​​There is significant value in pursing extensive research before undertaking new projects for companies of all sizes. This research can entail providing insight into new technologies, an evaluation and understanding of what competitors have done and are currently doing, and/or an overall analysis of the market in terms of structure and tendencies. Most businesses reach a point where growth may slow down or stagnate so new projects to increase growth rates and earning potential will be sought after. With this expert knowledge gained from extensive and targeted research, new projects can be jump-started and become more viable which will help to produce quicker results. 

​So how exactly does project-based research work? The answer seems apparent, but it is a little more involved than just jumping on the internet and doing a few google searches. Extensive research and analysis done by those who know where and how to look should be pursued in order to yield the best results and recommendations of how to proceed. Markets and technologies are ever-changing and advancing, so research into these areas before starting a new project is very important. At Resolute Business Development, our research analysts have taken part in such research-based projects which have resulted in success for clients. 

I recently came across a quick and informative TED talk from Bill Gross, founder and incubator of many startups.   His talk reminds me of a great quote I once heard; "don't confuse clarity with proximity" - just because it's a great idea doesn't mean the market is ready for it...

Click the button below to access the TED talk. 

Here are my top 3 reasons you should consider partnering in order to increase your sales without hurting the bottom line;

1. Scale your business
A good partner removes the resource constraints that come along with scaling your business for increased sales volumes.  Rather than having to invest money into marketing, sales or pre-sales resources, you can grow sales volumes by leveraging your partner resources to minimize your investment costs.
Partners are able to contribute valuable resources, and often do it quickly.  Good partners will be faster than you to hire and train salespeople, technical pre-sales or marketing professionals. 

2. Complement Direct Sales
When evaluating the value of a partner, it’s helpful to view them as an extension of your direct sales efforts.  To ensure a partner adds value, align and support these partners as you would your direct sales team.  While channel conflict isn’t always possible to avoid, planning ahead with activities (such as deal registration) will help to minimize the impact on your direct sales team as well as your partner.
In addition, the partner relationship will require you to implement a sales discipline that may not yet exist within your direct sales team.  For example, if you need to train your partner sales team on your product set, this new relationship may force you to create this training program for internal use as well.  Therefore, your direct sales team will benefit from the added quality of the partner support efforts.

3. Market Coverage
Market Coverage may be a term you don’t hear too often.  It refers to the number of active sellers that sell your products or services in a given market.  Partners have an important role to play by being in a great position to improve your market coverage.
Your direct sales team is good.  But there are limits to what they can do. You may looking to enter a new market or strengthen your presence in a market that is already doing well. Can your direct sales team reach all of the markets that you want to target?  How quickly can you add new sales talent?  A good partner will come with established relationships, well-trained salespeople, as well as market knowledge for key markets.
 
Partners can provide many valuable contributions to your sales efforts.  Make sure to consider how the partner will scale your business, complement your direct sales, and increase market coverage before deciding which partner is the right one for your business.

​“Business Development” is a term you’ve certainly heard thrown around quite often yet it’s one of the most misunderstood roles in a company.  Many people may even carry some form of the Business Development job title in your organization.  However, chances are that when you talk to someone in another company, they will have a slightly (or even vastly!) different job description than yours.  What exactly is the role of Business Development and how does it provide value?

Perhaps it’s best to start our discussion with one area of common ground; the role of Business Development is to lead efforts with growing the business.  Pretty simple, right?  Not really.  Once we try to describe what this means in more detail we can see several divergent paths.  There are many functions within your company that are responsible for growing the business.  Probably sales is the most visible but marketing will also have a role, including strategy and others too.  Are they Business Development too?

The role of Business Development is to identify and execute growth areas of business; whether it’s new markets, new sales channels, or new products and services.  A Forbes article by Scott Pollack (3/21/2012) has it right with his description being “Business Development is the creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships.”  However, even with Scott’s definition you can see the reason for all of the confusion.  There are some people focused on growing the business with customers (aka sales), others focused on growing through new markets (aka marketing) and others growing the business by adding partner relationships.  Each of these aren’t Business Development.  Instead, the critical difference is that Business Development is where all of these come together.

Another way to view Business Development is that its role is to focus on new products or services or markets using new partners in order to gain new customers.  Once the business is no longer new, and becomes repeatable business, then think of transitioning the responsibilities to the other parts of the company such as sales, marketing and product development.

The biggest mistake most companies make is equating business development with sales.  This can often be a costly one.  Sales is tasked with convincing as many customers to buy as much of existing products and services as possible.  The terms and nature of the product, or of the customers don't change that much.  Even with customized products or large, complex sales.  Why is this an expensive mistake?  If all you do is focus on existing products and services to grow your business you’re ignoring huge business opportunities or you maybe even trying to sell existing products and services into the wrong customers.  And if you’re selling without a strategy, it’s even worse because your sales expenses will skyrocket as you waste time and effort on unproductive email blast, cold calling campaigns, etc.
The focus for Business Development is not on the sales transaction itself, rather on the elements that make that sales transaction possible.  Business Development is not another name for the sales team.  Business Development should not be focused on the sale of existing products to existing customers.
Likewise, marketing identifies the needs and types of customers so that the company can attract new customers.  Marketing devises the best way to engage with new customers. Marketing often plays a role too in product management by gathering or validating the benefits required by potential customers.  Again, this is only one aspect of the Business Development.

One good example to help explain the role of Business Development is to look at Amazon and extending their retail offering via Amazon Web Services (AWS).  Initially the focus with AWS was a Business Development role because it represented a brand new area of business - with a new business model, new distribution, new partners, etc.  Business Development was leading the efforts to ensure that all of the key success factors were addressed; pricing, marketing strategy, and new web site with new partners. Once everything is established and AWS is ready for “business as usual” then activities are led by marketing, sales, product management, etc.  In the case of AWS it was eventually a whole new subsidiary.
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What can Business Development do for your company?  Are you looking at the information that’s going to help you grow your business?  Start to look at the reasons for wins and losses, the progression of opportunities through the sales process, and the factors in top performing sales people or sales channels.   Do you know which new markets to target for growth?  Do you know which new products or services to offer?  Do you know how to deliver the right message?  Take a Business Development approach to understand how to grow your business.

Welcome to the very first Resolute BD blog!  We’ll be posting new blogs and articles regularly to keep you up to date with what’s happening at Resolute BD.  Also look here for interesting information about broader business development and technology topics. If there’s anything you’d like us to cover here or in a future newsletter, let us know.