Business Development Strategies (part 1) with Brad Smith

In a challenging world, word of mouth and referrals may be drying up as we do less face to face meetings so in this episode of the podcast I interview Brad Smith from Succeed.Digital and we talk all things business development. This is part 1 of a 2-part series on business development.

Time stamp

2:26 Who is Succeed.Digital?

3:10 What are the biggest changes you have seen in the agency landscape in 2020?

Two types of agency: 

-      Those who went into lockdown mode and tried to hold out and their business has fallen off a cliff!

-      Those who used this opportunity to look at new ways at doing thing from their sector, type of work and service to clients

6.20 Word of mouth & referrals has dried up

There is no better way of winning new business by referrals because they are ‘warm leads’ so you should have a referral programme in place. However, this cannot be the only form of business development

8.00 Inconsistent consistency – you cannot base your business dev strategy solely on referrals. It should form a maximum 25% of your new business strategy

10.15 You have no control of when referrals come in or the quality of the referral or if they fit into your niche

12.00 New business strategies need to focus beyond the next 3 months. Sales need to focus on the next 12 months and use multiple channels.  . Most agencies are short term quarterly focused.

16:00. Introducing new services when you need more sales

Understanding your customer needs and researching and validating new ideas before you launch

18:00 5 questions to ask clients to build stronger relationships with your clients

N – Now: “What is the most valuable service we provide you now?”

E – Enjoy: “What do you really like/enjoy about working with us?”

A – Alter: “What would you most like to alter about the way we work we with?”

D – Decide: “What made you decide to choose us?”

S – Stay: “ What would make you stay with us over the next 2 - 3 years and beyond?”

23:40 At what stage would you have these conversations with a client?

 24:40 Don’t assume you know what your clients want!

 25:57 What 2-3 tips would you advise someone to do it they need new clients now?

29:50 Know me, Like me, Trust me, Help me

32:30 Outbound sales and marketing strategies

Useful links:

You can contact Brad at [email protected]

Validation guide for launching a new product or service

Download The Self-Running Implementation Book

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