Today we have a guest post from seasoned business development expert and all-round great guy, Chris Abbey. Chris and I worked together for many years in a ‘previous life’ and when it comes to relationship selling, he is one of the best I have seen. Chris has his own business development blog (www.abbeysbdcorner.com). Chris can be reached via LinkedIn: (Chris Abbey) I hope you enjoy Chris’s offering:

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If you are in sales, you likely offer your prospect a list of features of your product or service. It’s difficult to imagine selling anything without mentioning the reasons why your offering is great. Over the years I have sold several different products and services. At first, it used to be my habit to tout the features or qualities of what I was selling; and that is still something I do today. However, these days I don’t just list features; I go further and explain the benefits of those features.

Over time, I learned people were not interested in why my offering was good or different, but they were really interested in how my offering could help them. People want to know, “What’s in it for me?” So, I always try to illustrate that for them.

I have never had anyone buy from me because my company has been in business for more than 80 years. But I have had prospects respond to the idea that 80 years of experience has provided us with tons of lessons that could save them time or money.

No one ever bought the market data I was selling simply because it was the most recent available. But people did buy my information because the freshness of it enabled them to make reliable forecasts for their business.

Currently, my office is situated so that I can hear vendors make their pitches to the decision-makers at my company. Nearly every day some sales rep will come in and rattle off a list of features, firsts, mosts, biggests, bests, or whatever of their product or service. None of that impresses the person they are pitching. The vendors who make sales are the ones who point out their offering will benefit us.

Whatever you are selling, try listing at least one benefit for every feature you mention. If your copier is faster than your competition’s, point out the time spent at the copier will be reduced so the extra time can be spent on more important things. If your moving company has completed more corporate moves than anyone else in town, let your prospect know that all those moves have given you special insights into how to relocate them with minimal interruptions of their operations.

Benefits are amazing things and pointing them out will enhance your offering exponentially. Just remember to think about what’s in it for the person you are talking to. If you get into the habit of selling the benefits of your offering rather than the superlatives of your offering, you will see results; and ultimately you will see what’s in it for YOU.

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

There was a time, many, many moons ago, when as a student in business school, I could have walked you through all the steps that explain how money gets transferred from a check you wrote at your local store to that very same store receiving the money represented by said check.

Understanding that process was a portion of one of my final finance exams and I remember that I knew it very well and ‘aced’ at least that particular portion of the test. I share that to say that I don’t remember much else of what was on that exam and am confident I would not come close to recalling that money path today. (Do people still write checks?)

However, there was one nugget of information I specifically remember from those days and that being the ‘Law of Diminishing Returns. I believe the reason I remember this so well is the visual example my professor used to illustrate this important pearl of wisdom…a one acre tomato patch.

Simply stated, the law of diminishing returns states there comes a point when additional efforts, after a certain level of performance has been reached, will result in a decline in effectiveness. To illustrate this point, the professor had us look at a one acre tomato patch ready for harvest. Bear with me while I get a bit ‘mathy’.

With one person harvesting tomatoes, we achieve an output of X.

If we can afford to hire another picker, we can achieve X + Y.

If we can afford another picker, we can achieve X + Y + Z.

As we add additional pickers, we will see our productivity increase. However, there will come a time when, by adding one more picker, our input will start to decrease. That is when we hit the point of diminishing returns.

Why would our productivity suddenly decrease? One reason could be that the one acre plot is no longer large enough to accommodate the number of harvesters. They will soon start getting in each other’s way, their ability to effectively pick tomatoes is compromised and our productivity/output will start to decrease.

What does picking tomatoes have to do with building new business? Not much. What does paying attention to diminishing returns have to do building new business? A lot.

If we spend X on ads in national trade publications, it is possible that we spend more than what our return will provide?

If we continue to hire sales people, will we eventually divide our competitive territory to a point where each sales rep is not as effective?

Suppose we subscribe to every possible lead service there is and we end up spending 35 hours per week reviewing, qualifying, and categorizing each lead so that we are only left with five hours to pursue these leads?

Just like my many golf examples, your business development, sales and marketing efforts may could use a nice review from a qualified, objective third party. Ask your employees, your partner, your accountant or someone in your network you trust to take a look at some of your processes and get a second opinion. It is kind of like when I write a new post on here, I read and re-read it before I send it to my proof reader who always sees mistakes I missed. (In fairness to my proof reader, I don’t always utilize her services and post away!)

The law of diminishing returns can apply to just about every facet of how one runs a business. Don’t be too focused on picking tomatoes to not be concerned about if we are picking tomatoes effectively.

