FiNDING DEALS AND CLIENTS
The ultimate measure of success for a Business Development Professional is how they can find, develop, and cultivate client relationships and, ultimately, close deals.
Business Development is a relationship-based profession and when operating in a tight-knit niche industry (which the hospitality industry is), gaining trust can take several years. Fortunately, many professionals in the hospitality industry are lifers; once they’re in – they’re in until they retire, and business relationships often develop into strong friendships.
Depending on the product or service you provide, and the type of Hospitality Capital Project you tend to pursue, the sales cycle may be short but, more frequently, it’s very long.
For example, if you or your firm provides laser scanning services, you may get a call a few weeks after a group acquires a new hotel. If you or your firm manufactures shower systems, you are probably only going to get a call to supply materials for a model room 6– to 8–months post-acquisition and 12– to 14–weeks prior to planned installation for the roll-out.
“It’s important to always be investing time in pursuing new opportunities, seeking out new potential clients while also nurturing existing relationships—whether or not immediate opportunities exist.”
In this series we’ll focus on 7 key areas an up-and-coming Business Development Professional will need to master to become an expert at finding, pursuing, and capturing deals and clients.
In this first installment of the series, we’ll examine Market Intelligence.
Newspapers, newsletters, news aggregators, magazines, and white papers will provide you with the starting point of your strategy. Be careful though. As Seth Godin put it,
“Don’t just collect the dots—you need to connect the dots.”
Read market intel daily, even if it’s just scanning a few headlines each day. The articles on developments, occurrences, transactions, and marquee projects will not only provide you with information on potential opportunities but also outline relationships and tendencies that should help shape future strategies.
For example, the Hotel & Lodging SmartBrief is a news aggregator that is set up to pull articles from multiple sources with content related directly to the hospitality industry. This aggregator separates its content into a variety of sections – of particular importance will be the BUSINESS UPDATE and DEVELOPMENT sections. The BUSINESS UPDATE section will cover major developments, announcements, mergers and acquisitions, and events with significant impact in the industry. The DEVELOPMENT section will provide you with information specific to upcoming potential opportunities and developments.
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