Business Development Blog

What's the best way (or ways) for a young professional in consulting to build their ability to one day bring in clients?


Asked by Scott Whitbread

Big question. Here's a shot from me!

1 - Build your skillsets and expertise. Being good at what you do and knowing what you are talking about is crucial for the credibility you are looking to build.

2 - Begin to read and know what the talking heads are saying in your industry as well as the vertical markets you are servicing. When you can speak intelligently to the issues that your markets are facing and really speak their language, one of the main barriers (being an outsider) disappears. Become conversant in the languages of your markets.

3 - Understand the myriad needs of your desired clientele. You are not going to be able to solve all of them. But as you build your network, look to include other professionals who can make you look like a hero for recommending them. This goes a long way toward building relationships in your markets. It also gets you known by the people who could be referring you future business.

4 - Seek to understand the sales cycle and the sales process associated with what you do. Master this. It is complex at first glance. However knowing it backwards and forwards will let you create a pipeline of business as well as create opportunities where most people cannot see them. Become a masterful sales person. This will also help you train the people who could be referring you. When you know the process and how you qualify a suspect/prospect, you can communicate that to others and grease the referral slide.

5 - Build value into everything that you do. Build a reputation for value. People will begin to search you out as you brand yourself this way.

6 - Enjoy yourself. People like to work with people they like to be around. When you are enjoying yourself and what you do, this communicates louder than anything you say. Especially if you are looking to cultivate referral business. I could go on and on, but this gives you a starting point. I'd be happy to chat with you offline if you're serious about developing this skillset!


Raymond Chip Lambert
Network 2 Networth

Deep Business Development

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Getting referrals is a mysterious processes, right?

I've got a question in Linkedin Answers right now and the wide variety of repsonses is interesting.

They range from - You work hard, you do a good job, and you pray that people actually refer you - to - Have a script where you ask for referrals at the beginning or the end of your transaction.

I personally believe that the best way to get more referrals is to find people who are in the perfect position to refer you and train them to do that. And then reciprocate!

A friend of mine, Jordan Adler. works with Sendout Cards and is the top guy in the company. He's developed a website, The Cool Buzz, where he actively trains the people in his network how to reproduce what he does.

Now I know what you are thinking - I'm not selling what he's selling; my business doesn't work that way.

Maybe.

Couldn't you find industry partners who are perfectly positioned to refer you and build a resource center for them where they can see how you qualify people? Or how you deal with objections? Couldn't you put your material online where they could get to it no matter where they were so they could easily position you with their clients? Couldn't they do the same for you?

This idea so intrigues me that I am working on a resource center just like this for people who refer me. My website is undergoing a redesign with this in mind. I'll keep you up to date as this happens.

Meanwhile - this is being done all over the internet. It's called affiliate marketing. While this may be a bit different, the parallels are intriguing!

Consider putting a program together. Talk to the people who already refer you and see what they think. Don't take my word for it. Try it!