I want to bring a little sports analogy to the mix this week and get you to think about playing both offense and defense in your business development practice. Now, most people like to play offense because that's when the points are scored.
That's when you get the big cheers. That's when you feel like, “Wow, look at me. I scored a touchdown, scored a goal, put the ball in the basket.” Everybody loves that part of the game. That seems to be the game that we get paid for. I want you to think about the idea of defense as you consider your business development practice. Now, defense to me is keeping the competition out of your account.
I would rather lose an opportunity right at the start, then start an opportunity and then have someone come and take it away from me. And why does that happen? Well, I'm going to tell you what the biggest problem is. There's a severe impact of overpromising and under-delivering when you're guilty of overpromise and under-deliver. What you've essentially done is broken the belief and the trust that the prospect had put on you or given to you when they decided to do business with you. If you promise great service, great variety, great response, great commitment to their success as well as your own, and you don't deliver on those, you're just another lying, thieving salesperson…. It's tough to get rid of that rap once somebody sticks it on you.
So what I want you to think about by playing defense is just doing the best you can in your customer service role. When there is a problem…. and there will always be a problem sooner or later, you are there to immediately respond to it, to take responsibility for it and put your best effort into proving that you are as good as the claims when you made the sale.
Don't be so offensive minded. New opportunity. New opportunity. New opportunity that you forget about playing defense and protecting the success that you've already created. You must know how to play both to survive in the new world of business development. That technology, immediate communication, access from everywhere. Don't let those things cripple your ability to play both sides of the line of scrimmage.
You can win and win profitably playing both offense and defense. So make sure you know which side of the ball you're on and what you're supposed to do to succeed.Have another great weekend. Get out of the gate early Monday. Make it the best week of the year yet. Take care.
