On Friday, December 4th, we had our weekly session with the clients of the LEVA project. At this end of the year, we have set up a Q&A cycle for the various focuses we are developing in our respective personalized professional projects. My responsibility is business development, a challenging team that now deeply excites me, but in the past was (and maybe that's exactly why) my greatest concern.

How to move from worrying to taking care of your own business development?

If you're like me, you also hate "selling" or, even worse, the idea of having to "sell yourself"! But you also know that without your own clients, you are not a Professional but remain, in fact and regardless of formal classification, an employee. 

And yet, the idea of having to be "the one who sells himself" just doesn't sit well with me!

And then there are the competitors... they all seem better (and often less deserving) than me at selling... they have the best clients and mandates...

and I don't know what to do!

If you have also felt, or feel, this way, know that there is an alternative.

To move from worrying to taking care of business development, I took two steps.

First step, a change of perspective

Let's start with what was the most important change of perspective for me, as for many clients: 

business development does not mean "selling"

development means developing
and business, for us Professionals, means professional project,

so, for us Professionals (I know I'm repeating myself, but the fact that we are Professionals, registered with an Order and following a Code of Ethics, but above all living a vocation that goes beyond the 9-6 job is crucial)
business development means developing my professional project!

This meant it was no longer an activity alien to my vocation, but became a responsibility.

It is a responsibility, because acquiring the right mandates, from the right clients, means fully realizing my potential, my vocation and mission, and thus generating greater value for my client.

If I do what I do best, for people I work well with (and therefore they don't drain energy, motivation, and focus from my activity) I am a better Professional.

Having clarified what we're talking about and defined why it is not just important, but essential, it's time to take the second step:

Second step, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

For too long, busy distinguishing myself from those who "sell" or "sell out," I thought in absolute terms, "all or nothing." If you know our Personal Effectiveness Curve, you already know this is a way of thinking that puts me at the edge of my curve, because either I'm uninterested (but this is resolved with the first step), or I'm suffering from performance anxiety... gotcha!

How do I acquire clients if I can't sell?

And as I always say in coaching, let's start by changing the question and see where it takes us...

Let's rather ask ourselves:
What can I learn from those who are effective at selling?

Having had the privilege of working as an assessor and coach with many great salespeople and business developers in the corporate world, but also with great Professionals known as "rain makers," I was able to notice what they do in common.

No, that's not a typo for "have." All these people do not have the same background, education, age, experience, attitude, or personality profile. There are no ideal or more or less favored characteristics for being effective at developing business (professional project for us).

What matters is what they "do"!

And there are mainly 3 things:

1. they make lists
2. they act consistently
3. they listen, that is, they ask questions

They make lists

maybe it seems trivial, but always having in sight who you want to target and why, without having to reinvent the wheel every time, makes a huge difference.

It makes exactly the difference between having and not having the time... between remembering or not remembering that you could also contact that person... 

They act consistently

precisely because we don't sell by making Black Friday offers and discounts, it's essential to be there when we are needed...

and so, to quote a great Italian rainmaker, "the only way to be there when it counts is to always be there!".

But doesn't that risk being annoying? And here comes the third point...

They listen, that is, they ask questions

Being there doesn't mean talking about ourselves, our events, awards, articles...

Being there means "being there for", we must treat our potential clients as our actual clients, listening to their needs and actively asking what they need.

A concrete example?

Instead of spamming with a thousand analyses and summaries of the DPCM, let's ask our target clients what in particular would be useful for them, whether a brief summary or a detailed analysis of a specific point...

Or, instead of saying we gave a lecture, we can contact them beforehand and ask what they would like, as potential participants, for us to focus on.... 

By having a list, interacting with it consistently, and asking questions rather than talking about ourselves, over time we will build a reputation and will first be one of the options and then the obvious choice to contact for that issue...

How and why does it work?

This approach works because
✅  it puts the client at the center intelligently: listening to them, asking questions that stimulate intelligent answers, leaves the memory of a valuable interaction and this attribution is unconsciously transferred to us
✅  it acts at the right time "squared": a client doesn't look for new suppliers when they have an urgent problem, yet it's only when they have the problem that they turn to potential suppliers (if you're not new to the market you know that introducing yourself "for the future" is of little use...), this might seem like a deadlock. But our approach takes this peculiarity into account and acts accordingly: you make yourself known by talking about things that interest the client, but unrelated to a mandate (their point of view for an article, their request for focus for your future training...), but through these engagements you will be linked to a certain subject, even better a specific problem, so that when the time comes you are automatically "in the running" as a potential solution
✅  it allows you to act authentically: the biggest limitation of many "schools" or "masters" of business development is thinking you have to be or act in a certain way, or you will fail. Our approach overturns this paradigm by saying you must find your own way, style, and approach, following macro-principles and interpreting them in a completely personal and authentic way, leveraging who you are as a person and Professional. There is no right or wrong strategy or way to do business development, but there is the perfect way for you!
Obviously in the session we touched on other topics, but it would be complex to go into detail out of context.


PS whether you are our client for the LEVA project (in this case it is included in the project), or not, you can delve deeper into these topics within the

Master Class

that I will hold next

Thursday, December 17 from 8:30 to 12:30

it is an intensive session on business development, to lay or relaunch the foundations of your professional project, analyze your target, define concrete and sustainable lists and action plans that will make your 2021 the best year ever for your professional project!

Specifically,

1. once the formalities are done (from the link you will find all the info, including the required investment), I will send you material to prepare for the session and give you access to the LinkedIn group reserved for clients of this master class for 12 months
2. on the 17th we will work, each working on their own project in parallel, live, and we will have plenary Q&A moments to leverage the synergy of different points of view
3. after the session I will send you the guide to implement everything (it will be useful to schedule a slot in the following days to reorganize and refine what was set up in class)
4. from here on for 12 months it will be about putting it into practice, in a lean way, investing very little time, but with consistency
5. in the LinkedIn group I will continue to post resources and answer your questions to support implementation
6. every quarter we will have a group call of an hour and a half to answer your questions live

Who is the master class for?

It's the right opportunity for you if

• you are our client in the LEVA project and want to take stock, review what has been done in an organized way, and solidly set up your 2021
• you are a person with 5 or more years of experience in a large firm and are aiming for partnership, whether you are already in the pipeline or in perspective, and you want not only to plan on paper but to actually realize your own business case
• you are an independent Professional, off counsel, owner of a firm or freelance professional and want to focus, develop, and realize your professional project

It is not the right solution for you if

• you are looking for a quick and easy way to make money (business development, at least as I see it, requires dedication and time)
• you are looking for someone to do things for you (we have a premium offer for clients who want to delegate everything possible, but even in that case, for it to work you have to put in your part)
• you are looking for the secret recipe or the "new" theory (it will not be a theoretical course and will not reveal secrets, but will define concrete processes and strategies explaining exactly how they work so you can implement them with awareness and customization)

So if you are this person and Professional, here is the link to learn more and sign up:

I want to learn more

See you soon, 

Paolo Lanciani