)
- Primary stage - firm begins to use a basic software program like Outlook
- Growth stage - firm uses a company-wide, formalized software program for increased communication
- Refining stage - firm uses a successful system that utilizes reports and stats to provide a continuous feedback loop for improve performance
What is a powerful way for leadership to demonstrate that they’ve embraced a BD culture in which everyone is responsible for winning work?
Offering rewards and incentives
Why does conflict arise between sales and marketing teams?
Because they’re compensated differently.
What is the first step in conducting any CRM software evaluation?
What is your firm’s objective and expectation for the system?
What are the 6 elements of a CRM that developing your objectives/goals for a CRM?
- User-friendliness
- Capabilities
- Budget
- Delegation of responsibility
- Content
- Integrity of data
What’s the next step after defining your objectives for a CRM?
Create a evaluation team
- should include a variety of end-users
- should include more than 2 people
What are the tasks of a CRM evaluation team?
- minimize cost by comparing software to firm’s requirements
- check out online reviews
- survey your network with what they use
- narrow your list
- meet with each vendor on your short list
- get a demo
- get a copy of their contract
What is the biggest issue in CRM implementation?
Getting company-wide buy-in
How often should an existing CRM be evaluated?
At least once a year
What are the 3 ways client satisfaction can be measured?
- Satisfaction
- Loyalty
- Influence
What is client Satisfaction? When is it measured?
Did the client like the final result, the process, and the people?
Typically measured during or shortly after the project
What is client Loyalty? When is it measured?
A loyal client was satisfied enough that they want to retain you for another project. You only know if they’re loyal if you see them after a project is done.
It can be measured well after the project is done
What is client Influence? When it is measured?
When a client is satisfied with your work and wants to help your firm in becoming even more successful (references, referrals)
It is measured both during and after a project
How often should a firm ask a client to complete a satisfaction survey?
Once every 6 months
If you conduct a client satisfaction survey in person what’s the best way to do it?
One-on-one interview at the client’s convenience.
Ask open-ended questions
Ask “is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”
If you conduct a client satisfaction survey via an online survey, what’s the best way to do it?
Avoid yes/no questions
Ask open-ended questions instead
Add a 1-5 scale
Test drive the survey w/ colleagues
How long should a client satisfaction online survey?
5-10 minutes
What is Net Promoter Score? Where might you use it?
“One a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to refer us”
You would use it in an online client satisfaction survey
What is a soft/by-product confirmation?
An informal measure of client satisfaction by asking questions like, “how’s the project going?”
