business development consultant articles and resources for business owners, farmers, ranchers, and executives

Attention Business Advisors!

Did you know there are over seven million privately owned companies in North America?

Connect with the universe of family owned companies who need your services as a professional who speaks their language!

Add your profile to our directory of professionals right now.



Business Development Training: Follow Up Business Opportunities
By Will Kintish
Consider the scenario of a business networking event. These are superb sources of leads and referrals that can be the life blood of your business. The business skills you develop in this arena can easily be applied in any business scenario. Assume you have engaged in conversation with a good potential contact. Once you have created a positive first impression start the interesting chat about various areas of common ground. By careful listening, you may identify an opportunity to do some business to your mutual benefit at some later date. You are looking for the moment when someone says something to you to make you think, "Ahaa, there's a potential business opportunity here." Suppose you are a business development who specialises in the food industry and who has a good track record in helping companies to increase their margins. If you were asking all the right questions such as
"So how you finding things at the moment?", and you hear the answer "We're doing reasonably well but we don't seem to be getting the efficiencies in the factory." That is an Ahaa moment.
Can I mention again, that networking using business development skills isn't selling; it's building business relationships, and gathering business information?

This should be the start of the follow up business development process which is as follows

1.Ask for their business card and read it carefully.

2.Always find something to comment on; maybe the spelling of their name or perhaps they have their business in a particular part of town which you know intimately. It doesn't matter as long as you show them that you are interested in them, their business and their circumstances.

3.Now this is a key moment. Ask if you can phone them next Wednesday or Thursday to discuss the problem they have with their margins. You can say something like "Now isn't the time or place, but maybe your problem is a simple issue which I can give you some help on". The chances are if you have made the right impression, the answer will be "yes".

4.Bear in mind all the time that if you don't ask the question

Our articles continue...
US auto union makes concessions
The main car workers' union said that it would suspend a contentious practice that allows so-called 'idled' car workers to collect virtually full pay and benefits without working
Gulf facing a liquidity drought
As a global recession sets in, oil prices tumble and credit tightens, the good times are coming to an end
Nippon Oil, Nippon Mining to merge
Japan's top refiner Nippon Oil Corp and sixth-ranked Nippon Mining Holdings said they are considering a merger to create the world's eighth-largest oil major to better compete amid sliding prices and slower demand
Another Goldman unit hit by decline
Goldman Sachs' plans to expand its wealth management operations have been dealt a potential setback by a dramatic decline in the value of another of its funds
Carlyle to cut 10% of staff as downturn bites
Private equity firm Carlyle is cutting 10 per cent of its staff in the latest indication that buy-out firms will not be immune to the meltdown in the markets
Harvard endowment loses $8bn in four months
The world's wealthiest university placed the decline at 22%, bringing the figure to $28.7bn and underscoring how higher education has been hard hit by the global financial crisis
Chinese group sues Vale Inco
A large Chinese battery manufacturer is suing two units of Vale, one of the world's largest mining companies, in a patent infringement case that highlights the growing number of Chinese companies using local courts to protect their interests
Adobe slashes revenue forecast
The US software group lowers its outlook for the November quarter to $912-$915m and announces job cuts, the latest indication of how the crisis has hit the technology sector
Fortress suspends Drawbridge redemptions
The listed private equity group has suspended redemptions at its flagship fund in order to maintain assets after investors sought to withdraw more than $3.5bn in funds
Vodafone to appeal against India tax ruling
The Mumbai High Court dismissed a landmark challenge by Vodafone against a $2bn tax case in a blow to the UK group and a potential setback for other companies looking to make major investments in India
EDF tries to scupper Buffett's energy bid
The French state-controlled utility launched a direct challenge to billionaire Warren Buffett with a $4.5bn bid for 50 per cent of the nuclear fleet owned by its US partner Constellation Energy
Discounts drive 15% sales jump on 'Cyber Monday'
US online retailers saw an annualised 15 per cent jump in sales on the Monday following the Thanksgiving weekend, according to early estimates, as aggressive bargains boosted traffic on the day the industry has dubbed 'Cyber Monday'
New Star agrees £240m rescue with banks
One of the UK's best known fund managers has agreed to a debt-for-equity swap deal that will leave a group of four banks, including HBOS, Lloyds TSB, HSBC and RBS, in control of the group
Iberia gives BA merger ultimatum
The chief executive of the Spanish carrier said it would be 'too complex' for BA to pursue deals with both it and Qantas of Australia
Merckle at risk of losing empire
German billionaire who lost large sums by betting on falling share prices may have to hand over control of large parts of his industrial empire to his banks.


then you don't give the other person, with the business opportunity, a chance to say yes.. You will be at your most popular at this juncture. If you have done it all right, are you really going to waste a great opportunity? Not every business event and not every person you meet is going to turn into a business opportunity but if you are awake alive and alert, listening attentively and with empathy... you just never know.

5.Write down on their business card the day you have agreed to call and let them see you do this. This shows that you are serious and the chances are you're likely to do it. At this point, there is no reason whatsoever not to excuse yourself in one of several ways which we will show you another time.

6.As part of the bridging process ensure that when you get back home or to your office or even before you leave the business networking event write down where and when you met the person a quick description of them and any salient facts which you may use at a future date to show them that you are truly listening to what they had to say.

