Specific objectives require specific people skills in order to achieve required results. If the business development objectives are fuzzy or undifferentiated, the results will be disappointing. If the people skills required are also unclear, the business development outcomes are programmed for disaster.

The New Vice President

Recently, we worked with the new Vice President of Business Development of an international high tech firm, which we will call International Analytical Systems. The name of the company has been changed to protect confidentiality.

The Vice President, Jim Ainsworth, was most outstanding. He understood clearly the changes he needed to make both in the business development strategy as well as the interactive skills needed by the BD professionals.

For the past ten years the company's marketing approach was the classic product sales. This means that the sales team relied on the reputation of the company and the product to win proposals. The B.D. strategy focused on the analytical aspects of the product proposal and not their relationships with clients. This approach had dismal results.

The Vice President, Jim Ainsworth, changed the strategy wanting a relationship sale, where B.D. professionals focused on building long-term relationships with international clients. This is a radical change for a high tech company who for years had their finest technical and project people poised for sales. The intangible sale required totally different thinking and different people skills.

Desired Characteristics for the Long Term Relationship Sale

First: The ability to build long term relationships with clients over time.

These relationships are often complex in nature and require considerable skill over the years. Relationships must be established and maintained in a multinational, multicultural context. This implies insight into people and their culture and an ability to build intimacy and trust quickly.

Second: Identify business possibilities through relationships.

This includes skills like listening, as well as individual and group discussion with clients. Based on understanding and insight into the client, identify business prospects and create solutions that are innovative, and adaptive to the clients situation. The Business Development Professional must "hear" client issues and set the basis for addressing conflicts that will arise.

Third: Negotiation skills

Negotiation skills include the abilities to be assertive, an instinct for the competitive edge, and willingness to bring up these issues easily for discussion. Built-in conflicts that exist in all business relationships are addressed throughout the process. Patience is required as the deal emerges and takes shape.

Translating Characteristics into Birkman Components

We translated these skills into 13 Birkman Interest and Personality components. Building a Model required both a theoretical framework as well as considerable research of companies and individuals, both past and present clients, who have achieved this kind of sale. For example, when researching individuals who have succeeded at this sale, assertiveness was more important than competitiveness. Theory would assume the opposite.

With the Birkman Connect Internet system, the Model can be entered and printed whenever a candidate is considered for a position. The Model is considered a guide, a way to sort through complex data and identify specific factors relevant to a specific position, in this case Business Development.

Comments from the Vice President

Checking back with the client, Jim Ainsworth is pleased with the results and has fifty percent new people in the Business Development Division. He wants to continue with this methodology to other departments under his supervision. Jim said he was skeptical at first that the Devich Consulting Group could achieve these results, but was most pleased with the outcome.

• If the President or business owner does not have a strategy for a division, it is rare than the new employee will have such a plan.
• If you need the new person to develop the plan, that criteria must be part of the hiring process. You must hire people who can think through and develop the strategy.
• Because complex thinking required for strategies is an intangible, there is uncertainty about delving into this skill during the hiring process.
• For our clients, we can structure the hiring process to focus on the intangibles.

• Fear of failure can prevent decisiveness and exploring new options.
• Avoiding uncertainty translates into avoiding change.
• Our coaching programs encourage the kind of thinking and risk taking that achieves objectives.