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Business Development Isn’t Just for Small Business: Big Boys can Play Too

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Why larger companies are looking at outsourcing business development in today’s marketplace. 

With contracts taking longer and longer to come to fruition, the days of in house business developers may be quickly coming to an end…even for large companies. In today’s economy, even the big boys cannot justify the overhead of a full-time business development specialist. With salary ranges of $120-175k plus benefits, taxes, and expense reimbursements, a company can end up paying upwards of $250k per year for an experienced business developer. Who can afford that?

More and more companies are turning to outsourced business development firms, like Springboard, to ask, “How can we do this at less cost while hitting all the key areas?“ It’s simple; at Springboard we’ve taken what we’ve always done for smaller businesses to the larger market.  We expanded and brought in more talent to give larger corporations the access, the exposure, and the opportunities they need based on their budget.

Just look at the bottom line!

What your large corporation used to pay in terms of salary for a single business development specialist can now be used to outsource 3-5 high-level business development experts. That is what we offer at Springboard. We know the more ears, eyes, and feet you have out in the marketplace the more opportunities we will find and you will win.

If you have any questions, contact Springboard Business Development by calling 410-832-7560 or click here today!

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the financial  burden of an in-house business developer.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn as well!

Five Ways to Tell You are Losing a Sale

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We have said it before and we will say it again, sales is definitely not an exact science. But while there is no one way in which to go about a sale, there are some fairly common warning signs to tell you are losing a sale. These telltale signs that you are losing a sale include:

1. You Aren’t Dealing With A Decision Maker: If you aren’t put in touch with a decision maker after a few conversations, this is not a good sign. So do your best to get in contact with someone that actually has the authority to buy your product or service. Otherwise, you are wasting your time. And time is everything to a salesperson.

2. There is No Deadline for a Decision: One way to firm up deadlines is to offer limited-time discounts/offers to create a sense of urgency. If this doesn’t work, move on. You cannot waste your time on a pointless sales meeting.

3. You are Asked for a Proposal and Not a Conversation: It is hard to give someone your sales pitch if you do not meet with them face to face. After all, business is all about forming meaningful relationships. Find anyway you can to get your foot in the door and have a face-to-face conversation. This may be hard, but you have to try.

4. Your Price is Too High: What makes your product or service worth so much? If your competitors are offering the same product/service at a lower price and you cannot justify your high prices with superior service, then consider changing your price tag or losing sales.

5. Your Client Seems Indifferent: This is never a good sign. If your potential client begins to lose interest and stops asking engaging questions, you may be out of a sale.

Of course, if you do lose a sale, you should use that opportunity to grow as a salesperson. How? Checkout one of our past blogs: Learning from Lost Sales: Turning a Negative into a Positive.

Then again, you could always just outsource your sales needs to a professional business development firm, like Springboard!

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. It’s simple, while you focus on you core business activities, we bring our sales expertise and connections to focus on your business development challenges.

Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the concerns of sales team turn-over, lack of sales expertise and payroll.

If you have any questions, contact Springboard Business Development by calling 410-832-7560 or click here today!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn as well!

Sources:

Five Signs You’re Losing a Sale – And How to Save it

The Role of Marketing in Business Development: The Benefits of Outsourced Lead Generation Services

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The most effective salespeople are those salesmen and saleswomen who efficiently manage their time. And the most effective businesses are the ones with the most effective salespeople. And no, that is not a coincidence. So what are you doing to help maximize the effectiveness of your sales team? One ultra-useful sales tool is outsourced lead generation.

By outsourcing lead generation needs to a professional business development firm you allow your sales people to focus on selling while the firm’s sales experts generate qualified leads and set up sales appointments. Other benefits of outsourcing lead generation services include:

•      Effective targeting and better prescreening methods

•      Ensures qualified leads

•      Your team can devote even more time to actually selling

•      Increases sales volume

•      Increases closing ratio

•      Makes you more money!

•      Lower cost per sale than traditional sales methods

•      Allows a sales team to focus on selling, not marketing

•      No need for additional employees or training

•      Professional firms have access to resources and databases that you may not

As you can see, there are many advantages to outsourced lead generation services.

