Insights Archives

This insight owes credit to Samuel Morse, 1791-1872, the inventor of Morse code and Lieutenant General Russel Honoré, U.S. Army (Ret.), who coined many colorful Cajun phrases. Whether or not you [...]

Times have changed. The reality is that clients and prospects have found new cost-conscious alternatives to address their problems. So, how can we acquire new business and retain a loyal client [...]

We’re often asked, “What do professional Business Development people look like”? There are many studies about personalities along with tests and articles on the subject. In [...]

Regardless of our backgrounds and upbringings, we are all taught to treat others with respect, and in some cases deference. Professionally, we often find ourselves in a structural hierarchy with [...]

The role of Business Development is not for the faint of heart. When starting out in a BD role most of us were never provided with a “how-to” manual for success. This is probably due [...]

There’s an old saying, “Be careful what you wish for… you may get it.” Similarly, be careful what you go after in your pursuit of business. In Business Development, every [...]

When we evaluate Business Development Professionals using the 12 Core Competencies of Business Development, we discover many individuals serving in a BD role lack a fundamental understanding of [...]

When I’m With Myself … I’m In Bad Company “The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” – Epictetus [...]

One of the issues Business Development Professionals struggle with is when to show intelligence or technical knowledge. Unfortunately, some people aren’t very astute at knowing when this is [...]

This quote was provided by a recent participant at one of our workshops. The wisdom of this quote is that it raises an important question… what is a real opportunity? As we teach in our [...]

We’ve all heard the analogy describing the difference between a Hunter and a Farmer Business Development Professional. Neither position is easy, and both are critical components to the [...]

Every now and then we should all read some of the stories on the Darwin Awards website. This site chronicles strange and often bizarre tales of how people find a way to eliminate themselves from [...]

At one time or another, everyone in Business Development has been faced with the challenge of being emotionally affected by what a prospect says on a call. It takes a person with a lot of [...]

Every organization wants consummate Business Development professionals on their team. It doesn’t matter whether they are strategic hunters, organic farmers, strategic leaders or perennial [...]

Business Development Professionals know that credibility is established by the questions you ask, not the statements you make. They know that the questions they craft rather than the presentation [...]

“…neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.” [...]

“It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s what you put into the practice.” … Eric Lindros (professional ice hockey player) One [...]

This brilliant insight was offered by one of our attendees during a recent training event and it really makes a strong point about the role of Business Development. People buy, organizations do [...]

“In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.” – Author Unknown This is a great insight, but it makes one large assumption [...]