Business Development for Professionals - 2024 Virtual Conference

Introduction

Chaired by Tony Reiss, this annual conference with a panel of leading experts offers a comprehensive update as to the current hot topics in this fast-moving area.

Each session will provide a full opportunity for questions and answers.

Conference Agenda

This 5 hour conference will cover the following:

10:00am-11:00am: How the Business Development Function Can be More Influential

Chair: Tony Reiss, Reiss Consulting

BD functions remain under scrutiny. Are they delivering? Are they adding value? How does your firm judge performance from your BD function?

This presentation looks at why the BD function exists and the criteria for success.

We will explore:

• A service model which explores the breakdown of work delivered in terms of the relative balance between strategic and operational inputs and whether the projects are proactively generated or reactive from the BD function perspective
• How the BD function can negotiate with the partnership to ensure that they can deliver an effective and efficient service - a 4-step negotiation process
• The interpersonal skills required by senior BD professionals which will add to the potential authority of advice offered and increase the chances of the advice being taken
• The push/pull influencing model in which we will discover that there are several different strategies for getting a ‘yes’

Morning Break

11:10am-12:10pm: Supporting Fee-Earners in their Sales Targeting

Kim Tasso, RedStarKim Limited

This session will cover:

• Why segmentation and targeting is critical to successful business development
• Targeting methods toolbox
• Analysing the past
• Considering the present
• Looking to the future
• Incorporating targeting into the M&BD plans

12:10pm-1:10pm: Rethinking Your Online Strategy

Edwina Mullins, SocialB Ltd

This session will cover:

• Developing a successful and measurable strategy
• Audience targeting and audience behaviours - find the best channels for your business
• Exploring all of your digital options - website, SEO, PPC, email marketing and social media
• Where does digital marketing fit into your current marketing plan?

Break for lunch

2:00pm-3:00pm: Digital Marketing Maturity & Digital Marketing Health

Richard Mayer, Director of Be Focused Ltd

It is valuable for every type of business to assess their level of digital maturity, particularly relative to others in their sector. Marketers should continuously be seeking improvements in the development of their digital strategies and use of campaign and performance data. Evidence shows however that without significant improvement in an organisation’s digital maturity and health, marketing performance and corresponding business success will be limited.

This session will cover

• The benefit to invest time and effort in assessing an organisations level of digital maturity and health
• Highlighting in particular the ways that technology and improved analytics can improve digital capabilities.

Afternoon break

3:15pm-4:15pm: Best Practice for Key Account Management in Professional Firms

Tony Reiss, Reiss Consulting

Most firms still have not got a key account management programme that is working perfectly. However, there are several real and psychological barriers to address.

This session will cover:

• What the areas are and give examples of what the leading firms do differently to make their key account management work
• The culture of these leading firms that mean that they have successfully moved from a transaction focus to a relationship focus
• Providing a tool to help delegates analyse what might be blocking progress being made
• Explore what actions a BD function could take to mitigate the blocks to progress
• Offer a four phased change management project to maximise the chances of successfully embedding a key account management programme

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.