Script and Resources: Business Development Tasks Familiarization

This video is all about familiarizing yourself with the tasks associated with your business development consultancy.  What we are aiming for with this video is to focus on the operations part of your consultancy.  At this point, your mindset and network should be on target, you’ve started building your attraction vehicle, your professional goals are set, and an external “why” is in place that keeps you and your business impactful.  So, let’s move into the nuts and bolts of business development.

In this video, you’ll learn:

• • 3 key elements to creating a successful business development consultancy

• • To develop your best business development skill

• • What to outsource to advance your consultancy

After this video, you will be able to:

• • Activate key features of your business development consultancy that fits with your own model

• • Hone your craft at sourcing for clients

• • Develop your outsourcing plan

The 3 key elements to creating a successful business development consultancy are:

1. High-level sourcing consistency
2. Scheduling management  (Time to source, time to interview,   time to process)
3. Business Development Partners

Your ability to consistently source high-level types to add to your network even before you need them is critical because having those relationships before you need them creates serious value for clients.  Twice inside of 2 weeks, I was discovered and contacted by people wanting to make use of my skills because of interviews I’ve done with specific people.  As the person was searching the Internet using the name of someone they wanted to reach, they came up with the link to my interview with that person. The person who reached out to me was trying to make a connection with my interviewee on behalf of one of his big clients.  At the point we connected and had a conversation, I invited him and his client to a call with me.  The second occasion was with a gentleman who couldn’t believe he actually got ahold of me through my website. I guess he had been following my interviews with innovators for a while and saw a matchup with the work of the global impact organization he leads.  Turned out to be a perfect fit with a client of mine that has enormous potential for all of us.  High-level types will draw others to you.

I mostly utilize Linkedin for sourcing but do often use news articles, reports, and even videos, either sent to me in online groups or where I’ve found them online.  I also receive frequent referrals from other interviewees, partners, or business developers.

You can see now that sourcing high-level types or highly credentialed types and creating some “searchable” content with them creates more attraction for you.  

Managing your schedule as you continue to grow your business will get challenging, especially if this consultancy is only part of your overall business portfolio of services.  Using a scheduling platform that integrates with your online calendar is a life-saver, but, you will still likely need to manually schedule some meetings.  Get good at understanding time zones - there are some free platforms online to help you in planning these meetings.  One example is timeanddate.com.

I employ the Mondays and Fridays rule:  Mondays are “admin” days for business operational tasks that include bookkeeping, task assignments for my assistant, and cleaning out old files. Fridays are “exit” days, meaning, I always try to keep the afternoon free in case of personal plans or to tie up loose ends before the weekend.

I have 2 days mostly that I’ve assigned as days I’ll do video interviews and I try to stick to that as much as possible. However, flexibility is key.  You will have to reschedule some calls and interviews so having a couple of spots in your schedule that remain open is a good idea.

Segmenting out your calendar, in general, helps everything to flow better.  Overall, your schedule management will make or break you.  I know it seems simple and maybe unimportant, but, if you let simple things like managing your schedule get away from you, you’ll lose your credibility with clients and sources, damaging your reputation.

So, a word about outsourcing - always a good idea to get someone else to do things that eat up your time.  I use an assistant who learns fast and is intuitive about advancing my business interests.  She writes well, so I can get her to draft articles and newsletters.  She completes the interviews I do.  I get them to our Youtube Channel and she takes over from there, setting up the posting on my website, and she helps me promote and do special projects on other platforms.  Just completing the interviews for me is an amazing help.  I recommend thinking about a short list of things you feel would save you a lot of time and advance you toward your goals.  I sometimes use an intern to help me source for client projects.  They send me the Linkedin profiles for review and if I feel they are good, I send an invitation.  Even if you aren’t quite ready or didn’t think you’d be interested in outsourcing, I urge you to consider a plan that includes a monthly amount in your budget for at least one or two regular tasks that will make a difference to your business.

Lastly, your best partners or collaborators will be other business developers or active networkers. They could also be sales professionals in fields related to your preferred space, business coaches, or event planners/publicity agents. I’ve had referrals from all usually on behalf of their clients. I had a book publisher connect me to her client who became my client as well when sourcing specific types were out of her reach. I’ve had marketing coaches refer their clients and actually I’ve referred to these types as well.

