Consistency builds customer relationships

Every organization has a business culture.Just as in the tale of the hare and the tortoise,some businesses choose to take acommanding lead in the marketplace, andothers prefer to hang back and survey theiroptions more carefully.Some organizations exemplify aproactive cultureof pursuing everybusiness growthopportunity,prospective merger,stock growthor acquisition.Others take amore passive andreactive approach,playing off the circumstancesof themarket and grabbing opportunities asthey appear.Inevitably, the business culture ofan organization is what attracts certainindividuals to that company. Thedevelopment of a culture should begeared toward the market the organizationis trying to target. This createsan environment that attracts highlytalented people. Often debated,though, is whether a firm's culturedraws individuals or individuals createthe culture. The answer is, it'sprobably a combination of both.But a company's business developmentculture is less clear and lesswell-defined because most peopleknow very little about it. Businessdevelopment is a term used foreverything from sophisticated sellingto business growth through mergersand acquisitions.Most people have limited knowledgeof how business development isachieved and by whom. They alsolack the understanding to differentiatebetween business development ona strategic and a tactical level.Strategic business developmentexamines how to grow the organization and tactical business developmentfocuses on everyday tasks, suchas acquiring new revenue and fulfillingclient obligations.Ultimately, the business developmentculture of a company is set bythe principles, values and ethics of itsleaders and those responsible forbusiness development and revenueresults. It is a reflection of the characterof those individuals, executedthrough operational and tactical businessdevelopment plans and exhibitedby the individuals charged withcarrying out those plans.Business development culture isanchored either ongoals or purpose. Agoal-driven culture isfocused on revenuegrowth, bookings, stockappreciation and internalmetrics, primarilyintended to drivebehavior and desiredresults. A purpose-drivenculture isfocused on understandingthe problems andissues of your market, your customers,and most important, the individualswho purchase your productsand services.A purpose-driven culture focuseson how to solve client/prospect problems,challenges and issues, whetherthere is an immediate purchase orrevenue result to the firm. Clearly,each culture can benefit the organizationin different ways, but each hasdownsides, too.Given the benefits and risks, can abalance exist in a firm between a purpose-driven and a goal-drivenbusiness development culture? Yes,and ideally there should be such a balance.However, it's important tounderstand that your prospects orcustomers are interested first andforemost in your purpose. They wantto know what value you have in providingthem with solutions and eliminatingproblems. They and youalready understand your goal of revenuegrowth.Developing, fostering and valuing abusiness development culture are significantresponsibilities of seniorcompany leaders, and the resultingculture requires buy-in from everyonein the organization engaged in customercontact.If company employees exhibit conflictingbusiness development culturesand differing philosophies, thisinconsistency will result in marketplaceconfusion. A dichotomy of businessdevelopment cultures within afirm, its divisions or subsidiaries willtend to erode overall customer confidencein that company, weaken itscompetitive advantage and dissolveany hard-earned trust.In the end, business development andrevenue generation are derived from therelationships of trust produced by astrong, consistent and well-balancedbusiness development culture.