Lessons from a Business Development Consultant

6 Recommendations from a Business Development Consultant

A business development consultant can spend his or her career implementing strategies, best practices and technologies that create sustained company growth.

But how do they help? Or how should they help to drive the maximum impact in the least time?

Having done this for more than three decades, I compiled a short list of actions that deliver the biggest upside results.

So, before you consider your next biz dev program, consider how the below recommendations can work for your company.

Begin with a Clear Scope and Specific Objectives

Business development is a broad term. So, it's important to begin with a clear scope and specific goals.

For some companies, it's a strategic effort. The strategy may include customer expansion, new markets, product introductions or acquisitions.

For other companies, it's all about increased sales growth. It's an execution-based effort focused on methods to attract, engage and convert more customers.

I've found it helpful to share research that shows what's possible using a combination of best practices, business process optimization, and technology automation. Some of the benefits of a successful business development program are shown below.

Business Development Consultant Benefits

The Go-to-Market Plan

Once you have clear goals it's time to create the execution plan. Many companies refer to this as their Go-to-Market Plan.

It brings specificity and measurability to the actions that deliver desired results. It shows how to assemble strategies, best practices, actions, and resources into a dynamic blueprint.

When done well, it lowers management's administrative burden and brings real-time visibility to progress. It also help managers quickly respond to market changes or performance variances.

The Johnny Grow consultants have found that an interactive one-page blueprint is far more powerful than a lengthy report that gets shelved. An example is shown below.

A Best Practices Approach

Growth plans without supporting methods are just wishful thinking.

A systemic approach is needed to achieve sustained results. Otherwise, piecemeal efforts generally lead to tactical and temporary outcomes.

What's needed to achieve extraordinary results is a methodology that applies a combination of proven growth methods, evidence-based best practices, and platform technologies.

As an example, the methodology used by Johnny Grow is shown below.

Biz dev recommendations without supporting data are just opinions. That's why each of the above best practices is validated by field research, implemented with a prescriptive framework, measured with purpose-built analytics, and automated with technology. And because best practices are data driven, they can be modeled to show investment, cash flow impact, time to value and payback.

Process Optimization

Inefficient processes are a top impediment to biz dev programs. Failing to remedy inefficiencies in how work gets done creates headwinds for company expansion.

Business process improvement consulting is frequently needed to improve company performance. But keep two things in mind.

Frist, process optimization is a three-step progression. You need to simplify, streamline and automate, in that order. There is no sense in automating inefficient processes.

Second, there are two proven methods to achieve this three-step progression.

One is Universal Process Notation (UPN). It's a good starting point for processes that are not yet simplified. An example is shown below.

Each step can drill down to see supporting details. This is where you identify the step's purpose, input, output, effort and value. Some steps will also include the role owner, approval process or exception conditions.

A UPN process map should be limited to 8–10 steps. There is no limit to the number of levels in the diagram. A process map will effectively design the steps and details so you can reduce errors, increase efficiencies, eliminate waste, and achieve targeted results.

"85% of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better." —W. Edwards Deming

The second method is Agile Value Stream mapping. It is particularly well suited to saving time by removing redundancies and non-value-added activities.

Process improvements lower labor cost, accelerate cycles and allow the company to scale operations without scaling resources. They also set you up for automation, which takes us to the next recommendation.

Technology Automation

Technology is a not-so-secret ingredient to simultaneously lower operating costs and accelerate biz dev results.

The three technologies that most help are workflow tools, AI and process mining.

Workflow tools often reside within your existing CRM or ERP application. They use visual designers to sequence and automate activities. They can present dialogues for user interaction or run autonomously. They can operate in real-time or asynchronously.

Artificial intelligence is a transformational technology. However, it's not a single technology. It's a suite of apps where each has a unique purpose.

For example, the three dominant types of AI are shown below.

You will realize the biggest successes when you start with the most important business outcomes and then work backwards using one of the above AI technologies to achieve them.

Process mining applications analyze work streams and their output. They ingest event logs and related data to visually display end-to-end company flows. They then make recommendations to optimize those journeys in ways that accelerate throughput, reduce deviations, and improve effectiveness.

While the need for technology is a no brainer, technology operation is anything but.

Many companies struggle with fragmented applications and many data siloes.

A smart approach is to assemble a strategically designed Tech stack. This will replace ad hoc and piecemeal systems with a holistic architecture to acquire, grow and retain customers at scale.

