Jerry Seinfeld is one of the wealthiest Hollywood stars mainly because he participated in a popular 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.
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 bigplans;
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