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

Discrimination, to many, seems like such a toxic word.

Ask someone, “Do you discriminate in running your business?” and you will more than likely get a quick, “Absolutely not!” for a reply.

Naturally, I am not talking about the kind of discrimination where you will not provide someone an opportunity because you don’t like the fact that their favorite college football team is not in the SEC…or that they are big fans of Michael Bolton. I am talking about the positive ways we discriminate.

I happen to practice discrimination nearly every day. Examples:

I have been on a huge fruit kick here lately and cannot get enough cantaloupe. When I purchase cantaloupe, I most definitely discriminate against those that are too far from being ripe, too small and depending on the store, too expensive.

Thanks to caller ID…I can be quite discriminating as to whether or not I pick up the phone. If I see that the incoming call is from an 800, 877, 866 ‘area code’, I tend to let those go to voice mail.

I even discriminate against items I have already purchased. When I create a ‘Playlist on my iTunes/iPod, depending on what I am trying to accomplish with said list, I discriminate against some of my favorite musicians.

Even in such challenging times as we are in today, I believe effective discrimination can help us as we build new business. A few ways we accomplish this is as follows:

(1) We will not sell you anything if we do not believe it will benefit you. The mainstay offering from this blog is our inter-active business development solution called, are you ready for this? ‘Building New Business’. We do not sell this to just any contractor struggling to bring in sales but we pre-screen each to see if this would be a good match for them.

(2) We do not offer the same terms to each client. Well, initially we do, but if a client becomes a ‘challenge’ by ‘slow paying’ or ‘no paying’, then once we get beyond that hurdle and we decide to continue working together, we create new terms. We are not, nor should you be, in business to fund other people’s businesses.

(3) We discriminate daily in how we spend our time reading articles, newsletters and yes, blogs such as this. There is way more information out there than one person could possibly process in a day and I believe that, for the most part, there is way more good and useful information. I do encourage you to check out a few such resources, give them a chance and if they work for you, make them a part of your weekly or monthly planning. If they don’t prove effective, discriminate against the ineffective ones and find one to takes its place.

Yes, that even includes this blog.

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

I am happy to report that this month, our little company Construction Market Consultants, Inc. is ten years old. That’s all I wanted to say about that; I just realized this a few weeks ago and thought I would share it in my next post…and now, on to your regularly scheduled blog.

I have written many times, finding ways to weave an analogy about golf and business mainly because I believe such mentions help create a pretty decent word picture. When asked what we do, a quick answer is that we are very much like a golf coach for your business. We come in, take a look at your ‘game’ and help you enhance what is working and correct and improve what is not.

So here we go again with one more golf to business/business to golf illustration.

One can learn a lot of useful information for both their golf game and their business from blogs, articles, newsletters, etc. I remember one of the most profound tips I ever received for my golf game came while waiting to get a haircut. It was a simple, one-page item about the difference between missing a putt on the ‘amateur’ side versus the pro side. Some may know what this means but if you are one that doesn’t and are curious, let me know.

I do believe there comes a time when one should consider seeking some customized answers. One size may fit all for hotel robes but not so much when it comes to building new business. I do love reading articles which such headlines as ‘Five Techniques To Increase Sales ’That Start With The Letter ‘M’. (I am actually writing one as we speak.) However, not everyone is selling the same product or service and they are not selling to the same group of prospects. Sometimes, a little customization is in order.

There are definitely some universal truths that will help anyone’s game but every now and then, consider calling your ‘local pro’ and ask for a lesson.

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

Two years ago, I wrote a post entitled ‘The Calm Before The Storm’ which highlighted the importance of staying active in your marketing, especially when things are slowing down. (Click here if you are curious) Now that the market appears to begin showing new signs of life, I believe this begs the question; will we be ready once the spigot is opened up a few notches?

I know our company has experienced a healthy boost in activity from our recruiting and executive placement clients…an almost scary amount of activity. Another positive sign is a call I received from a client to tell me about a recent success that made my entire month. This particular client is the owner of a young start up and called to share how they had just landed the largest contract of his entire career; a multi-million dollar project that will keep him and his crew busy for some time.

Our web development and social media consulting has reached a fever pitch and we have definitely been ‘drinking water from a fire hose’ in that department. I know these are good problems to have but I truly believe we must prepare for good times as well as bad.

Our little company, ‘Construction Market Consultants, Inc.’ will be ten years old next month and while I do agree that time does fly when having fun, to say the past ten years has always been a walk in the park would be a wee bit inaccurate.

