Searching for business development direction

John Soter, a principal in ZweigWhite's Strategic Advisory Services group, chimes in this afternoon with his thoughts on better business development:

Hey, how many of you get this kind of business development direction?

Here’s the secret: there is no secret. The recipe consists of equal parts reach, message, and effort. Many feel like fish being asked to fly, or birds being asked to swim. You may say, "Well, some birds do swim and some fish do fly." I say, "not many!"

There is just no way around generating leads, planting seeds, uncovering and understanding needs, qualifying and avoiding getting into the weeds, nurturing the relationship through good deeds, and delivering so they succeed.

What do you think? How does your firm do its business development these days?