
Most years start the same, with a renewed optimism and a desire to make this year even better than the last. It’s that time of year when business leaders or those responsible for running a service line start to think about developing a growth mindset to create business development plans for themselves and their teams.
However, this energy and focus is all too often lost or misdirected as professionals fall back on what they did last year, and the year before. Those plans and ideas never came to fruition, so it is unlikely that they will this year.
With that in mind, here are 7 ways to jump-start your BD.
The 7 ways to jump-start your BD
1. Build a clear and actionable BD plan
It is quite hard to be successful without some sort of plan. It doesn’t need to be a 40-page document, in fact it really shouldn’t be. Instead, focus on the 3 or 4 key aims or goals, and the 3 or 4 key activities or BD strategies you need to do, to achieve these aims or goals.
Simple is best, which is why I previously wrote an article called the top 7 things you need to include in your BD plan. It’s also why we provide a BD client action plan that you can download here.
2. Revisit your value proposition
I hope this is a revisit! If you don’t have one, then now is definitely the time to develop yours. It is vital in any B2B environment that you understand what value your offering provides to those people and businesses you offer it to. It is also critical that you understand what makes your services stand out in a crowded and highly competitive market.

3. Get active
Digital marketing, using AI to speed up and enhance the regularity of your social media posting, is a great idea. However, to win more work and build better client relationships, you’ll need to get out there and have conversations and meetings with your clients.
The more time you take to meet with relevant people, the more you will learn about what’s important to them and what help they need from you, and from others in your network. The more you learn, the easier it is for you to assist them. None of this happens without you finding ways to meet, converse, or even have in-depth messaging chats with them.
In short, invest time in getting to know your clients better.
4. If you’re lacking BD skills or confidence, get help
You can be at the top of your profession, however, it is likely that a good coach or mentor will improve you, even if by only a small amount, say 5%. That’s still an improvement. I was curious at how much the top golf-caddies earn, and it is well over half a million US dollars a year. Let’s face it, they aren’t being paid that much because they are good at carrying heavy stuff! It’s because their help and guidance at the coalface leads to the professional golfer playing better and winning more.
It’s the same with a BD coach. Our advice and guidance can help you have more conversations, in a more structured way, which should lead to you winning more work. If you’ve never had BD coaching before you can book in a one-hour session with me here.
Regular coaching will help you stick to your plans and deliver effectively against them.
5. Have a welcome back-to-work client function
This is a really simple, and relatively low-cost way of doing BD, that is usually appreciated by your clients. It has two clear benefits:
You get to network and meet your clients in a relaxed environment and can set-up future meetings with them
Your clients get to network with your other clients. This can help them build and enhance their business networks. A great benefit, and one they’ll relate to you having done for them.
6. Track upcoming opportunities
If you know a client is looking at doing something in the year ahead that they will need help with, or they may even issue an RFP for, it pays to know when they are likely to go to market for their initiatives.
That way you can plan when you talk to them ahead of this opportunity coming to market, and can work on pre-positioning yourself and your firm to win the work. Ideally this will be tracked in your CRM system, and discussed in your key client or team meetings. If you don’t have a CRM or way of tracking work, then I advise you to start using something like this client tracker tool ASAP.
7. Don’t leave referrals to chance
The majority of work in B2B professional services comes from referrals. Do you track your referrals? Do you actively ask your clients and contacts for referrals? If not, make this year the year you start. If you need help in asking, here’s a short article explaining 10 ways you can track and generate referrals.
Conclusion: Jump-start your BD this year.
The main thing to focus on if you really want a better result than last year, is to have the courage to do something different.
“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” Thomas Jefferson.
You don’t have to follow all of the 7 steps above, however, making changes to what you’ve previously done, then committing to and following through on your BD plans will bring success. If you need help in doing that, you’re not alone and getting the right coach or mentor alongside you, will help enormously.