Coordinating Business Development for Cross-Industry Benefit

Ryan Miller

Theodore Roosevelt asserted that “the most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” This principle lies at the core of business development— the art of cultivating the customers, markets, and relationships that produce long-term value and drive organizational growth. Getting along with people and bringing the right people together is a key driver of success and can transform the way organizations approach business development.

Standard tactics for building business relationships have changed dramatically in the past decade. Postal mailers and yellow page ads are practically obsolete for making initial contacts with potential customers. Mass e-mail? Straight to the spam filter. Cold calls? Forget it. If they don’t know you, you won’t get past caller ID. Unless you’ve got a personal connection, it is very hard to even make it onto a prospective client’s radar. Often, making that connection requires drawing on relationships with other professionals who can facilitate an introduction.