It’s hard making sure that your business development activity levels keep up. With the best will in the world, that great plan that you’ve spent time on and discussed and agreed with colleagues can so easily get forgotten, or part-actioned, even though you completely agree that consistent inputs are more likely to produce consistent outputs (opportunities and fees) and avoid those ‘peaks and troughs’.

So – here are some ideas to help you keep that momentum going. None of them takes more than a few minutes to action:

• ‘Buddy’ with another person, put regular BD meetings in your diaries and keep each other to account.
• Put BD as a discussion item on your team agenda every time you meet; put it first so it doesn’t get left off if you feel you don’t have time.
• Tell the board or management team that you are going to talk about your/your team’s BD plan and activities to them at their next meeting – I guarantee you won’t turn up without having done anything!
• Plan which key client you are going to meet with in each of the next 4 months, call them and arrange a meeting.
• If you manage a team, make sure that everyone in the team is making some contribution to BD and marketing.
• If you’re a team member, think of 3 activities you’d like to do every month that will best help the firm to grow, put them in your diary, block out the time if needed and do them!
• Share your activities via an internal blog – what’s happened, what people are doing and going to do, share successes – and make that a regular thing; once a month is fine.
• Set yourself targets – number of meetings with prospects, number of meeting with clients, number of seminars given to prospects, etc and talk through with someone how to achieve them.
• Offer to coach and mentor someone in your team and set up regular meetings. Ask someone to do the same for you.

© Bluegreen Learning Ltd