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Top 10 Myths of Business Development in Government Contracting

The Top 10 Biggest Myths About Business Development

By Ashley Nicholson ....December 6, 2022

In my career, I have heard countless myths about business development from various people in business. Here are the biggest I have heard—it’s time to set the record straight.

#1: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS ARE BORN, NOT MADE.

Truth: No, business development is a process and requires skills, growth, refinement, and training.  There are traits that can help you, but it can be learned and must be refined in order to succeed. Plus, the market and your clients are always changing.  So, learning cannot stop.

#2: EXTROVERTS MAKE THE BEST BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS.

Truth: This is one of the biggest myths.  The reality is that business development requires the best traits from extroverts and introverts.  One of the most important traits from introverts is the ability to listen to clients and understand the context.  This is of crucial importance for sales.

#3: “HE’S A PEOPLE PERSON. HE’S THE SAME AS A BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT GUY.”

Truth: It’s great that he (or she!) likes working with people, but business development requires skill, experience, and training.  Furthermore, you have to listen to your clients and stay abreast of the industry trends.  You cannot learn it overnight, but you can grow and hone your skills.

#4: SALES ARE EASY AND TAKE NO SKILL.

Truth: Nothing could be farther from the truth.  In Peter Thiel’s book Zero to One, he argues that “even though sales are everywhere, most people underrate its importance. Silicon Valley underrates it more than most.”  The ability to sell is probably the most important skill in a business and should not be undervalued.  If you do not have customers, you do not have a business.

#5: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS USE THE SAME TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS AS A USED CAR SALESMAN.

Truth: I hear this one a lot, and frankly I do not even know how to counter it because this is an apples and oranges situation.  The super short sales cycle of an automobile purchase transaction requires an entirely different skillset and technique than that for closing a multi-million-dollar, complex technology sale.  Clients do not buy multi-million-dollar technology services or products impulsively and without thought.

#6: SALES TALENT IS EVERYWHERE. IT IS NOT SCARCE LIKE TECHNOLOGY TALENT.

Truth: Sales talent is scarce, and many members of the younger generation have no interest in sales and business development.  Forbes even recently wrote an article on the crisis around emerging sales talent.

#7: IF A PRODUCT IS GOOD, IT WILL SELL ITSELF.

Truth: One of the biggest myths I hear.  A product can be amazing but will not sell itself.  A good product is necessary, but an amazing marketing and business development team is needed to communicate the true value and sell products.  Peter Thiel also mentioned in his book that this was one of the biggest myths of Silicon Valley.

#8: IF YOU HAVE A GOOD SALES OR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PERSON, MARKETING IS NOT IMPORTANT.

Truth: Marketing is a crucial part of creating brand awareness and creating demand.  Ideally, a business development person needs to work in step with a strong marketing team.

#9: WE CAN JUST HIRE THIS YOUNG, UNEXPERIENCED PEOPLE PERSON AND HE CAN JUST PICK UP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN A WEEK AND CLOSE A MILLION-DOLLAR DEAL.

Truth: No—business development takes years of experience and a good network of people.  It is unrealistic and you are setting up a young person for failure thinking that they can read a book and instantly become an experienced business development professional. It may make sense to hire a less experienced person, but please invest in training and have realistic expectations.

#10: IF YOU HIRE SOMEONE FROM THE GOVERNMENT, HE OR SHE WILL NATURALLY BE ABLE TO ASSUME THE ROLE OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EASILY.

Truth: Relationships are important in business development and this is true for government contracting, but people need training in business development to develop their core skills and business development requires a shift in mindset and being proactive.

Written by Ashley Nicholson


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Ashley Nicholson Guest Author at Hi-Q Group

Ashley Nicholson is the CEO of Avenir Technology, a woman-owned small business that offers business development, management consulting, and technology consulting services. She formerly worked as a director of business development at CALIBRE Systems and Cognosante, and has over a decade of experience in business development in federal government contracting. She specializes in healthcare technology in the federal civilian space and holds a master of arts in international relations from Webster University. Ashley is currently pursuing a master of data analytics at the Georgia Institute of Technology and is an active member of AFCEA, ACT-IAC and Women in Technology.

These views are my own and do not reflect the views of my company or any organizations in which I participate. Follow me on LinkedIn for more insights.


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