By Terry Ledden - Sunday, June 28th, 2009

Despite the current economic conditions, opportunities are plentiful for those who are willing to invest the energy to uncover them. Demonstrating the traits of good leadership is crucial, but first, here are specific areas on which to focus when developing your strategy for growing your business.

Your business

You need to be very focused on your target market and very clear about what you bring to the table for them – why they need to meet with you, and what they miss if they don’t.

• What are the core competencies of your business?
• What is your target market?
• What is the profile of your ideal client or customer?
• What are the primary challenges you address or solutions you provide for your target market?

Your strategy

You need a mix of passive “marketing” activities and active prospecting activities. The marketing activities should augment the prospecting activities … not the other way around. Once you’ve developed your strategy, make a firm commitment to not only implement it, but also to stick to it. It will be the backbone of your business.

• What is your strategy for reaching your target market?
• How many avenues for “getting your message out” have you identified?
• Have you considered costs and time while exploring the options?

New clients

Remember, people “buy” for their own reasons, not necessarily yours. Don’t create roadblocks that will prevent them from buying.

• If your product or service requires a large commitment of time, money or involvement from potential customers, is there a way for a prospect to “ease into” becoming a client?
• Can you provide a short-term study or a pilot program, for instance, for a smaller financial or time commitment?

Existing clients

Keeping existing customers and growing your business with them is as important, if not more so, than finding new customers. Be aware, your best customers are at the top of your competitors’ prospect lists. Don’t take them for granted.

• What will you offer existing clients to add value to the relationship?
• What are your plans for leveraging the relationship to find new opportunities?

Support mechanisms

What new processes, resources, or infrastructure will be required to support your business development efforts?

• Will you need to establish new systems or bolster existing systems to support your marketing, prospecting, or product delivery processes?
• Are there new technologies that will allow you to maintain more immediate contact with your customers and keep them better informed?
• Will you need new hardware or software to support your efforts?

While you may not have the answers to all of the above questions, they can serve as a starting point for designing your action plan. It’s never too early to start building your future. Begin to plan for and put systems into place now. (Learn more about how you can find Rich Rewards in a Poor Economy)

Are you still a leader?

Which brings us to the importance of leadership. True leaders have vision, belief in a cause, and the wherewithal to overcome indecision and commit to a course of action. A true leader is driven by something bigger than personal ambition – a corporate cause and the value their organization brings to the market. Personal ambition may motivate an individual, but it won’t motivate others to follow.

Leadership is about taking a position to further the cause, knowing that it will draw criticism. It’s about ducking the bullets and firing back. It’s about conviction and keeping the vision in focus. It’s about making tough decisions and following a direction.

Can’t decide which strategy would be the most effective, bring the fastest results, or generate the biggest return? Stop thinking about it. Continuing to “think about it” is like allowing a prospect to “think about it” when making a buying decision. Both lead to the same place – NOWHERE.

Not making a decision … is a decision: a decision to do NOTHING.

Are you afraid of making the wrong decision and perhaps making things worse? It would be wonderful if every decision you make was the “right” decision. But, many “right” decisions aren’t reached until a few “wrong” decisions are first tested. Every “wrong” decision inevitably reveals a lesson which, if applied, makes the next decision a potentially better one.

Regardless of how many lessons you learn before you “get it right,” by making a decision to do SOMETHING, you start the process of moving forward and making progress. So, stop THINKING, make a decision, and start ACTING.

While your competitors are sitting in their offices, worrying about the state of the economy and losing market share, demonstrate your leadership and set a sound foundation for the future by continuing to be out in the marketplace with new strategies to make contacts, develop new relationships and close sales.

Category: Expert Advice.
Industry: Services, Retail, Technology
Functional Area: Marketing
Tags: business development, lead generation, leadership, Sales strategy, sales training