The past 18 months has been a walk in the park but instead of a stroll by the lake with children flying kites and couples picnicking, it has been more like a scurry through Central Park, at 1:00 AM with the hair on the back of your neck doing a tango while being chased by street toughs.

In preparation for what I hope to be a storm of new business, I have been reaching out and touching base with those contacts that are still in their current position or with the same company as they were ten years ago. If I have a ‘black belt’ in anything, it is how I manage my contacts.

I believe one can never overestimate the importance of keeping in touch with friends, acquaintances, colleagues, associates and even near total strangers that have somehow earned their way into your list of contacts. I have found this to be important because these are the people I can turn to when I need a ‘favor’ or a name that will help me solve a problem, complete a task or reach a goal.

I do not believe I am alone in my optimism. Of course, there are plenty of articles offering good news, guarded good news and not so good news; at least in our tiny world, companies are starting to hire again. I see the cup as half full and rising. As we all continue to build new business let’s hope we are not like the dog that finally catches the car and has to ponder, what do I do now?

I hope the storm arrives soon and we all have to hustle fulfilling business obligations instead of trying to find them.

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

Carl, the rookie, peered above his monitor, still trying to get past the careless mistake from the last bid, he wanted more than life to not miss anything on this one. As the chief approached his desk, Carl was certain the entire room could hear his heart beating. “Listen Kid,” barked the chief, “I have been doing this a long time and the secret to success in this game is simple…”

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I have been toying with the idea to begin a blog posting with the famous line, ‘It was a dark and stormy night.’ for a while now and it finally dawned on me this week how I could pull this off. With apologies to Nike, the answer was, just do it. The point being, with the Internet and social media, there is nothing stopping me from writing a blog dealing with building new business in the construction marketplace with any title I desire. That is the power and freedom of social media, just do it.

I have shared more than once my conversion from being a staunch ‘agnostic’ to the whole social media, blogging game to a full-bore evangelist. When I first heard of blogging, my initial thought was, ‘What kind of egomaniac would create a page where he/she posts their thoughts with the expectation that others will want to read their offerings.

The same with Twitter…how in the world could there ever be any practical business use for a company to gain any traction by ‘Tweeting’?

We are currently working with a client who is in the midst of a total rebrand; Website 2.0, social media explosion even a new ‘mascot’. One of the neat things for me during this has been going back over the basics with the client and taking a look at my own company and how they each apply. However, the freedom to initiate change is often negated by the lack of drive.

So, apart from writing a blog with the cliché for a title, what else do I plan on doing?

I am going to encourage you to write a blog, or hire someone to write one for you.

I am going to encourage you to add at least two more blogs to your RSS feed or subscribe to them.

I am going to encourage you to have someone listen to your sales presentation and give you their honest feedback.

I am going to encourage you to take a look at what you use for your CRM and come up with five items you need for it to do that it isn’t already…and come up with a plan to make that happen.

I am going to encourage you to add ten new and appropriate contacts on LinkedIn, join two new groups show your expertise by answering at least one question.

I am going to encourage you to join or start your own networking group.

I am going to encourage you to set a goal of ‘x’ number of contacts and forward them your ‘Finder’s Fee’ agreement. (If you don’t have one, let me know and I will send you ours.)

There are so many ‘little’ things we can do that will help us build new business, the problem is that too often we are busy ‘sustaining old business’ to think about the new. One is never too successful to learn new ways to make things better.

And as far as storms go, I am reminded of the old saying that Noah did not wait until it started raining to begin building the ark…and if the past 18 months have not been stormy, call me and tell me your secret.

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

Mark Buckshon is the reason why I started a blog in the first place. How Mark and I met makes for a pretty cool networking story and from that, he gave me my first ‘big break’ by allowing me to write an article for one of his regional newspapers.

Last year’s blog contest came to my attention because I subscribe to Mark’s blog and his newsletter. It was through one of the two that I became aware of the contest and while one could nominate their own blog, I saw that Chris Hill (Construction Law Musings) was in the hunt so I figured why join a ‘fight’ I cannot win. (Translation: Chris’ blog is, in my opinion, one of the very best out there.)

Later, in an update about the contest, I saw that I was not only nominated, but leading the voting. That changed the landscape of my intentions and after reading the rules, I saw that I better give this competition some attention.

The purpose of this entry is not so much to tell one how to win a blog contest but to emphasize the importance of contact management. In my ‘previous life’, there was a period of my career where I was responsible for training all the researchers at Construction Market Data, an international construction information group. That involved mastering their large database of projects, companies and contacts. That is where I developed my passion for CRMs, data mining and was able to weave my healthy dose of OCD into a pretty decent career.

