business focus 9


A strategic asset for the longer term


Claire Edmunds, CEO and founder of Clarify examines how business development is moving from an afterthought to a strategic asset and consequently, how it is proving to have a transformational impact on both the sales and business process


The term business development will conjure up different connotations depending on who you canvass opinion from; it often gets classed as demand generation or inside sales for example. In fact the roles that these functions perform and the skillsets required are very different.


Here, when we refer to business development (BD) we are defining a strategic capability, a distinct part of the sales process designed to create, qualify and develop high-value, complex sales opportunities from identification to forecast.


Most of us are aware that selling is undergoing a significant change; practices at the consultative end of the market are becoming highly sophisticated. The sales conversation is changing from feature/function


to value and the evolution of digital platforms means customers are entering the buying conversation at a different, often later, stage.


During a period of transition a business remains reliant on its core products to generate revenue and maintain existing market share. However BD is employed to focus on building volume and coverage for new products.


Highly efficient, but highly pressured sales teams lack bandwidth to close short-term deals and create a balanced pipeline of new opportunities. However building pipeline outside this environment with an external BD capability has been proven to make a significant difference. Consequently, large firms frequently use a blend of traditional demand generation and BD; the right combination of these


two disciplines is able to increase productivity, generate revenue and pipeline. Shifting the balance is critical to ensure the right resource is best placed to deliver significant financial gains.


External BD offers a highly-skilled function, which is why so many B2B enterprises are investing in it rather than developing an internal resource. It has been likened to having your ‘A’ grade field sales solely focused on building pipeline revenue, with none of the distractions of managing an account.


BD’s role is to connect with prospects, diagnose a need and demonstrate an understanding of what this need is, collaborating with buyers to educate them with new perspectives that bring value to the table.


Engaging in these conversations earlier in the sales cycle and often bypassing the RFP stage, has been proven to be very influential for some organisations because it dramatically impacts their win-rate, and has improved alignment of matching the right deals to the right team at the right time.


For one global services provider, the investment in an external BD capability resulted in $59 million of new logos in the UK pipeline within nine months. This has scaled to result in $442m


cumulative pipeline over an 18-month period with 32% of new business directly generated from the BD function. In a two-year period the ROI for every £1 spent has generated £362 in pipeline revenue. These statistics have elevated business development from an afterthought to a valued business asset.


BD is tasked with creating pipeline for deal types that help businesses transform away from the sales organisation it is today; into the sales organisation it is seeking to be tomorrow. The financial impact and ability to accelerate sales transformation initiatives is integral to the process and is altering the way that organisations are starting to view, and more importantly value, business development.


Claire Edmunds is founder and CEO of Clarify, a specialist in strategic business development.


If you would like to discuss how strategic business development could help your business, contact:


Details: Insight@clarifyBD.com 0118-9126800 clarifyBD.com


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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – JUNE 2016 businessmag.co.uk


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