TZL 1291

3

O P I N I O N

Elevate your doer-sellers

If your firm uses a doer-seller business development model, empowering your team is necessary for their success and your bottom line.

A ccording to the Society for Marketing Professional Services Foundation research, over the next 10 years more than 50 percent of AEC firms are expected to increase their use of doer-sellers. If you employ a doer-seller model of business development, where some or all of your technical staff also function as business developers, empowering your team is critical to their success and, ultimately, your bottom line.

Jen Newman

client-relationship process and details how clients interact with and experience your brand. By creating a journey map with your doer-sellers, your team in- vests in and better understands client motivations, needs, and pain points as well as an action plan for meaningful client touchpoints. 3)Communication. One of the biggest pitfalls in firms – and business – is lack of communication. Set “When doer-sellers feel valued, their productivity increases and they are motivated to repeat behavior. Praise and recognition are essential to building confidence.”

Here are some tips to elevate the doer-seller model in your firm. 1)Culture. It starts at the top. Doer-sellers are mo- tivated by leadership and how business develop- ment is integrated and ingrained in firm culture. A strong business-development culture should adopt a “business development is everyone’s business” mentality – everyone in your firm is a resource, and a knowledge source to clients, prospects and team- ing partners. 2)Process. Technical professionals thrive in environ- ments with well-established structure and process. It’s no different with business-development activi- ties. Clearly defining your BD process provides doer- sellers a road map and increases efficiency and rein- forces skills through process repetition. Developing a client-experience journey map visually conveys the

See JEN NEWMAN, page 4

THE ZWEIG LETTER April 8, 2019, ISSUE 1291

Made with FlippingBook Annual report