Is your startup ready to hire a Business Developer

I have already broken my first NewYear resolution of writing 1 blog post every 2 weeks which means that my work is completely invading my personal time. However, now, I am quite determined to take things in control and get back to my routine.. Let’s see

So, let me start with a discussion I had with an ex-colleague that I met on the very first day of 2010! This ex-colleague is a technology guru and has had a great record with all the companies he has been associated with. He took to entrepreneurship about a couple of years ago and has managed to build a company with 20+ employees. Indeed Impressive! What next? He just hired a BD Specialist and unfortunately, is worried.

I always thought that a BD’s performance is measured by the business he generates but my views got a severe blow after the discussion with this ex-colleague!

In his words: “My BD guy seems to be working fine, but I am really worried about the time he spends in office. He is only spending 6 – 7 hrs in the office which, I am afraid, will impact the culture I have built in the company!”

Empathizing with his concern, I had to ask: “Haven’t you spoken with your BD about this?” to which he replied, “Oh yes! I did. But he claims that he has to work 2 -3 hrs in the night (mainly telephonic cold calls) as our prospective clients are based in US (while we are in India). Why does he have to call them, can’t he contact them through emails?”

I have to mention this, but I was totally shocked by my ex-colleague’s attitude. 2 years in start-up, 20+ employees, willingness to expand business, but stuck with company culture and (what the#$###) why cold calls??!!

With this post, first, I am not advocating that one should ignore company culture in order to expand business; and second, are cold calls dead? I really pity the plight of the BD guy. If he is sincere to his work (which we had to agree upon since he did manage to get some deals) I am sure he is going to move out frustrated from this job, quite soon!

How difficult is it for other employees in the company to understand the role and efforts of a BD? As in most of my previous posts, a BD always likes his independence and can only then perform to his best. Holding your own BD team just to excercise control never helps the company or the BD!

Moreover, my main concern here was the second point, which was – “Why does he have to call them, can’t he contact them through emails?” It’s a pity that people have started thinking that the traditional method of cold calling is of no importance. If you are a regular LinkedIn user, you can see the same question over and over again in BD focused Groups (Is cold calling dead?). In my opinion, Cold Calling is not dead and neither has it taken a back seat; it has just taken a different form coupled with other forms of modern marketing methods. The introduction of SEO, SMO, SMM has just made “Cold Calling’ more effective as it is backed by them.

I have to mention that I really laugh at people who think that it is possible to get great business by ignoring the traditional methods of client acquisition! They are certainly headed towards DOOM…