While I don’t do much business development, there’s one tenet that I know works, because I’ve seen it pay dividends again and again:
Be helpful.
Sounds easy enough, but this directive is harder to follow than it first seems, because knowing how to help someone is more an art than a science. So, let’s amend that tenet:
Be helpful in a way that’s actually helpful.
But even that’s not quite right. That’s because—despite what some business developers may claim—business development is sales by another name. For a potential client or industry contact, “being helpful” (even in a way that’s actually helpful) can feel a lot like selling, and no one likes being sold to.
Why don’t we like it? We don’t like the sticky feeling of reciprocity; we don’t like feeling the subtle gravity of debt. We especially don’t like it when the other person gives off even the most slightly wolffish aspect—say, the giveaway wink that says “you know what this means, don’t you?”
So, we may need a further amendment to our tenet—and this last one feels a little odd:
Be helpful in a way that’s actually helpful—and either appear like you never expect anything in return or actually never expect anything in return.
Appearing is one thing—if you’re a good enough actor, then you can swing this.
But the more naturalistic option? That seems odd, right? To actually not expect anything in return? How do you swing that?
This final amendment demands more than a strategic adjustment. You can’t just think your way through it. If anything, it requires a personality adjustment. Not all of us (me included!) have an ingrained and natural habit of being helpful.
In my mind, it’s these people who thrive in business development roles: they are, as a matter of personality, people who want to be helpful perhaps more than they want to sell you on their services.
Taylor Coe 