3 Effective Strategies for Prioritizing Business Development Without Neglecting Client Relationships

From your first meeting on Monday morning until the office lights go out on Friday afternoon, you’re busy. As a professional service provider focusing on business development and client relationships, you’ve got a lot of plates spinning at once… with your team, clients, referral sources, and the community.

Sometimes it feels like business development has to take a back seat to client work because client work runs on deadlines. Business development? It can happen anytime. It’s never ending. But it’s a mistake not to stop and make time for developing your business. If you don’t, it certainly won’t develop itself.

Balancing client work and business development is one of the most critical balancing acts for professional service providers. Here are three strategies for prioritizing responsibilities and maintaining this delicate balance.

1. Block business development time on your calendar and stick with it.

One of the best ways to keep your priorities in order is to make your calendar work for you. Put your top priorities on the calendar first, including the time you need to spend working on your business rather than in it. Then stick with the time you set. Let your team know you won’t be available except for emergencies and focus solely on business development during that time.

2. Be sure you’re working on tasks that are the most valuable use of your time.

As the leader in your business, it’s easy to get caught up in every aspect of the business. But you’ve built a team, so you don’t have to have your hands in every day-to-day activity. Trust your team, let them handle what they’re skilled at, and use your time in areas where your skills are most valuable.

3. Leverage technology and the automation it provides.

Think about the routine tasks you and your team handle each day. Are there any you can automate? Maybe you can set up automatic payments, so your bookkeeper doesn’t have to manually send invoices and reminders. Could you automate nurturing email sequences, keeping leads warm while you’re out making new connections? Automating repetitive processes in your business can save you time and money.

Looking for better balance between current client relationships and business development in your professional services business? Use these three strategies to prioritize time for working on your business and see what a difference it makes in your bottom line.

Reach out to the experts at Growth Academy if you could use assistance and accountability in prioritizing business development without sacrificing high quality client work.