An example is shown below.

A good tech stack maximizes technology investments and future-proofs procurement decisions. It also consolidates data siloes for easier and more effective reporting. That takes us to the final recommendation.

Business Intelligence

Many companies are data rich and information poor. Business Intelligence (BI) tools can fix that.

BI dashboards, reports and predictive analytics are the tools to get the right information to the right person at the right time. These tools enable staff to achieve a business outcome, improve a customer interaction, or make a more informed decision. Sometimes they help staff immediately intervene to resolve a performance deviation.

Instrumenting your performance with real-time key performance indicators allows you to know what's working, what's not and intervene with timely course corrections.

Smart businesses are defined by their ability to collect and curate the right data and apply analytics to make insights actionable at the point of decision. Smart businesses make better decisions more often. It's a complex undertaking which is why those who succeed will achieve competitive advantage over those who don't.

A Business Development Consultant Can Help

Identifying, prioritizing and executing a biz dev program is a complex undertaking.

Fortunately, there are partners that can help.

Johnny Grow is one of those partners. Growing companies is our core competency.

Our staff of business development consultant specialists bring research-based insights, evidence-based best practices, prescriptive methods, and the tools referenced in this post to help clients achieve significant and sustained company growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly does business development consist of?

It defines the optimal mix of marketing, sales and other programs that most effectively drive company growth.

This is often done by adopting marketing and sales programs that acquire more customers, grow existing customer share, and improve customer retention. These programs may refine and improve existing efforts or create new revenue streams. It also manages these programs in real time by continuously reallocating budget and resources from low to high performing programs.

What is the role of a business development consultant?

A senior advisor should be able to provide three overarching and integrated services.

The first is strategy. A good advisor will first identify your current state and capabilities. He or she can then define the path to achieve your vision and goals in the least time, cost and risk. Strategy isn't about loosely defined ambitious statements. Instead, it's about comparing alternatives and engineering your company growth to achieve the most important goals.

The second is execution. A good advisor doesn't rely on arbitrary progress. He or she applies agile, time-boxed execution that achieves predictable outcomes within stated timeframes. This often occurs by using a prescriptive methodology or industry best practices that provide guidance or executional instruction. These best practices include sequential instructions with prescribed activities, progress milestones, phase gates, performance benchmarks, key metrics and exit criteria.

The third is real-time measurement. The thing about company growth plans is that they don't always go according to plan. That's why performance dashboards and similar information reporting are needed to quickly identify variances and swiftly implement course corrections to stay on track.

What should my company look for when hiring a business development consultant?

The top three criteria to consider when selecting an advisor are consulting experience, industry knowledge and technical skills.

Professionals with experience and industry knowledge will be able to show implementation methodologies, project roadmaps, industry insights and best practices. They won't answer your time and cost questions with "it depends." Instead, they identify defined outcomes, prescribe a repeatable process, state assumptions, and answer time and cost questions with specifics.

Professionals with technical skills will demonstrate project management skills, agile execution certifications, and relevant technology certifications. Technology is often under-assessed. But recognize it's a critical enabler to bringing data management, process automation and information reporting to your business development programs.

What is the most common mistake to avoid when hiring a business development consultant?

Getting stuck with inexperienced consultants is the most cited hiring mistake. It frequently happens in one of three ways.

First, many clients are sold by a senior partner or executive. However, once the contract is signed, that partner has limited participation and the majority of effort is delegated to less experienced staff. This increases duration and decreases results.

Second, consulting firms generally make the most margin on younger staff. That creates a financial incentive to allocate more of the delivery to less experienced staff. These younger staff are smart people but without experience and skills. They are essentially learning on the job and charging their clients for their education.

Third, many consulting firms only staff client engagements with employees. Those employees are busy and rotate among many engagements. So, new client engagements are assigned staff primarily based on availability and not skills. Management and technology consulting firms that leverage a network of specialists avoid this mistake.

How much do business development consultants charge?

Consulting fees vary based on the market served and the experience of the professional. Experienced advisors serving large companies charge an average of $275 to $450 per hour. Advisors serving smaller companies generally charge less. Johnny Grow business development consultants serve midmarket companies and have significant experience (more than 26 years experience on average.) They charge an average of $200 to $250 per hour depending on industry experience and technical skills needed for a specific engagement.