Last year’s blog contest was like ‘American Idol’ except, no judges…just people ‘calling in’ to vote. This year, Mark has added other criterion which I believe is a great idea. After the contest, I wrote in my post ‘Madonna Voted Best Singer’ that I did not think for a minute my blog was the best. However, because part of what I do is train people and consult with companies on the importance of maintaining their data, leveraging it, networking and marketing and if the contest could be won by simply asking people to vote, then I knew I had no choice but to win.

Harvey MacKay, the author of such great books as, ‘How To Swim With The Sharks Without Getting Eaten Alive’ and ‘Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty suggests you should have as a goal to create a list of people that you can call on at midnight and they will be happy to loan you $10,000. While that is a goal I am still working on, I do have a very, very robust list of people I can contact who would easily consider clicking on a link to vote for me in a contest, referring me to someone or help me with any number of requests.

If the three most important words in real estate are location, location, location, I believe it could be argued the three most important words in building new business could be contacts, contacts, contacts. Some may think I carry this to the extreme but I currently have over 7,000 contacts, 80% of them are in the construction or design industry and I can tell you, for the most part, where I met that person, how we are connected, some small tidbit of history and more.

Also, the important part of maintaining your contacts is not to ‘touch base’ with them just when you need a favor.

After the contest was over, Mark called to talk and asked me how I gathered so many votes. At first, I did not want to tell him because the methods I used are actually part of the system I have developed and get paid to teach others. However, I did share with him the basics and even went so far as to share with him the text of the email I sent showing how I was able to gather so many votes. Mark published this in his follow up report.

Still, to this day, there are those who believed I ‘gamed the system’ or state that they believe I played fairly, ‘as far as they can tell.’ Those alone are the reasons I am sitting out the contest this year but I do encourage everyone to participate. There are a lot of great blogs out there with lots of great information and you can never tell when you will find that one little nugget or pearl of wisdom that could lead to bigger and better things.

Good luck bloggers!

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

For those who only know Mr. Springsteen’s music through the airwaves or via their favorite music playing machine, you really should consider seeing him live. More than likely, you will leave thinking that if the Olympics ever included rock and roll as an event, it is easily conceivable that Bruce Springsteen and the ‘E Street’ Band would win gold, silver and bronze.

That said, I remember one of the times he played in Atlanta, after a few songs, he stopped to greet the crowd, “How’s it going Chattanooga!?” Some good natured ‘Boos’ followed and he was quickly told he was in Atlanta. I remember thinking, how silly is that!? How could someone not know what city they are in? I mean, I am sure the tour is hectic but his days of lifting equipment; loading and unloading are/were way, way behind him.

Fast forward a few years and I one day find that I am assigned a rather large, ‘rock and roll’ task. Because of a very large initiative, and the debut of a new company within our stable, I was tapped to create, write and deliver a one hour presentation on how to introduce this new product to architectural firms.

My agenda was simple…do this presentation at all 12 of our major branch offices in five days.

As memory serves me, the schedule was:

Monday – San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco

Tuesday – Denver, Kansas City, Dallas

Wednesday – Chicago, Boston

Thursday – Washington DC, Atlanta

Friday – Tampa, Orlando

Just revisiting this schedule in my mind makes me tired. But, in those days, the potency of the ‘piss and vinegar’ running through my veins was definitely of a higher proof than today. In spite of all the eagerness and enthusiasm that I packed with me on this ‘whirlwind tour’, I did indeed find myself, in the back of a cab, wondering what city I was in. As soon as I reached for my itinerary, I remembered that Springsteen concert and thought to myself, “Wow, I don’t know what city I am in!”

Since those days, I have yet to find myself in the same situation. However, from time to time, in spite of my best OCD efforts to keep a well maintained scheduled and prioritized task list, I have had to take pause and focus on which way is up. For me, the end of the year is a great time to not only take a personal inventory of accomplishments and goals but for my business as well.

As we see 2010 draw upon a close and the wheels of commerce coast to a stop for another year, I hope you have fared well during this time of economic uncertainty and, from a business perspective, realize that if it did not kill you, it made you stronger.

Finally, while I publically apologize to Mr. Springsteen for my thoughts on his confusing Chattanooga with Atlanta, I also offer my most sincere wishes that you are able to build new business in 2011 to unprecedented heights.

