I listened to a podcast recently hosted by a fellow Business Development Specialist, Mo Bunnell, who interviewed bestselling author and top 100 Leadership Speaker Jon Acuff on how to adopt a growth mindset. 

I resonated with Jon’s perspective on wanting tangible solutions for a growth mindset. I could relate when he said, “What can I do with an abundance mindset on a Tuesday?” 

There is plenty of advice on mindset, but it’s not so easy to find practical steps you can take to grow, which is why he wrote a book called Finish – Finish has practical steps you can implement when you lose momentum or give up on projects because of perfectionism. 

Their conversation prompted me to put together some examples of negative thoughts you can sometimes have when or before reaching out to potential clients and action steps to take to overcome them and push forward to win new business.

Four Negative Thoughts You Can Turn Into Small Wins

They’re Already Established, and the Client is Happy.

This may be the case however, growth comes from getting uncomfortable – reaching out and making yourself visible.

Qualify yourself and build a relationship.

If your potential client doesn’t know about you, how can you be an option for future work?

If they are happy with their supplier now, that’s great, but it doesn’t mean it will be like that later. Stay relevant, and keep them up to date about what your business is doing and the benefits. 

If an opportunity comes, you want them to remember you and how your business can help them. 

Fear of Reaching Out After a Bad Experience. 

Inevitably, in Business Development, we come across people that no matter what, will not give you time.

Sometimes it is time, and sometimes it is attitude.

We can’t control how other people react, only what we do about it. Their attitude is not on you. Your time and your service are also valuable.

In my experience, I’ve almost always gone on to win a bigger and better business, so let these rare experiences motivate you to be brave, be confident and keep reaching out to win new business.

We’ve Tried and Tried and Got Nowhere.

Your potential client could be busy and have yet to respond to you.

Instead of assuming they’re ignoring you, assume they’re busy too.

Try a new way of adding value by being helpful rather than just following up on your last email.

Invite them for coffee, to lunch, send them a relevant article or congratulate them on their latest achievement.

I Don’t Want to Be Annoying.

Be informed. Most people won’t get annoyed if you do the research, put in the time and effort and approach them with something useful, something they can benefit from.

Would you be annoyed if someone in your team or someone who reached out to you put together well-researched great work for you or followed up with something you need?

Taking action, perseverance and patience are fundamental to a growth mindset in Business Development. When you can hone these three skills collectively, you will be successful at winning new business. 

Let me know how you go! If you still need help bringing in new clients, that’s what I do best, so please get in contact.