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How Do You
Plan to Grow Your Business Next Year?
If you take
two hours in the next week to come up with a business development
plan and put it in writing, you'll set the stage for a successful
new year. If you fill in and answer the following five headings and
questions they will get you started in creating your very own
business development plan.
1. Review what
happened last year.
Be
brutally honest with yourself. What really worked well? What didn’t
work at all? Where did most of your business come from last year?
Who was your best referrer? Analyse where your new business came
from this past year, and you may be surprised by what you uncover.
Did you receive more work from existing clients, or referrals? What
marketing activities did you do last year--the lunches hosted,
articles written and networking functions attended. Which marketing
activities resulted in business? Which didn't? Did work come from
that speech you gave to a local industry group or from visiting with
a client at his office? Which activities took relatively little time
and resulted in work? Which ones were time-consuming and produced no
work?
2. What do you
want to accomplish in the coming year?
Set 1
or 2 business development goals for next year. Your goals should be
as specific as you can possibly be. Include numbers and targets to
aim for. For example, get three new clients in the IT or Finance
industry, develop two new referral sources from within the firm's
existing client group, or increase the amount of business you
originate by 15%.
3. What will
you do to reach your goals?
What
actions will you take next year to successfully meet the goals
you've just set? Don’t just produce a "to do" list of possible
marketing activities. Who will you focus your efforts on? What will
you specifically do? And by when will you have accomplished those
things. What help will you need and from whom?
4. Include a
number of one-on-one relationship building meetings.
This
should be a key component of your plan. Whether you make one call a
day to a current or past client or have lunch once a month with a
potential referral source, time and again clients report that
activities that involve personal contact typically generate the
"biggest bang" for their marketing efforts.
Recently, one of
my clients sent an e-mail to a former client inviting her to dinner
after a conference they both were attending. The former client
declined the dinner invitation but sent a new opportunity for work
instead!
5. When will
you review your plan?
You'll
want to set aside time to review your plan at least quarterly. Too
often, people prepare business development plans and never look at
them again.
You took the time
to prepare it; make sure you benefit from your efforts.
Ask yourself: How
is it working? Do I need to fine-tune it?
What help do I
need to make sure that my planned activities actually happen and
that I keep up my marketing momentum?
Addressing these
simple questions can help you look for business in all the right
places--making your marketing easier and more effective in the
coming year.
Here's to a very
successful and prosperous New Year! |
If you
keep communicating, a one-off sale, on average, turns into three
sales during the year