7
Priority 3 – Externalise business
development efforts to generate
new opportunities, leads and
enquiries
If you have just skipped here without reading Chapters 5 and 6 I’m going
to emphasise again that there is little point in investing in external activi-
ties until you have mastered the art of converting as many of your existing
leads into protable business as possible and until you put in place strate-
gies to get more business from your existing base. Getting your priorities
right is crucial.
Once you’ve done that it’s time to look at lling up the ‘enquiries or leads
bucket’, mentioned earlier. There are many business development activities
that will drive potential customers or clients to you. I will focus here on
those that I believe to be the most practical and important in terms of cost.
Yes, I could tell you to set aside some cash for TV advertising or sponsoring
a Premier League football team, but my gut feeling is that most of my
readers haven’t got a spare million or two to play with. With this in mind,
here are my top ve external activities for winning protable customers
and clients. The sections in this chapter discuss each in detail:
the internet: the commonsense guide to developing your business
online;
14 ways to develop your business through joint ventures and collaboration;
how to win in competitive situations;
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