Appointment setting and lead generation are highly specialized forms of direct marketing that is usually best outsourced to the specialists. That is why you should outsource your business development needs to a professional sales firm, like Springboard!

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. It’s simple, while you focus on you core business activities, we bring our sales expertise and connections to focus on your business development challenges.

Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the concerns of sales team turn-over, lack of sales expertise and payroll.

If you have any questions, contact Springboard Business Development by calling 410-832-7560 or click here today!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn as well!

Sources:

Benefits of Outsourced Lead Generation Services

Lead Generation Outsourcing: streamlining your marketing resources

Learning from Lost Sales: Turning a Negative into a Positive

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You can’t win them all (if sales were that easy, everyone would be in the business). What you can do is learn from those lost sales. A good sales person loses a sale and moves on to the next prospect; a great sales person loses a sale and asks “why?”

Which sales person are you? The one who ignores defeat, or the one that learns from that defeat and constantly strives to be better? Remember, those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. So don’t risk losing future deals because you failed to address past failures.

Ask Yourself the Following Questions:

  • Was I able to effectively communicate with the customer?
  • Did I learn the prospect’s key needs and desired benefits?
  • If so, how did I address those needs?
  • How did the customer respond to me?
  • What sales techniques did I try?
  • How did the customer respond to those techniques?

Set Up a Post-Sale Debriefing with the Prospect

  • Ask the following question: “I’m always looking to improve, what could I have done better to earn your business?”
  • Don’t settle for vague answers. Ask “How do you mean?” or “Say more” to help probe for more detailed answers.
  • Don’t get defensive or angry. Take full responsibility for everything.
  • Don’t try to resell the prospect.

By learning from failed sales deals, you will grow as a sales person and become a much more efficient seller.

If you have any questions, contact Springboard Business Development by calling 410-832-7560 or click here today!

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. It’s simple, while you focus on delivery, we bring our sales expertise and connections to focus on your business development challenges.

Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the concerns of sales team turn-over, lack of sales expertise and payroll.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

What Did You Learn from the Last Sale You Lost?

Leadership Development Tips for 2012

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What is your New Year’s Resolution? Maybe you want to lose weight, travel more, or stop smoking. Or maybe you want to become a more efficient leader. After all, business development begins with you, the business owner. To grow as a business you must first grow as a leader.

There are lots of things you can do to better yourself as a business leader, but we don’t have enough time to explain them all so we have outlined our top suggestions.

Don’t Neglect the Present to Plan for the Future: Yes, the ultimate goal is to grow your business. But you cannot be so focused on future growth that you neglect the here and now. If you re-direct your focus on current business transactions and work to perfect what your business already does well, the rest will fall into place.

Listening: Listen to what your employees and clients are saying. After all, happy clients provide referrals, which brings in more business and makes you more money. This will make you a happy business owner. And happy employees will work harder and more efficiently, which brings in more business and makes you more money. This will also make you a happy business owner.

So stop talking at people and start listening to what they have to say.

Unlearning: Forget what you think you know about business…it is ever evolving. So stop relying on outdated methods and ineffective techniques. If you want your business to grow and prosper, you must first be willing to change your way of thinking. Just because something worked in the past does not mean it will continue working. Always be on the lookout for new sales techniques and more effective business practices.

Focus on What You do Best & Outsource the Rest: As a business owner, you are pulled in several different directions at once. You are forced to divide your attention between marketing, sales, business growth, customer service, and much more. And there is simply not enough time in the day to give each area of your business the time it deserves. As a result, your business suffers.

You cannot afford to do anything halfheartedly in the corporate world. So what is the solution? What is the best use of your time? Well, unfortunately there is no one answer. Every sector of your business is equally as important as the next.

However, one of the best ways to lessen your business burden is to outsource your sales to a professional business development firm, like Springboard!

Springboard offers outsourced sales solutions for businesses in the professional services arena. It’s simple, while you focus on delivery, we bring our sales expertise and connections to focus on your business development challenges.

If you have any questions, contact Springboard Business Development by calling 410-832-7560 or click here today!

Our approach to business development makes it easy to find new clients without the concerns of sales team turn-over, lack of sales expertise and payroll.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

5 Leadership Tips for 2012

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