Most Professionals Sell

Almost every professional finds themselves in “selling” situations at times.  As companies or professional firms’ relationships become multi-faceted it’s impossible to stick with rigid roles.  Of course, the account manager should be the point person for the client development process but they can’t be involved in every interaction.  And every interaction has the potential for business development. All employees in a company should have enough knowledge to handle basic business development situations and instructions on next steps for client development.

There are two problems for non-selling professionals when they find themselves in business development situations.

• Conceptual – They don’t like the idea of selling.  They don’t want to be in a “sales person” role with all the negative connotation that title can carry.
• Technical – They don’t know how to react when an opportunity presents itself.

The conceptual problem is really the hardest to overcome.  If non-selling professional are averse to taking on a business development role, they will not enact an action plan.  Getting comfortable usually involves an explanation that they aren’t expected to sell.  All that is required is to listen and if they identify a business opportunity they can briefly address it.  Then it can go to the account manager.  The point is to perform their regular job functions, but have an eye out for opportunities that fall in their lap.

Once the conceptual aspect is accepted, the technical part is much easier.  Of course, that plan will vary from company to company but at its base non-selling professionals should have a template for identifying business opportunities.  These are most commonly when a client states a business deficiency that the company can handle but currently is not.  It also should include up-sell and cross-selling opportunities when they identify gaps in service that could be filled for clients.

When non-selling professionals have an eye on business development opportunities the entire organization works as a client development funnel.  Ideally every opportunity that any employee encounters gets directed toward making them a better client.  When the whole firm multiplies the eyes and ears looking for business opportunities, the pipeline gets full and more deals close.  When done efficiently better opportunities are presented and very little extra effort is involved to uncover that potential.