Business Development For Dummies

Growing a small business requires more than just sales.

Business Development For Dummies helps maximise the growth of small- or medium-sized businesses, with a step-by-step model for business development designed specifically for B2B or B2C service firms. By mapping business development to the customer life cycle, this book helps owners and managers ensure a focus on growth through effective customer nurturing and management. It's not just sales! In-depth coverage also includes strategy, marketing, client management, and partnerships/alliances, helping you develop robust business practices that can be used every day. You'll learn how to structure, organise, and execute an effective development plan, with step-by-step expert guidance.

Realising that you can't just "hire a sales guy" and expect immediate results is one of the toughest lessons small business CEOs have to learn. Developing a business is about more than just gaining customers – it's about integrating every facet of your business into an overarching strategy that continually works toward growth. Business Development For Dummies provides a model and teaches you what you need to know to make it work for your business.

• Learn the core concepts of business development and how it differs from sales.
• Build a practical, step-by-step business development strategy.
• Incorporate marketing, sales, and customer management into general planning.
• Develop and implement a growth-enhancing partnership strategy.

Recognising that business development is much more than just sales is the first important step to sustained growth. Development should be daily – not just when business starts to tail off, or you fall into a cycle of growth and regression. Plan for growth and make it stick – Business Development For Dummies shows you how.