As a busy professional held accountable by billable hours, you do not have a lot of time to dedicate to non-billable work like business development. You understand its importance, but as time marches on, procrastinating on business development activities becomes easy if not habitual.
Success, however, is predicated on the cultivation of new business—either by generating enhanced engagements with existing clients or winning over a new prospect. Business development is the lifeblood of successful firms, and you must find time to dedicate to it.
Finding Time
You have to make time for business development activities. In order to grow, this is a must-do. An article from the Harvard Business Review outlines some tips for ensuring time is allocated toward business development efforts. The first is to decide where you will not spend time.
You want to spend time on the relationships that drive the highest return for your firm. Typically, this will be on the top 20 percent, or your top 12 Client, 10 Referral opportunities and 14 Prospect relationships. When you focus in on these particular relationships and drive them to the next level, your return on investment will be exponentially greater.
With these relationships, you can concentrate on adapting to a consulting role over simply a compliance role. This requires developing some expertise in niche areas and demonstrating thought leadership. By focusing in on those specific niches of contacts who are driving the majority of your business, you will be an invaluable resource.
Managing Your Focus
Leveraging the tools provided in ABLE’s robust platform, you can rest assured that your key relationships are healthy.
Unlike complicated CRM systems, ABLE’s simple but powerful interface makes recording business development activities and content sharing easy. Schedule a 30-minute block of time to use ABLE each week, you will see your client interactions grow and prosper.
With the ABLE, you will have the freedom to focus on the relationships that will drive your firm forward.