Can you name 3 of these types in your network now that you may not have thought of as potential referral partners?  A quick search on Linkedin using “global business developers” will bring up an ample selection if you are looking to source for potential collaborators.

Time to review:

• • Your 3 key elements for a successful business development consultancy: high-level sourcing consistency, scheduling management, and business development partners

• • Source for great interviewees regularly and make sure that content is searchable online

• • Segment your schedule and develop a task list for outsourcing

• • Source for and be open to other business developers as collaborators

Course Author:  Mary Kurek, President, Frontrunners Development, Inc.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/marykurek

Website: www.frontrunnersinnovate.com

Copyright 2022 © Mary Kurek

Next video is about compensation model alignment.

Module 4 - Segment 3:  Compensation Model Alignment

Script and Resources: Compensation Model Alignment

Probably the toughest thing for most new business developers is figuring out how to charge for their services. There are many ways to make this work for you but a little flexibility in your model will help you create the easiest path to success.  This video is all about Compensation Model Alignment with an emphasis on aligning it with your own existing business model and values.

In this video, you’ll learn:

• • 3 simple compensation models

• • To develop criteria and standards for working with clients

• • The one thing you can do that will help you get paid in a timely manner

After this video, you'll be able to consider and implement your own compensation model.

The first thing you want to do is determine your base rate in your home location currency. Have in mind what services that fee provides for the client. Now to the models:

1. Contracted by the month (3-month minimum)
2. Contracted by month + commission
3. Commission only (sometimes with an upfront engagement fee)

Examples for 1) $3,500 US a month = 3-5 introductions. 2) $1,500 US a month + 10% commission on transactions that financially benefit your client. In the US, remember that there are regulations about finder fees for investment searches so consider that when aligning your compensation model with your work and location. I typically refer investment-seeking requests to professionals whose sole business is just that. 3) I don’t usually do commission-only on deals that could be sales or other situations like a trade or commerce deal. But, I do have referral contracts for deals I think I can contribute to in a significant way.,

The examples above don’t reflect my specific fee structure nor am I suggesting yours should be in those ranges. Your time and skillset are how you value it and it only aligns when your clients understand your value in the same way.

Honestly, the best client I’ve had is someone I knew who had a team that included some other business developer types. I asked him to pay me the same. He did. And it was a happy situation for us both.  It often works well to be a bit flexible and assess how your new clients generally operate with independent contractors, especially if you are dealing with clients outside of your country.

In order to ensure a good working relationship with all potential and new clients, it’s smart to have your own standards for how you operate.  This protects you and your clients from misunderstandings and sets the environment as one of mutual respect.  Here are some ideas and tips that may help:

• • Send invoices and paid receipts (even if you’re operating on contract and they don’t require it) -- helps for tracking and keeps things more organized.

• • Only accept new clients you can envision servicing.  My best clients have been ones whom I could immediately see making several good introductions.  If I can bring one or two to the conversation, I know I can bring more.

• • Do regular updates for your client, especially when there seems to be a lull between introductions.  Ask for directions or new ideas from clients on types to source.

• • If you feel your client can handle it and you have an attraction vehicle like a podcast, invite him or her to co-host an interview with you where they get to form a relationship on camera with someone you’d like them to meet anyway.  This has been a huge boost to my business.

• • Keep track of the contacts you bring to a client using a simple spreadsheet or online platform that allows you to tag and share access with the client.  I have a client who loves this - helps to keep him straight, as well.

• • Set up Google Alerts to track relevant content or people for your client.

• • Only work with clients who already have “movement.”  As an independently contracted business developer, it is critical that you feel confident that you can help your client advance on the success they’ve already achieved.  If you are a business coach who works with startups, it’s your decision on the types you wish to take on as clients, but, as a business developer (not an employee) you will be utilizing the accomplishments and credentials of your client to help you secure new introductions.  It’s very difficult to do that if your client doesn’t have much to show.  I used to tell people that I don’t sell anything but a conversation.  But, in order to do that, I need to show that the person I want people to meet is someone they should meet.

