4 Ways to Do Business Development in a Tougher Market

So today I wanna dive

into what it takes to grow

your business in tougher times

in tougher sales environment,

business development

is so much harder.

Now, I'm not talking

about a recession per se.

I'm talking about a market

where it feels harder to

get a yes, where clients

may be a little bit more

cautious or budgets are tight

and Competition is fierce,

but we're not panicking.

We're not hustling harder.

We are not.

We actually racing

to the bottom.

What we're going to

do is we're gonna get

strategic, intentional.

We're going to get brilliant.

This episode is your

permission slip.

to double down

and not FREAK OUT.

The reality is things are a

little bit tougher right now.

The headlines allowed.

Interest rates are up.

Again, There's a

housing crisis.

fear, fear, fear, and let's

be honest, it's easy to

let that noise creep into

your business decisions.

This isn't the end.

I actually think it's

a great business filter

because right now

businesses are being sorted.

The flimsy, the copycats,

the vanilla are shrinking,

but the bold, the

brilliant, the visionary.

They're the ones that are

doubling down, and I want

you to be the lighthouse

in the storm, not the boat

clinging to the rocks.

I want you to be steady.

Shining showing the way there

are smart strategic shifts

that women leading in this

space are making right now.

And I'm gonna break

it down for you.

I'm gonna give you 4 strategic

shifts that I've been

making and that my clients

have been making, and I

wanna share them for you.

Now.

The first shift is

one of Laser in on

your A Grade clients.

This is what I've been

doing in my own business,

especially in times like this.

I'm looking at my client

list and I'm asking,

who are the A graders?

Who are the clients that

light me up, that pay on

time, that do the work?

Who are the ones that have

become raving fans of mine?

You see, I don't just

work with anyone.

I go all in with

the right ones.

I want results for them

and for me, I wanna create

brilliance, not burnout.

You see those eight grade

clients, they are the

ones that fuel my energy,

that trust my process,

that spread the word.

And so I want you to try this.

I want you to make a list

of your top three clients

right now, or it could

be your top past clients.

And I want you to ask yourself

what made them top tier.

What is it?

And I want you to ask

yourself, how can you

attract more of them?

And then review

your messaging.

Are you speaking to them?

Are you really speaking

to them or are you trying

to please everyone?

And actually, in that

process, ending up invisible

and speaking to all of the

people out there instead

of the ones that matter.

So shift number one is

zoning in doubling down

on your A Grade clients.

The second shift I've been

making in my own business

is Stacking my value.

This is something that I go

deep on in a previous episode

called Pricing with Power.

So go back and have a listen

to that if you haven't yet.

It's where I talk about

how so many women actually

undercharge or dilute

their value in tough times.

But I wanna tell you, the

ones that win don't discount.

They become irresistible.

It's about value exchange.

What transformation

are you offering?

What support are you giving?

What elevation

are you enabling?

And I always ask myself,

what are the magic

pills in my offer?

Those irresistible little

extras that delight, that

build trust, that make

people say, I want that.

I need that.

For me, it might be

behind the scenes access.

It could be quick winning

tools, it could be direct

voxer coaching or small things

that, um, really create huge

impact that stack your value,

that elevate your offer, that

deliver more transformation.

So I want you to.

Think about how you do that.

How do you actually go

further stack your value

and what are the magic

pills in your business

that you can give with no

expectation of anything in

re in return, but through

giving those magic pills,

it's stacking your value.

It's showing your clients

that you care, that you

understand, and you you've got

a little bit of something for

them that will create a huge

impact for them immediately.

The third shift.

Uh, that I made was one

back in, post well during

pandemic and post then, and

it's something I want you

to think about, and this

is this one about Building

some level of guaranteed

or recurring revenue.

Now at the start of the

pandemic, again, I've shared

this story many times.

I lost 80% of my revenue

in that first 90 days.

And the reason was because

the majority of my business

was through corporate.

