What happens when business development is just a marketing strategy?

When you have a situation where business development is consigned as marketing strategy spearheaded by marketing department the stated goal is restricted in bringing more business, customers and new relationship.

This leads to creation of buzz words such as business pipeline, capture management, competitive intelligence, business leads and probability of winning and so on.  One thing surely happens is that rest of the firm is not concerned with the idea of business development.

While business development has twin function of beating competition and ensuring new strategic direction, marketing department does work with the mantra “more sales and more revenue from the existing product”. This tantamount to exploring new markets for the existing product, thereby ignoring the needs and wants of existing customers.

Sales pitch can improve the sales value temporarily, but in the medium term it can plunge to bottom if the customers feel that they are not getting value for money or the product does not have the qualities and features compared with new products introduced by competitors. A good example is the Microsoft Xbox one that failed after launch and vigorous marketing.

It is not out of place to mention that fundamental purpose of marketing strategy is to improve the value and reputation of the company and the product in the eyes of consumers. In doing so marketing department must be conscious of the competitors and what they are doing and the customer relationship and how it is going.

Purely depending on business development as marketing strategy on the existing product line and then thrusting it on the marketing department as their primary concern is a bad step taken by many firms. What firms must do is to study the target market searching for clues over their needs & wants and bring out innovative products that give real value. In doing so, primary attention must be given to existing customers who would turn out to be spokesperson extolling both new and existing products to incoming new customers.

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist