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A real business development model is one that keeps the business coming in though all phases of the business cycle. It is never reliant on a group of sales “personalities”. It leverages the experience, talents and responsibilities of credit, doc, asset and even legal. It uses marketing to consistently feed the sales team so they spend more time selling and less time hunting. It has a tried and true sales process that enables the talents of the individual but promotes a consistent winning strategy. It attracts senior talent AND new, young talent–enabling success, promotion and new ideas. And most importantly, it is massively differentiating in a market full of “me too” sounding vendor finance companies.

So, still want to hire old salty salespeople, hope it all works and feel like your whole life is chasing a monthly number?

Over the years the term business development has become interchangeable with sales. I blame HR people. We are always trying to enhance the job title of “salesperson” to sound fancier. So let’s clear up a few things, business development is NOT just sales. Business Development is your company’s comprehensive strategy acquire new customers, grow those relationships and retain them. This includes almost every functional division of your company, but especially sales, marketing, credit (yes…credit) and ops (you know…the people that actually fund the deals).

Most of you today only view business development as sales. Pity. If you are, the full potential of your company is sitting dusty on a shelf somewhere hoping you will one day have the epiphany high priced consultants offer that we are going to provide you for free.

If we have you thinking, structure is at the core of any successful strategy and the first step in building an ongoing business development model is establishing a detailed understanding of the dealer’s decision making journey. Also, critically important is to map the activities of the business development process alongside the dealer’s decision making process.  This single visual allows you to ask all the right questions to build the customized, successful business development model we’ve been referring to:

model

Here’s what this infographic allows you to do:

  • “While the dealer is just creating awareness of their need for a potential new lender, what is our prospecting and awareness building strategy?” Then you collectively think about how you collect data, build targeted messaging, design a marketing strategy, implement lead generation, create sales tools, establish sales process and best practices, etc., etc. You build process, discipline accountability an a platforma for excellence.
  • “When the dealer is determining whether to give us a chance on a few deals and developing a preference for the long term, how are we ensuring that no-brainer value connection to close the deal?”
  •  “When we enter into the transactional relationship phase of deal flow, what is our account management, communication and penetration strategy to be the lead horse in their stable of lenders?”

Just examples, but from each of these questions you build process, resources, best practices, sales enablement tools, marketing execution, etc. And before you know it…you have the beginnings of a living, customizable business development model in place to power your success. But If you really do this right, it’s not a model or strategy, it becomes a culture. One that just might be the first steps to heights you had not imagined.

More to come on our Vendor Finance Strategies soon. Wanna chat? Give us a holler.

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