It was keynote speaking,

it was one-off programs,

it was workshops and the

pandemic hit the world

shut down, and practically

overnight, I lost the

majority of my business gone.

Yeah, I cried.

Yes, I panicked for a

minute, but then I got clear.

I thought about,

what am I known for?

What do people need right now?

How can I serve and

sustain people right now?

Now, what was also interesting

is that over for me is

that, you know, I'd spent,

I'd spent the last 10 years

building that positioning.

I'd also written two books.

A third book was

coming out during the

Pandemic Be Brilliant.

My third book, and what it

made me realize through the

emails and the interactions

that I was getting online is

that people still wanted help.

They still wanted support.

They still wanted

transformation.

So on the back of

writing Be Brilliant.

I launched a six

week online program.

I had no idea how to

do online, so I learned

like a crazy thing,

in the run up to this.

But I launched a

six week program.

Uh, the first one was on

networking, the second

one was on Be Brilliant.

It then evolved

into a 12 week.

Transformation and now

that evolution has become

the Elevate Mastermind,

a high touch, high impact

container that supports

women scaling with strategy.

It was about building

consistent income,

but more than that,

it was about creating

ongoing transformation.

Space where growth doesn't

end at the transaction.

This isn't about building

subscriptions for the

sake of cash flow.

It's not about that.

It's it's about designing

containers where you can truly

serve, where you can deeply

connect, and where you can

build long-term partnerships.

And that may be a shift

that you are ready to make.

The final shift is

one about Repackaging

your product offering.

You know, some of my

brilliant clients during

these tougher times have been

trying to sell these really

big juicy programs, these

six month, 12 month, huge

transformation hefty price

tag programs, which previously

have worked and it's been

awesome, but in this climate.

It's been too much,

it's been too heavy.

It's been too hard for

clients to commit to.

So what we did is we

unbundled, we stripped

down those programs.

Those programs still

exist, but we looked at

those programs and we

identified what is the

magic in those programs?

What are the, the smaller,

more bite sized offers

within that bigger program.

So this wasn't about

creating something new,

it was about taking what

they had and unbundling it

to create mini solutions,

power packed outcomes.

Nothing needed to be

rerecorded or redesigned.

it was about using what

they already had and

repackaging it, unbundling

it, and rebundling it.

Just later sharp

positioning and a

crystal clear invitation.

Yes, the pie out there,

the possible pie.

Of available budget

might be smaller right

now, but guess what?

There's still a pie.

And your job is to maximize

the slice that's available

right now for you and to

do it in a way that signals

partnership and support.

You don't need to burn out

building something new.

Sometimes it's simply about

repackaging what you've

already got, the brilliance

that you've already got, so

that it fits into this moment.

When something's a

little bit smaller,

it's easy to purchase.

We don't have to go

through procurement.

We don't have to go through

big budget sign off, but

what it does is it keeps

us in with that client.

It shows that we're supporting

that client, and over time,

as we're building even more

trust and even more support

and even more partnership,

that little thing becomes big

again, your brilliance isn't

in the packaging, it's in the

problem that you're solving

for your clients right now.

So what's your next move?

Now is not the time to shrink.

It's the time to lead.

I wanna recap those four smart

shifts that I'm talking about.

Number one, laser in on

your A Grade clients.

Number two, think about how

you can stack your value

with magnetic intention.

Number three, what about

shifting to considering

a recurring revenue

model for peace of mind

repackage and rethink

what it is that you offer?

Maybe this week, start

getting curious about one

of those four moves and

think about what is an

action that you can take.

You could audit your clients,

you could review your

product suite, you could

create a mini retainer.

Just start, and once

again, if today's episode

resonated, if it's helped

you think differently,

can you help me out?

Please leave a review because

it really helps or share this

podcast with another business

owner who is ready to double

down instead of burning out.

Remember, you are the

lighthouse in this storm

for your clients, and we

need you to turn up and

to show up brilliantly

doing the incredible work

that you are here to do.

Until next time, stay

brilliantly bold.