A BD Recipe for Hiring Success
Company leaders who are hiring business development (BD) professionals often ask me to define the various skillsets, talents, and strengths that I’ve witnessed in specialists with the most success.
It’s almost as though those executives believe that there is a recipe of “a little bit of this and a pinch of that”, etc.… And then, VOILA, sales beyond your wildest dreams! LOL!
Alas, if it was only so easy. Yet, I’m truly glad that it isn’t. Why, might you ask?
Well, it’s because earlier in my career on paper, I didn’t appear to have many of the key ingredients for the entry-level technical BD position that would ultimately kickstart my beautiful career.
I am forever grateful for those early supervisors who saw those raw capabilities in me. They molded and mentored me, patiently committing their time and experience. Later, I took their model and applied it to do the same for others.
In so doing, I have noted that BD is an art AND a science. Truly successful BD experts combine creativity, strategy, and communication skills with internal collaboration, organization, and follow-through actions to best serve their clients as a resource to their needs.
When assessing applicants for this role, I advise that leaders should factor in these 4 considerations….
You Can’t Unteach Bad Habits
Not every BD contender is a great fit for your particular organization. BD can be subjective in the way that it is defined to a specific firm. I have found that it is important to dig into the conversation with the candidate and detail the role to ensure that misinterpretation/misrepresentation does not occur.
Consider that your BD representative is the Brand Ambassador for your organization. Does this person align with that assignment?
Feed the Curious and Assess the Follow Through
Great BD representatives are hungry, voracious learners. They are naturally inquisitive and are INTERESTED before becoming INTERESTING to their audience. They identify the client’s key performance indicators and important deciding scope/attributes and then map your company’s service offering to the clients’ needs by doing so.
Identify the Deal Junkies
Is this candidate super competitive, but in a good way? I’ve found that the best BD professionals are driven by an extreme desire to win. They enjoy the entire pursuit process and see it as a combination of a strategic chess match and a great puzzle for solving. There is a bit of impatience that underlies their motivations to be better, even if they’re only competing with themselves.
When you explore this talent with a candidate, ask them how they develop deep, long-lasting relationships. Additionally, ask them how they deal with losses. Also ask them how they engage others in the team in the project pursuit process. That way, you can ensure that their drive doesn’t overtake their ability to connect with clients and/or work with others.
Test the Strategy, Communication, and Collaboration
BD is as much about internal selling as it is external selling. In a B2B technical, service-based industry, your BD representative must be able to quickly develop internal relationships to understand the service offering, collaboratively develop a go-to-market strategy and communicate that plan to the organization and your target audience. By garnering the respect, engagement, and empowerment of their internal colleagues, BD becomes a rudder-driven ship filled with purpose.
I encourage executives to take these considerations and delve further into their candidate conversations to discover how that person utilizes his/her strengths to accomplish the role.
I’ve found that the best technical BD professionals also make the decision easy for you. They have a natural ability to instantly connect and start a relationship with you. Make note of how they see your hiring process through; they will mirror that process for your clients as well…
Stay tuned; later this summer, we will unveil our new, online Doer/Seller Business Development Course: BD Dynamics, Empowering the Technical-Minded. Subscribe to our mailing list at www.authentizity.com.
