The best time for business development is when you are so busy, you almost say, “I can’t take any more business!” When you are in a slump, we tend to take anything thrown at us. If business development, aka business networking, is continually forefront of your mind, you won’t be hitting slumps, you will simply be connecting with your business friends.
We are very social as a community, so staying connected keeps your social skills intact. Keep vigilant on how you can contribute to others’ success, and the bounce back to you will be incredible. Like anything else, business development takes time and energy, it don’t happen by accident. You need to plan on meetings with new and existing professional acquaintances. Schedule the time to attend events and/or set up time to meet for a meal…best is to do it with more than just one person, so you make the best use of your time.
If you want to lose the peaks and valleys in the sales cycle, keep doing what you do when your sales are down. Consistency pays off with business development, and, just like any other part of your business, if you take your eyes off the process, you will find yourself in another slump.
Business development should not be draining or hard work; networking can be a welcomed break from the hard work that you are doing. Networking is “the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.” If you don’t exercise your networking muscles, you will be out of shape when it comes time to track new business.
Copyright Wayne A. Curto 2020