“There is always going to be a role for business develop-
ers,” Ryan says. “New SMPS Foundation research clearly
illustrates the partnership that needs to appear between
business developers and technical professionals.”
“Business developers will provide training and presen-
tation coaching, help strategize meeting agendas, and de-
velop one-on-one coaching on how to build client
relationships,” she said. “They will also help with client tar-
geting, participating in client led organizations, and be the
‘opener’ for their firms – meeting prospective clients and
making the introductions to the technical representatives.”
What the future holds
Accordingly, just as seller-doers increasingly need to put
business development in their work schedule, non-techni-
cal sales professionals need to grasp the industry’s profes-
sional and technical focus, trends and operations and know
enough to bring the right technical person to initial devel-
opment meetings.

“The quality of the decisionmakers at the client end has
increased,” Butcher said. “They in many cases are licensed
architects or engineers, or they’ve come out of the con-
struction side of the business with extensive practical
knowledge and experience. As a result, they have much
higher demands right from the first conversation.”
In practice, this means most potential clients have little
if any time to meet with a salesperson, who can’t grasp and
suggest right away a solution to the actual technical and
design challenges, according to client research captured in
the SMPS Foundation’s book: A/E/C Business Development
– The Decade Ahead.

Butcher says AEC enterprises and professional practices
appear to be taking these observations to heart. A recent
SMPS/SMPS Foundation survey indicates that a solid ma-
jority – 53 per cent – of firms believe they are going to be
continuing with the hybrid business developer/seller-doer
model in the next decade. However, an impressive minority
(24 per cent) say they will exclusively use seller-doers, sug-
gesting the vital overall importance of the seller-doer
model, along with the right training. (The remaining 23 per
cent are not sure.)
Butcher says junior staff are often embracing the seller-
doer model and can be valuable resources as they develop
their professional careers. These traits were advocated a
few decades ago by rainmaker gurus, but more often were
initiated by the individual, rather than the organization.

14 – September 2016 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
Some practices are building business development person-
ality trait evaluations into their initial selection and hiring
processes, he says.

Meanwhile, benchmark research included in the Sell.

Do. Win Business report indicates that for technical profes-
sions, job title typically influences business development
goals. For example, 44 per cent of the staff with the title of
principal, owner or partner have personal business devel-
opment goals, as do 20 per cent of employees with the title
of project executive or project manager. Having business
development goals equates to having a firm budget that al-
lows for allocated time to be spent bringing in work.

There is one final piece of good news for practitioners
interested in the seller-doer model. Selling most definitely
doesn’t need to be the awful rejection laden ordeal that
some might associate with business development.

Ryan and Butcher agree that some of the best results
often come from relationships built through voluntary par-
ticipation in association involvement. Speaking engage-
ments at conferences and events are helpful. And for those
more introverted people who would rather write than talk,
contributions to technical articles and publications will pro-
vide valuable business development opportunities.

Finally, of course, connecting and serving and working
well with current clients will provide key leads and insights
for business development opportunities. The seller-doer
can then report the opportunities to the practices’ business
development specialists and managers to be guided on the
best approaches to take to pursue the opportunities with-
out stress or painful rejection.

“Softening the sales part of business development is
going to bring in a larger group of people,” Butcher says.

“The opportunities in educational based marketing are
opening whole new worlds.”
Mark Buckshon, president of the Construction
News and Report Group of Companies, wrote a version of
this article for The SMPS Marketer, the magazine of the
Society for Marketing Professional Services, (SMPS), a
U.S. based organization that represents and supports mar-
keting and business development within the architectural,
engineering and construction community.

There are SMPS chapters in most major U.S. cities, as well
as in Toronto. For more information, visit www.smps.org,
or in Ontario, www.smpsontario.com.





TM
Build bold.

He holds the record for
most exterior pride.

Homeowners want exteriors that are
strong, durable and worth looking
at for more than five minutes without
falling asleep. They’re searching
for something they can confidently
rely on and fearlessly show off.

That’s why we create exteriors with
character like our low-maintenance
and highly curb appealing AlumiPro ®
Cedar Renditions™ accent siding,
main siding and soffit. We swell with
pride every time we think about it.

royalbuildingproducts.com Featuring
AlumiPro Cedar Renditions
in Amberwood
www.threadsoflife.ca AlumiPro ®
Cedar Renditions ™
By Royal
© 2016 Royal Building Products
The Canadian Design and Construction Report — September 2016 – 15