De-Mystifying and Redefining Real World Business Development Strategies

Take some time to read through this workshop descriptor which I stage regularly around the country.  It ticks all the boxes to understand the new sales paradigm about customer acquisition through business development………

It’s tough out there…….!

Sometimes reality is harsh and no more than in this recession. Business development is a necessity not an option.  Make no mistake, you don’t have a business if you don’t have a sale.  If you have no sales you have no customers.   If your customer retention and migration metrics are higher than your customer acquisition metrics, you are in trouble.

Customer Migration, Business Development & the Sales Wilderness

Companies are still going out of business because they have failed to replace migrating customers with vibrant new loyal customers.  Companies are at risk because their business owners don’t understand or miss-use their idea of an effective sales and business development models.  The traditional sales and business development model is defunct and dead.  Using the attitudes and beliefs of the old model will do more harm to your business than you realise.

So you think you understand sales and real business development?

Selling is, at best, an imprecise science and art.  For too long we thought we understood the sales process and numerous guru’s have told us we need to do more ‘closing’ or adapt SPIN selling, or use the best of the consultative sales model while some say we should retread the old ground of the Dale Carnegie school of Sales.

One thing for sure is that many businesses will not climb out of the recession because they don’t understand the significant change in the business development arena.  They practise old school techniques thinking “doing the same things will lead to different results”.  That’s a sure sign and definition of business insanity.

People prefer to buy rather than be sold to…

The new approach is to appreciate that we ‘don’t sell to people’.  People much prefer to buy services and goods from trusted associates.  That means ‘stop selling’ now and enable and help our potential and existing customers to develop the trust to buy from us.  People only buy when they trust and value the service you offer.  They will buy from you when they understand you have a unique and value added approach to understanding their wants and needs. 

Selling is still too pushy

When we try and sell them our ‘things’ - we can automatically, however subtly, take on the role of the aggressor and actually start pushing our customer towards closure.  

This is almost like a physical motion invading the other person space. No matter how hard the salesperson tries to be gentle the ‘aggressor’ role shines through.  It is very difficult to disguise this behaviour if this is their intent seller.  The buyer knows when he or she is being pushed.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being pushed and that’s what often happens in business development.  Even though some sales people think they are sensitive, gentle and facilitating they are still unconsciously pushing their agenda all the time rather than facilitating the buyer to buy.

A new era in Business Development

Philip Atkinson has refined ‘business development and the sale process’ as a ‘buying and personal change process’.  At the workshop session he will be talking through the various sales models and will illustrate that the market and the environment have moved beyond the basic model in the last few years.  He agrees that the old sales model was always suspect but the recession has really focused people on the ‘buyer’s remorse’ model and changed the ground rules.

New ground rules

Philip knows those ground rules and the beliefs, the behaviours and the skills and the processes which underpin the new approach.  This is the era of the ‘authentic buyer’.  It’s time for business development people to understand that ‘baby boomer’ sales models are out and the new sales paradigm has evolved through Generation X and Millennial consumer and business buying behaviour.

Philip Atkinson runs three hour taster sessions on this new approach.  At the end of the session participants will

• Differentiate the old and the new models of business development, sales and the buying process
• Understand their personal business development style
• Assessed their organisation’s attitude to business development and sales
• Review their organisation’s ability to retain customers and consumers
• Assess current organisational ability to acquire new customers
• Identified organisational and personal barriers to arise to the new ‘buying process’

Who Should Attend

• Entrepreneurs who want to grow their business through market penetration
• Business Development & Sales Managers – who want to acquire the competitive edge
• Account Managers – retaining existing accounts and seeking new prospects
• Customer Service Managers responsible for customer acquisitions and retention
• Business Development & Marketing professionals

Date: December 10, 2009, location tba (Edinburgh)

Registration 1200-1230

Session 1300-1630

Discussion and drinks 1630-1730

Investment £75 + VAT @ 15% (£11.25) - Total  £86.25