7.When you make the follow up call as agreed, review the business card or refer to your business development software if you use it and confirm that they were happy for you to follow up. If you had picked up that the person was going away for weekend then make sure that one of the questions you ask is "How did the weekend go?" I'm not asking you to remember these details. What I am doing is asking you to write down some small talk facts that you gathered on their business card. It helps break down their barriers to talking about business.
When I ask my audiences "what is the most important thing with regard to business cards?" the normal answer I get is "make sure you carry plenty of them with you". Of course you know now that the most important thing is to ask for theirs. Offer your business card by all means, but don't be too quick to do this. I think it's a little pushy and it's another form of saying "aha you want to know all about me don't you. Here's my business card". It just may be that they don't want to know all about you … not at that moment anyway. There's a lot more to say about business development training and in particular working the room but you can find out about that on my other articles.
Take note that business development and networking is about giving first and receiving second. If you go into it thinking "What's in it for me and what am I going to get out of this tonight" then the chances are you won't succeed. If you ask questions such as

·"How can I help you?"
·"Who would you like me to introduce you to?"
·"How will I know if someone I'm talking to will be a good introduction for you?"

You will be showing them you are a proficient and skilled business networker.

Dr Albert Scweizer once said "Give without remembering and receive without forgetting". That should stand you in good stead when you're out there looking to create new business opportunities.

Article Source: http://www.articles-galore.com

Kintish specialises in helping professional individuals, companies and corporations with business development training via seminars, in house work groups and major events. Kintish has provided learning to some of the biggest names in UK finance as is in great demand as a trainer to help business people via business coaching.

Products and Services mentioned in this article are available
Here

         






Here are some more consultant articles...

Quick Start Your Online Business With Drop-shipping
By Jenny Harvard
You plan to start you own business and decide to sell your products online. After doing some market analysis, you decide a range of products to sell. Things just get started, there are many others Read more...
Starting A Home Based Internet Business – Seo And Its Benefits
By Scott Oliver
What is SEO? SEO literally stands for “Search Engine Optimization”. It is a tool by which websites get higher visibility and thereby higher Read more...
Link Popularity
By Marty Pukstys, Tue Jan 10th
So, after hard and time consuming process you got your web siteon the internet, optimized it for certain keywords and can'twait to see it at No.1 position on Google, Yahoo and MSN? Not sofast. Read more...
Workforce Management
By Idtabije
Workforce Management (WFM) encompasses all the responsibilities for maintaining a productive and content labor force—a company’s most valuable asset. It is organizing an accountability framework that Read more...
business development consultant news:



Using press releases as a marketing aid
You may be wondering if using press releases as a marketing aid is a good idea for your company. There are many benefits to press releases; you just have to determine if it is right for you. Here is...
Using billboards for marketing
Using billboards for marketing definitely has great benefits which may be shocking in the technical savvy world that we live in today. Billboards are a great way to market your product, but like any advertising, there are some downfalls....
Television marketing campaigns
Television marketing campaigns allows you to show and tell a wide audience about your business, products, or services. It allows you to show the benefits of purchasing the product or service. You can show how your product or service...
Marketing via internet versus via print media
There are many ways to market a brand name or a product today, but which way is the best way? What's the best possible way to reach the most people? Do you stick with the traditional print media or...
Marketing to a younger generation
It used to be easy to market to just about anyone because it was usually done the traditional way, for example: magazines, TV commercials, newspapers and so on. One of the biggest challenges for business owners today is trying...
Marketing in print
There are a number of different ways to market these days, from the internet to print. Many companies chose to market on the internet because it reaches a much younger market and can be much cheaper, while others choose...
How PR affects your marketing strategy
There are a number of different ways to market your company these days, from the internet to numerous ways in print. Many companies choose to use PR to help their marketing strategy. PR or public relations, is a great...
Cheap marketing tactics
There are a number of different ways to marketing these days. From internet to print material, it is very easy to get the word out about your company and products. Don't worry if you don't have a lot of...
Why pricing products is key to your marketing
Pricing is everything when it comes to your product. You have to make sure that it will sell while still giving you a good profit. When you advertise you let people know about the product and if it's not...
What is industrial marketing?
Industrial marketing is one way that businesses do business. Your business can't just have one way of marketing or selling things so this is where industrial marketing comes in. Industrial marketing might sound like it is for huge businesses...
Requirements of good advertising
Advertising is the way that companies let you know about them and their products. So you have to make sure that as a representative of the company, you are producing the best advertisements possible for the company so that...
How retailing and marketing relate
Retailing and marketing are two different areas when it comes to running your business, but they are also alike. They have to work together in order to accomplish things and need each other to produce the best product and...
How product design relates to marketing
The way you advertise says everything about your company. If you have great advertisements you will make money and will have a successful company. However, if you have a horrible design for your product, then you won't make as...
How global marketing differs from international marketing
Global Marketing is a lot different from international marketing. They seem similar but when you are creating and expanding your business you have to know the differences between the two. This way, when you are ready to expand, you...
How a trademark can aid your marketing
Trademarks are something that most companies have. Not all individual products have a trademark though. Here is a look at trademarks and how having a trademark can aid your marketing....