• • Regarding nonpayment of invoices and operational guidelines, those are things you’ve probably already dealt with, but, I would drop any client who doesn’t pay and doesn’t let you know what’s happening.  I would also distance myself from clients who seem to be getting into behaviors or activities that don’t mesh with my personal values and ethics, or into conflict with illegal implications.  Let me say a word more about this latter part:  I haven’t taken on a client that I had these issues with but, I have interviewed 3 people in about 8 years where someone in the interviewee’s life who was disgruntled approached me asking if I had done due diligence on them prior to the interview.  In one case, the person complaining didn’t give their name and didn't really qualify their complaint.  The other two shared long scenarios that seemingly had gone to court.  After checking, none of these cases were anything of my concern and didn’t seem to bear out anything that would cause me to take down an interview.  As a standard rule, I  do not respond to disgruntled persons who feel they need to let me know their problems with someone I’ve interviewed.  Anytime you go public with an attraction vehicle where you are interviewing others, there will always be someone out there who takes offense somewhere along the way.  You will need to decide in advance how you plan to handle these situations, but caution to you; if you respond at all, you are now involved.  If you respond in writing, you have documented your involvement.

We’ve covered a good bit of what you’ll need to know to start your business development consultancy, particularly regarding your compensation model.  I have done a combination of all 3 models over the years, and it works out fine.  Again, being flexible helps.  But, what is the one thing that you can do that will help you get paid in a timely manner?  An invoice is the answer.  So many of us work with companies that turn over their payments to another party (often another independent contractor).  Once it is out of your client’s hands, he or she is not concerned with the process.  The assumption is that everything is working fine.  If you invoice the client or ask them at the beginning who you need to invoice, that will likely help the process flow.  I have a client who instructed his team member to set me up with his bank to send payments each month for the initial 3-month period of the contract, but, we extended, so, once that 3 months was up, the bank stopped sending payments, so I learned that invoicing was the best thing I could do to keep things running smoothly.

Now, let’s review:

• • The 3 compensation models are:  Contracted by the month (3-month min), Contracted by month + commission, Commission only (sometimes with an upfront engagement fee)

• • In order to ensure a good working relationship with all potential and new clients, it’s smart to have your own standards for how you operate. The standards should cover who you’ll work with and how you’ll manage them.

• • The best thing you can do to keep payments to you timely is to invoice, even if you are working off a contract.

The next module is about starting to utilize your new business development skills.  For now, head over to the quiz to help you recap this module.

Course Author:  Mary Kurek, President, Frontrunners Development, Inc.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/marykurek

Website: www.frontrunnersinnovate.com

Copyright 2022 © Mary Kurek

Disclaimer Information - Critical to Your Business

One thing to know in business development is that you can't know everything about everyone. Your job is to relationship build, which allows you to know a good bit about them personally, but, people don't often share it all.

The limited "due diligence" you will likely be able to do is to conduct a short Internet search using keywords that might alert you to someone's legal troubles, incarcerations, or falls from grace. Beyond that, you are left with only knowing what is shared with you.

The best thing to do for all concerned parties is to write and include a disclaimer in the most public places you have for your business (website, email signature, scheduling platform, etc.)

I use a disclaimer in my scheduling platform (currently Calendly).  It reads like this for our media platform interviews: "Disclaimer: We expect all interviewees and the information they share to be true. Frontrunners Development, Inc. takes no responsibility for featured video or written content that is incorrectly or falsely represented. We take no responsibility for conducting due diligence on behalf of those who conduct business with or through connections made via our media platform."

It reads like this for our exploratory conversations: "Disclaimer note: Frontrunners Development, Inc. takes no responsibility for conducting due diligence on behalf of those who conduct business or create partnerships through connections made via our media platform or through exploratory introductions."

The disclaimer content is included on the booking page in the scheduling platform. A disclaimer is also viewable on each page of our website.

We occasionally will use language in conversations that indicate we expect anyone who may be heading to a business transaction to conduct the normal due diligence they would do in these cases, as we do not conduct those activities on behalf of contacts or clients. We can't confirm that this will offer legal protection in all cases, but it is a good way to ensure that you've done your best to inform everyone.

You are highly encouraged to write up your own and display it where it would be most visible and relevant.

This completes Module 4.  Click the button below to advance to Module 5 to complete the course.