Strategic Relationships: The X-Factor for Business Development Success

The new sales economy. It’s something every professional services firm should become familiar with, because it affects everything about developing new business and growing existing clients.

What is at the heart of this new economy? The ever-fluid shifting of business, technology, and cultural dynamics, coming together to dramatically alter the buying behaviors of prospects and clients.

The new sales economy, and specifically technology, has broadened the ways in which relationships are built and sustained. But it’s still the value created through a strategic relationship that remains at the heart of the most successful business development. This is especially true in high-value, B2B professional services environments. Every opportunity identified, and every opportunity earned is based on a combination of three core elements: reputation, results and relationships.

I recently spoke at the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) Summit on the topic of “Building Strategic Relationships for Sales Results.” In conjunction with the event, the AAM invited me to contribute an article for Growth Strategies, their quarterly magazine. In the article, I share how relationships are the “X-Factor” for business development success.

You can read the article, and the rest of the great content in the issue, by downloading a PDF of Growth Strategies. (Strategic Relationships: The X-Factor for Business Development Success can be found on page 8 of the PDF.)

Want to learn more about my formula for creating social capital? Watch this short video.