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Full Cycle Business Development

First, Traditional Business Development

Business Development is a marketing approach used to resolve operating problems or strategic deficiencies that result in inadequate sales volume. Business Development is not, as is commonly misunderstood, a synonym for "increasing sales."

Inadequate sales is a symptom, not the problem, the root cause of which may lie with a poor product mix or faulty company positioning, or may extend from an inadequate product line and bad documentation to poorly selected and/or poorly trained staff, inadequate use or selection of CRM software, or changing markets, channels, and demographics.  Complex problems are not easily solved simply by just adding salespeople.

While superior sales staff can always maximize revenue, paying a premium for salespersons  masks the real issues and rarely yields acceptable ROI. If the core problem is technical or operational, misplaced emphasis on augmenting sales staff will only compound the problem. If it's the wrong product or if it's being directed at a changed market through an obsolete channel, then what's required is marketing, not sales, or at least not sales alone.

The full marketing cycle is the engine that carries a company to success. Sales is but one of the cylinders. The full motor can be defined in different ways, but essentially consists of:

• product development and management,
• Product marketing
• Marketing communications (including advertising and public relations)
• Channel and market assessment and development
• Documentation and collateral
• Sales training, sales, and sales management
• Post-sale support and account management
• Customer service and technical Support

The Limitation of Traditional Business Development

Traditional Business Development is therefore the process that uses every aspect of the marketing cycle to maximize revenue. Teleconvergence consults in traditional Business Development, true, but we add a significant dimension to the process.

The limitation of traditional business development is this: suppose every firm took this enlightened path to increased revenue and profitability, and suppose they were successful. The result would be that each would still be locked into an equally competitive position. So, it's a success, yes, but it's not enough. Something else, something more is needed.

What is Full Cycle Business Development? How is it Different from Business Development?

Full Cycle Business Development: More than Just Curing Inadequate Sales

Full Cycle Business Development (FCBD) applies the full marketing and sales spectrum to help companies differentiate their products and services from their competition in order to develop superior positioning and sustained revenue streams.

Teleconvergence just doesn't provide Business Development expertise; we do it in a way that is designed to create Unique Business Propositions, Unique Value Propositions, and Unique Product Positioning for our clients.

The added value positions companies and products above the competition. It provides qualitative differentiation that drives higher margins and increased profitability.

We work with our clients' marketing and sales teams, never in competition with them, because we have the same objectives. If it takes creating new products or services and specifying the details, we either do it or we help them do it.  If it takes determining which new markets to enter and how existing products must be modified or translated to meet the new market demands, we'll do that, too.

If you sense you need better as much was you want more, then we may be able to help you even more. There's really no magic here, just a frank and thorough discussion.  We should both know if there's a potential fit before we're done.  Why not give us a call to discuss your situation?