Chip Royce, Flywheel Advisors
Time to read: 5-7 minutes
There’s no substitute for expertise.
When you build a company, you want to fill each role with the best skills and experience.
Sales Leadership? You’re going to hire a sales expert who builds processes, coaches and develops sales teams, and builds a great compensation plan.
Marketing Leadership? You identify someone who:
- Knows your industry
- Supports the company’s sales structure
- Expert skills including SEO or online lead generation.
Finance? You need someone to perform accounting, reconcile your accounts, and provide sound financial guidance.
Why Approach Go-To-Market Any Differently?
Yet, companies that need to build a go-to-market strategy do not see business development expertise the same way as other roles.
These companies make it up as they go along.
- Bring senior leaders together figuring they’re smart.
- Don’t use established strategies and tactics or only incorporate things they saw at a previous company or read about
- Can’t build a partner-focused marketing and business development playbook.
These companies consume time, and capital and jeopardize their reputation.
And that’s risky.
The Business Development Professional
This is almost a role that seems to have disappeared in a lot of companies in recent years.
Companies create the role of the business development lead to identify, explore, and formalize programs that otherwise would be a distraction to the core leadership team.
A business development leader requires the following characteristics:
Strategic: The business developer has a good sense of strategy. They know where to play and how the company can win.
Business Operations: They know how to design a business from the ground up. They know how it works.
Strong Competencies: They also know how to work across your company (also known as cross-functional leadership) to develop a plan, get buy-in from everyone, and maintain that trust over time (also known as influencing without authority).
Business Leader: Depending on the partnership structures, the Business Development leader may be the General Manager for this line of business. They’ll have a P&L until this business is ready to hire its leader OR properly incorporate a product or business line within the core business.
How to Staff the Business Development Role
We’ve talked about the need for a Business Development leader in your org. We’ve also covered the skills and competencies needed. Now it is time to staff up the role.
If you have the resources and need for a full-time headcount in his role, hire away.
Why Consider a Fractional Business Development Leader?
Part-time role:
It is risky to staff your business development role with an executive who shares their time with other responsibilities. The part-time leader will always be pulled back to their core responsibilities and not have the focus and drive to finish projects that identify and build the business case for future investment.
Amount of Work:
If you’re just starting a formal business development effort, you may not yet have the work for a full-time head, with a salary of $150,000 to $350,000. A fractional business development executive will cost MUCH less and provide most of the value created by the full-time headcount.
External Perspective:
The business development role by its nature is to bring a fresh perspective to the company’s assets, capabilities, competitive positioning, and market opportunities. Hiring internally misses much of this opportunity. A fractional business development executive provides a fresh perspective on your business. Smart companies may even go as far as to hire multiple industry experts to consult and provide ideas and feedback to their new, growing business development program.
In conclusion…
Business development is a lost art.
Companies that commit to a business development program grow with less risk. They identify new markets, test new products, and build relationships with new partners.
It is time to properly staff this role with a full-time or fractional business development leader and unlock growth in your company.
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