31/52: One day

How do you develop business relationships during such strange times?

Focus on one day at a time.

If you're in sales or consulting, at the heart of your job is the ability to form and manage relationships. The volume and quality of those relationships will play a huge part in your ability to do your job well. Therefore, (business) developing a future pipeline of relationships is critical to your long-term success. This basic mantra doesn't change in a downturn.

When it comes to Business Development, these are not easy or straightforward times. You can't necessarily 'grab a coffee', visit another office or see clients face to face. It's likely your targets and budgets have been altered considerably and the expectation of forecasting the next six months accurately has all but been abandoned. This is the time to consider narrowing your focus and coming back to basics.

Focus on one day. Make your goal for the day achievable. Hit that goal and then refocus on the next thing and the next day.

There's a lot of good advice to be had on understanding what your clients want and need right now. Advice on finding opportunities to pivot and innovate your service in an ever-changing marketplace. Advice on utilising technology to overcome the physical barriers of Covid-times. This is all excellent to consider but not the point of this blog post.

If the consulting world you operate in has suddenly become more challenging, I'd encourage you to simplify your approach and consider not what you'll achieve this year or this quarter but what you'll achieve today.

There are significant challenges in the current environment to performing at our best. There is, however, a great opportunity to refocus on what is important to our clients, develop new relationships and keep a positive focus on your mental health, all by taking it one day at a time.

Kudos to Nic and Greg who inspired this week's blog.