business development

The Message That Connects

Marshall McLuhan — a godfather of 20th-century communication theory — characterized one of the challenges inherent in connecting when he coined the phrase “the medium is the message.”Seth Godin hit on it from a different angle in his timely post today, Get Over Yourself.Given the timing — the 1960’s, in North America — many interpreted McLuhan’s theorizing as particularly pertinent to advertising and the increasing reach of mass media. The idea — that the channel is not just acarrier, but part-and-parcel of the message — has been the subject of countless debates and scholastic examinations.

On far less lofty ground, marketers, advertisers and media types have for decades hypothesized about McLuhan’s precise inference, and the implications for which medium best fit what message.

And in the process, we often theorize right over the real point.

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The Thrill of the Chase vs. the Drudgery of Dialogue

For many, the chase is simply easier than the work associated with building and nurturing lasting relationships. The chase offers variety, an adrenaline rush, and – win or lose – it’s off to the next pursuit. No working through misunderstandings and unrealized expectations.

No – this isn’t a post about personal relationships — parallels notwithstanding. This is about business development. And for some reason, many professional service organizations and B-to-B endeavors invest disproportionate amounts of time and energy chasing irresistible “opportunities.”

In almost every instance, the shortest path to revenue growth lies in meaningful dialogue (the stuff of lasting relationships) with existing clients.

This would seem to be of particular interest in today’s marketplace — where the slightest growth is challenging, and leveraging every investment is a must.

The math is simple. Deepening an existing client relationship is almost always a better investment than the costs — hard and soft — associated with the pursuit of a new target. Deepen an existing relationship, and not only are you on the road to increased revenue; you’ve changed your profitability arithmetic.

Just in case I have to say it — here goes: this is not a suggestion that we should not engage in the pursuit of new clients. It is a reminder to all of us leading business development efforts: when we invest more in the pursuit of new opportunities than in the care and nurture of existing relationships, we may have fallen victim to the thrill of the chase.

Relationships that endure and grow are the result of a calculated investment in the proactive art (and, yes – often drudgery) of dialogue.

Eric Fletcher