Why Business Development Goals are Key

Most professionals with vaguely defined goals, find that their results are only vaguely successful.

They set up meetings, and eventually, their efforts bear fruit. Sort of.

Perhaps they get a client, not necessarily the ideal client, but certainly better than nothing.

Perhaps their prospective employer offers them a new job, not necessarily the job of their dreams, but better than the one they have.

Perhaps the prospective investor agrees to contribute to their startup, not at the terms they’d prefer, but… you get the point.

If they had gone into the process with clearer goals, they might have known what to ask for when they met with their contacts, including introductions to the people who could get them what they actually wanted.

And if they didn’t have access to those people, they would start getting creative by joining the organizations that could expose them to their ideal prospects. Instead, they settled for whatever was available.

A few years (and compromises) later, they have a book of business made up of suboptimal clients, or a resume that doesn’t reflect the career trajectory they feel they deserved, or a gaggle of small investors who can’t properly fund their company.

I’m not suggesting that being opportunistic is bad, only that being strategic is better. And when it comes to networking, having specific goals will pay off in the long run.