Merry Christmas and here’s to a safe, happy and prosperous new year.

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

Way back when Jack Nicklaus was the undisputed king of golf, he would start out every season with his golf coach by reviewing the fundamentals…how to grip the club, proper stance, etc. When I first became aware of this, I found it pretty amazing and close to unbelievable. Here we have the greatest golfer in the world, having his instructor show him how to hold a golf club. Jack would then go through all the fundamentals of his swing…his stance, his take-back, the club alignment at the top of his swing, the down swing and the follow through.

While I cannot think of a better time for companies to be considering additional ways to build new business, I can also not think of a better time to review the fundamentals of how you got to where you are.
So, what does this have to do with the famous, ‘Three Most Important Factors about Real Estate’? If you are indeed one who is working on the 2.0 version of either yourself or your business, never forget or lose focus on the ‘critical mass’ that got you where you are today.

When I am approached by a prospective client, to get a better understanding of their needs, I typically make a few simple inquiries, one for example: Tell me, categorically speaking, what are the top five groups of your client base and how much does each represent of your total revenue? Rarely do I get an immediate answer.
Something as fundamental as being able to define your clients as ‘A, B, or C’ where ‘A’ represents 40% of your revenue while ‘B’, 25% and C 20% with the rest being several smaller components of ‘D’ is the business owner’s equivalent of ‘griping the golf club.’ when it comes to target marketing.

Location, Location, Location refers to not just real estate. If you don’t know the ‘location’ of your top three types of clients, then how in the world are you going to be able to effectively troll those waters for new business?

I have had some conversations with business owners that remind me of the old joke about the guy searching for his lost wallet under the streetlight. A stranger walks by, asks the man what he is looking for and then decides to help. After somewhat lengthy and futile search the stranger asks, “Are you sure you lost your wallet under this streetlight?” The response he gets is, “Oh no, I did not lose it here but the light is so much brighter, I figure It would be easier to find.”

Never stop looking for new ways to increase revenue but if you are an architect, engineer, general contractor, sub-contractor or building product manufacturer (the categorical breakdown of our client base) I would not consider adding baking cakes, chauffer services or pet sitting to your menu of ways to build new business. Review the fundamentals of how you got to where you are, know your clients and get creative. Just don’t stray too far from where you ‘lost your revenue’ and start looking in places you shouldn’t just because the light there is better.

Location – Are you able to readily identify your competitive geographical area?

Location – Are you able to readily identify your ‘critical mass’ prospects by category?

Location – Are you able to readily identify your marketing success? (Turning prospects into clients)

Now, the first two are probably easier to ‘locate’ but the third may require a bit more digging. Here is where I refer back to my entry on CRM. I honestly believe the single biggest area of opportunity companies over look when it comes to resources for building new business is how they manage/mis-manage their data.

I can actually think of a couple of more ‘locations’ worth identifying but choose to focus on these three for now. With margins tighter than ever, new opportunities as scarce as ever, quality data becomes that much more important.

Do you need to get a new ‘grip’ on the basics such as your prospects, your clients, your pricing structure? There is no better time than now to start shoring up this very important aspect of your business.

If you are going to play golf on Friday, you check the weather forecast. If you are a buying a stock, you check past performance. If you are buying a new washing machine, you look at ‘Consumers Reports’.

Is your own company’s knowledge base too close to skid row or is it a penthouse with a view of the mountains?

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com

That said, I do know what binary is and how it relates to computers. I find it fascinating when I see a software program or application that does some amazing things and realize that all a computer can really do is add 1 and 0.

With the beginning of a new year, I believe it deserves our personal consideration to be a bit more ‘binary’ as we look at our current efforts to build new business. Now, before we begin, please do not misinterpret what I am about to say as me believing all things are either black or white. This is only a test. Please ‘circle’ the appropriate response.

Q: Do you have a bona fide, you can reach in a drawer, put your hands on, marketing plan for 2011?
A: Yes or No

Q: Was your bona fide, 2010 marketing plan effective?
A: Yes or No

Q: All of your employees are aware of and support your marketing plan?
A: Yes or No

See the pattern we are developing here?

Sure, one could answer the above questions with, “Kind of” or “Sort of” but for this exercise, those responses do not compute. There is no better time than the beginning of a new year to be more decisive in what you will do to build new business for the next 12 months.

In closing, will you take a few moments to sit down, review your business development, sales and marketing strategy and see if you need to upgrade or are happy with the results of your current model?

A: Yes or No.

Remember, Goals that are not written down are just wishes.

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Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

www.cmconl.com