On September 12, 2024, industry leaders gathered for the 2024 Best Firms to Work For Awards – Industry Series, hosted by Consulting Magazine. Tom McMakin, PIE’s CEO, had the honor of presenting the event’s keynote, titled “Building Exceptional Firms — Rainmaking to Culture Building, What Makes Great Firms Stand Out?”
Tom’s speech spoke about creating a culture of excellence in business development (BD) within consulting firms drawing from his diverse background, including his time in the Peace Corps and his experience in private equity.
Cultivating vs. Hunting
To have a BD culture of excellence, a firm must view BD as a shared responsibility across the firm. The founders might have been the original rainmakers, but everyone in the firm plays a role. As such, the firm “cultivates” together for business rather than “hunts.”
Most firms “hunt.” Hunting is successful once. Tom shared a story about his time in Africa after his Peace Corps service. Tom met a local man who invited him to join a hunt for a giant python. The man used a piglet as bait to lure the snake, and they successfully captured it. This is the traditional “hunting” method of BD: aggressively going after the target with short-term tactics.
Using the traditional career progression in law firms as an analogy, “finders” are hunters who are responsible for BD and bringing in new clients—in most firms this is often the founders. New graduates start as “grinders,” doing detailed work like reviewing contracts. As they gain experience, they become “minders,” managing teams and client relationships. Eventually, they are expected to become “finders,” responsible for expanding the business and bringing in new opportunities. In this scenario, only one group of employees is doing the hunting. While hunting might be successful, it utilizes limited knowledge from the company’s relationship with the client.
Tom argued that “cultivating” is a better long-term strategy for BD. Cultivating involves nurturing relationships over time, understanding the needs of clients, and being present when opportunities arise. To do this, a firm must use the knowledge gathered from finders, grinders, and minders. Firms often don’t do this because they haven’t systematized the process of identifying, training, supporting, and holding accountable newer partners to create a sustainable business development machine. As newer employees are trained in identifying the needs of clients, they assist in sowing the seeds of new business through the trust and credibility they have built while serving the client.
Tom also laid out some core things a professional service firm must recognize to be successful at cultivating business.
- Trust and Credibility is Paramount: Trust is about acting in the client’s best interest, while credibility is about demonstrating the ability to do the work.
- Business Development Sales are Different than Goods: There are unique challenges of business development in professional services, such as the need for higher trust due to the nature of selling services rather than goods.
- Create Effective Market Strategies: Firms need different strategies for effective business development, including focusing on a narrow target market, building long-term relationships, and convening peer groups for meaningful discussions.
- Cultural Elements: A supportive BD culture is one where partners and managing directors are trained and supported in business development. Growth priorities are clean, and the firm has the ability to make bold choices.
Tom concluded by encouraging firms to treat clients as peers and co-create solutions with them, emphasizing the role of consultants as servant leaders who help solve complex problems.
