It should be accompanied by role delineation (potentially including modification of utilization targets in exchange for greater BD involvement), articulated expectations and well-defined metrics.  If not, you run the risk of folks saying, “Oh, that was a good workshop,” but coming back to their inboxes and getting sucked up in the daily morass. For many AEC industry firms, this entails a significant cultural shift.

• Establish realistic expectations. Acknowledge and treat “maintenance” BD with past and existing clients differently from new business development targeting prospective clients. Maintenance BD entails doing great work and wowing the client, strengthening existing relationships within a client organization and building new ones, curiosity and probing a client’s challenges, pet peeves, needs and measures of success (for starters) by asking thoughtful questions and listening to the answers, and staying in contact with past clients.

This is what we can and should expect from project managers and project personnel, although time, practice, modeling by others and training are necessary to maximize each person’s potential.

Realistically, only a small percentage of practitioners feel comfortable and are effective at new BD. But not only do these people exist, they can also be developed through meaningful, well-conceived training and development.

Establish mechanisms for accountability. For example, after a BD training workshop, have each participant create three to five individualized SMART (i.e., Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound) BD goals to accomplish in the coming year. Then, incorporate these goals into each individual’s overall performance management goals— and hold them accountable.

For some, a goal may be to contact five past clients each quarter and check in—employing probing open-ended questions and carefully listening to the client’s responses (talking less and listening more).

For others, an appropriate goal may be to submit abstracts to speak at three different professional association venues or to join one or more association working committees.

With sufficient forethought, along with realistic expectations, BD training can be an effective tool in both sending a strong message to your staff and providing them with customized skills to strengthen existing relationships and build robust new ones.

Rich Friedman is the president of Wayland, Mass.-based Friedman & Partners. He can be reached at  rich@friedmanpartners.com.