It’s long been my professional mantra that business development efforts worth pursuing and supporting are those that are conducted both strategically and systematically. A mantra is supposed to be short, but just this once I have to defy convention and lengthen mine by adding: If you want consistent results, business development must be given proper resources all the time – not just sometimes.

The challenge can be summarized like this: In the day-to-day operation of many agencies, what is almost always trumps what if.

What is, of course, is the work at hand. Projects already committed to and client relationships already in the fold that require the best thinking and most creative explorations. Not only have you made promises to these clients that you must keep, the hard and fast of it is that these clients pay the bills. Integrity plus reality equals obligation.

Business development, on the other hand, represents what if. Throughout much of the process of pursuing new clients, agencies often feel little sense of commitment, almost no obligation, and sometimes a certain lack of integrity experienced as a kind of passive-aggressive pattern of disregard for new opportunities and frustration when said opportunities amount to nothing.

Just about any small and mid-sized agency struggles with the “what is” versus “what if” situation. There are only so many resources to spread around. If you find yourself in that situation more often than not, here are some suggestions for being true to the present and laying groundwork for the future:

  1. Be realistic about the volume of new business efforts you can pursue. Not everything is worth your time. Be exacting in your criteria about what is worth pursuing. Heck, for too many having any criteria at all is a big step forward. The more focus you have and the more that focus is based on a compelling strategy, the better your payoff will be when you devote resources.
  2. Be flexible. If you can’t support a full-time business development program, hire someone with flexible skills who can fulfill other functions when the hopper is too full. Agency marketing and public relations is one area of additional activity, as is maintaining the agency’s presence in social media venues. It goes hand-in-hand with new business. Another option is to consider outsourcing business development to a skilled consultant who works only on select assignments.
  3. Be seen. When it comes to scouting opportunities, being out in the marketplace is better than being behind a desk. Cold calling doesn’t cut it in agency business development. Trust me, it just doesn’t. Rather, send your new business pro to conferences and events when she/he will meet prospects, potential partners and, yes, even competitors. Your prospects are out there, not under the desk. The bonus of this is that your new business agent will be exposed to new ideas, including what the competition is doing.
  4. Be committed. When the need arises to pursue a prospect or pitch to them, make formal assignments of team members to help with research, strategy, creative concepting and pitch development. Perhaps one creative in particular can have this recurring assignment to ensure continuity. Make sure that those assigned treat this work on par with client work. Appoint a project manager to keep folks on task and on balance.
  5. Be clear. Don’t make the mistake of confusing responsibility with accountability for business development. Yes, everyone in the agency – leadership at the very least – has a responsibility to business development. But only one person should be accountable for it, whether it’s a team member assigned to the function or one of the senior leaders. And be sure to give the person with accountability enough authority to get the job done.
  6. Be generous. Finally, celebrate successes with everyone. When there’s a win, or even when you’ve moved ahead another round in a competitive pitch, make sure everyone feels the excitement and that thanks are liberally dispensed. That sense of collective accomplishment goes a long way toward getting your whole team to make the extra effort each time it’s required.