The Seinfeld Rules of Business Development

Jerry Seinfeld is one of the wealthiest Hollywood stars mainly because he participated in a popular sitcom about nothing.  Every producer has a formula for making a profitable sitcom and none of them until Larry David, the producer/creator of Seinfeld, thought they could be successful doing a 30 minute weekly sitcom about nothing.

I am not saying that because business development in professional service firms is the most ambiguous business discipline your plan can be about nothing.  Business development at a very basic level must be defined in your firm and your people must know how it works. Since business development is different in scope from everything else your firm does, it is important to define it. For example, does everyone in your firm know the difference between marketing and business development?  Every firm in the country will benefit if they understand and employ the Seinfeld Rules of Business Development.

What are the Seinfeld  business development rules?

                1.  Just because it used to work doesn’t mean it will work in the future.

                2.  Every leader needs a committed team.

                3.  Skill alone can only take you so far.

                4.  Rely on bold ideas to separate yourself from the competition.

                5.  Sell a story people can relate to.

 

Successful firms in our industry have a deep understanding of all business functions and often try to put the square function of business development into the round hole of other business functions.  Inherent in successful business development is the ability to leverage all your firm’s capabilities so a client will see success in selecting your firm.  Not only a successful project, but also personal, team and organizational wins.

The reason business development efforts lose effectiveness over time is because most firms simply keep using the same tactics that worked in the past for the challenges they are facing today.  Although there is a need for old school thinking in a business development strategy, keeping tactics because your don’t need to “recreate the wheel”, is the first step to failure.  If you understand the concept of zero-based budgeting, you will understand my concept of zero-based business development planning.  Management has a hard time forgetting what has worked in the past.  Therefore, it takes a confident business development/marketing group to move management away from proven strategies to something new and different. When was the last time you took a bold business development idea to management?

This brings us to the second rule: Every leader needs a committed team.  Jerry Seinfeld had an above average stand up career before he took off with Seinfeld.  Suffice it to say that he would not be worth $800 million today, if he had relied on a touring standup comedy career. Although Seinfeld was about nothing, the characters had depth and had interesting interactions between each other.  The actors were grood comedians in their own right, but Jerry was the star.  When the leader starts out with humility and is not worried about who gets the credit, the team excels.  The team is committed.  The problem for firms with uncertain business development success is a management and/or a business development team that is not committed or a leader more interested in self-promotion.

 After Jerry Seinfeld was committed to the show, Larry David could have sought out other highly talented, established comedians to fill the roster.  However,he understood that skill alone can only take you so far.  There is a chemistry needed for success in business development as there is a chemistry needed for comedy to work.  Too much of any individual ingredient spoils the whole thing.  How is the chemistry working in your firm?

Does your firm promote project managers to business development because they are good with clients?  Many firms do this and are disappointed when goals are not achieved.  Skills can only take you so far, especially when the skills are not connected directly to business development or marketing.  This is where training can reap huge results.

In small firms, marketing and business development might be managed by one person.  It might be a firm principal rather than a marketing services professional.  Larger firms are capable of supporting separate departments.  These are the firms where team chemistry is extremely important.  However, even small firms need to look at the chemistry connection.

Can you imagine when Larry David pitched the network about a sitcom that was about nothing.  The executives knew David and Seinfeld, but a show about nothing, really.  One executive took a chance on 13 episodes and the rest is television history.  Do you have a bold idea that is just as big, but you are afraid to present it to your management.  There are four things that can happen to your idea: You sell it to management, it is successful and your firm profits.  You sell it to management and they don’t see your vision and vote against it. You decide not to sell it to management  and nothing happens ( I mean even what worked in the past no longer works).  A competitor comes up with the same idea, gets her management team to run with it and they win the big project.  Would you even tell your management team you had the same idea but you were afraid to tell them about it.  Of course, if they turned you down, you could say, “I told you so!”  The latter is probably not a good response if you plan to work for the firm for an extended period of time.  However, if they turned you down, they might have a better appreciation of your ideas and vision in the future.    Follow the advice of Daniel Burnham, “Make no little plans; They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work…”  Big ideas worked in Chicago.

Finally, the most important rule is to sell a story.  For Seinfeld it was a story that average people could relate to.  It wasn’t just New Yorkers who understood the relationship issues between Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine, it was everybody. 

Your firm’s story is a little different. Your story must be one that a client will invest in.  If your firm has industry experts, use them to tell the story.  Tell project stories from the client’s perspective.  Understand market conditions, how well your firm is prepared for current conditions, your client’s industry and how the client’s history is connected to yours. Then, tell the story.Nothing made Seinfeld the most profitable sitcome in history.  The Seinfeld rules might be just what your firm needs to make its own history.  When you make the bold step, please let us know how we can help by contacting us at tryst@businessdevelopmentpros.org